Background: Historically, significant advances in scientific understanding have followed advances in measurement and observation. As the resolving power of an instrument increased, so have gains in the understanding of the phenomena being observed. Modern interactive systems are potentially the new "microscopes" when they are…

Administrator succession can have varied effects on organizational performance. Although most studies have focused on performance outcomes, this paper reports the personal sense making of a successor to the principalship. The successor found that leadership validation and attribution influenced her transformation from an interloper to an effective…

Argues that theory in educational administration is not theoretical but comprises descriptions of ideological perspectives. Ties this argument to patterns of thinking revealed in theory debate and in descriptive statements of theory. These thinking patterns possess an identifiable psychological mechanism called a personal construct. Suggests how…

The final report presents progress of a project investigating compliance and noncompliance among severely handicapped students. Details are reported for each of the project's three years: from initial conceptualization of compliance and noncompliance, to training on the Microprocessor Operated Recording Equipment (MORE), to studies on the effects…

Comparison of behaviors exhibited by 19 hyperactive and 17 nonhyperactive (learning disordered) children found differences between groups to be more often qualitative than quantitative. Hyperactive students demonstrated more talking, unsystematic search, and motor impersistence while nonhyperactive students demonstrated more upper extremity…

Principals are confronted daily with opportunities to choose either bureaucratic or nonbureaucratic leadership behaviors. Effective principals make a conscious leadership choice, recognizing that the options have paradoxical implications and produce different school cultures. In the process, new administrator role definitions are emerging.…

A survey soliciting school board members' and administrators' views on effective and ineffective board behaviors showed that both groups valued board members' ability to distinguish between policy and administration, willingness to ensure policy recommendation opportunities for superintendents, insistence on policies sensitive to broad public…

Pulling up stakes is seldom the best way to handle difficult people at work, because they exist everywhere as bullies, "yes" people, whiners, nonentities, know-it-alls, or "no" people. This article examines these six personality types and tells how administrators can avoid being victimized. (MLH)

Although listening is the most widely used communication skill, it is rarely taught. This study of California and Arkansas principals explored how principals and their staffs perceived the principals' listening behaviors. Results suggest that principals and their staffs perceived the principals to be moderately good listeners. Includes 11…

Summarizes results of a study of 43 Israeli teachers' reactions to teachers' curriculum guides. Fewer than half the teachers interviewed made significant use of guides. Authors' intentions, as set forth in these guides, do not reach the teaching community and are felt to convey alienation, distance, arrogance, and lack of respect. Teachers did not…

Summarizes a study exploring how teachers characterize their administrators' supervisory behaviors and administrator-teacher relationships, including how administrators show respect for teachers. Four distinct supervisor patterns (backstage, collaborative, surly, and imperial) emerged. Data indicate a correlation between principals' respect for…

Although educators are becoming familiar with fetal drug exposure, few realize how early alcohol exposure can cripple children's physical, social, academic development. Unlike some drug-affected kids, alcohol-exposed children seldom outgrow symptoms such as impaired IQ, impulsiveness, erratic sleeping patterns. Schools must identify and refer…

K.E. Ferguson's analysis of women's place in capitalist society and the concurrent elevation of bureaucratic structures seriously challenges administration analysts. According to Ferguson, modern bureaucracy requires constant maintenance in reifying its dominance structure and locating and suppressing opposition. This analysis can be applied to…

In finding an accurate method of describing school administrators' behavior patterns, draws on script theory from cognitive psychology and speech act theory from sociolinguistics to supplement the structured observation approach. (JW)

Examines interorganizational behavior patterns that may beset project establishment, drawing on the experiences of an anonymous developing nation struggling to initiate an educational project approved by the World Bank. Results show that the behavior of participating organizations can influence the decision-making process during project…