School management and organization--Decision making

Globalization, the integration of markets and the shrinking of boundaries both
figurative and real, provides the context in which institutions of higher education have
considered a change to their culture, curricula, and composition in recent years.
Increasingly, the response ofunjversities to globalization is to bring a greater
international dimension to their teaching, research, and service; a process known as
internationalization.
The purpose of this study was to identify the change strategies that allowed three
regional public universities to internationalize their campuses. The qualitative multi-site
research design incorporated a critical case strategy with participants who led, facilitated,
and/or implemented the change process. Data collection was obtained through interviews,
documents, and direct observation. The analysis consisted of pattern matching facilitated
by two-dimensional matrices. Leading change in higher education has been related to moving cemeteries and
herding cats and therefore may seem like a cruel hoax; but as this study reports it need
not be so. The study found that a highly integrated, non-linear change process Jed to
successful internationalization. An expanding number of champions who constantly
communicated a motivating vision and who opportunistically pursued creative strategies
to internationalize resulted in cascading layers of buy-in throughout the university. This
buy-in was not only an effect, but a change strategy in its own right; and was a primary
focus of those leading the change effort. These universities institutionalized change
through various structural and programmatic means. The change process concluded with
a transformed institution that incorporated an international dimension into the culture,
life, and work of the university.
The findings were compared and contrasted to Kotter's ( 1996) eight stages of
leading change and Eckel and Kezar's (2003) model for transformation in higher
education. Neither fully explained this study's cross-case findings, and a new model for
leading transformational change in institutions of higher education was proposed; one
which builds on the strengths of Kotter's and Eckel and Kezar's models, but which
addresses their limitations as well.

Parent involvement literature reveals that parents play an important role in student
academic achievement. The School Advisory Councils are the major outlet for parents to
engage in decision-making and advocacy skills in Broward County. The School
Improvement Plans are the major output of the School Advisory Councils and this
document contains many strategies that schools should follow in order to increase
achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine if School Improvement Plans
and school decision-making and advocacy had any correlation to academic achievement.
The researcher investigated this utilizing two research methods: a survey to investigate if
school decision-making and advocacy were correlated to student academic achievement;
and content analysis to investigate if School Improvement Plans were correlated to
student academic achievement. The study gathered data from 38 middle schools and 29 high schools in Broward
County, Florida, during the academic year of 2004-2005. The researcher used standard
five of the National PTA Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs to design
the Decision-Making and Advocacy Survey to determine the perceptions of decisionmaking
and advocacy. The researcher surveyed two of the key players with leadership
roles of the School Advisory Council: the principal and the SAC chairperson. The survey
was pilot tested for its reliability. The researcher also used the School Improvement Plan
from each middle school and high school in Broward County in order to conduct the
content analysis.
The survey and content analysis data were analyzed using linear correlation,
multiple correlation, and multiple regression. A major finding of this research was the
significant correlation between the Math strategies found in the School Improvement
Plans and the Math achievement scores, as well as the correlation between the Writing
strategies found in the School Improvement Plans and school grades. In general, it can
be concluded that the strategies found in the School Improvement Plans may increase
student achievement, particularly in Math and Writing.

The purpose of this study was to establish an empirical link between transformational leadership and student achievement measured by the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test. In addition, the relationship between transformational leadership and increased levels of teacher satisfaction, willingness to give extra effort, perceptions of principal effectiveness were examined. This study took place in 21 elementary inner-city schools of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. Two hundred ten personalized packets were delivered to the teachers of the selected schools. Two hundred and three answer sheets were returned to the researcher for a return rate of 97 percent. Data were collected from randomly selected teachers by voluntary completion of Bass and Avolio's Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form-5X (Short Form). The data were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. Transformational leadership was found to be linked to increased learning. In addition, transformational leadership was also related to increased teacher satisfaction, greater perception of principal effectiveness, and increased teacher willingness to give extra effort. Moreover, two ancillary questions were explored. These questions related to gender, and school size. The question on gender could not be analyzed in light of the overwhelming majority of female principals and lack of reliability of gender. School size was not related to transformational leadership. Based on the above findings, the following conclusions can be made with regard to transformational leadership and its impact on elementary education. First, transformational leadership does improve student achievement in inner-city elementary schools. Second, inner-city elementary teachers consider transformational principals superior to non-transformational principals. Third, elementary inner-city teachers demonstrate increased levels of satisfaction, willingness to give extra effort, and a high perception of principal effectiveness for transformational principals. The practical applications of the findings of this study and the implications drawn for further theoretical consideration and research are significant for future school improvement. This study adds to an important line of research. The information available today about transformational leadership and its impact on student achievement may help schools improve the lives of their students and the social and political future of our World.

Purpose: This study was designed to examine the perceptions of
selected school community members to determine to what extent
they perceived their involvement in the participatory management
process. Conclusions and Recommendations: It is concluded from the results of these analyses
that administrators tend to believe that members of the
school community are involved in the participatory management
process to a greater extent than do teachers, students, advisory
council members and counselors. Further, it was
concluded that perhaps administrators should review the management
practices in their schools if they intend to operate
according to the principles of participatory management and
if they really want to discourage the issuance of further
legislative mandates, collective bargaining demands, public
criticisms and psychological withdrawls. Organizations with
commitments to enlightened leadership have been proven to be
the most effective and efficient. The lack of involvement
in deciding matters that affect them decreases subordinates'
sense of commitments and, therefore, limits the full implementation
of decisions. If schools are to become more effective
and efficient, all members of the school community must
be provided ways to become integral parts of the decision-making
process. Administrators must be willing to share their
authority. The responsibility for correcting these perceptions
rest with administrators, for they are the educational
leaders of the schools.