Because of longer life expectancies and individually managed supplements to monthly pension checks, planning at retirement is becoming as important as planning for retirement. This article provides advice for retiring administrators concerning personal budgeting, setting goals, estate and tax planning, choosing medical coverage, converting assets,…

During the 1990 fall semester, Department of Educational Administration and Secondary Education at Arkansas State University initiated a project to identify and address needs of the region's beginning school administrators. Needs were identified in school finance, school law, staff relations, student discipline and motivational techniques,…

Fifty-two subjects competed on a task against themselves, a difficult competitor, and an easy competitor. Certainty, ability attribution, and task satisfaction for those with low self-esteem were affected by perceived goal difficulty but not for those with high self-esteem. Low self-esteem groups had lower goals, certainty, and task performance.…

Setting organizational or program objectives is seen as requiring three steps (brainstorming goals for the year, prioritizing them, and visualizing them as smaller, discrete tasks) and six principles (making goals group-specific, setting deadlines, being realistic and explicit, writing down goals, defining measurable steps, and creating…

Certain characteristics qualify individuals to serve as mentor principals, including experience as practicing school administrators, demonstration of positive leadership qualities, ability to question beginning administrators appropriately, acceptance of alternative management methods, desire to promote exceptional performance, ability to model…

The organizational socialization process involves four stages: confronting and accepting organizational reality, achieving role clarity, locating oneself in the organizational context, and detecting signposts of successful socialization. To help orient beginning teachers, some guidelines and a sample orientation process are provided. Includes four…

A study of production workers, supervisors, and peer trainers in three manufacturing companies found that most workers were trained by peers; neither peer trainers nor supervisors received trainer training; training was wholly outside the oversight of training/personnel departments. Training practices evolved from experience rather than from…

Investigated the role of task factors in goal orientation by comparing motivational orientation scores obtained by college students on an ordinary class day to those obtained immediately prior to a test. Task-involvement scores were significantly lower under test conditions, but ego involvement was also found to significantly decrease at the time…

Identifies and discusses six challenges involving the incorporation of sexual orientation issues into the classroom: lack of student exposure to accurate information; selecting a lecture topic; attitudes of intolerance among students; avoiding generalizations; making the topic of sexual orientation relevant to the lives of students; and instructor…

This article reviews evidence for a link between suicide or suicidal behavior and sexual orientation by: 1) reviewing studies of the rates of completed and attempted suicide for gay, lesbian and bisexual people compared to the general population; 2) examining possible risk factors; 3) outlining opportunities for prevention; and 4) providing…

Studied the relevance and significance of goal-orientation theories to 158 high-ability, high-achieving adolescents in summer programs for the gifted. Results show that these adolescents were not free of ego concerns, including fear of failure and of not living up to expectations of peers and teachers, and that ego orientations may be more…

A study of 16 nurses' descriptions of their experiences, thoughts, and feelings that arose from interactions with nurse colleagues during their first year of nursing practice indicated a lack of consistency in the way they were assisted. Suggestions for better transition included mentoring, nonjudgmental guidance, and adequate time for…

Discusses career work--determining one's life path and how to pursue it. Outlines the stages (exploration, assessment, analysis, decision making, planning, implementation, and management) one takes to lead to life and work satisfaction and the competencies needed to complete the journey successfully. (JOW)

A review of empirical investigations of effects of goal setting on task performance of persons with mental retardation found that use of goal setting strategies, in conjunction with other instructional strategies, was associated with increased rate or accuracy of performance of both children and adults with mild to severe mental retardation.…

A 3-year study of 46 textile industry workers identified causes of employee turnover (supervision, training, organizational communication) using performance analysis. A study of multiple interventions based on the analysis resulted in changes in orientation procedures, organizational leadership, and climate, reducing turnover by 24%. (SK)