Public Administration Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …