Public Administration Commons^™

Marketing Internships: The Role Of Introspection In Students’ Satisfaction Reports, Flor Ornelas, Fernando Jiménez

Administrative Issues Journal

Despite the learning advantages of internship opportunities, many former interns bitterly complain about the dull tasks they had to perform during the internship. We argue that students’ satisfaction ratings with an internship are influenced by the current descriptive approach of final reports. When students list the tasks that they performed (i.e., what did you do?), they only engage in concrete thinking, missing the big picture. We contend that when an introspection approach is used (i.e., why did you do it?), students engage in abstract thinking, realizing the implications of the tasks they performed and hence, rating the internship experience more …

Complexity, Knowledge And Structure: A Systemic Understanding Of Organizational Learning, Justin D. Walton

Administrative Issues Journal

Organizations are among the most socially complex institutions within modern culture. As corporations face the challenges of technological change and globalization, it becomes essential that they find new ways and forms of fostering knowledge sharing and creativity. Challenging the age-old belief that employees should “dominated and directed,” complexity theory challenges the classic machine metaphor of organizational structure with a view that conceptualizes them as nonlinear systems that fluctuate between conditions of stability and chaos. This model offers new and exciting opportunities for exploring the dynamics of organizational learning. Toward this end, this paper examines the systemic features of organizations with …

Novice Principals Need Peer Mentoring, Rosalinda Hernandez, Velma Menchaca

Administrative Issues Journal

In this era of accountability, principals are now responsible for student achievement on high-stakes state-mandated assessments and the No Child Left Behind Act. The novice principals who enter the profession today face a multitude of issues as they learn on the job. Skills necessary to lead highly complex schools are not learned in traditional principal preparation programs, therefore, it becomes essential to support and assist novice principals at the beginning of the principalship career with a peer mentor, a more experienced school leader. Peer mentoring allows the principals to be socialized into the profession they are about to embark on …

An Interprofessional Education Opportunity For Future Health Care Leaders, Denise Neill, Jere Hammer

Administrative Issues Journal

Increasing emphasis on interprofessional collaborative practice to improve health care delivery quality and safety led nursing faculty in a small liberal arts university to explore a unique educational initiative with School of Business Administration faculty. While developing a master of science in nursing administration option, the opportunity to create a collaborative undergraduate health care administration concentration with the School of Business Administration developed. Common competencies and potential shared courses were identified. After launching the initiative, faculty from both schools collaborated to evaluate outcomes. Student response has been overwhelmingly positive. The ability to examine health care issues from both business and …

Reengineering Hospital Systems, Uche Nwabueze

Administrative Issues Journal

The paper suggests that effective systems implementation of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is only possible in hospital organizations capable of building open, honest, and lasting relationship with employees, suppliers, customers, and business partners. The paper suggests that the use of Inter-relationship management is the most effective approach for reengineering. It is noted that interrelationship management is not customer relationship management (CRM), nor is it relationship marketing (RM); it is about managerial governance involving three inter-related parts: process planning, process improvement, and process redesign.

School Leadership’S Trials And Trails: A Hundred Leadership Paths Diverged, Intertwined And Bifurcated, Sometimes Coming Out At The Same Place, Charles R. Waggoner

Administrative Issues Journal

School Leadership comes in many manifestatins and nomenclatures. Though the course of a day, a school year, or a lifetime an individual’s leadership style will emerge in a variety of diasporic ways that will encompass the unique individual who has the title of school administrator. The literature is replete with leadership terms and stories. All of the leadership paths and stores are instructive to those who pursue a lifetime of learning and leading in this business we call “school administratin.”

Mentoring Post-Secondary Tenure-Track Faculty: A Theory-Building Case Study And Implications For Institutional Policy, Dannielle Joy Davis, Patricia Boyer, Isela Russell

Administrative Issues Journal

The featured research uses theory-building case study to understand the experiences of junior faculty in a mentoring program. Findings suggest the importance of professional interaction for faculty members’ integration into their campus communities. An explanatory model illustrates the findings and supplements discussion of the implications for administrators in terms of retention of new faculty members in postsecondary settings.

A Comparison Of Urban, Suburban, And Rural Principal Leadership Skills By Campus Student Achievement Level, Susan Erwin, Pam Winn, John Erwin

Administrative Issues Journal

Because of the importance of developing highly skilled school leaders, statewide assessments of 784 Texas public school administrators were compared to determine how leadership skills varied by type of campus (urban, suburban and rural) and by campus student achievement ratings. Important findings indicate differences exist by campus type and by campus student academic achievement as measured by state accountability ratings. In particular, leadership skills of urban, suburban, and rural principals at campuses with the state’s highest student academic achievement ratings differ from skills of principal at schools with lower student academic achievement ratings.

Creating Opportunities With Mentoring Relationships, Carrie J. Boden Mcgill

Administrative Issues Journal

Navigating the cultural environment of academia can be a difficult task, particularly for first-generation college students and those who belong to groups typically marginalized in doctoral programs. This study examines two cases of first-generation, African American female graduate students to determine which traits preclude success in doctoral programs and how mentoring relationships influence completion. The women in this study come from similar backgrounds, but they adopted very different strategies for coping with adversity. It is possible that the presence or absence of positive mentoring relationships in their lives influenced the strategies that the women chose. This article seeks to strengthen …

Workload And The Changing Health Care Environment, Denisse Neill

Administrative Issues Journal

Changes in the health care environment have impacted nursing workload, quality of care, and patient safety. Nurses perceive that the quality of their work has diminished. Traditional nursing workload measures do not guarantee efficiency and do not adequately capture the complexity of nursing workload. Studies have identified tasks associated with nursing work but not the perception of the nurse about the mental work required to meet the demands. Human factors research examines cognitive and perceptual abilities needed to perform tasks in a reasonable time without error. Researchers using a human factors framework have focused on mental processing to understand why …

Revisiting The Arts In The No Child Left Behind Era, Patricia Simons

Administrative Issues Journal

Schools are responding differently to the mandates of NCLB. The purpose of this comparative case study is to investigate how two Title I elementary schools, one a member of a school reform network focused on the arts and one not a member of the network, are able to exceed AYP targets in reading and mathematics and not compromise teaching and learning in other core subjects. Included in the study is an examination of thinking skills embedded in visual arts instruction and transfer of learning to other content areas. Findings reveal that schools that are committed to the arts that are …

Nursing Workload And The Changing Health Care Environment: A Review Of The Literature, Denise Neill

Administrative Issues Journal

Changes in the health care environment have impacted nursing workload, quality of care, and patient safety. Traditional nursing workload measures do not guarantee efficiency, nor do they adequately capture the complexity of nursing workload. Review of the literature indicates nurses perceive the quality of their work has diminished. Research has looked at tasks associated with nursing work, but not the nurse’s perception of workload demands. Human factors research principles examine cognitive and perceptual abilities needed to meet the workload demands. A human factors framework focuses on mental demands and adds an understanding of why some demands are handled easily while …

Breaking Bad News In Healthcare Organizations: Application Of The Spikes Protocol, C. W. Vonbergen, Robert E. Stevens, David Loudon

Administrative Issues Journal

Organizational downsizing has increased exponentially worldwide and is also affecting the healthcare industry. It is one thing to speak abstractly of the need to reduce costs and quite another to actually tell a worker the bad news that he or she has been laid off. This paper offers practical advice to healthcare managers on conducting unpleasant conversations with employees based on a widely used medical model—the SPIKES protocol. This strategy has been extensively employed by physicians and other health care professionals who frequently communicate negative information to patients and is offered as an approach that can be easily and effectively …

Navigating The Challenges Of Helping Teachers Use Data To Inform Educational Decisions, Kelli Thomas, Douglas Huffman

Administrative Issues Journal

In this paper we present a model of collaborative evaluation that has been used to engage teachers in data-based decision making for improving teaching and learning in mathematics and science. We examine three external challenges that threaten the process of continuous school improvement; namely, making sense of data, policy changes, and curriculum changes. In addition, we describe how the collaborative evaluation model facilitated progress beyond these challenges.

Enacting Social Justice: Perceptions Of Educational Leaders, Linda R. Vogel

Administrative Issues Journal

This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice—as a concept and operationally—and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third …

Helping Teachers Be Successful: Lessons For Administrators, Steven W. Neill, Paul Bland, Edwin Church, Climetine Clayburn, W. Michael Shimeall

Administrative Issues Journal

The goal of this study was to identify areas of teacher performance that were lacking to the point that the teacher was nonrenewed. Individual school districts can gain insight into why teachers are failing and make adjustments to their training and teacher induction programs that will improve professional practice. The study found that teachers failed primarily in the area of classroom management. Of the 22 possible teaching skills in which teachers could be deficient, four of the top five causes for nonrenewal came within the category of classroom management (Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport, Managing Student Behavior, Managing …

Superintendent Length Of Tenure And Student Achievement, Scott Myers

Administrative Issues Journal

This quantitative study, utilizing the backward method of multiple regression, examined the relationship between the length of tenure of a superintendent and academic achievement as defined by the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment. To put this relationship into context, five other predictive variables were included as a part of this study: the individual’s total length of experience as a superintendent, the superintendent’s total length of experience in education, each district’s assessed valuation per pupil, each district’s percentage of students who qualified for free or reduced meal prices, and each …

Childhood Loss And Ad/Hd: Program Implications For Education Administrators, Helen Wilson Harris, Marlene Zipperlen

Administrative Issues Journal

Evidence-based practice and evidence-informed practice are not just buzzwords in education. It is essential that administrators encourage both the development and the application of new knowledge in the field. This study of 1755 elementary age children in Central Texas indicates a positive association between the experience of childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD. Implications of this information for administrators in education are explored, including the training of counselors and classroom teachers in grief interventions and accommodations for grief related attention problems in children.

Assessment Training In Principal Preparation Programs, Bettye Grigsby, Winona Vesey

Administrative Issues Journal

The role of the administrator has evolved over the past 30 years from manager to instructional leader. As instructional leaders, administrators are now responsible for student achievement on high-stakes state-mandated assessments. Therefore, it is imperative principal preparation programs provide the necessary training instructional leaders need to analyze and interpret assessment data and make informed decisions toward school improvement. This descriptive study analyzes four syllabi components to determine the extent to which testing and measurement are covered in each course: objectives, classroom sessions, resources, and activities. Based on responses from 30 universities across the United States, less than 30% of principal …

A Comparison Of Urban, Suburban, And Rural Principal Leadership Skills By Campus Student Achievement Level, Susan Erwin, Pam Winn, John Erwin

Administrative Issues Journal

Because of the importance of developing highly skilled school leaders, statewide assessments of 784 Texas public school administrators were compared in a causal-comparison study to determine how leadership skills varied by type of campus (urban, suburban and rural) and by campus student achievement ratings. Data were collected from a 2006-2008 Texas state-approved principal performance assessment, Principal Assessment of Student Success (PASS). Principal leadership skills identified in PASS were compared within campus student achievement categories as measured by Texas (No Child Left Behind) public school accountability ratings, and data were disaggregated by campus type (urban, suburban, rural). Important findings indicate that …

Distance And Face-To-Face Learning Culture And Values: A Conceptual Analysis, Carmen Tejeda -Delgado, Brett J. Millan, John R. Slate

Administrative Issues Journal

With distance learning increasing in popularity across the country and the world, a review of the extant literature as it relates to distance learning and face-to-face learning is warranted. In particular, this paper examined distance learning, including a historical overview, prevailing themes in past research, and studies relating the importance of the community concept in distance education. Also analyzed were research studies in which the importance of culture and values were addressed. Subsequently, the rationale for the development of instruments to quantify values, including the Schwartz Value Scale (SVS), was provided. Growth in online education has created an environment where …

Administrative Issues Journal: Table Of Contents

Administrative Issues Journal

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor-In-Chief, Patsy Parker

Administrative Issues Journal

No abstract provided.

Federal Accommodation Policy In Practice: Implications For A Substantive Process, Lynn Hemmer, Candace Baker

Administrative Issues Journal

The design of governmental regulations creates an assumption that policy implementation is linear in nature and is unproblematic (Dorey, 2005). As states, local education agencies (LEAs), and eventually school leaders and teachers engage in the policy implementation process, it becomes evident that this hierarchal dissemination of policy results in various interpretations and actions (Spillane, 1996, 2002). In the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the legislative language clearly states that students with disabilities are to participate in assessments with accommodations as described on their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Research suggests …

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Book Review: Sievers, B. R. (2010). Civil Society, Philanthropy, And The Fate Of The Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The selection of civil society institutions (which the author refers to as strands) around which the volume is woven is interesting because it contains several novel elements in a novel combination: civil society is said to consist of philanthropy, the common good, rule of law, nonprofit and voluntary institutions, individual rights, free expression and tolerance. This book is important reading for political philosophers, doctoral students and theorists interested in the connection of civil society and philanthropy. Yet it has a number of weaknesses that are enumerated in the review.

The Utilization Of Social Media: A Case Study Of The U.S. General Services Administration Experience, Maria Guida

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects

With 73 percent of people 18 and older actively using social media, it is becoming a mainstream method of communication for the American public (Lenhart et al. 2010, 18). If the government wants to effectively engage the public, it must leverage this opportunity. There is an apparent need for the government to keep up with the media shift by incorporating the use of social media into its traditional communication methods. Social networking sites have offered a way for the government and the public to engage each other in a two-way communication because they allow interaction among users. If the government …

Bills, Bribery And Brutality: How Rampant Corruption In The Electoral System Has Helped Prevent Democracy In Uganda, Sam Tabachnik

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looks at the electoral system in Uganda and the corruption and inefficiencies that go with it. In addition, this study delves into the most common electoral crimes and the way they are committed. Going even deeper, the study examines the reasons for bribery pervasiveness, the role of money in politics and the views locals have of their government and its leaders. Crucial institutions such as police, military, judiciary, Electoral Commission and civil society groups were also discussed in how they relate toelections and politics in Uganda.

The research design was qualitative, historical and descriptive. Information was gatheredby in-person …

Quantitative And Qualitative Research Controversy In Public Administration: An Analysis Of Statistical Data Presented On United Kingdom People Category In The Cia World Factbook, Khandaker Nayeemul Islam

The Hilltop Review

Two traditions of social science research can be identified as ‘quantitative‘ and ‘qualitative‘ research, which are different from each other in style and technique. Supporters of these two traditions ―sometimes seem to be at war regarding the supremacy of their respective tradition in analyzing social phenomena (King, Keohane and Verba, 1994). In general, this war is quite visible in the field of social science and in public administration, which refers as federal, state and local government, as a discipline of social science. Transcending the boundaries of academia this debate has received considerable interest recently from people every corner of the …

Homestead National Monument Of America, Geologic Resources Inventory Report, J. Graham

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report accompanies the digital geologic map data for Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska, produced by the Geologic Resources Division in collaboration with its partners. It contains information relevant to resource management and scientific research. This document incorporates preexisting geologic information and does not include new data or additional fieldwork.

Established as a memorial to pioneer life and the Homestead Act of 1862, Homestead National Monument of America preserves approximately 92 ha (228 acres) of terraced grassland and riparian, floodplain environments. Included in the monument are about 40 ha (100 acres) of restored tallgrass prairie and …