Administrative Issues Journal- Volume 1, Issue 2

VOLU

ME 1

ISSUE 2

OCTOBER 2

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BOARD MEMBERS

EDITORIAL BOARD

ADVISORY BOARD

Tami Moser, Ph.D.Editor-in-ChiefAssistant ProfessorSchool of Business & [email protected](580) 774-3069

Patsy Parker, Ph.D.Managing EditorAssociate ProfessorSchool of Business & [email protected](580) 774-3284

Kelly Moor, D.A.Copy/Production EditorAssistant ProfessorLangauge and [email protected](580) 774-7120

Trisha Wald, J.D.Senior Legal EditorAssistant ProfessorSchool of Business & [email protected](580) 774-3061

Evan Jarrett, B. B. A.Graduate AssistantSchool of Business & [email protected]

Les Crall, J.D.Associate DeanSWOSUSchool of Business & [email protected]

Jama Rand, Ph.D.PresidentSeattle Research Partners, [email protected]

Mary Aspedon, Ph.D.ProfessorSWOSUDepartment of [email protected]

Michael Williams, Ph.D.DeanTouro CollegeGraduate School of [email protected]

Virgil VanDusen, R.Ph., J.D.Bernhardt Professor of PharmacyTTUHSCCollege of [email protected]

Wendy SlaterUndergraduate AssistantSchool of Business & [email protected]

Lisa Appeddu, Ph.D.Research EditorAssociate ProfessorSchool of Allied Health [email protected](580) 774-3148

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTER FROM THE EDITORPatsy Parker 2

EDUCATIONA Comparison of Urban, Suburban, and Rural Principal Leadership Skills by Campus Student

Achievement LevelSusan Erwin, Pam Winn, and John Erwin 3

Assessment Training in Principal Preparation ProgramsBettye Grigsby and Winona Vesey 18

PRACTICE

RESEARCH

Childhood Loss and AD/HD: Program Implications for Education AdministratorsHelen Wilson Harris and Marlene Zipperlen 32

Superintendent Length of Tenure and Student AchievementScott Myers 43

Helping Teachers be Successful: Lessons for AdministratorsSteven W. Neill, Paul Bland, Edwin Church, Climetine Clayburn, and W. Michael Shimeall 54

Enacting Social Justice: Perceptions of Educational LeadersLinda Vogel 69

Distance and Face-to-Face Learning Culture and Values: A Conceptual AnalysisCarmen Tejeda-Delgado, Brett J. Millan, and John R. Slate 118

Nursing Workload and the Changing Health Care Environment: A Review of the LiteratureDenise Neill 132

To the Point: How Management Faculty Use Powerpoint Slides and QuizzesStan Williamson, Kenneth E. Clow, and Robert E. Stevens 144

Federal Accommodation Policy in Practice: Implications for a Substantive ProcessLynn Hemmer and Candace Baker 83

Navigating the Challenges of Helping Teachers Use Data to Inform Educational DecisionsKelli Thomas and Douglas Huffman 94

Breaking Bad News in Healthcare Organizations: Application of the SPIKES ProtocolC.W. VonBergen, Robert E. Stevens, and David Loudon 103

Except as otherwise expressly provided, the author of each article in this volume and the Administrative Issues Journal have granted permission for copies of that article to be made and used by nonprofit educational institutions, provided that author and Administrative Issues Journal are identified and that proper notice of copyright is affixed to each copy. In all other cases, the author and the Administrative Issues Journal should be contacted directly.

BOOK REVIEW

Lester, B., M., & Sparrow, J. D. (Eds.) Nurturing Children and Families: Building on the Legacy of T. Berry Brazelton

Kathleen Fite 155

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2a

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Throughout my 27-year teaching career, I have encountered many opportunities that have challenged me to reach toward a higher standard. You know what I’m talking about—those possibilities that make you pause and wonder whether you are capable of achieving them. The Administrative Issues Journal and conference presented that kind of opportunity.

In September 2009, Dr. Tami Moser and I were on our way home from a conference at Fort Hays State University where we had presented a new research project. After a packed three-day conference schedule, I was content to relax and let my mind unwind, but Dr. Moser’s mind was energetically engagted in thinking about the future. She proposed that we publish an academic journal and host a conference at SWOSU. Dr. Moser is much more research-driven than I am, so I simply listened to her and admired her enthusiasm, but as her dream took on more structure, instinct told me she was going to make this dream a reality.

I was right.

Although I was resistant at first, I warmed up to the challenge as the planning began over the next few weeks. We began putting together the editorial team and soon the journal became a reality. In spring 2011, our first issue was published, and now, in fall 2011, our second issue is being published, and we are welcoming scholarly presenters to our inaugural conference.

Dale Carnegie said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” This has certainly been the case in the development of the AIJ. It has been a lot of work, but I have frequently described the entire process as the most enjoyable, productive thing I’ve done in my academic career. The five editors and two graduate students who have worked together toward the publication of the journal and the production of the conference make a great team. Together, we have already realized some of the benefits of reaching toward our goal to create opportunities for our campus, our colleagues, and ourselves, and we chose our inaugural conference theme, Creating Opportunities, based on that positive experience. It is my hope, as I continue along this educational path, that I will continue to encourage my students and colleagues to create opportunities and have fun along the way.

Patsy ParkerManaging Editor

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3 Erwin, Winn, and Erwin

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A COMPARISON OF URBAN, SUBURBAN, AND RURAL PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS BY CAMPUS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL SUSAN ERWIN PAM WINN JOHN ERWINTarleton State University

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). Im-portant findings indicate that leadership skills of urban, suburban, and rural principals at campuses with the state’s highest student academic achievement ratings differ from skills of principals at schools with lower student academic achievement ratings. Study findings indicate that principals from all campus achievement levels demonstrate functional domain (man-agerial) skills; however, as principals increasingly demonstrate programming domain (systemic) skills, campus student achievement increases. This finding suggests the need for professional development aimed at nurturing systemic practices among campus leaders. In addition, clear communication, both individually (i.e. Oral Expression) and within groups (i.e. Staff Development) appears to differentiate leaders at more highly rated campuses, indicating a need to develop these skills to a greater extent.

Keywords: school leadership, academic achievement, urban schools, suburban schools, rural schools

Twenty five years of education research confirms that quality school leadership is second only to classroom instruction in influencing student achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Lesotte, 1992, 1991; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005; Winn, Erwin, Gentry, & Cauble, 2009a, 2009b). As school administrator

responsibilities continue to increase worldwide, development of effective school leadership is requisite (Olson, 2008). Consequently, targeting specific leadership skills related to student achievement might, ultimately, improve student academic performance in urban, suburban, and rural schools.

SPECIAL CHALLENGES FOR URBAN, SUBURBAN, AND RURAL PRINCIPALSLiterature related to the urban principalship focuses on four challenges (Winn, et al., 2009b): low SES/high minority population (Laird, DeBell, Kienzl, & Chapman, 2007; Nevarez & Wood, 2007; Talbert-Johnson, 2006); inexperienced teachers (Cortney & Coble, 2005; Humphrey, Koppich, & Hough 2005); and increasing numbers of dropouts and loss of students (and related revenue) to charter schools (Jewell, 2004; Lewis, 2004; May, 2007).

Recent suburban demographic shifts have produced growing numbers of minority students moving into predominantly White, well-funded, middle class suburban schools (Bancroft, 2009; Hill, 2009). Suburban principals face challenges associated with predominantly White faculties who lack awareness of minority cultural differences, resulting in deficit views regarding minority students’ learning and behavior differences (2005Chaney & De Gennaro, 2005; Howard, 2007; Mabokela & Madsen,). These challenges have been exacerbated by rapid growth of English language learner populations in many suburban districts (Field, 2008; Howard, 2007).

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4Erwin, Winn, and Erwina

In contrast, literature related to the rural principalship focuses on three challenges (Winn, et al., 2009a): retention of effective principals (Arnold, Gaddy, & Dean, 2004; Partlow & Ridenor 2008; Provasnik, Kewalramani, Coleman, Gilbertson, Herring, & Xie, 2007); difficult community relations (Cruzeiro & Morgan, 2006; Jimerson, 2005; Mitchem, Kossar, & Ludlow 2006); and pressure to meet standards with limited resources (Arnold et al., 2004; Warren & Peel, 2005). Thus, although urban, suburban, and rural school leaders face different obstacles, there is a pronounced need for effective, skilled leaders in each type of school.

PURPOSEIn spite of overwhelming evidence (Winn, et al., 2009a, 2009b) that principals have an essential role in creating effective schools (Leithwood, et.al., 2004; Lesotte, 1992, 1991; Marzano, et al., 2005), comparisons of leadership skills in terms of student academic achievement and type of school population (urban, suburban, or rural) have not been conducted. Because of the urgency of developing highly skilled school leaders, this study compared the leadership skills of practicing urban, suburban, and rural administrators to determine to what degree their skills differed by campus student achievement.

METHOD

Data Source: Leadership Skill Assessment

Records collected in 2006-2008 from a Texas state-approved professional development performance assessment, Principal Assessment of Student Success (PASS), provided the data for this study (see Appendix A). Using substantiation provided by principals (campus improvement plan, state accountability data, Adequate Yearly Progress, phone interviews, teacher performance data, and student performance data), PASS assessor teams (two assessors per principal recruited from among Texas veteran campus and central office administrators and university educational leadership departments) rated principal leadership skills. Identified by Thompson (1993) and adopted by the National Policy Board of Educational Administration (NPBEA), skills within three domains (functional, programming, and interpersonal) provided the context from which to assess principal leadership (see Appendix B).

Data Source: Campus Student Achievement by Campus Type

Finally, to identify the relationship between leadership skills and campus student achievement, assessor-identified NPBEA skills were compared within campus student achievement categories as measured by Texas (No Child Left Behind) public school accountability ratings (See Appendix C) from low to high: Academically Acceptable (AA), Recognized (R) or Exemplary (E). Campus achievement was then disaggregated by campus type (urban, suburban, rural) as identified from principal records in PASS.

Participants

PASS data accessed from Texas principal evaluations conducted state-wide from 2006 through 2008 yielded records of 784 elementary, middle, and high school principals from 248 urban, 277 suburban, and 259 rural schools (see Appendix D). Unequal representation of schools at each instructional level (elementary, middle, and high school) within each state accountability level (AA, R, E) may have affected interpretation of study findings; however, the dispersion of these data reflects the pattern of accountability ratings in Texas.

Data Analysis

Frequency counts and percentages were used to compare assessor rankings of NPBEA skills for principals at each state accountability level (AA, R, E) disaggregated by campus type (See Appendix E and Table 1). Chi-square cross tabulation tables determined dependence/independence by school accountability ratings and principals’ NPBEA skill rating frequency counts. All Chi-square comparisons of leadership skills by campus achievement yielded p values that were not statistically significant (p > 0.05) and, thus, were not reported. Finally, findings were sub-divided by

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NPBEA skill domains (functional, programming, and interpersonal) to provide context for identifying trends in school leadership by accountability rating and campus type (see Appendix E and Table 1).

RESULTS

Comparison of NPBEA Skills by Campus Type and Campus Accountability Rating

Assessor ratings of the top five skills by campus accountability ratings produced 672 ratings for 244 urban principals (see Appendix C), 711 ratings for 277 suburban principals (see Appendix D), and 714 ratings for 259 rural principals (see Appendix E). The five most frequently rated skills by campus type (urban, suburban, or rural) and state accountability group (AA, R, E) are listed in Table 1. Of the 14 NCBEA skills assessed, five did not appear (Problem Analysis, Curriculum Design, Measurement and Evaluation, and Resource Allocation) among those most frequently observed.

Although the skills rating were different in order, principals of all campus types and state accountability groups demonstrated high ratings in skills of Leadership and Sensitivity. Information Collection was rated highly for all but urban R campus principals, and Organizational Oversight was common to all but urban E campus principals. Student Guidance and Development was rated highly at urban AA, R, E and rural E campuses, while Judgment was noted among urban R, suburban AA, rural R, and rural E leaders. Skills appearing in only two groups included Instructional Management (suburban E and rural AA) and Oral Expression (urban E and suburban R). A unique skill exhibited by only one campus group was Staff Development (rural E).

Assessors consistently highly rated AA campus leaders on three functional domain skills (Leadership, Sensitivity, Information Collection, and Organizational Oversight) and one interpersonal domain skill (Sensitivity) regardless of campus type (urban, suburban, rural). Only Student Guidance and Development (urban), Judgment (suburban), and Instructional Management (rural) differed among AA campus leaders. Notably, these skills all fall within the programming domain. Six of the 14 NPBEA skills were exhibited most frequently among AA campus leaders.

At R rated campuses, urban, suburban, and rural principals were rated the same in two functional domain skills (Leadership and Organizational Oversight) and one interpersonal domain skill (Sensitivity). Information Collection, a functional domain skill, was rated highly for all except urban campus principals, and Judgment, a programming domain skill, was common to all except suburban campus principals. Unique skills exhibited by only one R campus type were Oral Expression (suburban), an interpersonal domain skill, and Student Guidance and Development (urban), a programming domain skill. Seven of the 14 NPBEA skills were exhibited most frequently among R campus leaders.

Leaders from E rated campuses shared two functional domain skills (Leadership and Information Collection) and one interpersonal domain skill (Sensitivity). Organizational Oversight, a functional domain skill, was rated highly for all except urban campus principals, and Student Guidance and Development, a programming domain skill, was common to all except suburban campus principals. Unique skills exhibited by only one E campus type were Oral Expression (urban), an interpersonal domain skill, Instructional Management (suburban), a programming domain skill, and Staff Development and Judgment (rural), both programming domain skills. Nine of the 14 NPBEA skills were exhibited most frequently among E campus leaders.

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS

Comparisons of Overall Principal Skills

Of the 14 NPBEA skills assessed, only nine were consistently identified among the top skills of sampled Texas principals. Regardless of school type (urban, suburban, and rural) or campus achievement rating (AA, R, E), sampled principals were rated highest in the same four of the 14 NPBEA skills assessed (Leadership, Sensitivity, Information Collection, and Organizational Oversight). This indicates the importance of these skills in school leadership. However, the absence of Problem Analysis, Curriculum Design, Measurement and Evaluation, and Resource Allocation also has strong implications. Four of the nine are programming domain skills requiring systemic campus leadership and holistic

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perspective, enabling principals to develop frameworks, design anticipated outcomes, implement supervision, set goals, and utilize inferential thinking. Due to the complexity of these concerns, it is possible assessors found these skills more difficult to quantify.

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Comparisons of Principal Skills within Student Achievement Groups

Leaders at campuses with highest student achievement exhibited a greater number of skills (e.g., AA - six, R - seven, and E – nine), indicating a possible relationship between campus student achievement and number of leadership skills exhibited by the campus principal. Principals at AA and R campuses exhibited three common functional skills (Leadership, Information Collection, and Organizational Oversight) and one common interpersonal skill (Sensitivity). By contrast, E campus principals exhibited two functional domain skills (Organizational Oversight and Judgment), both of which require the use of perspective rather than managerial skill, and three programming domain skills (Student Guidance and Development, Instructional Management, and Staff Development) which require utilizing resources, prioritizing, and drawing informed conclusions to make quality decisions. These findings support Anagnostopoulus and Rutlege’s (2007) contention that student achievement increases when leadership is collaborative rather than managerial.

Comparisons of Principal Skills within Campus Types (Urban, Suburban, Rural)

Unique top rated skills among urban principals by campus student achievement were Student Guidance and Development (AA), Judgment (R), and Oral Expression (E). These differences may reflect inherent challenges at each accountability level. AA principals, faced with greater numbers of low performing students, may focus more intently on critical student learning needs (Student Guidance and Development, programming domain) to avoid sanctions associated with low test scores (Anagnostopoulos & Rutledge, 2007). R campus principals may focus less on sanctions and, instead, rely upon Judgment for collaborative decision making to prioritize significant campus issues affecting overall student performance. Interpersonal domain skills like Oral Expression improve effectiveness of functional and programming skills; thus E principals, who are less threatened by poor student performance, may require skills with more precision to improve already successful programs. Large, complex student populations (Laird et al., 2007; Nevarez & Wood, 2007) and inexperienced teachers (Cortney & Coble, 2005; Humphrey et al., 2005; Tillman, 2003) may require the most successful urban leaders to develop greater communication skills, thus differentiating campus achievement.

Suburban principals shared four skills; however, the fifth skill varied by campus rating. AA campus leaders exhibited Judgment, while R leaders demonstrated Oral Expression, and E campus leaders practiced Instructional Management. Again, challenges faced by campuses may account for differences. Perhaps suburban principals at AA campuses exhibited Judgment (functional domain) to address myriad challenges associated with student demographics changes (Field, 2008; Howard, 2007; Mabokela & Madsen, 2005). Likewise, altering instruction to meet diverse learning needs may explain why suburban principals at E schools were rated highest in Instructional Management. Furthermore, campus success might favor leaders with communication expertise, differentiating AA to R campus leaders.

Top rated skills of rural principals differed by Instructional Management (AA), Judgment (R and E), and Staff Development and Student Guidance and Development (E). It appears that E campus principals were more willing to risk capitalizing on their unique leadership strengths, whereas their AA and R campus counterparts approached leadership with greater conformity to traditional models. Furthermore, rural principals who demonstrated programming domain skills (i.e. Staff Development and Student Guidance and Development) provided systemic, collaborative leadership that may result in improved achievement in comparison to counterparts at lower performing campuses who demonstrated functional domain (managerial skills) supported by interpersonal skills (Baxter, 2008; Daresh, 2007). Rural E campus principals were the only group to exhibit Staff Development among the top five skills. Due to limited resources associated with rural campuses (Arnold et al., 2004; Warren & Peel, 2005), effective faculty training may differentiate rural campus student achievement levels.

Comparisons of Principal Skills among All Campus/ Achievement types

Differentiated by only two skills per campus type (urban, rural, suburban), leaders at AA rated schools were more likely to exhibit similar skills than their counterparts at R or E rated campuses. Among leaders from R rated campuses, suburban/rural leaders were most alike, differing by only two skills; whereas, urban/rural leaders differed by three

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skills, while urban/suburban leaders differed by four skills. The greatest differences in leadership skills were exhibited among E campus leaders. Three skills differentiated E leaders in urban/suburban and urban/rural comparisons, while four skills differentiated E leaders in suburban/rural comparisons. Overall, AA campus leaders were most similar regardless of campus type, supporting studies indicating when schools face sanctions, principals utilize management versus systemic leadership strategies (Anagnostopoulos & Rutledge, 2007).

The largest differences among leadership groups were found between suburban/rural E campus leaders. These differences may result from differences in suburban/rural financial resources (Hill, 2009; Warren & Peel, 2005) and suburban demographic changes more comparable to urban, rather than rural, schools (Howard, 2007; Nevarez & Wood, 2007).

RECOMMENDATIONSAs noted, quality school leadership is second only to classroom instruction in influencing student achievement (Leithwood et al., 2004). Study findings indicate that principals from all campus achievement levels demonstrate functional domain (managerial) skills; however, as principals increasingly demonstrate programming domain (systemic) skills, campus student achievement increases. This finding suggests the need for professional development aimed at nurturing systemic practices among campus leaders. In addition, clear communication, both individually (i.e. Oral Expression) and within groups (i.e. Staff Development) appears to differentiate leaders at more highly rated campuses, indicating a need to develop these skills to a greater extent.

Future study examining principal attributes (i.e. gender, pre-administrative educational experience, leadership experience) that influence principals’ skills might further clarify differences among leaders from schools with different student achievement levels. Furthermore, differentiation of principals’ skills by campus level of instruction (i.e. elementary or secondary) might identify skills unique to student instructional level.

REFERENCESAnagnostopoulos, D., & Rutledge, S. (2007, May). Making sense of school sanctioning policies in urban high schools. Teachers College Record, 109(5), 1261-1302.

Arnold, M., Gaddy, B., & Dean, C. (2004). A look at the condition of rural education research: Setting a direction for future research. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

Bancroft, K. (2009, January 1). To have and to have not: The socioeconomics of Charter Schools. Education and Urban Society, 41(2), 248-279.

Baxter, V. (2008). A communitarian framework for planning educational leadership preparation programs. Educational Planning, 17(1), 18-26.

Chaney, J., & DeGennaro, A. (2005, November 1). Where everybody knows your name. Principal Leadership, 6(3), 22-26.

Cortney, R., & Coble, C. (2005, March). Targeting teacher recruitment and retention policies for at-risk schools. Policy Issues. Number 20. Learning Point Associates / North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED489524)

Cruzeiro, P., & Morgan, R. (2006, Spring). The rural principal’s role with consideration for special education. Education, 126(3), 569-579.

Daresh, J. (2007, Fall). Mentoring for beginning principals: Revisiting the past or preparing for the future? Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 20(4), 28-34.

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Field, R. (2008, November 1). Keeping pace in suburbia and rural America. School Administrator, 65(10), 24-26.

Hill, K. (2009, January 1). A historical analysis of desegregation and racism in a racially polarized region: Implications for the historical construct, a diversity problem, and transforming teacher education toward culturally relevant pedagogy. Urban Education, 44(1), 106-139.

Howard, G. (2007, March 1). As diversity grows, so must we. Educational Leadership, 64(6), 16-22.

Humphrey, D., Koppich, J., & Hough, H. (2005, March). Sharing the wealth: National board certified teachers and the students who need them most. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 13(18), 1-50.

Jewell, A. (2007, September). Ten years and still failing: An analysis of Ohio. Focus Education. Retrieved from http://www.sheffield.k12.oh.us/Focus%20Education%20Special%20Report%209-12-07.pdf

Jimerson, L. (2005, August), Placism in NCLB – How rural children are left behind. Equity & Excellence in Education, 38(3), 211-219.

Laird, J., DeBell, M., Kienzl, G., & Chapman, C. (2007). Dropout Rates in the United States: 2005 (NCES 2007-059). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved fromhttp://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.

Leithwood, K., Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004) How leadership influences student learning. A commissioned report. NY: Wallace Foundation.

Lesotte, L. (1991) Correlates of effective schools: The first and second generation. Okemos, MI: Effective Schools Products.

Lessote, L. (1992). “Principal” insights from effective schools. Education Digest, 58(3), 14-17.

Lewis, A. (2004, march). Failing NCLB. The Education Digest, 69(7), 65-67.

Mabokela, R., & Madsen, J. (2005, July 1). Color-blind and color-conscious leadership: A case study of desegregated suburban schools in the USA. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 8(3), 187-206.

Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005) School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA, and Aurora, CO: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

May, J. (2007, Fall). The market-driven age of education: Challenges of urban school leadership. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 20(4), 28-34.

Mitchem, K., Kossar, K., & Ludlow, B. (2006, Summer). Finite resources, increasing demands: Rural children left behind? Educators speak out on issues facing rural special education. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 25(3), 13-23.

Nevarez, C., & Wood, J. (2007, December). Developing urban school leaders: Building on solutions 15 years after the Los Angeles riots. Educational Studies, 42(3), 266-280.

Olson, L. (2008, April). Lack of school leadership seen as a global problem. Education Week, 27(33), 8.

Partlow, M., & Ridenour, C. (2008, Spring). Frequency of principal turnover in Ohio’s elementary schools. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 21(2), 15-23.

Provasnik, S., KewalRamani, A, Coleman, M., Herring, W., & Xie, Q. (2007, July). Status of Education in Rural America. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

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Rammer, R. (2007, November, December). Call to action for superintendents: Change the way you hire principals. Journal of Educational Research, 101(2), 67-76.

Scribner, J., Cockrell, K. Cockrell, D., & Valentine, J. (1999). Creating professional learning communities in schools through organizational learning: An evaluation of the school improvement process. Educational Administration Quarterly, 35(1), 130-160.

Talbert-Johnson, C. (2006, November). Preparing highly qualified teacher candidates for urban schools: The importance of dispositions. Education and Urban Society, 39, 147-161.

Tredway, L., Brill, F., & Hernandez, J. ( 2007, Summer). Taking off the cape: The stories of novice urban leadership. Theory Into Practice, 46(3), 212-221.

Thomson, S. (Ed.). (1993). Principals for our changing schools: The knowledge and skills base. Fairfax, VA: National Policy Board for Education Administration.

Warren, L., & Peel, H. (2005, January). Collaborative model for school reform through a rural school/university partnership. Education, 126(2), 346.

Winn, P., Erwin, S., Gentry, J., & Cauble, M. (2009a, April). Rural principal leadership skill proficiency and student achievement. Paper presented to the American Education Research Association (AERA), Annual Meeting. SIG: Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership. San Diego, CA.

Winn, P., Erwin, S., Gentry, J., & Cauble, M. (2009b, April). Urban principal leadership skill proficiency and student achievement. Paper presented to the American Education Research Association (AERA), Annual Meeting. SIG: Leadership for School Improvement. San Diego, CA.

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APPENDIX APrincipal Assessment of Student Success (PASS)

Principal Assessment for Student Success (PASS) is a principal assessment that has been approved by the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) for principal assessment within the state of Texas. According to Texas Education Code (TEC) 21.054, all principals must complete an assessment in order to maintain certification. The overarching goals of PASS include:

• To determine the level of knowledge and skills for the principalship that each principal assessed demonstrates.

• To provide quality assessment activities relevant to the role of the principalship.

• To provide purposeful and constructive feedback related to each principal’s demonstration of knowledge and skills.

• To provide opportunities for each principal assessed to be reflective about his/her level of knowledge and skills, as well as to his/her plan for professional growth.

PASS is based on three sets of criteria: skills, standards, and knowledge. The skills included in the assessment comprise 14 of the 21 skills identified for the principalship by the National Board of Policy Educational Administration (see Appendix B). The standards are the seven State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) Standards which are required by the state to be included in the assessment. The knowledge is a compilation of the Ten Components of Effective Schools, the framework components of Instructional Leadership Development (ILD), and the instructional processes from the Student Success Initiative (SSI).

Each criterion is measured multiple times in PASS through a variety of authentic activities within the assessment. PASS contains a self-assessment process, a campus component, a teacher component, and a student component. All activities are based on authentic data provided by the principal being assessed and are directly connected to his/her campus.

The assessment process occurs over a 30-day period. All online activities are completed within 16 days and are then submitted for assessor review. The assessors are given 11 days to review the online responses and conduct a phone interview with the principal. Each principal’s data and entry is reviewed by two assessors. One assessor is considered the primary assessor and, in addition to scoring the rubrics for each activity, provides written feedback on each activity. The assessment also includes one, face-to-face feedback session in which principals expand on their previous responses with a state-of-the -campus report and a plan of action for a teacher in need of assistance. Each primary assessor provides up to one hour of verbal feedback to each principal being assessed.

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APPENDIX BNational Policy Board of Educational Administration (NPBEA):

Knowledge and Skill Domains

Functional Domain Skills comprise base-level management and organizational structure to supervise daily, routine campus business (e.g. to run the buses on time, schedule classes, or maintain order). Evidence of effectiveness is typically quantifiably measurable (e.g. attendance records, disciplinary referrals).

• Leadership: Providing purpose and direction, formulating goals with staff and setting priorities based on community and district priorities and student and staff needs.

• Information Collection: Classifying and organization information for use in decision making and mentoring.

• Problem Analysis: Identifying problems, identifying possible causes, seeking additional needed information, framing possible solutions.

• Judgment: Giving priority to significant issues then reaching logical conclusions and making quality decisions.

• Organizational Oversight: Planning and scheduling own and other’s work so that resources are used appropriately and monitoring priorities so that goals and deadlines are met.

Programming Domain Skills provide systemic campus leadership requiring a holistic perspective that incorporates but surpass functional domain skills. More complex and difficult to quantify, these skills enable principals to develop frameworks, design anticipated outcomes, implement ongoing supervision, set goals, and draw inferences.

• Instructional Management: Ensuring appropriate instructional methods are used to create positive learning experiences.

• Curriculum Design: With staff, planning and implementing a framework for instruction and aligning curriculum with anticipated outcomes.

• Student Guidance and Development: Enlisting the support and cooperation of diverse professionals, citizens, community agencies, parents and students to promote the growth and development of all students.

• Staff Development: Supervising individuals and groups and providing feedback on performance and initiating self-development.

• Measurement and Evaluation: Examining the extent to which outcomes meet or exceed previously defined goals, or priorities and drawing inferences for program revisions.

• Resource Allocation: Allocating, monitoring and evaluating fiscal, human, material and time resources to reach campus goals and objectives.

Interpersonal Domain Skills employ functional and programming domain skills, but are subject to individual perception, making measurement more difficult. For example, principals may perceive themselves to be sensitive while faculty members disagree. Nevertheless, these skills improve effective implementation of both functional and programming skills.

• Sensitivity: Perceiving and responding to the needs and concerns of others.

• Oral and Nonverbal Expression: Making oral presentations that are clear and easy to understand.

• Written Expression: Expressing ideas and appropriately in writing for different audiences. (Thomson, 1993).

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APPENDIX CTexas Education Agency: School Accountability Rating

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APPENDIX DSample

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APPENDIX ENPBEA SKILLS BY TEXAS ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS

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Pamela Winn ([email protected]) holds a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Texas A&M-Commerce. She has been employed with Tarleton State University since April 2002 where she serves as an Associate Professor and Director of the New Century Educational Leadership Program (NCELP). She has served in both public and higher education with experiences ranging from teaching to administration. Pamela’s research interests have centered on curriculum design, instructional management, and leadership development. She has presented extensively at conferences at both the national and state levels, and has trained principal assessors across the state.

Susan Erwin ([email protected]), a native of Missoula, Montana, currently lives in Fort Worth and holds a B.A. in History, an M.Ed. in Special Education and a Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. With 23 years K-12 public school experience and 8 years in higher education, she presently serves as Graduate Program Coordinator for the TSU Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

John Erwin ([email protected]) holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. In addition to more than 20 years teaching English in public schools, he has taught college composition and literature courses. Currently John serves as a writing specialist for the TSU Department of Curriculum and Instruction in Fort Worth.

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18Grigsby and Veseya

ASSESSMENT TRAINING IN PRINCIPAL PREPARATION PROGRAMSBETTYE GRIGSBYUniversity of Houston-Clear Lake

WINONA VESEYUniversity of Houston-Clear Lake

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. There-fore, 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 preparation programs are preparing candidates to be data-driven decision-makers. The most frequently adopted textbooks provided practical applications, and respondents used a wide variety of activities that provided rel-evant data-driven experiences; however, less than 50% of respondents spent at least 19 hours on testing and measurement in a 45-hour semester. The researchers make recommendations principal preparation programs may include to increase data-driven decision-making experiences.

Keywords: principal preparation, data-driven decisions, assessment, school leaders

In today’s era of accountability, the role of the principal has developed into one of an instructional leader (DiPaola & Hoy, 2008; McEwan, 2003). The charge to be leaders of instruction requires principals to understand the process of analyzing assessments (Hess & Kelly, n.d.). It is essential principals know how to use information from both

classroom and state assessments alike, in order to drive student achievement and school improvement. Principals are responsible for supporting their teachers in using formative classroom assessments to improve student learning. Principals are also called to encourage their teachers in the use of summative end-of-year state assessments to highlight areas needing professional development and support.

Because of the great emphasis on continuous increased student achievement and school improvement, there is much debate as to whether principal preparation programs have stayed abreast of the changing demands of the field (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, & Orr, 2007; Farkas, Johnson, & Duffett, 2003; Hess & Kelly, 2005b; Reeves & Burt, 2006).

In 2005, Levine rated principal preparation programs from inadequate to appalling following a four-year extensive study of institutions. His study consisted of a national survey of deans, chairs, directors, faculty, working principals, and alumni of education schools; 28 case studies of national school and departments of education; and a demographic report of institutions across the U.S., including, a review of their dissertations, the degrees awarded, and programs offered. Levine reported that 30% of school administrators stated their preparation programs did poor jobs of preparing them for handling test-based accountability systems. Given the fluidity of the principalship over the last 70 years, one might expect that principal preparation programs have stayed current with the changing demands in the field, but that does not appear to be the case (Levine, 2005). The purpose of the current study is to offer an update of the training offered by U.S. principal preparation programs and determine if that training has in fact kept up with the changing demands in the field. The researchers are specifically interested in training related to analyzing and interpreting assessment data to make informed decisions for the improvement of student performance on assessments. To that end, we pose the following research question: What training are United States principal preparation programs currently providing instructional leaders in the interpretation and analysis of assessment data

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19 Grigsby and Vesey

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toward school improvement?

FRAMEWORK OF DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKINGThe process of continuous school improvement may be accomplished through data-driven decision making (DDDM). DDDM is the collection, analysis, and reporting of student assessment data and relevant background information used to guide decisions related to the planning and implementing of instructional strategies in the classroom for individual students toward school improvement (AASA, 2002; Cradler, 2010). The progression towards sustaining continuous improvement utilizing DDDM is cyclic in nature (Boudett, City, & Murnane, 2006). It is imperative schools advance through and repeat the following four-step approach of DDDM in order to perpetuate school improvement.

Step One: Establish a Data Friendly Environment while Reviewing the School’s Improvement Plan

Administrators and staff should collaboratively review the improvement plan to determine the need for and use of data collection (Williamson & Blackburn, 2009). Once the areas in need of improvement have been established, goals must be set to clearly define the school’s direction (Flowers & Carpenter, 2009). As the collective group prioritizes the goals and works through this process, an environment establishing the importance of compiling and using data is created (Ellingsen, 2007). In order to further build a level of comfort during data collection, an administrator will want to help staff become literate in reading assessment reports (Boudett, City, & Murnane, 2006). Therefore, sessions to assist staff in becoming familiar with the various types of data, certain language utilized in data reports, and key concepts are essential to a better understanding.

Step Two: Data Collection

The usage of multiple data sources influences the quality of the data collected (Texas Education Agency, 2009). Therefore, a list of data sources that could be used to make informed decisions about the focus area should be generated. Once the data presently housed on the campus are located, the group will need to determine how the data can be used to meet the goals. For example, this could include walk-through reports, curriculum guides, lesson plans, and standardized test scores (Williamson & Blackburn, 2009). Additional data pertaining to the focus area may also be collected from teacher, parent, and student surveys.

Step Three: Examine and Discuss the Data

Administrators should engage staff in meaningful dialogue concerning what they see in the data. In-depth conversations surrounding the data can alleviate individual pre-determined notions about what the data show and will keep everyone focused on examining the results. Questions such as What do the data tell them? Is their school where they want it to be? What do the data not tell them? and What additional information is needed? should be considered during these candid conversations (Flowers & Carpenter, 2009). After analyzing data from each data source, patterns across sources may be observed (Williamson & Blackburn, 2009), after which a shared examination of campus instruction should ensue. A discussion of effective instructional practices along with assistance to staff in the examination of what is happening on the campus can be compared to the kind of effective instruction needed for continuous improvement (Boudett, City, & Murnane, 2009).

Step Four: Construct the Plan and Evaluate Progress

Develop short-term and long-term goals indicating where the campus would like to be in the area of concern within the next 1-5 years. When creating the action plan, administrators and staff should ascertain what resources are available to help reach the goals, select strategies that will lead to achieving the campus needs, and identify professional development activities necessary to provide support in the implementation of the strategies (Boudett, City, & Murnane, 2006; Flowers & Carpenter, 2009). Finally, consider how progress will be measured. Formative and summative evaluations should occur throughout the year to assess any successes or deficiencies of the plan that need to be addressed.

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LITERATURE REVIEWFor decades, classroom instruction has relied on the skills and expertise of university faculty to determine strategies most effective when teaching students, rather than relying on data-driven practices (Picciano, 2006). With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), principals are held accountable and expected to use assessment data when making decisions toward improved student achievement (Mandinach & Honey, 2008). Furthermore, NCLB “requires states to develop tests to assess student achievement so data-driven decisions become an integral part of the educational system” (Yell & Drasgow, 2005, p. 1).

The use of data furnishes principals with valuable information regarding the strengths and areas of concern for students, the curriculum, instructional practices, and resources (Sindelar, 2006). Principals are no longer just considered managers of the building; they must also be data analysts. However, Creighton (2005) cautions principals to take more than a superficial look at data to ensure all students are receiving equitable, rigorous, and appropriate instruction.

Dimensions of Data-Driven Decision-Making Principals

The Ontario Principals’ Council (2009) denotes three dimensions of a data-driven principal: leader, professional developer, and communicator. As a leader, it is imperative the principal have a vision of how the school will use data in decision making for school improvement. The instructional leader is obligated to show the effectiveness of DDDM and explain how it is accomplished. A successful DDDM leader has an understanding of sound assessment processes and possesses data analysis skills which he or she applies in efforts to develop a campus plan towards improved teaching and learning (Thornton & Perreault, 2002; Stiggins & Duke, 2008). Incorporating numerous formative assessment opportunities throughout the implementation of the plan is crucial when determining areas of success and concern (Ontario Principals’ Council, 2009).

To be an effective DDDM leader, principals must also use data to identify teachers’ professional development needs. Research indicates that effective schools typically use data to guide instruction (Protheroe, 2009). Modeling data usage and allocating time for data reflection by the instructional leader are essential for DDDM to impact school improvement (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Therefore, the instructional leader in DDDM should act as the lead professional developer by establishing a supportive learning environment for faculty and providing assistance to build skills and knowledge in the areas of need identified by the data (Ontario Principals’ Council, 2009). According to Waddell and Lee (2008), the DDDM leader should demonstrate the use of data and communicating results when planning. The principal could use data to examine current instructional practices and shift the mindset of faculty from isolation to collaborative data-driven practice, whereas, dialogue could provide a forum for engaging faculty in meaningful discussions culminating in the development and implementation of a campus plan for improved teaching and learning (Waddell & Lee, 2008). Guiding faculty through a data analysis exercise can begin the data and dialogue process.

The final dimension of a DDDM principal is communication. In order for school improvement to be successful, purposeful communication cannot be underestimated (Zepeda, 2004). Communication is an essential behavior to promoting understanding (Cooke, 2007). Effective leaders are compelled to constantly seek and implement strategies to enhance the dissemination of data to parents, teachers, and the community at large (Knuth, 2006). Leaders as communicators should constantly share in a clear and concise manner how data are being used to develop and evaluate the campus improvement plan (Ontario Principals’ Council, 2009). The principal acting as leader, professional developer, and communicator is the one who ultimately provides the necessary instructional leadership, tools, and resources to ensure faculty are effective in the classroom (George, 2002).

In summary, when DDDM is used appropriately, the following scenarios occur on the campus:

• Staff development becomes focused on improvement strategies to address concerns identified by data;

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• Budget allocations are based on data-informed needs;

• Staff assignments are based on skills needed, as indicated by the data;

• Reports to the community are about the learning progress of students;

• Determining goals for improvement is guided by data;

• Staff meetings are focused on developing strategies to remedy concerns indicated by the data;

• Specific data regarding their child’s performance are regularly communicated to parents;

• Common grading systems indicating student performance are developed in order to monitor progress on the standards; and

• Administrative team meetings are focused on discussions of measured progress toward data-based improvement goals. (Technology Alliance, 2010, para. 2)

Principal Preparation Programs

A substantial barrier to principals successfully implementing DDDM is the lack of applicable training (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Expecting principals to support their teachers’ use of test data is impractical if principals have not received proper training and do not understand using assessments for learning (Stiggins & Duke, 2008).

One form of training is through principal preparation programs that provide instructional leaders with the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to analyze and interpret assessment data to make informed decisions towards improved student achievement. According to the Southern Regional Education Board (2005), “traditional models of training provided to school principals are still out of sync with the challenges faced by today’s leaders” (p. 3). As a result, principal preparation programs have been under scrutiny for several years now, with numerous studies documenting the ill-preparedness (Archer, 2005; Azzam, 2005; Hess & Kelly, 2005a). Most of these studies have evaluated principal preparation programs as a whole and have not devoted specific attention to the area of DDDM (Hess & Kelly, 2005b). In 2003, 67% of principals felt leadership training in schools of education did not prepare them for their roles as instructional leaders (Farkas, Johnson, & Duffett, 2003). In a study conducted by Reeves and Burt (2006), principals specifically stated that their principal preparation programs did not equip them with adequate strategies to analyze data. In 2007, 69% of principals shared the same sentiment (Darling-Hammond et al., 2007). As a result, clear and consistent standards for principal preparation programs have been developed to assist in specifying parameters for the “ever-changing” job description of instructional leaders (CCSSO, 2008).

Standards are the foundation that can set expectations and guide improvement of each element of principal preparation programs. The Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) and the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) provide standards that support DDDM. Standards one through four indicate that an instructional leader must be able to collect, organize, and analyze student performance data to make recommendations regarding the design, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum to optimize the learning environment for all students (CCSSO, 2008; ELCC, 2002).

Martin and Papa (2008) indicate that principal preparation programs place too much emphasis on class lectures and theory and not enough on application. Therefore, it is prudent that principal preparation programs become more innovative and include intensively focused components and authentic coursework and field experiences (Orr, 2006). In order for a principal preparation program to be effective, a partnership between universities and school districts must exist to offer students collaborative real-world classroom training (Martin & Papa, 2008). One indicator of the effectiveness of principal preparation programs is to examine the guide for expectations: the course syllabi.

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Components of Course Syllabi

A syllabus is considered an outline and summary of topics covered, which includes required resources, a list of activities, and the instructional calendar of a course. While the syllabus does not provide detailed information on what actually occurs in the classroom, it does reveal the course’s “structure and design” (Hess & Kelly, 2005b). Therefore, a further look at four components of the syllabi will be examined in this study: course objectives, classroom sessions, resources, and activities.

Course objectives. Course objectives are intended to communicate expected instructional outcomes. They are descriptions of what learners should be able to exhibit upon successful completion of the course (Winegarden, 2011). Course objectives provide an understanding of what is expected during the lesson and focus the learner and instructor. Objectives should be specific, observable, and measureable, and place an emphasis on major points (Waller, 2011). Objectives should include explicit wording describing what skills or knowledge are to be achieved, under what conditions the behavior occurs, and how well the action has been accomplished (DeSilets, 2007). Well written objectives are not open for interpretation. There are three common errors encountered when writing course objectives. First, the objective may be written too broadly and encompass several objectives. Secondly, the behavior or condition is incorrect or missing. Lastly, the behavior that must be observed is absent (Bixler, 2006).

Classroom sessions. According to the California Center for Effective Schools (2011), essential characteristics that provide a framework for effective schools are known as the Correlates of Effective Schools. One of the guiding principles of the effective schools’ correlate focuses on the opportunity to learn and student time on task (Lezotte, 2004; Texas Education Agency, 2009). Research has shown that a significant amount of time allocated to instruction on a particular objective increases learning (California Center for Effective Schools, 2011); therefore, increasing the amount of time a student is working increases the learning (Wong & Wong, 2005). As a result, having students actively engaged across activities and interactive instruction influences increased overall comprehension and retention.

Resources. University courses are supported by textbooks produced for specific course content. A textbook is considered an essential tool that provides support for student learning (Horsley, Knight, & Huntly, 2010). Textbooks are chosen by instructors for college courses to allow a student to receive a “good grasp” on the subject matter from scholars within the academic community (King, 2011). As candidates become administrators, it behooves them to develop a personal professional library consisting of college and other texts that can be used for future reference, since teachers may rely on the principal for assistance in various campus matters. The careful selection of a textbook reflects the history, understandings, and best practices utilized within a discipline by the academic community (Horsley, Knight, & Huntly, 2010).

Activities. Learning is an active process (Starke, 2011). An instructional strategy used to engage students in the learning process is considered active learning (Prince, 2004). Active learning promotes critical thinking skills by allowing candidates to participate in the instructional process through such modalities as presentation, writing exercises, discussion, problem solving, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Cojanu, Gibson, & Pettine, 2010). Varying activities allows students to be actively engaged with the course material, facilitates interaction among and between the candidates and professor, and revitalizes the course by providing a change of pace (Center for Teaching Excellence, 2011, para. 1).

METHODOLOGY

Participants

Participants included educational leadership professors from the top 10 education schools in 2008 (U.S. News & World Report, 2008) and a random sample of 30 representative education schools across the U.S., for a total of 40 schools. From these schools, graduate level professors teaching courses in an educational administration program were surveyed. Data collection resulted in information from approximately 60 professors across 30 different universities, which resulted in a 75% response rate.

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Instrumentation

Professors were asked to complete a five-question survey instrument over the phone or via the Internet, as well as submit their most recent syllabus for courses focused on assessment/testing and data-driven decisions. The survey instrument was used to confirm and supplement the information gathered from course syllabi. The questionnaire items were piloted with five schools one week prior to launching the survey instrument (see the Appendix for the survey instrument items). Items were revised for clarity as a result of feedback from the pilot administration.

Design and Procedure

A quantitative descriptive design was used to address the research question. After the schools were selected, our first data collection attempt was communicated via e-mail. Participants were given the background of the study and asked to complete an online questionnaire. The online instrument also asked each respondent to submit their syllabus. Two follow-up e-mail contacts were made with each professor. After the second failed follow-up attempt, a phone call was made to communicate the background of the study and to collect questionnaire responses. Last attempt phone calls were made up to three weeks after the initial e-mail.

Data collection included an exhaustive list of textbooks resulting from the submitted syllabi and questionnaire responses. The most frequently referenced textbooks were then reviewed in detail. The number of classroom sessions dedicated to assessment or testing was determined by a review of syllabus and questionnaire responses for key words related to testing. Course objectives and activities were also reviewed for key words related to assessment. If an entire class period was dedicated to testing or assessment, then three hours (or the length of that class) was awarded for the topic. Course percentages were then calculated based on a 45-hour semester. As an example, if two class sessions were allocated for test and measurement in a course that met once a week (three hours each session), 13% of the time in that course was allocated to test and measurement.

Analysis of Data

Data analysis consisted of coding syllabi and questionnaire responses for the use of the terms assessment or testing, the amount of class time spent on the topic, textbooks and supplemental material related to testing, the mention of student assessment, data-driven decision-making, and high-stakes testing. As a result of the coding, courses were rated as either inadequate or adequate. Courses rated as adequate demonstrated evidence of data-driven decision-making and testing in the syllabus. Respondents used textbooks that provided realistic activities for students to practice and gain experience with data-driven decision-making, and 50% or more of their time (based on a 45-hour semester) was spent on assessment issues, such as the interpretation of data and/or using data to make informed decisions to improve student achievement. Syllabi rated as inadequate allocated less than half of the course time to assessment issues and did not utilize textbooks or supplemental material for practical applications, but may have made mention of data-driven decision making and testing in the syllabus.

RESULTS Four areas in the syllabi were evaluated to determine the extent to which testing and measurement was covered in each course: objectives, classroom sessions, resources, and activities. Each course component provided insight into how the course allocated time and what resources were utilized towards teaching DDDM.

Objectives

The objectives of each syllabus were examined to determine whether the course offered any form of instruction on testing and measurement. Based on the syllabi from respondents, 50% of the 60 courses surveyed were required courses that pertain to some aspect of testing and measurement. Terms such as analyze data, improve student performance, effective use of data, analysis in making decisions regarding school improvements, and educational testing were used when stating the objectives. Further analysis of each syllabus revealed that 25% of the 30 courses

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had objectives directly related to data and decision-making. Additionally, written responses to item one of the questionnaire included students gaining capacity in knowing and using a range of assessments, being introduced to the theoretical and practical foundation in assessment, and understanding the role of state assessment in curriculum design.

Classroom Sessions

In this study, the majority of 30 courses spent between 19 and 30 hours on testing and measurement within a 45-hour semester. Their sessions on testing and measurement were blended throughout the course (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Percentage of Courses and Time Spent on Testing and Measurement (n = 30)

Resources

Respondents in this study selected a variety of textbooks. The most frequently adopted texts are listed in Table 1.

Activities

Respondents in this study used a variety of activities to teach testing and measurement. Activities included data team assignments, school assessment inventory, evaluation of a state adopted standardized test, designing a comprehensive assessment plan, review of Education Week articles on using test data to evaluate teachers, small group discussion/review of performance assessment materials, and in-class standard-setting activities.

IMPLICATIONS

Course Objectives

Instructors develop objectives to clarify and communicate the purpose and intent of instruction for themselves and students (Kizlik, 2010). At first glance, the objectives stated in the syllabi provide candidates with an opportunity to become proficient in analyzing data from multiple assessments toward school improvement. The terminology used in the syllabi gives the appearance that the courses sufficiently incorporated lessons that developed the knowledge base needed to utilize testing and measurement toward school improvement. However, when respondents answered question one of the survey instrument, they were more descriptive in explaining the focus of the course. These

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responses were more knowledge- and theoretical-based than practical application of testing and measurement. This leads one to believe that the instructors were actually writing goals that were general and non-specific and labeling these as objectives, which are more specific (Waller, 2011). This leads back to the three issues encountered

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as instructors develop course objectives. As a result, if the researchers base their conclusions solely on the objectives reported, it is difficult to determine if the courses indeed provided candidates with the framework of DDDM, as well as the knowledge of how to interpret the data for school improvement. The stated objectives on the syllabi indicate candidates are taught to interpret and analyze data, but the respondents’ written responses lean more toward theory-based instruction of testing and measurement. Therefore, a review of the course objectives alone will not provide a clear picture of whether data analysis is actually being taught throughout the course. Examination of the number of classroom sessions, resources, and activities is necessary.

Classroom Sessions

The amount of time spent in class on a concept is directly related to the importance placed on the topic (Johns, Crowley, & Guetzloe, 2008). Allocated time is the amount of time an instructor provides a student with instruction each class session. The longer the instructional time devoted to testing and measurement, the more a student will understand and be able to interpret state assessment data toward school improvement (Johns et al., 2008).

About one-fourth of the courses surveyed spent at least 7% of the semester on any type of testing and measurement. This equates to one class session and indicates that the candidates in these particular courses were not afforded multiple opportunities to learn, comprehend, and apply concepts of testing and measurement for an extended period of time.

About another fourth (i.e., 27%) of the respondents devoted anywhere from 9% to 40% of class time on testing and measurement, which means one-and-a-half to six class sessions included instruction and/or practice pertaining to testing and measurement. This indicates that candidates in these courses were given multiple opportunities to learn testing and measurement concepts with possibilities for comprehension. Full comprehension and application of these concepts possibly occurred in courses that spent upwards of 40% of the time on testing and measurement.

About half of the courses surveyed spent from 42% to 67% of the time on testing and measurement. As a result, 6.5 to 10 sessions dealt with some form of testing and measurement. Based on responses from item two of the questionnaire, testing and measurement was integrated throughout these courses. This indicates that numerous opportunities were provided for candidates to fully learn, comprehend, and apply testing and measurement concepts toward school improvement.

Resources

Resources used in course preparation for candidates to develop skills and knowledge about testing and measurement for school improvement are crucial to learning. Content learned is expected to help students in their understanding and development of the necessary skills to effectively analyze data and determine solutions for school improvement. The common idea presented in each text used in the surveyed courses was a practical step-by-step guide to analyzing and interpreting data that leads administrators toward school improvement and student achievement. Some textbooks focused on detailed action plans, while others identified the variables to consider when collecting data to inform decision-making, and still other textbooks focused on how to create useful reports for teachers. The majority of texts adopted utilized strong application processes toward testing and measurement. This leads the researchers to conclude that the texts used in the courses are sufficient.

Activities

Meaningful activities that will enable students to internalize and develop the skills needed to effectively analyze data from testing are important. Planning various activities to facilitate learning is the key to a candidate gaining better insight into the objective. Activities should be aligned with course objectives and geared toward various learning styles (Stewart, 2004).

The variety of activities listed in the syllabi provides numerous opportunities for candidates to apply concepts of testing and measurement toward school improvement. Each activity must be meaningful, engaging, and thought

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provoking. The in-class activities of disaggregating data to conduct analysis of student sub-groups are used to begin conversations in which candidates identify student achievement issues. Field-based activities include candidates gathering additional instructional artifacts through curriculum documents, classroom assessments, interviews, and classroom observations to diagnose potential instructional issues that clarify the achievement issues noted from the initial assessment data.

Study Limitations

Syllabi are only a snapshot of what is occurring in the classroom. To further explore preparation programs, future research could include classroom observations and individual interviews.

The responding schools may represent principal preparation programs seeking to provide data-driven instruction that offers more practical experiences when training candidates in analyzing assessment data; results may not represent the average preparation program.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRINCIPAL PREPARATION PROGRAMS1. Align professional standards with each course in the program by developing a new curriculum framework

and new courses aimed at producing leaders who can collect, interpret, and analyze school data focusing on continuous school improvement (SREB, 2005).

2. Provide more authentic coursework and field experiences in all courses that pertain to data analysis and informed decision making for improved student achievement. For example, in a graduate curriculum course, have students analyze performance data from their campus and make recommendations for improvements. In a graduate statistics course, teach candidates to “improve skills in problem analysis, program and student evaluation, data-base decision-making, and report preparation” (Creighton, 2001, p. 53).

3. Provide leadership academies for students once they become principals. This provides continuous professional development for students in the area of data analysis and informed decision-making.

4. Develop partnerships between universities and local school districts in order for candidates to experience hands-on activities in which investigation of assessment data are used and candidates work to find solutions.

SUMMARYThe results of this study were mixed. Course goals and objectives, when assessed independently, appear promising in terms of what students are expected to know and be able to do. However, the authors believe that the time spent on DDDM is the defining characteristic of an adequate course. If a course has all of the expected goals and objectives, but does not allow its students sufficient time to internalize and gain understanding, then its objectives will not be met. Although time spent on testing and measurement appears to be increasing for half of the courses, the instructors of other courses should re-evaluate their allocated time so more analysis of testing and measurement can be incorporated throughout the course. The data suggest that the texts and activities being used in these courses were sufficient. However, without knowing the process candidates use when completing the activities and reading the text, it is difficult to determine, conclusively, if candidates are truly developing the skills necessary to effectively analyze data and use this information for school improvement.

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APPENDIXPrincipal Preparation Program Questionnaire

1. What goals/objectives in your course refer to any aspect of testing and measurement?

2. List the topic(s) covered in your course that identifies with testing and measurement as it relates to classroom assessment and the interpretation of state mandated data.

3. How many classroom sessions are spent on testing and measurement as it relates to classroom assessment and/or the interpretation of state mandated test data?

4. What resources (textbooks, articles, etc.) are used to support testing and measurement in your course?

5. What activities are used in your course to teach the topic(s) on testing and measurement?

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Bettye Grigsby ([email protected]) has a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Educa-tional Leadership at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Her experience in the field of education has been as a classroom teacher, administrator, and consultant. Grigsby has worked with school districts providing professional development to support them in improving instruction for all students, and she has presented at national conferences on issues related to educational administration and principal preparation programs. Her research interests are multicultural education, administrators as curriculum leaders, and the education of African American Male students. She has published on school community relations and leadership mentoring.

Winona Vesey ([email protected]) completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Quantitative Methods at The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods in the School of Education at the Univer-sity of Houston, Clear Lake. She specializes in applied statistics, testing, standard setting, and high school reform. She is cur-rently developing instructional materials in educational measurement and statistics for K-12 teachers and administrators.

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32Harris and Zipperlena

CHILDHOOD LOSS AND AD/HD: PROGRAM IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION ADMINISTRATORS

HELEN WILSON HARRISBaylor University--School of Social Work

MARLENE ZIPPERLENUniversity of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Evidence-based practice and evidence-informed practice are not just buzzwords in education. It is essential that adminis-trators 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.

Keywords: administration, research, loss, grief, attention deficit

As school administrators face shrinking budgets and increasing needs of students and families, the pressure to identify and implement best practices grows. Administrators in education are responsible for balancing numerous variables in educational systems. Accountability, fiscal responsibility, student graduation rates are

all buzzwords of the day.

This article examines the use of research to identify new knowledge affecting both policy and practice in public schools. Specifically, the key to effective intervention with students is to remain current with research and best practice interventions. One area of challenge in schools is the growing incidence of AD/HD coupled with budgetary cuts leading to larger classroom sizes and higher student teacher ratios. This challenge affects school performance and graduation rates. The US Department of Education reported as long ago as 1997 that children with behavioral disorders and diagnoses are at much higher risk of dropping out of school, with a dropout rate almost twice as high as other students in special education classes (Dendy, 2006). Providing administrators and educators with research that identifies specific risk factors and suggests best practice interventions for behavior and mental health diagnosis gives them the tools to address the needs of these children.

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (P.L. 108-446) in 2004 permitted states to discontinue the use of IQ achievement discrepancy in favor of Response to Intervention (RTI). RTI is an effort to intervene early with a strong focus on prevention and assessment before diagnosing children with learning disabilities or behavior disorders (Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003). If RTI deductively formulates a program that is effective for the student, then this study provides another layer for assessment. While RTI provides the basis for guidelines and implementation, new knowledge and best practices are underway or emerging that could have an impact on the prevention and identification of learning disabilities and behavior disorders. As a result, the findings of this research indicate the importance of assessing if a child has experienced loss and grief prior to the diagnosis.

THE PROBLEM AND THE RESEARCHThe literature suggested a tendency toward premature or overdiagnosis of AD/HD in children. The problem was the possibility of an unrecognized connection between loss and diagnosis of AD/HD in children that might result in misdiagnosis. Children sometimes display delayed response to grief or may have a prolonged response to a loss that

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adults do not connect to problems of inattention and concentration in school. Walsh-Burke (2006) stated: “Grieving children can become afraid of going to school or have difficulty concentrating, may behave aggressively, become overly concerned about their own health, or withdraw from others” (p. 35). Grief counselors acknowledge that children who are grieving experience difficulties in concentration and attention in school (Smith & Pennells, 1995). Hooyman and Kramer (2006) suggested that children who experience traumatic loss, for example, might exhibit symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) including decreased concentration, often causing functional impairment. Consequently, parents and teachers may perceive children as having attention deficit disorder or other learning disabilities when they are actively grieving a major loss. It may be that a loss and grief create additional stress and distress in a child predisposed to attention deficit, which exacerbate the child’s symptoms and bring them to the attention of adults in the child’s life.

It is unclear, in these cases, whether grief or attention deficit disorder symptoms are primary and require intervention. An unnecessary or inappropriate diagnosis of AD/HD may follow a child throughout school with serious impact on the academic and social possibilities open to the child. This includes risk for early dropout. This is a significant problem for the child who lives with a diagnostic label that influences how teachers and others think about the child. Barkley (2006) identified the social stigma that children with a diagnosis of AD/HD can encounter, which includes being labeled “mentally disordered” (p. 93) and seen by teachers as a problem in the classroom. It is also a problem for parents and teachers who gear their responses to the child based on a diagnosis and misconceptions about that, rather than on the child’s real experience. It is a problem for physicians and others who treat AD/HD medically as they manage the child’s responses to medicine.

Literature Review

Children experience significant losses, which affect them personally and interpersonally. Clinicians also diagnose children with problems with attention deficit in increasing numbers (Barkley, 2006; Stanford, 2008). An extensive literature review provided a comprehensive picture of children’s loss and grief and of the experience of children with attention deficit. For purposes of this study, loss for children was defined as the death of a parent, grandparent or sibling; divorce of parents; deployment of parent or stepparent; other significant loss impacting the child, as defined by the parent/guardian to include incarceration of a parent.

While many authors wrote about the emotional impact of grief in the lives of children (Dyregrov, 2008; Hope & Hodge, 2006; Smith & Pennells, 1995; Walsh-Burke, 2006; Webb, 2002; Wolfelt, 1996), few wrote about the cognitive impact of loss on children. This left unanswered questions with respect to cognition and loss, i.e., the impact of loss on the thinking, learning, retention, and school performance of children. Some literature on children’s loss and grief (Corr, 2000; Hooyman & Kramer, 2006; McCue, 1994; and Stevenson, 1995) included school difficulties, describing short attention span, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty learning new material as common experiences of bereaved children. While these are common diagnostic criteria of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and of other learning difficulties for children, there were few publications addressing the possible correlations between childhood loss and AD/HD or childhood loss and learning disabilities in children. There were even fewer publications addressing the implications those similar experiences might have for school and other programming for bereaved children.

There is increasing awareness reflected in the literature that children respond with grief to the losses that may come with a divorce, placement outside the home, or a move away from friends and/or family (Hooyman & Kramer, 2006). Sigle-Rushton, Hobcraft, and Kiernan (2005) reported that divorce, rather than death, is the leading cause of disruptions in families of children born after 1950. Further, they observed that children of divorce might experience as much pain and disadvantage as those who experience the death of a parent. Walter and McCoyd (2009) wrote about children as “the forgotten mourners when parents divorce” (p. 113). The authors further discussed the grief of children associated with the deployment of parents in the military, the ambiguous loss children experience when a parent returns with physical or brain injury, and with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). They stated that “The losses of attention, support, and nurture experienced by these siblings are likely to mirror some of the dynamics that may occur for children who lose military parents, either to death or to injury” (p. 114). Schipani (2007) noted that both

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children and adults struggle with the ability to think clearly when under significant stress. The author introduced the notion that children’s responses to stress and change, including the loss of an intact family, often result in difficulty in attention and learning. These issues of attention and concentration sound very much like attention deficit disorder.

AD/HD Prevalence

The issue of difficulty in sustaining attention in children has been the subject of research and writing since the early 1900s (Barkley, 2006). Added to this was literature explicating the proliferation of the diagnosis of AD/HD in the early and middle 2000s (Stanford, 2008). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (Brown in Dendy, 2006) found the following: “about 7.8 percent of children aged 4 to 17 years are currently diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyper-activity Disorder (AD/HD). This means that most teachers are likely to have in every class they teach, on average, at least a couple of students with AD/HD” (p. 3). Rushton, Fant, and Clark reported that “ADHD is the most common childhood behavioral complaint presented to pediatricians and family physicians” (p. 23). Casat, Pearson, and Casat (2002) reported further that

AD/HD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disturbance of childhood, affecting 3% to 5% of the general, nonreferred, school-aged population and representing more than 50% of referrals to clinics for mental health evaluations. This figure translates to approximately 2,000,000 children with handicapping impairment, making AD/HD a significant public health problem. (p. 263)

Dendy (2006) stated, “approximately one to three students in every classroom of thirty students has the disorder…a rate of up to 12%” (p. 10).

The incidence of AD/HD has grown steadily the past few years and “the rate of medication administration with children with AD/HD has increased as much as 600% over a ten-year period” (Dendy, 2006, p. 33). Evans, Morrill, and Parente (2010) suggested that the rising rates of AD/HD create the question of misdiagnosis of AD/HD. Elder (2010) suggested that as many as one million children with AD/HD may be misdiagnosed. Stanford (2008) attributed the increase in diagnosis of AD/HD in the United States to three issues including increased anxiety in children resulting directly from social stressors including divorce and absentee parents.

The intent of this study, then, was to examine the incidence of AD/HD in children who experienced loss and who have been diagnosed with AD/HD. For purposes of this study, ADD and AD/HD are identified as the same diagnosis with the understanding that children diagnosed with AD/HD also experience hyperactivity as part of the syndrome. The two diagnostic categories ADD and ADHD, often identified as AD/HD, have been used through the years, sometimes interchangeably, but always with the same characteristics except the presence or absence of hyperactivity. The current literature identified both categories as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (DSM-IV-TR, 2000).

The Method

The central research question in this study was: What is the relationship between the experience of loss and a diagnosis of symptoms of AD/HD in elementary school-aged children? Additional questions included examining the role of parents and teachers in referring children for assessment of AD/HD, the role of physicians in making the diagnosis of AD/HD, and the use of testing in the diagnostic process. The researcher developed a survey instrument and vetted it through the faculty at a local college of education and statistics consultant.

The population and sample. The school setting is frequently the place where children demonstrate difficulties with attention and concentration. Most children diagnosed with AD/HD are diagnosed while in elementary school. This study took place, then, in a school district with emphasis on the elementary school population. The researchers chose a Central Texas school district located within 20 miles of a large military base. Children affiliated with military families experience loss through death, divorce, and deployment at higher rates than children in the general public did, particularly in times of war (Karney & Crown, 2007; Weins & Boss, 2006).

The researchers distributed three thousand surveys to children in grades one through six in six elementary schools in

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the district. Additionally, the researchers mailed 500 surveys to families of elementary school children who lived on the Central Texas military base. These five hundred households represented children affiliated with the military but in a nearby school district from the primary school district. This increased the data pool and avoided duplication of response. Six hundred forty-five parents and guardians of children completed the surveys with information about the children in the household and returned them for analysis. The return rate for each of the six elementary schools ranged from 19-29 percent, while the return rate from the mailed surveys was only five percent. The vast majority (97.1%) of the surveys were completed by a parent of the child/ren. While one of the variables in the survey was loss and grief, more than 97 percent of the children represented in the survey retained at least one biological parent who was present to complete the survey.

Descriptive and data analysis. The sex of each child represented in the survey was almost equally distributed. Females represented 49.6 percent of the returned survey cases; males represented 47.4 percent of the returned survey cases with the remaining four percent missing data. Almost 25% or one in four children in the sample were in kindergarten or preschool, i.e. younger than 5. Since very few children are diagnosed with AD/HD before age 5, the AD/HD rates found in the study would largely be from 75% of the study sample. Fifty-seven percent of the children represented in the sample were in grades one through five, the grades surveyed. The largest clusters of children were in the second grade, 222 (13.3%), first grade, 217 (13%), followed by the third grade with 204 (12.2%). Almost 30 percent of this sample of children had connections to military service and more than half of those children (300) had experienced at least one deployment of a military family member. Children in this sample ranged in age from 1-19 with a mean age of 8.44 years (SD=3.73). One hundred eighty one children (10.2%) were diagnosed with AD/HD. Seven hundred thirty five losses were noted in the sample. Children who were reported to have had a loss experienced a range of one to six losses (M=1.84, SD=.98333).

One hundred fifteen children diagnosed with AD/HD in this study were age five or older. Of the 131 children with AD/HD for whom ages were provided, 77.2% of the children were diagnosed between the ages of five and nine. Fewer than 23% of children diagnosed with AD/HD were outside this age range. Only 10.8 percent of children diagnosed with AD/HD were older than nine years of age. This is particularly important because, logically, children are more likely to experience loss and grief the older they are. The 131 children in this study who were diagnosed with AD/HD, and whose age at diagnosis was provided, were a young population.

The variables loss and grief in children and diagnosis of AD/HD are each nominal or categorical variables. The best distribution and analysis then for comparisons of the two nominal variables in this study was cross tabulation with chi-square analysis. When an association was present and statistically significant in the findings, the next data analyses performed was a logistic regression. According to Peng and So (2002), analyzing dichotomous variables for not only association but also prediction is best done with a binary logistic regression. This particular analysis provides an odds ratio addressing probability of one variable “showing up” when the other is present, i.e. the ability to predict the odds of a second variable being present when the first variable is present. In this study, logistic regression was performed to determine the predictability of a diagnosis of AD/HD when loss/grief was present in the child’s experience including the impact on multiple losses.

Research Findings

The central question in this study is whether or not there is an association between the experience of childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD. The review of literature supports the possibility of an association, as difficulties with attention and concentration are frequent components of grief in children (Doka, 2000; Grollman, 1995; and Hooyman & Kramer, 2006). Problems with attention and concentration are central symptoms in the diagnosis of AD/HD (Barkley, 2006; Beidermann & Perrin, 1996). A chi square crosstabulation of the variables loss and diagnosis of AD/HD in this sample of 1,755 cases reveals a significant association between the variables.

In looking at the actual numbers in the crosstabulation, the expected count of children with no loss who were diagnosed with AD/HD was 84.8 children. The actual count was only 55, almost 30 fewer than expected, diagnosed with AD/HD who had not experienced any identified loss. If the frequencies obtained in the sample were substantially

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the same as the expected ones, we would conclude there is no association between the variables loss and AD/HD.

The cells for those who have been diagnosed with AD/HD and who have experienced loss reveal a similar pattern. There was a difference of 30 between the expected count of children with AD/HD to have experienced loss (96.2) and the actual count (126). Again, when the expected and observed frequencies are different, we are seeing “statistical dependence, more effect of one variable on the other” (Kendrick, 2005, p. 356). This suggests that there is an association between childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD. Chi square analysis of the statistical significance of these count differences reveals the Pearson chi-square significance of .000 (χ2=21.94; p<.05). The significance standard for this study is .05, i.e. a 95% confidence interval that the results of the study are not simply due to chance. This statistic indicates that with one degree of freedom, there is less than one chance in ten thousand that the association between childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD in this sample is due to chance. There was, in this sample, a significant relationship between the experience of loss and a diagnosis of symptoms of AD/HD in elementary school-aged children.

Logistic regression was conducted to examine whether or not the association between loss and grief in children’s experience increases the odds of a response on the survey instrument that the child has been diagnosed with AD/HD. The results suggested that loss did not, of itself, increase the odds of a child’s diagnosis of AD/HD. However, multiple losses might (B (1) =1.259; p=.015). The B in this case is regression coefficients. From this we get predicted probabilities of AD/HD for particular values of the factors. Expected B, the regression coefficient, was .231, exponentiated. This is the odds ratio. Therefore, as number of losses increases by 1, a person is about 1.26 times more likely to have AD/HD. Essentially, this means that with each successive loss experienced by a child in this sample, they were 26% more likely to be diagnosed with AD/HD. The odds ratio was compared to 1 to see how much more likely. The confidence interval indicated that the odds ratio was anywhere from 1.05 to 1.52. Therefore, the true effect of losses on AD/HD could be between 5% and 52%. What is clear is that multiple losses increase significantly the risk of diagnosis with AD/HD with each successive loss. Beyond that, even simple or singular loss is positively associated with a diagnosis of AD/HD. The important question then becomes what we do with that information.

IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONThe basic philosophy of an administrator is important to the climate of the school. If the principal believes everyone is responsible for student learning, the administrative prerequisite is to implement the professional activities that help to support teachers, related services personnel, and paraprofessionals in creating the conditions that support student learning (Elias, et al., 2003). What is the administrators’ role in RTI? The administrator establishes a climate where the standard is intervene early, use problem-solving methods to make decisions, use research-based interventions, monitor student progress to inform instruction, and use data to make decisions. The administrator establishes an environment to serve students based not on a particular label, program, or place, but on the services that flow to and from students based on the effect it has on the student learning. The administrator is the cheerleader for the team of teachers, related services personnel, and paraprofessionals for transforming current practices in order to create the conditions that support student learning (Leithwood & Poplin, 1992).

Implications for Working with Teachers

The teacher is the first layer of early identification and intervention (Fry, Ketteridge, & Marshall, (1999). As a result, the implications for the number and type of children identified, the kinds of educational services provided, and who delivers them, starts with the classroom teacher. As the classroom teacher delivers instruction, monitors each student’s response to the instruction, evaluates performance against expectations, and assesses the learner’s need, a collection of data establishes the degree at which the student learned (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009). In addition, the classroom teacher observes student behavior during this process. If the student experiences difficulty learning, the teacher intervenes. Intervention is uncomplicated if the teacher has established a good rapport with the students’ parents or guardians, campus administrator, and related services personnel. The parent-teacher conference is very important when trying to ascertain the source of the difficulty experienced by the student. The teacher needs to ask probing questions, such as Have you noticed your child behaving differently? or leading questions, such us Has there

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been a recent death in the family? (Fitzgerald, 2000) If indeed there has been a death in the family, the teacher can approach intervention with the student in a number of ways:

• Allow for extended time on homework or assignments by establishing a due date with the student;

• utilize collaborative assignments to provide a means for socialization;

• provide personal time with the child during recess or conference period; and

• maintain ongoing communication with the parent/guardian regarding the progress being made by the student. (Davidson & Doka, 1999)

Implications for Working with Parents

Worden (1982) and Rando (1998) wrote extensively on grief responses, which included physical, social, emotional, and cognitive responses in grief. Both authors implied that issues of inattention, short attention span, and difficulty learning new material apply to all ages of bereaved. It is important administrators remember the parents of grieving children are likely grieving as well. Children are nested in family relationships. The death or divorce of a parent means the surviving or remaining parent has experienced the loss of spouse (Rando, 1998). This may well mean the surviving or remaining parent has difficulties with attention and concentration while the parent is trying to support the child through the loss. The parent may well turn to the teacher, counselor, or administrator for assistance when the child experiences changes in school performance and achievement (Smith & Pennells, 1995). Additionally, teachers may well respond to changes in a child’s school performance by asking parents to intervene with their child/ren.

The beginning place, when working with grieving parents, is for teachers and administrators to hear and respond to the needs and experiences of parents (Webb, 2002). This conversation may be the first awareness of the teacher or school personnel the child has experienced a loss. It will not happen if school personnel do not ask the questions about what has changed in the family, what is different for the student, and what the parents and children are dealing with together. School personnel may

• help parents with the awareness that there is a cognitive component to grief, which both they and their children may be dealing;

• encourage parents to model self-care and grief management including making referrals to bereavement counselors, grief groups, and/or relevant reading (Wolfelt, 1996);

• contract with parents to advocate for their children both at school and in social venues for grief support and for adjustments around attention challenges;

• encourage parents to talk with teachers and collaborate on strategies for helping students secure and retain the information they need to be successful in the classroom;

• schedule regular contacts and/or meetings with parents to monitor the students’ progress through the grief experience and progress in the classroom;

• remind parents and teachers that children re-visit and re-experience losses like the death of a parent at each new developmental stage (Aldridge & Goldman, 2007); and

• provide for parents written information about attention and concentration difficulties that typically occur with grieving children and specific direction about how to manage them. This information should include the following:

• Manage difficulty with multiple audio instructions given at the same time by providing instructions in written bullet points on a list.

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• Obtain lecture notes from school by asking teachers for written lecture notes the child can read and review at home.

• Address difficulty with doing homework with a study area identified in the house with organized materials and minimal distractions.

• Address the challenge of getting assignments back to the school with a parent/child checklist in the backpack; and if necessary, for young children a signed assignment sheet from teacher to parent to teacher (Dendy, 2006).

Implications for Working with Physicians

While the diagnosis of AD/HD is a psychiatric diagnosis, family physicians frequently make it in response to concerns raised by parents and teachers (Barkley, 2006; Dendy, 2006). There is also no industry standard for diagnostic testing required to substantiate or verify the diagnosis (DSM IVTR, 2000). Faraone, Sergeant, Gillberg, and Biederman (2003) found that clinicians make most diagnoses based on teacher or parent reports, expressing the concern that “prevalence based on symptom assessment alone is likely to be overestimated” (p. 109). The behaviors of inattention, difficulty in concentration, and difficulty with learning new material occur along a continuum with no clear demarcation of when the behaviors rise to the level of an attention deficit disorder diagnosis. In fact, according to the AD/HDA website, there must be sufficient behavioral disturbance to create a handicap in at least two locations in order to distinguish attention deficit from normal stress and distractibility occurring in modern society. According to the Children and Adults Attention/Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder (CHAD/HD) Educator’s Manual (2006), “Virtually all individuals suffer some impairment in these functions sometimes…. the extent to which these symptoms impair life functions, for example socially, academically, or occupationally, must be considered for a diagnosis” (p. 8).

One area of real concern in the literature is the method for diagnosis. Rushton, Rant, and Clark (2004) reported a problem of utilization of practice guidelines among pediatricians and primary care physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of AD/HD. They report that there are evidence-based guidelines established by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In Rushton, Rant, and Clark’s 2004 study of 1208 physicians (60% response rate), the authors found that while most physicians are aware of the guidelines, only one in four adhered to all four diagnostic components. Lanham (2006) studied physicians in 34 primary care physician programs with respect to diagnosis and AD/HD. Half of the programs were civilian physicians and half were military physicians. The responses from 235 physicians indicated serious challenges around diagnosis of AD/HD: “Only 22 % of physicians are familiar with published ADHD guidelines” (p. 803). Few physicians screen for AD/HD at periodic visits. Instead, physicians respond to parent or teacher referral (Barkley, 2006). A majority of physicians use a child’s behavior in the office and a child’s response to stimulant medication in diagnosing ADHD.

Consequently, the information from teachers to both parents and physicians can be critical in assessment and diagnosis. The implications are strong: the school has a responsibility to encourage parents to communicate with physicians and to communicate directly with the physician, with the parent’s permission, of course. Recommendations for counselors, teachers, and administrators working with children who have experienced a loss and are demonstrating behaviors more typically suggesting a diagnosis of AD/HD include the following:

• Request the parent provide the physician with the details of the loss, i.e. the date, relationship, circumstances, child’s response, and current interventions.

• Provide specific written information for physicians including the child’s behavior and school performance prior to and since the loss.

• Offer consultation and collaboration on planning and intervention with the physician, parent, and child.

• Follow-up on physician recommendations in the classroom with respect to medications, adjustments, and accommodations.

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Implementing Change

This study is an important beginning to addressing the issue of attention and concentration in students who experience loss and grief. At least in this sample of 1,755 children in Central Texas, there is a clear association between the experience of loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD. That is not to imply, however, that childhood loss and grief causes AD/HD. It is more likely that the cognitive impact of grief on children looks a lot like the symptoms of AD/HD and may lead to misdiagnosis of the psychiatric illness. It may also be that grief exacerbates the symptoms of AD/HD enough in a child whose behavior has been just below the magical attention threshold that they are now brought to the attention of teacher and/or parent, and this leads to a referral.

When administrators take the new information provided by research and use it to guide interventions with constituents, including children, their parents, and others, it is essential to do so with intentionality. The new information must be disseminated to teaching and counseling staff with discussion around application. Implementing change includes considering all levels of a system that are impacted by the change. In this case, that includes the counselors, teachers, coaches, and sponsors of extra-curricular activities who interface with the child. Respect for privacy and confidentiality means attending to release of information and care in information being distributed to those who have a need to know.

Implications for parents and physicians, as well as teachers and administrators, suggest the need for intentional communication and multi-disciplinary responsibility. Coordinating the flow of information and communication creates additional work and time requirements. Teachers must have time built into the workday for communication with counselors, parents, and physicians. In this case, communication with and coordination with the school nurse around medical administration might be a factor as well.

Evaluating Results

The use of new research and new findings implies, as well, the need to continue to research and investigate the appropriateness, impact, and outcomes of the interventions. Administrators may well want to engage in research that examines the performance outcomes of students who have experienced loss and grief and receive the interventions and attention recommended here. Additionally, it is important to track the time required to provide behavioral interventions for students with grief and loss and the time required to communicate with parents and physicians. The implementation of change comes with the responsibility to assess the effectiveness of the change and to develop additional knowledge about best practices. Beyond that, the dissemination of those results is essential for the growth and development of the profession.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThe most exciting research is not the research that answers all questions but the research that leads us to better and best practices with those we serve and the research that raises additional important questions. In this study, the researchers examined a question the literature suggests, but which had not been examined previously. In a sample of 1,755 children in public elementary school in Central Texas, there was a significant association between the experience of childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. In fact, multiple losses were suggestive of increased risk of the diagnosis by as much as 26% with each successive loss. What is promising about this research is the possibility of change in educational systems that could result in stronger interventions and better outcomes with children experiencing attention and concentration problems. At least in this sample, children who experienced loss and grief were more likely to be diagnosed with AD/HD. Some of the misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of AD/HD in current society may be attributed to this phenomenon. In any case, understanding the possibilities is the beginning of assessment that leads to appropriate treatment of children. Administrators are in a position to make organizational change that applies this new information and results in children being accurately assessed and appropriately diagnosed and treated.

The primary recommendation out of this study is the realization that there are other possibilities for a student to

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respond with symptoms often associated with AD/HD. Further, parents of a child who experiences loss and grief through death, divorce, deployment or other separation may realize that attention problems might be part of the child’s response. This means not deciding easily or quickly on the psychiatric diagnosis of AD/HD. When teachers of children who experience loss are aware of the loss and of the possibility of attention and concentration challenges, they can assist the children through the challenges successfully rather than beginning with a physician referral for AD/HD. The AD/HD literature suggests there are accommodations for poor concentration and attention, including hand written notes and more time for assignments and tests. Parents and teachers are in a position to make these adjustments for students responding to loss in their lives. This might include the development of strategies for children with temporary concentration problems as well as school programming to meet bereavement needs.

Intentionally responding to this knowledge, implementing these strategies, and tracking the progress of the organizational change is the work of the administrator. The challenge is adding to an already large load the responsibility to both read and respond to current knowledge and trends. The reward is the opportunity to make principled, embodied change that affects the lives of students and their families. May we rise to the challenge and reap the rewards.

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American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. Text Revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Barkley, R. A. (2006). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Beiderman, J., Faraone, S., Milberger, D., Guite, J., Mich, E., Chen, L., … Perrin, J. (1996). A prospective 4-year follow-up study of attention-deficit hyperactivity and related disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53(5) 437-446.

Cantwell, C. D., Pearson, D. A., & Casat, J. P. (2001). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In H. B. Vance & A. Pumariega (Ed.), Clinical assessment of child and adolescent behavior (pp. 263-306). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Corr, C. A. (1997). Coping with long-term illness and death in an adult: The impact on grieving children and adolescents. In K. Doka, (Ed.). Living with grief when illness is prolonged (pp. 135-149). Washington, DC: Hospice Foundation of America.

Davidson, J. D. & Doka, K. J. (Eds.). (1999). Living with grief at work, at school, at worship. Washington, DC: Hospice Foundation of America.

Dendy, C. A., Durheim, M., & Ellison, A. T. (2006). CHAD/HD educator’s manual on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): An in-depth look from an educational perspective. Lynchburg, VA: Progress Printing.

Doka, K. J. (Ed.). (2000). Stan Jones. The Role of the School. Living with grief: Children, adolescents, and loss. Washington, DC: Hospice Foundation of America.

Dyregrov, A. (2008). Grief in children: A handbook for adults. London, England: Athenacum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Graczyk, P. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2003). Implementation, sustainability, and scaling up of social-emotional and academic innovations in public schools. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 303-319.

Elder, T. (2010). The importance of relative standards in ADHD diagnoses: Evidence based on exact birth dates. Journal of Health Economics, 29(5), 641-656.

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Evans. W. N., Morrill, M. S., & Parente, S. T. (2010). Measuring inappropriate medical diagnosis and treatment in survey data: The case of ADHD among school age children. Journal of Health Economics, 29(5), 657-673.

Faraone, S. V., Sergeant, J., Gillberg, C., & Biederman, J. (2003). The worldwide prevalence of AD/HD: Is it an American condition? World Psychiatry 2(2), 102-113.

Fitzgerald, H. (2000). The grieving teen. New York, New York: Fireside.

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S. (1999). A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education (2nd ed.). New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.

Hooyman, N. R., & Kramer, B. J. (2006). Living through loss: Interventions across the life span. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Hope, R. M., & Hodge, D. M. (2006). Factors affecting children’s adjustment to the death of a parent: The social work professional’s viewpoint. Children and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(1), 197-126.

Huebner, A., Mancini, J., Wilcox, R., Grass, S., & Grass, G. (2007). Parental deployment and youth in military families: Exploring uncertainty and ambiguous loss. Family Relations, 56(1), 112-122.

Karney, B. R., & Crown, J. S. (2007). Families under stress: An assessment of data, theory, and research on marriage and divorce in the military. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

Lanham, J. S. (2006). The evaluation of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in family medicine residency programs. Southern Medical Association, 99(8), 801-805.

Leithwood, K. A. & Poplin, M. S. (1992). The move toward transformational leadership. Educational Leadership, 49(5), 8-13.

McCue, K. (1994). How to help children through a parent’s serious illness. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Olson, M. H. & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An introduction to the theories of learning (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Peng, C. J., & Ho, T. H. (2002). Logistic regression analysis and reporting: A primer. Understanding Statistics, 1(1), 31-70.

Rando, T. A. (1998). Treatment of complicated mourning. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Rushton, J. L., Fant, K. E., & Clark, S. J. (2004). Use of practice guidelines in the primary care of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Pediatrics, 114(1), 23-28.

Schipani, D. (2007). Q & A. Thriving on ADHD. Scholastic Parent and Child. Scholastic, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/thriving-with-adhd

Sigle-Rushton, W., Hobcraft, J., & Kiernan, K. (2005). Parental divorce and subsequent disadvantage: A cross-cohort comparison. Demography, 42(3), 427-446.

Smith, S. C., & Pennells, M. (Eds.). (1995). Interventions with bereaved children. London, England: Jessica Kingsley, Publishers.

Stanford, M. S. (2008). Grace for the afflicted: Viewing mental illness through the eyes of faith. Colorado Springs, CO: Paternoster.

Stevenson, J. S. (1985). Death, grief and mourning. Detroit, MI: Free Press.

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Vaughn, S R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2003). Redefining learning disabilities as inadequate response to treatment: Rationale and assumptions. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18(3), 137–146.

Walsh-Burke, K. (2006). Grief and loss: Theories and skills for helping professionals. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Walter, C. A., & McCoyd, J. L. M. (2009). Grief and loss across the lifespan: A Biopsychosocial perspective. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Webb, N. B. (2002). Helping bereaved children: A handbook for practitioners (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Weins, T. W., & Boxx, P. (2006). Maintaining family resiliency before, during and after military separation. In C. A. Castro, A. B., Adler, & T. W. Britt (Eds.), Military life: The psychology of serving in peace and combat (Vol. 3) (pp. 13-38). Westport, CT: Praeger Security International.

Wolfelt, A. D. (1996). Healing the bereaved child: Grief gardening, growth through grief and other touchstones for caregivers. Ft. Collins, CO: Companion Press.

Worden, W. (1982). Grief counseling and grief therapy (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Helen Harris, MSW, ED.D., LCSW, ACSW, DCSW (Diplomate) ([email protected]) is a senior lecturer at the School of Social Work at Baylor University where she has taught for the past fourteen years. She has a BA in Education from Mary Hardin-Baylor College, an MSW from Our Lady of the Lake University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Before joining the faculty at Baylor University, Helen Harris was the founding director of the Community Hospice of Waco. She has worked in hospice, foster care and adoptions and private practice. She writes and lectures in the area of grief and loss, specifically with children.

Marlene Zipperlen ([email protected]) is the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She has a BS in Education from Mary Hardin-Baylor College and her MEd, Specialist in Education and Doctorate in Education from Baylor University. Before joining the faculty of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Dr. Zipperlen was the Superintendent of Schools for Clifton Independent School District. Dr. Zipperlen worked in public education as a teacher, a counselor, an elementary principal, and a high school principal. She has also served as an adjunct instructor for Hill Community College. In continuing her involvement with public education, Dr. Zipperlen is currently the president of the Rosebud-Lott Independent School District’s Board of Trustees.

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SUPERINTENDENT LENGTH OF TENURE AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSCOTT MYERSWashburn University

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 per-centage of students who qualified for free or reduced meal prices, and each district’s total student headcount. To gain the most comprehensive view possible, all 295 Kansas school districts in existence in 2008 were included in this study. Although included as one of the four predictive variables that had a significant effect on the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment, the primary focus of this study – to examine the impact a superintendent’s length of tenure has on students’ academic achievement – proved to have the least relative impact, according to beta weights.

Keywords: superintendent length of tenure, student achievement

The position of public school superintendent as we know it came into being during the latter part of the twentieth century. The superintendent’s role as redefined in Carter’s The American School Superintendent (1997) evolved into a wide spectrum of responsibilities, including serving as the “professional advisor to the board,

the leader of reforms, the manager of resources, and the [chief ] communicator to the public” (p. 24). Prior to that, the scope of the superintendent’s duties and responsibilities centered around aspects of business management and maintaining an efficient system for providing educational opportunities to those few individuals lucky enough to be able to enjoy an organized educational experience, beginning with the early schools of the northeastern portion of the United States. These “Common Schools,” originally managed by town councils, ultimately became complex and large enough to warrant a position dedicated to maintaining the day-to-day operations of the school. Thus, in 1837 the Buffalo, New York, Common School Council appointed the first superintendent to “carry out the policies of the board” (Carter, 1997, p. 22). While this newly created position was justified, in all reality, the pre-twentieth century school superintendent had much in common with a “Superintendent of the Railroad,” basically making sure that the educational “trains ran on time.”

Then, due to population growth and the availability of formalized school opportunities offered to more students, the public school superintendent evolved into a position geared for a person with the abilities “to manage [a] great business or industrial enterprise” (Thomas & Moran, 1992, p. 42). Thus, the educational industry embraced the concepts of the “Science of Management,” which changed the superintendent’s role from occupation to a profession and attracted individuals who Thomas and Moran (1992) describe as being “planners and thinkers” (p. 42). These planners and thinkers developed structures for efficiency.

Ultimately, the role of the superintendent shifted to one with greater emphasis in providing leadership to “build the bridge from chaos to clarity for every stakeholder so that students, teachers, parents, leaders, and the broad community know what success really means” (Reeves, 2002, p. 77). Simultaneously, with the acknowledgement of the professionalism required for a person to serve as a superintendent, the early part of the twentieth century witnessed the development of Educational Administration as a formalized field of study (Iannaccone, 1996). This latter development solidified the profession as one worthy of forward thinking individuals desiring to impact the educational development of the students.

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The emphasis on efficiency, while never leaving the consciousness of the superintendent, took a back seat to other issues brought on by societal factors and demands as the twentieth century progressed. Political realities and pressures of the 1960’s, the emphasis placed on test scores in the 1970’s (Yee & Cuban, 1996), and the stipulations for individual student achievement found in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Student Achievement, 2004) have further shaped the role of the modern public school superintendent. In fact, Peterson and Young (2004) proclaimed in their article exploring the influence NCLB has on district-level leaders, “The demand for proven results, extensive evaluations, and data-driven decision making has moved the superintendent from the sideline to the frontline of supporting student achievement” (p. 1). This is a vantage point relatively new to school superintendents.

Along with the shifting roles of the superintendent, the job is fraught with multiple, serious challenges (Sergiovanni, Kelleher, McCarthy, & Fowler, 2009). The sheer eclectic nature of the job is such that a “successful” superintendent must possess a wide variety of skills. Superintendents must be able to effectively deal with myriad issues that call on a variety of leadership attributes. The successful superintendent facilitates the creation of the vision of the district’s educational programs, manages the business aspects of the district, and serves as the lead communicator with the public.

While the “successful” superintendent must possess a variety of professional skills to flourish, the most daunting aspect of the profession is that it is so very political. In their article, Tallerico and Burstyn (1996) pointed out that they “began to realize that the superintendency is not a position in education but a position of politics” (p. 655). Other sources agree with this assessment, making the point that first and foremost the position is much more political in nature than one might realize when initially entering it (Roan & Hardy, 1996). In fact Callahan’s “Vulnerability Theory” (1962) and Iannaccone and Lutz’ “Dissatisfaction Theory” (Alsbury, 2003) both explore explanations beyond job performance or competence as to why superintendents leave their positions within a given school district. In his “Vulnerability Theory” Callahan posits that superintendent mobility is directly related to the “extreme vulnerability of our schoolmen to public criticism and pressure” (Iannaccone, 1996, p. 111). The “Dissatisfaction Theory” takes this line of thinking a step further, explaining that superintendent turnover occurs as a natural outcropping of community dissatisfaction with existing school policy. This dissatisfaction eventually leads to the defeat of incumbent school board members, which leads to an involuntary turnover of the superintendent and ultimately a change in school policy (Alsbury, 2003).

As Robert Rammer (2007) points out, “Public school superintendents ultimately are responsible for the success or failure of the schools within their district” (p. 67). In years past, the definition of “success or failure” was a fairly private assessment. Generally speaking, if the “educational product” produced by the school system satisfied the local community, the district was a success. If the district’s expectations for a graduation rate were merely 50%, and the district met this mark, a district would be considered a success. Now, NCLB defines success as a mark of academic achievement of the students of a district as it relates to a set of normed assessments and Annual Yearly Progress. This shift in thinking poses a challenge for the educational community of the country and in Kansas, as well.

This challenge is particularly difficult in states, like Kansas, that are mainly rural, with the majority of the state’s districts being located away from population centers of 50,000 people or more (Hays, 2008, Kansas Association of School Boards, 2007-2008 Kansas Administrator Salary Survey Data). This fact intensifies the challenge of meeting the stipulations of individual student achievement as set forth by NCLB. Rural schools, particularly small rural schools, experience limited internal opportunities for addressing academic and instructional needs due to fewer financial and instructional resources (Tallerico & Burstyn, 1996). Coupling an understanding of the negative impact limited resources have on a school district with the fact that the majority of the districts in Kansas are experiencing declining enrollment numbers (Hays, 2008, Kansas Association of School Boards, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 Kansas Administrator Salary Survey Data) heightens the seriousness of this situation as districts’ financial situations become more challenging. This potentially brings forth a presence of “uncertainty, stress and organizational conflict” (Lasher, 1990, p. 94). It becomes obvious that the Kansas superintendent’s ability to positively impact student achievement has been hampered as it takes a minimum level of financial resources to provide educational programming for the students of the district.

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Highlighting this point, Augenblick and Myers, a renowned research organization, completed a report commissioned by the Kansas Legislative Council, recommending the base state aid per pupil in Kansas should be at the “Foundation level (base cost)…equivalent to $4,650 in 2000-2001.” When this report was completed, though, the base state aid per pupil in Kansas was set at $3,820 (2002). Although the current base state aid per pupil is slightly higher now, in 2011 ($3,870), it is still several hundred dollars beneath the funding level recommended in 2000-2001. Thus the superintendent is forced into the position of needing to be able to do more with less. Indicative of the pervasive nature and seriousness of this issue, at the writing of this article, 43 of the 50 states had dealt with court cases centered on school finance and providing adequate educational opportunities to their students (LaMorte, 2012).

Along with the fiscal realities and challenges incumbent with leading a rural school district, Kansas’s superintendents also face an additional challenge because of the state’s rural nature. Public school superintendents in most areas of Kansas serve in a “generalist” role. Rather than focusing on one or two aspects of the school system, the generalists maintain a certain level of competence in many areas. It is not enough to be an expert in curriculum and instruction, for example, when the nature of the position demands that the majority of Kansas superintendents be versed in a variety of unrelated areas, such as facility and plant management, budgeting and school law. Unfortunately, this reality is not unique to Kansas, as “the average American public school district serves fewer than 2,500 students” (Chapman, 1997, p.31), thus forcing most superintendents to serve as generalists.

Unfortunately, according to the research conducted by Tallerico (1996), generalists are generally less satisfied in their positions than those superintendents who are able to focus their attentions on a few rather than on a whole array of activities. This dissatisfaction emanates from a sense of poor preparation for the wide scope of responsibilities that are put forth for the generalist superintendent. In the end, more often than not, dissatisfaction leads to a superintendent moving from one district to another or else leaving the profession altogether. When frequent leadership changes occur, regardless of the size of the school district, it “creates a public perception of increased instability, lowered morale, a loss of organizational direction and ‘vision,’ and a general sense by the staff of ‘here we go again’ that the district will undergo yet another round of short-lived programs and policies” (Yee and Cuban, 1996, p. 616). This phenomenon is particularly vexing as the student achievement goals of NCLB continue to become more challenging.

Another impact of serving as a superintendent in the “typical” Kansas school district is the familiarity that comes along with being a part of a smaller educational community. The community has more personal access to the superintendent in a small or rural district. In a larger or urban district, however, there is less of a chance that members of the educational community know the superintendent on a personal level (Tallerico & Burstyn, 1996). While this can be viewed as a negative, anonymity also serves as a buffer when issues arise. In small rural districts in particular, community members have a direct relationship with the members of the board of education and superintendent. If there is conflict between the superintendent and the community or the board members, the probability of the superintendent having to change positions increases.

Likewise, being a part of a smaller or isolated educational community also lends itself to an environment where perceived dissatisfaction with the superintendent do not relate to educational nor financial issues; rather it deals with “personalities, whims of the board of education, and board involvement in petty matters” (Parker, 1996, p. 76), which can lead to superintendent turnover. In fact, in 2008 only 39% of the superintendents in Kansas had been in their current positions for more than five years (Hays, 2008, Kansas Association of School Boards, 2007-2008 Kansas Administrator Salary Survey Data). While superintendent professional job movement is a reality, continuity in the superintendency provides the local educational community with consistency of leadership and design. This has an impact on student achievement (Stratton, 2008). Given this reality, it is obvious this situation needs to be addressed so as to provide a better opportunity for the education of the students of the state. Much of Kansas will remain rural in nature, so the aspects of a rural school district will remain in force for some time to come, continuing the complicated, multifaceted nature of the Kansas superintendent.

While the challenges facing the superintendents across the country, as well as in Kansas, seem almost insurmountable, superintendents need to remain focused on their mission. Research shows that superintendents positively impact student achievement by fulfilling their duties in a responsive manner (Waters & Marzano, 2006) and by utilizing a

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“comprehensive goal-setting process to develop board-adopted non-negotiable goals for achievement” (Waters & Marzano, 2007, p. 14). By taking these actions, the situation will develop in which a superintendent can provide the educational achievement opportunities for the students of the district.

The success of any Kansas public school system is now defined by the student achievement demonstrated on the annual Kansas State Assessments. Extensive research has been conducted on the power and impact of the classroom teacher and the building-level administrator, but little is known about the influence the district superintendent has on student achievement. Mainly, evidence exists that superintendents primarily impact student achievement through the “promotion, support and development of principals as instructional leaders” (Cudeiro, 2005, p. 16). Aside from the important activity of developing pervasive goals for the district from top to bottom, little else is known about the influence of the superintendent on student achievement.

The focus of this present research is to investigate the impact public school superintendent tenure has on student achievement as shown by the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessments. The researcher chose to focus on academic achievement in reading over other academic areas as “the ability to read and comprehend is foundational to individual and national success” (Hock, Brasseur, Deshler, Catts, Marquis, Mark, & Wu Stribling, 2009, p. 21) and, as Berman and Biancarosa (2005) point out, “that for too many students, literacy instruction ends in Third Grade” (p. 1). This is particularly poignant as students who struggle to read are at greater risk of never earning a high school diploma (Berman & Biancarosa, 2005). The researcher also chose to focus on reading because one of the cornerstones of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is “to support states in making every child a proficient reader by the end of the third grade” (Helf, Cooke, & Flowers, 2008, p.113). This focus can be restated as a broad framing question: Does research show that superintendent longevity and student achievement are correlated?

In order to meet the goal of providing a quality educational experience for each student, NCLB mandated that all students “be taught by ‘highly qualified’ teachers (HQT) focused on helping all students reach a level of proficiency in both reading and math by 2014” (Sergiovanni et al., 2009, p. 16). This requirement has placed extra pressure on superintendents as maintaining a “highly qualified” teaching staff has become increasingly difficult as the nation is experiencing “staggering [levels of ] teacher turnover and [an increased] attrition rate” (Unraveling the “Teacher Shortage” Problem, 2002, p. 3). This situation becomes even more problematic as a teacher may not actually be a quality instructor although he or she has earned the title of “highly qualified.” In fact, Therrien and Washburn-Moses (2009) cite research by McLeskey and Brownell that there is no evidence that the Highly Qualified mandate is increasing teacher quality. Further, according to their research, only 12% of the surveyed Ohio building administrators reported, “a teacher who meets HQT criteria should be considered a more effective and competent educator” (Therrien & Washburn-Moses, 2009, p. 15). Thus, the superintendent must remain ever cognizant of the actual instructional practices taking place in the classroom, serving as a “teacher of teachers,” emphasizing data-driven instructional decision making to influence teacher classroom behaviors (Sergiovanni et al., 2009), and never taking for granted that the students are receiving an educational experience that will lead to increased achievement.

The superintendent must strike a balance, though, between being involved with the instructional practices and micro-managing the instructional practices of the teachers. Too much involvement in the educational process can serve to work against the educational experience, particularly if the administration engages in what Ella Flagg Young, the first female superintendent of Chicago, called “close supervision” of the teachers, which she opposed, saying “…no more un-American or dangerous solution of the difficulties involved in maintaining a high degree of efficiency in…teaching…can be attempted then that which is effected by…close supervision” (Webb & McCarthy, 1998, 226).

Although criticisms continue to mount against NCLB, particularly as the 2014 deadline of 100% proficiency approaches, the legislation remains in place, so the superintendent faces yet another challenge. Along with simply making all of the adjustments necessary to meet the obligations of the law, the superintendent must also continually work with the school board and the greater educational community to maintain a focus on achieving the mandates of the law, even if it is an unpopular action to take. To achieve this goal, it is necessary for the superintendent to act in a way with a greater “emphasis on interpersonal perspectives and a focus on the development of followers…to improve student learning” (Amatea, Behar-Horenstein, & Sherrard, 1996, p. 243). Acting in this manner will focus the energies of the

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educational community, pulling everyone together to work for increased student achievement.

Regardless of the good works of the superintendent, as public and political pressures continue to surface surrounding public schooling in the United States, superintendents find themselves engaged in a constant struggle to maintain a focus on the “true business at hand—educating children—in an environment in which interest group politics, board relations, and regulatory muddle conspire to handcuff their leadership” (Orr, 2006, p. 1366). In order to maintain this focus, the superintendent must be able to, as Sergiovanni et al. (2009) puts it “read and navigate increasingly complex political landscapes” (p. 221) at the local, state and federal levels. This takes on even more significance, considering that “Public school superintendents ultimately are responsible for the success or failure of the schools within their district” (Rammer, 2007, p. 67). Given this perspective, it is imperative that superintendents comprehend that it takes the proper employment of political and leadership skills to build support for their efforts that meet district procedural and organizational goals to benefit student achievement (Gorton, Alston & Snowden, 2007).

For a variety of reasons, including the increased attention given to the accountability of the actions of the public schools and due to the highly political and lonely aspects of the position (Roan and Hardy, 1996), the situation exists across the nation where the superintendency may be evolving into more of a temporary position as an increasing number of superintendents and boards of education view constant job movement and the lack of longevity of the superintendency as a part of the profession (Clark, 2001). This frequent turnover leads to increased instability of the academic environment, which, more often than not leads to additional turnover (Yee & Cuban, 1996), creating a seemingly never ending journey through a maze of organizational dysfunction. This reality is discouraging, as evidence suggests in the business world that stability of leadership accounts for a large measure of the success for major corporations (Waters & Marzano, 2007). This begs the question – If stability in major corporations brings about a certain amount of organizational success, would not the same hold true for the “school corporations” of the nation? It is this very question that must be examined to further define how best to provide educational opportunities that will enhance student academic achievement in our schools.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the length of superintendent tenure of Kansas districts on student achievement as defined by the results of the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessments. In order to put this impact into context, this study also examined the relationship of five other predictive variables on the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to answer the following questions:

• What is the relationship between the total length of tenure of a superintendent of a Kansas school district and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

• What is the relationship between an individual’s total number of years of experience serving as a Kansas school superintendent and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

• What is the relationship between the total number of years of experience in education of a Kansas school superintendent and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

• What is the relationship between a Kansas district’s assessed valuation per pupil and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

• What is the relationship between the total student enrollment of a Kansas school district and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

• What is the relationship between a Kansas district’s percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

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The significance of this study is timely because greater emphasis is being placed on school accountability, as evidenced by individual student achievement as shown on the Kansas State Assessments. Although districts are doing a better job of meeting the ever-demanding challenge of showing student achievement as defined by the Kansas State Assessments, it is only a matter of time before districts reach the level where they will not be able to meet the goals of that year. To address this problem, it is necessary to seek the most effective ways to meet the demands of this accountability system. A great amount of research has been conducted on teacher quality, instructional practices, curriculum, and on the impact of building-level administrators on student achievement. Thus, it is logical to investigate the impact the superintendent has on student achievement. Examining the possible impact superintendent tenure longevity has on student achievement is one area of study that would shed light on the over-all impact of the role of the superintendent on individual student achievement.

As Gall, Borg, and Gall point out (1996), it is beneficial to use the largest sample possible in a quantitative research project, so the researcher decided to take a “snapshot” of student achievement of all 295 Kansas school districts in 2008. This provided a comprehensive view of the impact of the questions being researched. The dependent variable for the study, the percentages of tested students from all districts who earned a score of “Proficient” or above for the 2008 testing year on the Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment, were recorded. Subsequently, six predictive variables (three dealing directly with superintendent experiences and three dealing with demographic factors of the districts) were recorded for each district:

• The length of tenure of each district’s superintendent.

• Each superintendent’s total number of years’ experience as a superintendent.

• Each superintendent’s total number of years of experience in education.

• Each district’s assessed valuation per pupil.

• Each district’s percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices.

• Each district’s total number of students.

As stated previously, three of the six predictive variables, including the primary focus of this study, described data from the 2007-2008 school year regarding the length of time the superintendents spent in education, regardless of the position they held. These included the following:

• Length of tenure of each district’s superintendent.

• Each superintendent’s total number of years of experience as a superintendent.

• Each superintendent’s total number of years of experience in education.

These descriptive data were chosen for inclusion in the study due to researcher interest in the relationship each variable has with student academic achievement.

The other three predictive variables used in this study were related to district demographics and were chosen for inclusion in the study because they all help in defining a district’s financial picture and play a part in providing educational programming for the students. These variables included the following:

• Each district’s assessed valuation per pupil.

• Each district’s percent of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices.

• Each district’s total number of students.

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To gain the greatest perspective on this issue, the researcher used a multiple regression process exploring the relationship of six predictive variables as they related to the dependent variable of this quantitative study, the academic achievement of the students.

Given the frequency of turnover associated with the superintendency, it was not feasible to gather a population large enough to conduct a longitudinal study extending over several years utilizing multiple regressions, as there should be ten to fifteen cases of data per predictor (Field, 2009). According to Field, “Regression analysis… enable[s] us to predict future [outcomes] based on values of the predictor variables” (Field, 2009, p. 198). Specifically, the backward method of multiple regression “calculat[es] the contribution of [each predictive variable] by looking at the significance value of the t-test for each predictor…. If a predictor meets the removal criterion (i.e. if it is not making a statistically significant contribution to how well the model predicts the outcome variable) it is removed from the model” (Field, 2009, p. 213). The remaining variables are then assessed to determine their contribution to the outcome of the dependent variable. Data regarding the dependent variable and the six predictive variables were compiled and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17.0 software program.

The six research questions were addressed by conducting descriptive and correlational analyses to discover the significance of the predictor variables in contributing to the dependent variable. The researcher checked to ensure that the assumption of no multicollinearity had not been violated by having any variables that were too closely related to one another by checking the Pearson correlation coefficient, the tolerance level, and the variance inflation factor (VIF) values between the six predictive variables (Field, 2009).

The level of significance was set at p < .05. To check the statistical significance and relative importance of each predictive variable, the researcher examined the unstandardized coefficient beta weights and the standardized beta weights of each predictive variable. In addition, an R Square was used to examine the relationships between the various predictive variables and the dependent variable.

Utilizing the backward method of multiple regression in analyzing the data produced three summary models to examine. Although all three models were shown to be significant since they all showed significance levels of p<.001, only data for the third model is included here as it was found to be the most parsimonious, having excluded two of the predictive variables based on removal criterion (the significance value of the t-test for each predictive variable).

As displayed in Table 1, model 3 of the results of the backward multiple regression analysis shows that the remaining predictive variables: Total Headcount, Percentage of Free and Reduced Students, Total Years as a Superintendent, and the Length of Tenure of the Superintendent did predict performance on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment. The R Square revealed that 9.9% of the variance in the dependent variable, the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment, was accounted for by the predictive variables in the model retained, F(4, 294) = 7.980, p <.001.

Analysis was then conducted to test the unique contribution between these predictive variables and the dependent variable, assigning coefficients to each predictive variable. As displayed in Table 2, the beta weight for Length of Tenure of Superintendent was .138, the beta weight for Total Years as a Superintendent was -.167, the beta weight for Percentage of Free and Reduced Students was -.191, and the beta weight for Total Student Headcount was -.201. Based on these results, among the four remaining predictive variables, Total Student Headcount had the

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strongest effect on the dependent variable, followed by Percentage of Free and Reduced Students, Total Years as a Superintendent, and the Length of Tenure of the Superintendent. Also, a t-statistic was derived to test whether each b-value was significant at the .05 level. All four of the remaining predictive variables were shown to significantly make a contribution to the model.

Concise answers to the research questions posed earlier are as follows:

• What is the relationship between the total length of tenure of a superintendent of a Kansas school district and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

The length of a superintendent’s tenure was shown to significantly impact the outcome of the dependent variable at the .05 level.

• What is the relationship between an individual’s total number of years of experience serving as a Kansas school superintendent and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

The total number of years’ experience as a superintendent was shown to significantly impact the outcome variable at the .05 level.

• What is the relationship between the total number of years of experience in education of a Kansas school superintendent and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

The total number of years of experience in education was not shown to significantly impact the outcome variable at the .05 level.

• What is the relationship between a Kansas district’s assessed valuation per pupil and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

The district’s assessed valuation per pupil was not shown to significantly impact the outcome variable at the .05 level.

• What is the relationship between the total student enrollment of a Kansas school district and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

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The total student enrollment was shown to significantly impact the outcome variable at the .05 level.

• What is the relationship between a Kansas district’s percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices and student academic achievement as shown on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment?

The percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices was shown to significantly impact the outcome variable at the .05 level.

While this final model accounted for less than 10% of the variance of the dependent variable, meaning that over 90% of the variance in the dependent variable is accountable to other factors, this study does reveal that aspects of the superintendency do play a part in student academic achievement, specifically the length of tenure of the superintendent and the total years of experience as a superintendent. This information is important as the focus on individual student academic achievement will continue to be emphasized in the years to come, so it is essential to examine all possible contributing factors. Of particular interest, data showed that, as the length of tenure of a superintendent increased, so did the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Reading Assessment.

Interestingly, while the length of tenure of the superintendent indicated a positive relationship on academic achievement, the other three variables retained in Model 3 proved to have a negative impact on academic achievement. As the total years a person served as a superintendent, the percentage of free and reduced students in the district, and the total student headcount of the district increased, the academic achievement of the students decreased. Thus, further research is warranted to discover the impact these negative influences have on the length of tenure of the superintendent and on student academic achievement.

As this study revealed, the length of tenure of a Kansas superintendent does have a significantly positive impact on student academic achievement. It is important that steps be taken to assist superintendents in surviving and prospering in this position. Specifically, the following recommendations are offered. Institutions of higher education should consider

• improved post-secondary superintendent preparation programs;

• creation of a research-based superintendent mentor program;

• promotion of formal and informal superintendent support groups;

• continued emphasis in training school board members in the concepts of proper boardsmanship; and

• on-going training and support for superintendents in properly dealing with the politics and stressors of the position. (Chapman, 1997)

In conclusion, in the 170 years that the position of the public school superintendent has been in existence, the roles and duties of that position have fundamentally changed. Initially, the duties of the superintendent mainly focused on serving as a clerk for the board of education, taking care of the day-to-day operations of the school. That is definitely not the case of the modern day superintendent, as the role of the superintendent has taken on a more important function. It is now a professional position that plays a pivotal part in the continuation of our democracy by influencing how we educate our children (Carter & Cunningham, 1997, and Grogan & Andrews, 2002).

Assuming that the superintendent does play an important role in the preservation of our country, interestingly, very little research has been conducted on the direct impact the superintendent has on student academic achievement. This study is but one small step on the path to understanding the superintendent’s impact on student academic achievement. Further research on this subject is more than overdue.

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REFERENCESAlsbury, T. L. (2003). Superintendent and school board member turnover: Political versus apolitical turnover as a critical variable in the application of the dissatisfaction theory. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(5), 667-698.

Amatea, E. S., Behar-Horenstein, L. S., & Sharrard, P., A.D. (1996). Creating school change: Discovering a choice of lenses for the school administrator. Journal of Educational Administration, 34(3), 49-64.

Augenblick, J., Myers, J., Silverstein, J., & Barkis, A. (2002). Calculation of the cost of a suitable education in Kansas in 2000-2001 using two different analytic approaches. Augenblick and Myers, Inc.

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53 Myers

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Scott P. Myers ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor in Education Leadership at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Prior to joining Washburn, Dr. Myers served in public education for twenty-four years, first as a high school English teacher for ten years then as a high school principal. Most recently, Dr. Myers has served as a superintendent of schools in two different public school districts in Kansas for a total of eleven years.

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54Neill, Bland, Church, Clayburn, and Shimealla

HELPING TEACHERS BE SUCCESSFUL: LESSONS FOR ADMINISTRATORS

STEVEN W. NEILLPAUL BLANDEDWIN CHURCH, CLIMETINE CLAYBURNW. MICHAEL SHIMEALLEmporia State University

The goal of this study was to identify areas of teacher performance that were lacking to the point that the teacher was non-renewed. 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 Classroom Procedures, and Establishing a Culture for Learning). School districts should examine their staff development strategies and teacher induction programs to assure that these areas of concern are addressed.

Keywords: teacher characteristics, administrator attitudes, teacher evaluation, personnel management, teacher compe-tencies, teacher shortage, teacher dismissal, job performance, employer-employee relationship, employment problems, teacher-administrator relationship

In 2005 it was estimated that, each year, replacing public school teachers who leave the profession or who transferred to other schools costs $2.2 billion (Alliance for Excellent Education Issue Brief, 2005). Dr. Richard Ingersoll (2002) found that teaching suffers from a higher level of turnover than other professions, with 16% of teachers leaving

each year compared to 11% in other professions. Teachers in lower income schools leave at the even higher rate of 20%. Even more significantly, Ingersoll found that 33% of new hires leave the profession within the first three years and 46% leave during the first five years. Although teacher shortages have been temporarily slowed by the economic downturn, our educational system is paying a price both financially and in terms of valuable experience from teacher turnover and teachers leaving for other professions.

Studies have continually shown how important the teacher is to the success of students. Ernest Boyer (1995) reminded us that a shared vision is important in any community of learners. Teachers and administrators are the keepers of that shared vision, along with their ability to inspire and evaluate the progress of students. Successful schools depend on teachers and administrators to establish and maintain that kind of climate. Allington and Cunningham (2002) recognized that parents and the home environment have a tremendous influence on student progress, but nothing carries the day-in day-out influence that the teacher exerts on the success or failure of a student’s education. Kauchak and Eggen (2005, p. 3) stated it a different way: “No one, other than parents and other caregivers, has more potential for touching the personal, social, and intellectual lives of students than do caring and dedicate teachers.” As Gail Thompson (2007) states, to be a good teacher one needs

subject matter competency; cohesive, comprehensible, challenging, and relevant curriculum; high expectations for students; multiple means of assessment; an engaging style of delivery; and the overall objective of not only equipping students with the skills they need to advance toward their personal goals but also encouraging them to use their education to bring about social justice. (p. 15)

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Although the literature effectively chronicles the problems created by turnover and affirms the value of a quality teacher, not as much has been written regarding the skill deficiencies that result in teacher nonrenewal. Those studies that have been conducted deal mostly with the viewpoint of the teacher. Much research is focused on the process of dismissal, as opposed to the types of skills or lack thereof that lead to dismissal.

In many states, a school may decide not to renew the contract of a teacher in the probationary period of employment for any reason and without granting a hearing or following any specific procedures. For those teachers who have received tenure (non-probationary), each state’s statutes establish a list of the only acceptable bases for termination or nonrenewal of the contract. Acceptable causes for dismissal may include incompetence, violation of role model obligations, poor citizenship within the school, posing a threat to students, and other similar issues (Schimmel, et al., 2011).

Clearly, methods that can effectively improve teacher longevity and reduce turnover would result in the creation of a better learning environment for our students. Whatever methods we elect to use need to be focused on solving the problems that contribute to teacher turnover.

PROBLEM STATEMENTThis study is designed to look at the problem of teacher nonrenewal from the point of view of the building administrator. It is hoped that insights developed from the study will allow school districts and administrators to evaluate their programs and identify areas that may need either to be eliminated or reinforced as districts and administrators seek to help teachers be successful. The study was designed to answer two questions: What do building principals report as the most common factors that contribute to teacher nonrenewal? and What steps should school administrators take to assure that candidates are better prepared to deal with these common factors?

METHODS

Research Design

The design adopted in this research project used both quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the most common factors that contribute to teacher nonrenewal. The questionnaire (Appendix A) that was developed included three major sections:

• A demographic section that identified the principal, the school and district and district and school size.

• A section indicating nonrenewal factors. In this section, principals were asked to detail the reasons why individual teachers were non-renewed.

• A section of comments in which principals were allowed to elaborate on the information provided in the survey.

This approach was selected for several reasons: (1) survey methodology allows a large group of potential principals to be questioned (Babbie, 2001); (2) personal interviews by phone or in person with a potentially large group of principals were impractical; (3) the study design allowed the issue to be examined from a quantitative point of view with more principals’ views examined; (4) using a standardized instrument insured that each principal was asked the same questions; (5) the potential influence of an interviewer’s facial expressions, demeanor, and variations in follow-up questions was eliminated; and (6) open-ended questions allowed the principals’ answers to be analyzed without ascribing meaning or intent based on the interpretation of a physical response or interviewer bias (Gillham, 2000).

The advantages implicit in this approach allowed the clear depiction of the principals’ beliefs through the development of a rank or priority order. Using these priority orders, it was possible to identify teaching skills that are more frequently missing in teachers who are non-renewed. The use of a fixed percentage scale allowed for the determination of principals’ experience so that the most important problems could be identified.

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The qualities of an effective teacher identified for the study’s questionnaire came from the work of Charlotte Danielson. The Framework for Teaching is a research-based set of components of instruction. In this framework, teaching is divided into 22 components. Each component defines a distinct quality of effective teaching. The twenty-two components are then grouped into five domains (Danielson, 2009). Principals were given the option to rate each non-renewed teacher on each of these 22 components identifying each as either “a major factor in dismissal,” “a contributing factor in dismissal,” or “not a factor in dismissal.”

The compilation of responses to the comments section allowed the identification of variations that might have influenced specific nonrenewal decisions and gave the principals the opportunity to identify situations that they felt might not have been addressed in the questionnaire. The use of open-ended questions provided principals with flexibility not found in the sole use of a questionnaire (Gillham, 2000).

Adopted Questionnaire

In the adopted questionnaire, the principals were asked to identify the specific teaching skill that was absent in teachers who were non-renewed. The principals were asked to identify the specific professional shortcoming that resulted in teacher dismissal.

The percentages assigned to each variable by the principals were input into a spreadsheet program using Microsoft Excel. Excel was selected because of its simplicity of operation and the fact that the study design did not call for complex statistical measures. Computations were conducted to determine an average percentage for each variable and to assign a rank to each variable. The results were calculated as percentages and then ranked to determine their impact on the eventual nonrenewal decision.

Subjects

Two hundred and eighteen principals in Kansas agreed to complete a questionnaire. Principals were asked to report on teachers they had recommended for nonrenewal in the last two years. The principals were not paid for their participation in this research study. Principals who participated were informed that they would be provided a copy of study results.

The survey process was implemented with the assistance of the staff at the United School Administrators [USA] (specifically, Michele Velde and Cheryl Semmel). The survey was distributed to all current building principals in Kansas utilizing SurveyMonkey, the online survey software and questionnaire tool. The support of USA was crucial to the development of this study.

Nine hundred and fifty principals were contacted electronically and were given the opportunity to participate in this study. Two hundred and eighteen agreed to participate (23% return rate). Of the two hundred and eighteen who responded, forty-four reported having non-renewed a total of one hundred and seven teachers (see Table 1).

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Each principal was asked to provide a limited amount of demographic information. These items included:

• principal’s name

• school and district

• school and district size

Responses to these items allowed the opportunity to examine trends in nonrenewal that might be specific to district or school size.

Data Collection

The electronic mailings to the principals included a letter of introduction, consent information, and the questionnaire (Appendix A). The questionnaires were sent to principals electronically during May of 2010.

Data Analysis

Analysis of each variable (professional shortcoming that resulted in teacher dismissal) was conducted by applying an average percentage that served to establish a priority list of shortcomings (Alreck & Settle, 1995). The mean was selected because it is commonly accepted as the best measure of central tendency, regularly used in quantitative research, and is more stable than the median or mode (Gall et al., 2003; Hittleman & Simon, 2002). The resulting data provided the answer to the first of the research questions by determining what principals believed caused these teachers to be non-renewed.

The data were analyzed through an examination of those shortcomings that were identified most frequently by principals. A ranking was developed based on the data to allow those most critical elements to be identified and addressed.

Of the 44 principals who identified being involved in a nonrenewal, 24 identified specific examples in answering the comments section. Data provided from these responses were first unitized and then analyzed through the search for emergent categories, themes, and patterns (Marshall & Rossman, 1999).

RESULTS

Survey Data

In reviewing the survey data, several factors emerged as critical deficiencies leading to teacher nonrenewal. Table 2 lists the deficiencies in priority order.

As these ranking were examined, a significant trend developed when Dr. Danielson’s five domains were considered. The four of the five most significant deficiencies came within the domain of classroom environment (see Table 3). Clearly, teachers who were non-renewed consistently experienced problems with establishing a classroom environment consistent with learning. The two most significant factors were management of student behavior and creating an environment of respect and rapport.

Narrative Results

Some of the administrators who responded to the survey provided narrative comments that amplified the survey results and provided further validation of three dominant themes (classroom management, dispositions, and teacher preparation) that this study found to be the basis for many teacher nonrenewals. A complete list of all comments is included in Appendix B.

An examination of selected comments paints a more complete picture of these nonrenewal decisions when coupled

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with the previously discussed survey results. A principal speaking about classroom management reported that the teacher not being renewed had been through two separate teaching assignments in the district and had been non-renewed twice. The principal added that “she was not able to handle secondary students effectively to create a quality learning environment. This caused problems with time on task and the students ran over her. She has the knowledge base, but can’t control the kids.” Another principal reported, “This instructor did not have the respect of the students and could not control student behavior. Part of this is the teacher was not confident in his own teaching ability.” An administrator relayed the importance of a teacher getting off to a good start when he or she stated, “Without an established set of expectations, there was little opportunity to engage students in learning.”

Communication and the importance of interpersonal skills were detailed through the following two comments provided by different administrators in neighboring districts. “Teacher’s means of managing students was unacceptable. Teacher demonstrated negative attitudes towards students repeatedly. Interactions were frequently inappropriate with students.” Another administrator reported that “Non-renewed teacher was unable to monitor and change her attitude towards students, specifically students who were not ‘model’ students. There was no discipline with dignity. Many times she humiliated students to the point where they would cry.”

The importance of communication with parents was also reported as a source of concern. One response indicated that “Teacher could not develop a rapport with students. Lacked discipline and regard for rules. [The teacher] was defensive with parents and other staff members.” This view was supported by the comments of another principal who stated, “Teacher used sarcasm and [relied on] a my way, or the highway, approach to discipline of young children. [The teacher] did not deal effectively with parents who voiced concerns.” In one of the most critical observations an administrator stated, “Basically there was no growth. Several suggestions were made, modeling was done, but there was not any follow through on the part of the educator. For this person dealing with people in general was difficult. No skills with parents, disrespectful towards colleagues and students.”

The comments that were more specific to the dispositions theme were defined with responses such as, “This teacher was very immature even after having taught in another district and two years in mine. This teacher simply was not emotionally mature enough for a teaching position. His unprofessional behavior interfered with his ability to perform his duties effectively.”

Even when support and help is provided, as indicated in this principal’s comment, some beginning teachers still fail. “This individual was making inappropriate comments to students during the school setting. He was placed on a plan of improvement, but failed to abide by that plan. He seemed to want to be the students’ friend as opposed to maintaining a student-teacher professional relationship. He lost the respect of students and staff as a result.”

Comments like the following indicate that some employees fail to recognize the importance of professional attitude and conduct: “[The teacher] had a poor attendance record, no confidence, and lacked motivation. Teacher was not willing to grow professionally, and take suggestions intended to further the teacher’s skills.”

“[The teacher] was not a team player” and the teacher displayed “a lack of interpersonal skills and the ability to work as a team” are examples of comments about teachers who had problems with interpersonal skills. One administrator phrased the teacher’s dismissal in a succinct manner: “Unfortunately, this nonrenewal is totally based on this teacher’s non-ability to be a team player.”

Finally, the theme of teacher preparation, particularly in the area of instructional skill, was mentioned in one principal’s assertion that the teacher’s “content knowledge was strong, however knowledge of students and how they learn best was lacking.” This theme was echoed by a similar assertion from a different source: “This teacher had great rapport with students but was instructionally very poor, especially in terms of setting objectives for learning and planning for ways to engage students in their own learning.” Another administrator indicated that the “Teacher was not well trained for the position. [The] teacher did not have the basic skills needed to create an environment conducive to learning. Instructional practices were weak. Classroom management was weak. Organization was weak.” These comments were further supported by an administrator who reported, “I had two coaches in this classroom the

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second week of school and they took over instruction by the first of November. I don’t know how she received her degree in education and passed the teachers’ test.”

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONSData indicate that it is imperative that school districts be proactive in developing policies, programs, and procedures that provide the support necessary for teacher success. Clearly, for more of these teachers to experience success, school districts must examine the support they provide regarding classroom management. We must examine this problem from a diagnostic/prescriptive point of view so that each teacher’s individual challenges and needs may be identified and addressed (Ehrgott, et al., 1993).

It is important that a continuous dialogue be developed between administrators, beginning teachers, and the teacher preparatory institutions. Such feedback will provide the universities the data they need to improve the knowledge and skill of their graduates. Universities that use such analysis as the basis for their program improvement efforts will increase the quality of the teachers they produce. In turn, this will allow school district personnel to focus their efforts on enhancing teacher effectiveness rather than instruction in basics of instruction and professionalism. It is important that, before a teacher is hired, steps have been taken to insure that only those with the prerequisite skills necessary to succeed are offered employment. In an effort to insure that only qualified staff is hired, particular attention should be given to several pre-employment areas.

Initially school districts should research the teacher preparation programs in colleges and university that routinely provide teaching candidates. Time should be taken to identify the programs that align with the instructional philosophies of the district and prove that students who graduate have the necessary knowledge and skill. These programs should be reviewed for entrance requirements, program course requirements, course syllabi, field experience requirements, staff qualifications, and record for producing quality teachers.

A specific process of advertising the opening, accepting applications, and screening candidates for interview should be developed. The district application should provide specific questions designed to gain an understanding of the applicant’s knowledge and skill, particularly as it relates to classroom management issues. This not only includes specific resume data but provides scenarios that are aligned with the behavior management philosophy of the district. Transcripts of the student should be reviewed with special attention in the areas that often lead to nonrenewal. This information will provide the initial screening criteria that will be used to select those who may be offered an interview.

At this point, reference checks should be made. Specific questions that align with these management concerns should be asked. Answers to these questions should be recorded in a manner that provides individuals making the decision who to invite for an interview the information needed to make a knowledgeable choice.

Interview questions need to be designed that can help identify potential problems. Time should be spent developing a quality interview process. A list of specific questions should be developed for use that includes general questions on instructional philosophy, but also hypothetical situations that can develop insight into how potential teachers would deal with issues like classroom discipline, communicating with parents, and other areas identified as critical in this study.

When possible, a team of individuals should be involved in a multiple level process that includes, at a minimum, both teachers and administrators. In certain situations, groups of students and community stakeholders can be included for additional input. All individuals involved in the interview process must be provided with the training necessary to understand the legal aspects of the process. Each must understand that theirs is an advisory role and that the final decision still rests with administration and the board of education.

The candidate could also be provided the opportunity to actually teach a model lesson to a class of students in their grade level or subject area. Obviously this would be a challenge to design, but this would allow the interview team to see how the teacher interacts with students and how they deal with some of the typical misbehaviors that exist in all classrooms.

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After a teacher is on the job, it is important that a quality staff development program is available that includes a multi-phase teacher induction program. The teacher induction program should have sections particularly developed to insure teachers have the knowledge and skill necessary to succeed in classroom management. The teacher induction program should provide group and individual training opportunities in a systematic ongoing manner.

It is important that a mentor that has a strong professional skill set in the areas of classroom management and instruction is assigned to the student. The mentor must also have a strong interest in supporting the new teacher’s positive development to a level of competence. The mentor should be available to observe and direct the new employee, as well as to answer the multitude of organizational questions that invariably need to be addressed (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003).

Although mentoring programs currently exist in many states, they vary greatly in quality and commitment. Only a few states are committed enough to the process to provide adequate funding to allow a skilled veteran teacher to have sufficient release time to effectively coach the teacher (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 2002).

The district should continually review and update their supervision and evaluation policies to ensure that they are meeting the needs of the district, school and employee. Employee work should be evaluated on an early and ongoing basis that provides the feedback necessary to reinforce quality performance while identifying areas in which improvement is needed. Quality assistance should be delivered in a positive, continuous improvement mode that will foster trust and professional conduct. Areas that are judged not be at a level necessary to ensure continued employment should be addressed through individually tailored improvement plans. These plans should be specific and on target with detailed action plans and evaluation components. The plans need to be developed by a team of knowledgeable teachers and administrators, but the evaluation portion should be the responsibility of the teacher’s immediate supervisor.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONSA possibility for additional research links to the current requirement in many states that a passing score on the Praxis examination be achieved prior to an initial teaching license being issued. A correlation study that examined the items detailed in this study lead to teacher nonrenewal with specific items or sections on the Praxis examination that assess this knowledge could be valuable in designing beginning teacher mentor programs.

CONCLUSIONSAs with any business, it is costly, inefficient, and counter-productive to be constantly going through a cycle of hiring, training, and either dismissing or losing teachers. In order to establish the shared vision that Boyer (1995) mentioned, a school must establish continuity over time and that becomes impossible if the district is suffering through up to 20% per year turnover. Our schools would benefit greatly if administrators would take the steps outlined in this study, thus making a strong effort to give each teacher the best possible chance to be successful. Successful teachers will very likely translate into successful students.

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APPENDIX AQuestionnaire

The following questionnaire is designed to determine the professional shortcomings that resulted in teacher dismissal. Please examine each of the twenty-two aspects of quality teaching to determine which ones contributed to the dismissal. In the comments section, please describe specifically the problems identified as “a major factor in dismissal”.

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APPENDIX B Principals’ Responses to Open-ended Questions

Principals who made “no comment” are not listed.

Principal A

• Inability to implement a program or curriculum and refusal to accept coaching or feedback designed to improve said implementation. Also, inappropriate conversations with students and failure to maintain appropriate teacher-student boundaries.

Principal B

• Teacher used sarcasm and a my way or the highway approach to discipline of young children. Did not deal effectively with parents who voiced concerns.

Principal C

• Teacher was not making adequate progress in improving instruction.

Principal D

• This particular teacher did such a poor job of developing relationships with students, and sowing such a large amount of student distrust that any instructional strength was irrelevant. The culture of the classroom was such that learning did not occur at a very high rate.

• This teacher engaged in a series of behaviors that were not professional, despite documentation in their file directing them to refrain from such behavior. This behavior created too much of a continued safety factor for students, and the lack of reflection or planning to avoid these behaviors indicated that they would not stop.

• This teacher had great rapport with students but was instructionally very poor, especially in terms of setting objectives for learning and planning for ways to engage students in their own learning. The relationship building should have allowed this teacher to get kids to do anything, but there was no serious regard for the profession that indicated they wanted to get better.

Principal E

• Teacher was not well trained for the position. Teacher did not have the basic skills needed to create an environment conducive to learning. Instructional practices were weak. Classroom management was weak. Organization was weak.

• Teacher was not ready for the classroom. Teacher had been hired by a previous administrator. Several staff members tried to help this teacher, but the teacher refused to implement the suggestions.

Principal G

• As long as someone else planned it they could present it She would have been a very average teacher in 5 years

• I had two coaches in this classroom the second week of school and they took over instruction by the first of November. I don’t know how she received her degree in education and passed the teachers test.

Principal H

• Teacher could not develop a rapport with students. Lacked discipline and regard for rules. Was defensive with parents and other staff members.

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• Had a poor attendance record. No confidence in herself and lacked motivation.

Principal K

• Lack of focus, too lax in her approach.

Principal M

• This instructor did not have the respect of the students and could not control student behavior. Part of this is the teacher was not confident in his own teaching ability.

• This teacher was very immature even after having taught in another district and two years in mine. No control over student behavior and no personal growth as a professional.

• This person did not work well with the administration and the other teachers in the building. Was not a person who could find things on their own. Not very good at working with children.

Principal N

• Teacher was not willing to grow professionally, and take suggestions intended to further the teacher’s skills. Sarcasm was often used communicating with elementary students. Curriculum was not developmentally appropriate for the students being taught, nor was the teaching engaging students.

Principal O

• Unfortunately, this nonrenewal is totally based on this teacher’s non-ability to be a team player. Teacher liked to hide behind policy when possible, did not treat children or colleagues with respect as they should, and had a problem with authority figures. All this resulted in doubt as to the best interest of our students which resulted in nonrenewal.

Principal S

• Teacher’s means of managing students was unacceptable. Teacher demonstrated negative attitudes towards students repeatedly. Interactions were frequently inappropriate with students

• Teacher struggled with classroom management. Classroom was not conducive to learning.

Principal U

• This instructor relied heavily on his grade level peers, great repose with kids but no classroom management which led to poor classroom instruction

• This individual did a wonderful job with the students in the classroom, but she taught what she wanted to teach, when she wanted to teach it. She was not a team player, and was not honest with administration.

Principal V

• Has a lot of ‘smarts’ on the curriculum (mathematics), but very little knowledge and ability on how to impart that knowledge to the students in an effective manner. He tended to always have his ‘back to the students (i.e. taught to the board)’ and allowed one or two people per class period to ‘drive the pace of instruction.’ In other words, he only had the attention of one or two students; the rest were either watching passively or off-task completely.

Principal W

• Lack of fit in the classroom, didn’t get along well with students or parents, preparation was lacking in the

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classroom.

• Typically if there was a problem in 5th or 6th grade, it involved this person’s classroom - discipline-wise, potential bullying, didn’t have things graded. It was a mess.

Principal X

• Basically there was no growth. Several suggestions were made, modeling was done, but there was not any follow through on the part of the educator. For this person dealing with people in general was difficult. No skills with parents, disrespectful towards colleagues and students.

• This person had a total lack of professionalism. Wanted to do their own thing instead of following the state and district guidelines.

• This educator was a very nice person; however, she was way too timid to be teaching students with special needs. She lacked the knowledge of how to interact with our students, write and carry out appropriate IEP goals, run an IEP meeting, and was just very unsure of herself.

Principal EE

• Content knowledge was strong, however knowledge of students and how they learn best was lacking. Was not at “team player” on the team assigned.

Principal GG

• Classroom control was the major factor. The inexperienced teacher did not follow through with discipline or expectations and lost her upper level classes.

• Without an established set of expectations, there was little opportunity to engage students in learning.

Principal HH

• There is only one teacher I have listed as a nonrenewal member of my staff. This teacher was tenured. This teacher resigned. The KNEA was helpful in this situation.

Principal JJ

• Not willing to do the work that was needed.

Principal LL

• Teacher had organizational, communicative, and instructional problems. A plan was set us and the teacher given input.

Principal MM

• Non-renewed teacher was unable to monitor and change her attitude towards students, specifically students who were not “model” students. There was no discipline with dignity. Many times she humiliated students to the point where they would cry.

Principal NN

• This individual was making inappropriate comments to students during the school setting. He was placed on a plan of improvement, but failed to abide by that plan. He seemed to want to be the students’ friend as opposed to maintaining a student-teacher professional relationship. He lost the respect of students and staff as a result.

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• This individual has been through two separate teaching assignments in our district and has been non-renewed twice. She was not able to handle secondary students effectively to create a quality learning environment. This caused problems with time on task and the students ran over her. She has the knowledge base, but can’t control the kids.

• This teacher has many tools to work with in her toolbox, but she has difficulty relating to the students. She taught an elective, and frankly there were a very limited number of students wishing to enroll. No students equals no need for a teacher. We want to keep the program, so we opted to non-renew so we could find a teacher that can make connections with the students.

Principal TT

• This teacher did not demonstrate any understanding of instructional purpose or expectations. She believed her purpose was custodial, in nature.

• This teacher had very little to draw from, he leaned heavily on his teammates.

• This teacher simply was not emotionally mature enough for a teaching position. His unprofessional behavior interfered with his ability to perform his duties effectively.

REFERENCESAllington, R., & Cunningham, P. (2002). Schools that work: Where all children read and write. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Alliance for Excellent Education. (2005). Teacher attrition: A costly loss to the nation and to the states. Washington, DC.

Alreck, P. L., & Settle, R. B. (1995). The survey research handbook (2nd ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Babbie, E. (2001). The practice of social research (9th ed.). Belmont,CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Boyer, E. (1995). The basic school: A community for learning (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Danielson, C., Axtell, D, Bevan, P., Cleland, B., McKay, C., Phillips, E. & Wright, K. (2009). Implementing the framework for teaching in enhancing professional practice: An ASCD action tool. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Ehrgott, R., Henderson-Spark, J. & Sparks, R. (1993). A study of the marginal teacher in California. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the California Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

Gall, M. G., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2003). Educational research: An introduction (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Gillham, B. (2000). Developing a questionnaire. NY: Continuum.

Hittleman, D. R., & Simon, A. J. (2002). Interpreting educational research (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.

Ingersoll, R. (2002, August 15). High turnover plagues schools. USA Today, p. 13A.

Ingersoll, R., & Smith, T. (2003, May). The wrong solution to the teacher shortage. Educational Leadership, 60, 30-33.

Kauchak, D. and Eggen, P. (2005). Introduction to teaching: Becoming a professional. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Hall.

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Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (1999). Designing qualitative research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. (2002, August). Unraveling the “teacher shortage” problem: Teacher retention is the key. Washington, DC.

Schimmel, D., Stellman, L., & Fischer. (2011). Teachers and the law. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Hall.

Thompson, G. (2007). Up where we belong: Helping African American and Latino students rise in school and life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Steven W. Neill ([email protected]) is currently teaching classroom management in both undergraduate and graduate programs at Emporia State University and is the Field Experience Coordinator for teacher preparation. He also teaches a graduate course in educational research and directs the scoring of the Teacher Work Sample. He received his BSED from Pittsburg State with a major in History, his MSED in Secondary Education from Wichita State and his ED.D. in Educational Administration from Wichita State. His previous experience includes nineteen years as a high school teacher at Hesston, Concordia, and Sumner Academy of Arts and Science and nine years as a building administrator at Burrton, Tonganoxiem and Douglass. He has written previously in the areas of bond issue campaigns and classroom management.

Paul Bland ([email protected]) earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Fort Hays State University and was a teacher and coach for eleven years in Kansas public schools. He earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University. He served as coordinator for secondary education at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky and Director of Teacher Education and Department Chair at Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas. Dr. Bland has been published in the areas of teacher education design and historical examination of the superintendency.

Edwin Church ([email protected]) is a 1999 Ed.D. graduate from Wichita State University. He regularly presents on the topics of learning communities at the local, state and national level. He was the 1999 Kansas Rural Superintendent of the Year and received the 2003 Kansas Rural Schools Association Outstanding Practice Award. Dr. Church has published in the areas of high school dropouts and teacher perceptions of dropouts, adult learning, technology delivered instruction, alternative education programs, alternative school district pay systems, distance learning, learning organizations, and the survival of small schools and school districts.

Climetine Clayburn ([email protected]) earned an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Kansas Wesleyan University. She received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Kansas State University. Her Ed.D. degree was received from the University of Kansas. Dr. Clayburn joined the Emporia State University in 2007 after working in the public school arena as a teacher, principal and Equity Coordinator in Kansas, and as a supervisor in North Carolina. She teaches graduate level classes and supervises practicum students in the Kansas City metro area.

W. Michael Shimeall ([email protected]) holds his baccalaureate degree in history from Sterling College and a masters degree in history from Emporia State University. His Ed.D. and Educational Specialist degrees are from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. In 2008 he was selected Region I Superintendent of the Year by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the district was honored as a “Blue Ribbon School of Excellence” by the U.S. Department of Education. He is currently serving on the Nebraska Council for Teacher Education and is president of Southeast Nebraska Distant Learning Contract, a consortium of fifty-seven school districts and partners who work together to provide enhanced learning opportunities for their students.

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ENACTING SOCIAL JUSTICE:PERCEPTIONS OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSLINDA R. VOGELUniversity of Northern Colorado

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 (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explic-itly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students.

Keywords: educational leadership, social justice, leadership preparation

In order to be globally competitive in the twenty-first century, the United States must develop and maintain a highly skilled and innovative workforce. Public education has long been seen as the vehicle for developing such a workforce, but student achievement data since the 1980’s has shown a large discrepancy between the academic

success of white middle and upper class students and students who come from low socioeconomic, racially diverse, and English as a Second Language backgrounds (Education Trust, 2006; Gamoran, 2007; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Kozol, 2005; Miller, 1995; Rothenberg, 2007; Rothstein, 2005). Many federal initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the current Race to the Top, are focused on increasing the achievement of at-risk student subgroups so that the human capacity of the nation can be maximized.

As educators are attempting to address this achievement gap, the population of students in the at-risk subgroups of minority students and English language learners are increasing as the diversity of the nation grows (U. S. Census Bureau, 2008). The education of students from differing cultures is an increasingly critical challenge to which educational leaders must respond. While teachers, principals, and superintendents across the nation are acutely aware of the achievement gap data and the consequences of such data in relation to state and federal accountability systems, a systemic view of how schools can successfully educate a diverse student population is not common (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Multicultural education and social justice are two concepts found in social science and education research that address the engagement of minority students in the learning process, leading to increased academic achievement. Educational leaders should be familiar with and able to apply these concepts to educational settings in order for the potential of all students to be fully developed.

Multicultural education holds promise in addressing the significant achievement difference between racial minority and low SES students and their white, middle-class peers (Delpit, 1995; Florence, 1998; Howard, 2006; Lindsey et al., 2004; Singleton & Linton, 2006). Although scholars may identify multicultural education with different terms, each advocates an increase in awareness of one’s own cultural identity, how cultural identities are formed, forms of oppression, and methods of appropriately addressing differences among groups of people. Multicultural education is not an annual celebration of a particular group, but an on-going, explicit process of understanding and celebrating the customs, beliefs, identity, and history of each student, as well as addressing forms of oppression that individuals as a part of a group may have or are experiencing and how to respond to such oppression.

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The goal of multicultural education, in addition to closing the achievement gap, is social justice, which includes, but extends beyond, the schoolhouse walls and is not limited only to racial or cultural diversity issues (Bell, 2007; Freire, 1970/2007; Marshall & Gerstl-Pepin, 2005; Torres & Noguera, 2008; Young, 1990). As Young explained, “The ideal of the just society as eliminating group differences is both unrealistic and undesirable. Instead, justice in a group-differentiated society demands social equality of groups, and mutual recognition and affirmation of group differences. Attending to group-specific needs and providing for group representation both promotes that social equality and provides the recognition that undermines cultural imperialism” (p. 161). Social justice should include, then, the elements of recognition (including respect and dignity) and redistribution of power and wealth discussed by North (2008). Knowledge of differences and inequity, however, are nearly meaningless if members of the dominant or minority groups do not take action to correct injustices of which they are aware. This means that students of the dominant culture need to understand and value the culture of other students and understand the forms that oppression take, while students of the minority culture need to build healthy self-esteem and identity in order to for a school environment to be developed that supports the engagement, empowerment, social responsibility, and ultimately the success of all students.

While the idea of social justice is widely discussed among academics, it is the work of practitioners in schools to implement multicultural education and promote social justice to address the achievement gap, including motivational factors that contribute to drop-out rates, and empower students to fully participate in school and in society as adults. The understanding of what multicultural education and social justice are and what they look like in a school environment appears to remain minimal among P-12 educators and educational leaders (Adams et al., 2007; McDonald, 2007; Singleton & Linton, 2006).

Superintendents and principals involved in research probing school leaders’ perceptions and understandings of social justice in UCEA’s Voices From the Field study revealed limited knowledge of how schools can promote social justice or even what the concept entailed (Dominguese et al,. 2005; Place et al., 2006). Understanding how educators, in leadership roles or preparing to assume such roles, define social justice and what actions are or could be taken in schools to promote social justice, including but not limited to multicultural education, is necessary for educational leadership preparation programs and educational leadership scholars if they are to engage in a meaningful dialogue with practitioners that provides practical assistance and knowledge in addressing cultural and other minority group issues that impact the achievement gap. The academic success of minority groups in just an initial, albeit vital, step in promoting an active voice and participation in American society by all citizens that must be supported by schools and their leaders, with the imperative to adequately train those school leaders falling squarely on the shoulders of educational leadership preparation programs.

METHODSThis qualitative case study was conducted to determine how educators who either were currently enrolled in or who had completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understood the concept of social justice and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. The study resulted from numerous conversations among the program faculty as to whether program graduates were being adequately prepared to address the educational needs of a diverse student population in a systemic manner that would lead to the increased academic achievement of at-risk students. While program curriculum included discussions and analysis of student achievement data, the concepts of multicultural education and social justice were not explicitly addressed as part of educational leadership to support the achievement of at-risk students.

The research questions that guided this study were as follows:

1. How do educators who have participated in an educational leadership preparation program define the concept of social justice?

2. How do educators who have participated in an educational leadership preparation program view multicultural

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education in relation to promoting social justice?

3. What school reform efforts do educators who have participated in an educational leadership preparation program identify as promoting social justice?

An open-ended survey was developed based on these research questions. The survey was emailed to randomly selected educators currently enrolled in or having completed the educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at the case study university. The survey was designed to gain a cross-section of the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of these educators, occupying various educational positions and at different points in their careers, regarding their understanding and use of multicultural education and social justice in their specific educational settings. A survey was determined to be the most effective method to gather the opinions of this population of graduates who were geographically dispersed throughout the state and nation.

Invitations were sent to 25 randomly selected educators who had completed the program in each of the five years prior to the study and whose current business email addresses were available in an attempt to obtain feedback evenly across the five year time period. Invitations were also emailed to 30 educators who were currently enrolled in the program to obtain the perspectives of those who were striving at the time of the study to become educational leaders. Three invitations were returned as undeliverable, making the total number of delivered invitations 152.

The survey was made available online using SurveyMonkey software for a period of one month. The survey consisted of five demographic questions and the following eight open-ended questions:

1. Have you heard of “social justice”? If so, how are you familiar with the term?

2. Whether or not you have heard the term before, how do you personally define “social justice”?

3. What actions/policies/programs at your school/district would you describe as promoting social justice, as you have defined it?

4. What actions/policies/programs would you like to see your school/district implement regarding social justice, as you have defined it?

5. What role do you feel multicultural education plays in promoting social justice?

6. How do you define “multicultural education”?

7. What actions/policies/programs at your school/district would you describe as promoting multicultural education, as you have defined it?

8. What actions/policies/programs would you like to see your school/district implement regarding multicultural education, as you have defined it?

Fifty-four educators (n=54) completed the survey for a response rate of 36%. The open-ended survey responses were analyzed using NVIVO software to identify key themes for each question and among responses. Responses were coded in relationship to the characteristics of social justice articulated by Bell (2007) and Robins et al.’s (2006) definition of multiculturalism and continuum of cultural proficiency. Findings were reported in terms of the number of responses coded in each category for each question and among questions across all respondents. The definition of each coding category was as follows:

• Social justice: Full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs, including a equitable distribution of resources where all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure, self-determining, interdependent, with “a sense of their own agency and social responsibility toward and with others and the society as a whole” (Bell, 2007, p. 3).

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• Multiculturalism: The preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a society or nation, holding each as equally valuable to and influential on the members of the society (Robins et al., 2006, p. 14).

• Cultural proficiency: See the difference and respond effectively in a variety of environments (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

• Cultural competence: See the difference, understand the difference that difference makes (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

• Cultural precompetence: See the difference, respond inadequately (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

• Cultural blindness: See the difference, act like you don’t (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

• Cultural incapacity: See the difference, make it wrong (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

• Cultural destructiveness: See the difference, stomp it out (Robins et al., 2006, p. 3).

Responses were also analyzed to determine perceptions of types of oppression (racism, sexism, ableism, and classism) among respondents, with responses regarding race, gender, disability, and social class coded and then analyzed to determine if the responses advocated inclusive or exclusive educational or social practices.

Validity and reliability in qualitative research is often viewed in terms of trustworthiness, confirmability, and auditability (Miles & Huberman, 1994). An audit trail was developed so that the methodology was transparent and replicable. The accuracy and credibility of the coding and analysis of the responses in this study were supported by an external audit in which a colleague at an institution in another state reviewed the data, coding, and findings, based on the questions suggested by Schwandt and Halpern (1988) for such purposes. Member checks and triangulation could not be conducted because the survey results were anonymous to promote honest responses. Because the data gathered by the survey was narrative in nature, rather than quantitative, statistical analysis of reliability was not appropriate. The questions posed in the survey were determined to be objective, and the coding of responses was also determined to be consistent between responses and coding category definitions by the external auditor.

As with most qualitative research and particularly case study research, the findings are limited to the case population studied. However, these findings may reflect similar trends in attitudes and understandings among educational leaders who have completed training programs that do not explicitly address the concepts of multicultural education and social justice, as in the case study program. The results of this study can be used to further discussions among leadership preparation faculty and educators to explicitly discuss these concepts so that a greater degree of common understanding can be established and more inclusive and equitable practices can be put in place in schools across the nation.

PARTICIPANTSA majority of respondents were female (61%) and Caucasion (81%). Other ethnicities of respondents included African American (6%), Native American (6%), and Latino (7%). Half of the respondents reported their current position as a classroom teacher, with an additional 3% identifying their position as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA). Almost one quarter (24%) of respondents was serving as either assistant principals or principals, and an additional 23% were employed in district office positions (17%) or as district superintendents (6%). Nearly one-third (32%) of respondents who were not district-level leaders worked at elementary schools, 15% at middle schools, and 20% at high schools. Six percent of respondents reported they were employed in a K-8 building, and 10% worked in an alternative school setting. Over half (52%) of respondents employed at the school level worked in large schools with a student population of 500 or above, and 20% worked in schools with between 350 and 500 students. Only 4% of respondents worked in small schools serving under 150 students, with 11% serving schools with 150-250 students and another 13% working in schools with 250-350 students.

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RESULTS

Conceptual Understanding of Social Justice

Forty-three percent of the study participants felt that they understood the concept of social justice, with 24% having limited familiarity with the term and a third (33%) reporting no familiarity with the term. Of those educators who identified themselves as being familiar with the concept of social justice, a slight majority was female (57%). Forty percent of the minority educators in the study felt they were familiar with the term, as well. Over two-thirds of the district-level administrators in the study identified themselves as being familiar with the term, while only 27% of building-level administrators and 38% of classroom teachers felt they understood what social justice meant (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Social Justice Familiarity by Position.

However, in their definition of social justice, 18% of respondents who identified themselves as understanding the term limited their definition to restorative justice, such as peer discipline review boards, which does not reflect a true understanding of the concept based on Bell’s five characteristics. A Caucasian middle school principal defined social justice as “Keeping the social balance through working together. When choices are made by individuals that throw the balance of the social system, it is the responsibility of the person who throws off the balance to find a way to fix it, make it right again.” Given such responses, only 35% of respondents who felt they understood the term of social justice reflected such an understanding in their other responses.

Thirty-five percent of classroom teachers in the study felt they had a limited understanding of what social justice was, and 28% had no idea. A third of responding principals had a limited understanding of the concept, and 40% reported having no understanding of the definition of social justice. Thirty percent of district-level administrators in the study reported having little (15%) or no (15%) understanding of social justice.

Of the respondents who felt they understood the definition of social justice, only 4 (7%) reported learning the concept through a class or experience in their preparation program. Several respondents identified life experiences, particular growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, as the source of their knowledge of social justice.

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Dominant Theme of Equity

Equity was the dominant theme that emerged in responses relating to the definition of social justice, as well as perceived and desired implementation of social justice measures in schools. The most common definition given for social justice by respondents was “fair and equitable treatment of all.” Over half (57%) of educators in the study included equity of resources (4%), opportunity (32%), or fairness in terms of a “level playing field” or treatment (44%) as part of their definition of social justice. A Latino district administrator explained, “Many children are born with a lot more obstacles to succeed and it’s our duty to try and make more resources available to them so that they too can reach the American Dream through quality education.” The way in which schools can and do distribute resources and provide opportunities that are equitable for all students varied among respondents, however.

Social Justice in Schools

Nearly a quarter (24%) of educators in the study identified school programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) and special education programs as the primary means in their districts and schools of providing greater equity for students from different cultures or who face emotional, physical, or cognitive challenges. Non-discrimination policies for school personnel and students were noted by 6% of study participants as providing social justice in the school environment, with an additional 6% identifying anti-bullying student policies. Intervention programs, such as Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavior Systems (PBS) were identified by 7% of respondents as promoting social justice in schools.

A Latino superintendent explained that he did not feel “it’s the primary job of the school to teach about social justice. That should be a family’s role and the school can support it.” Several other respondents expressed faith in their district to provide a socially just learning environment with such comments as, “I feel confident that the current programs/policies are an appropriate expression of a desire to achieve social justice. I am also confident that as data becomes available and needs arise, the district will respond accordingly” and “My district does an outstanding job for all students to access the general ed[ucation] curriculum.”

Few responses, however, moved beyond the idea of equity to encompass the deeper and larger concepts included in Bell’s (2007) definition of social justice. Bell’s definition encompasses the following five characteristics:

1. full and equitable participation of all groups in a society;

2. mutual shaping of society to meet the needs of all groups;

3. equitable distribution of resources to assure the physical and psychological safety and security of all individuals;

4. self-determination and interdependence of all individuals in a society; and

5. self-efficacy and social responsibility of individuals in a society.

Full participation in either a school or larger social context was mentioned by only 7% of respondents as part of social justice. Six percent identified self-determination or self-agency as a characteristic of social justice, and only 4% mentioned social responsibility in terms of each individual being responsible for seeing social justice enacted in schools or in society. Neither the mutual shaping of society to meet the needs of all groups or interdependence of individuals in a society was identified by respondents as an element of social justice.

The question asking respondents to identify how their school or district could better address issues related to social justice had the lowest response rate of any of the questions on the survey, with only 31 educators responding. Of those 31 responses, 7 (23%) discussed the need for stronger discipline policies such as no tolerance of drugs or violence, harsher penalties for tardies and absences, or peer court systems. Issues related to the educational system, including funding of schools, teacher evaluations, and hiring practices, were identified by 19% of respondents as important for the advancement of social justice within their districts. Thirteen percent of the educators in the study

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did, however, identify the need for equity or diversity training for school staff, and 9% said that coverage of diversity issues was needed in the curriculum.

Understanding of Multicultural Education

Definitions of multicultural education were more homogeneous than the definitions given for social justice. Providing curriculum that teaches students about other cultures, thereby developing an appreciation for or tolerance of other cultures, was the dominate theme (56% of respondents) in the definitions provided for multicultural education. Teaching “in a way that honors and reflects various cultures instead of just one” summarizes the definitions of 30% of respondents. Differentiation of instruction, being more “learner-centered,” providing ELL classes, and inclusion of the study of other cultures and non-Western and minority authors and leaders in the curriculum were identified as the means by which respondents felt their schools and districts were providing multicultural education.

Multicultural education was seen by 76% of respondents as playing a role in promoting social justice, although 3 respondents felt that it had limited potential—with “modeling and the environment” serving as a much more powerful teacher to students—and could not “go far enough to dealing with issues of race and racism.” Specifically, multicultural education was viewed as assisting students in becoming aware of other cultures and building an understanding and perhaps an appreciation of cultures other than the dominant White culture. A Caucasian high school teacher explained that, “Typically, social justice occurs when the WASP culture is considered the dominant and important one. So, multicultural education would help demonstrate to students that there are many cultures and that they all have strengths that can be admired.” A Caucasian district administrator noted that, “We cannot promote equality without understanding where others are coming from.” In the responses that identified multicultural education as supporting social justice efforts, the goal of equality was frequently mentioned.

Not all educators in the study felt that multicultural education was needed to promote social justice, and some strongly advocated the need for assimilation of cultures into the mainstream. “I do think that we need to acknowledge other cultures and elevate awareness of them; however, I feel very strongly that our culture needs to be the one honored and promoted,” a Caucasian middle school teacher responded. “As people arrive in our country for the benefits it provides, they need to understand that embracing our culture is part of achieving those benefits. I would not expect to go to any other foreign country and have them cater to me, and I don’t feel that we should change what we do to accommodate those who choose to come here.” A Caucasian high school teacher felt that multicultural education “makes the issue more cloudy because the cultural norms of different races will be considered and possibly used as excuses for inappropriate behavior.”

In the 18% of respondents that defined social justice in terms of restorative justice or “everyone getting what they deserve” in terms of discipline, the definitions given for multicultural education and its relationship to social justice expressed the need to not use culture as an excuse for special treatment in disciplinary or academic situations. For example, a Caucasian high school special education teacher described her experiences with minority student discipline thus: “My internship took place in a poor school with a 98 percent free and reduced lunch rate with a high minority population of mixed ethnicity. It has been my experience that a disproportionate amount of discipline referrals come from minority students. Cultural sensitivity was practiced among the teaching staff. When it came time to bring families into the office, it was important that relationships and bonds had been established.” A Caucasian elementary principal expressed his view that “our empathy and desire to not make school too hard creates a system where we fail kids” by not retaining “non-proficient second language learners.” While 15% of respondents felt that the individual needs, inclusive of cultural background, needed to be considered in educating each student, an equal percentage advocated for a “no excuses” approach in the classroom learning environment.

Two educators expressed the opposite opinion, linking cultural understanding of administrators to a decrease in disciplinary actions and a means of building support for academic success. “Prejudice still exists. I see it and hear it. On any given day, at any given hour, Hispanic students are referred for a disciplinary action. Perhaps multicultural education would prevent much of the referral actions if teachers understood the cultural reactions of students,” a high school teacher explained. Understanding that, for parents from Latino cultures, non-interference is a sign of

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respect for educators was suggested by another teacher at the middle school level as a basis for going beyond the school to build support for student success, as well.

Perceptions of Oppression

Three respondents explicitly discussed the need to educate student to be aware of injustices, prejudice, and oppression in order to advance socially just policies and practices. Racism was noted by 50% of respondents as a problem that could be addressed through multicultural education and socially just policies, such as non-discrimination and harassment policies and anti-bullying programs. Only 2% of respondents noted sexism as a form of oppression, 9% linked ableism as a form of oppression (frequently in the context of such oppression being counteracted through special education programs), and 4% identified issues of classism as oppression within their school or community.

Cultural Competency

Educators who participated in the study exemplified beliefs compatible with all but the lowest level of Robbins et al.’s (2005) continuum of cultural proficiency, with the greatest percent at the precompetent level, closely followed by cultural blindness. Figure 2 shows the distribution of district administrators, school administrators, and teachers, in terms of their level of cultural competency, based on their responses at the various levels on the cultural proficiency continuum.

Figure 2. Percentage of District Administrators, Principals, and Teachers Responses at Each Level of Cultural Proficiency.

Seven percent of the educators in the study expressed views consistent with Robbins et al.’s (2005) highest level of seeing and responding to differences among people, cultural proficiency. Robbins et al. describes this level as “See the difference and respond effectively in a variety of environments,” including “holding esteem for culture; knowing how to learn about individual and organizational culture; interacting effectively in a variety of cultural environments” (p. 3). To be considered culturally proficient, responses needed to demonstrate a positive recognition of differences among individuals and an active response to those differences that honored the perspectives and experiences of all individuals. The respondents who demonstrated this level of cultural responsiveness were all Caucasian; one male principal, two female teachers, and one female district administrator.

The second highest level of cultural competence was demonstrated by 17% of educators in the study. Seeing the difference and understanding the “difference that difference makes” marks this level (Robbins et al., 2005, p. 3). This

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includes naming, claiming, and reframing the differences while training about the differences and attempting to make change for differences. Respondents in this category expressed a positive appreciation of differences and supported education as a means of changing other educators, students, and the larger society’s response to differences, but expressed doubts or a lack of personal knowledge or skills as to how to do so. Of the nine respondents at this level, five were male and four were female. Two-thirds of culturally competent respondents were Caucasian, two were Hispanic, and one was Native American. Four teachers and four administrators were in this category, as well as one principal.

The largest group of respondents, 33%, fell into the middle level of cultural precompetence, marked by seeing the difference but responding inadequately (Robbins et al., 2005). Responses were labeled as precompetent if there was no indication in the answers given as to a desire or knowledge to respond to perceived differences. Females outnumbered males in this category on a two to one ratio. This category had the most diversity among ethnicities of respondents, with one Latino, two African American, and two Native American educators, as well as 13 Caucasian educators. Two-thirds of educators at the precompetent level were teachers, with five principals and one administrator also at this level.

Twenty-six percent of the educators participating in the study expressed the belief that it was more important to focus on similarities rather than differences among groups and individuals. These respondents were placed at the level of cultural blindness, which Robbins et al. (2005) defines as seeing the difference but acting like you do not. This view emphasizes that differences do not really matter. Two-thirds of respondents advocating and/or demonstrating cultural blindness were female, and all were Caucasian. Three-fifths were teachers, with one-fifth principals and the remaining fifth in district administrative roles.

At the level of cultural incapacity, one sees the difference, but labels it as wrong, according to Robbins et al. (2005). This includes a “belief in the superiority of one’s culture and behavior that disempowers another’s culture” (p. 3). Seven percent of the educators in this study expressed beliefs as to the superiority of the dominant white American culture. All of the respondents at this level were Caucasian, with three male educators and two female educators. Of the five, three were teachers, and two were district-level administrators.

None of the educators in the study expressed a desire to “eliminate other people’s cultures,” the definition of cultural destructiveness articulated by Robbins et al. (2005, p. 3) as the lowest level of cultural proficiency.

DISCUSSION

Understanding of Social Justice

The responses of educators in this study demonstrated a very limited or nonexistent understanding of the concept of social justice. The role of multicultural education in promoting social justice was also superficial in most of the educators’ responses, as were the educational practices identified as supporting both multicultural education and social justice. While this may not mean that these educators do not understand and practice school and district leadership that addresses systemic inequities among individuals and groups, it is clear that explicit discussion of the parameters of social justice to enact change in educational environments or society has not occurred. This might also mean that the personal awareness to identify inequities beyond such policy issues as non-discrimination in hiring practices and providing special education or ELL services has not been developed, either through life experiences or in the participants’ leadership preparation programs.

The preparation program which the study participants either had or were completing covered critical theory, moral and transformative leadership, non-discriminatory personnel practices, and discussions of achievement gap data in the principal preparation curriculum, as listed in course syllabi. In only one course required for the principal license was an awareness of group differences and inequities directly addressed. The concept of social justice was explicitly discussed, using Marshall and Gerstl-Pepin’s (2005) Re-framing Educational Politics for Social Justice, in only one course required for the administrative (superintendent) license and typically not taken by students who are not pursuing

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that license or a doctorate. Ethical frameworks which might include social justice issues, such as Starratt’s (1994), were only discussed in doctoral-level classes.

More direct instruction and development of awareness, knowledge, and appropriate responsive skills are needed by all school leaders, however. As Marshall and Oliva (2010) explain, “leadership for social justice investigates and poses solutions for issues that generate and reproduce societal inequities” (p. 20). Discussions that are limited to the data related to the achievement gap falls far short of building the necessary awareness and skills that educational leadership need to identify, investigate, and respond to social inequities. To identify when a group or individual is “othered,” an educational leader must have an established understanding of his or her own perspective in terms of culture, gender, race, socioeconomic level, and ability. They must understand who is “othered” and how. This implies the need for inclusion of the concept of oppression in educational leadership preparation curriculums, as well as an assessment of one’s own perspectives or lenses.

Developing Educational Leadership for Social Justice

Singleton and Linton (2006) and Robbins et al. (2005) both provide guides for educators to develop their awareness and responsiveness to minority groups and injustices perpetuated by the dominant culture. Singelton and Linton concentrate on race as the salient issue that they present as the fundamental factor in societal inequity. Robbins et al. uses the broader term culture, which can encompass race, but extends to “other sociological factors, such as gender, age, sexual orientation, and physical ability” (p. 13). The word “oppression” is avoided in both of these guides, however, with a greater focus on appropriate responses to differences rather than the complex power structure that defines and perpetuates differential treatment.

To truly understand the beliefs, practices, and policies which contribute to the systemic inequities that constitute oppression, a theory of oppression must first be understood. Not understanding the roots of the problems that face children and adults who are “othered” in today’s society would be akin to a doctor focusing on treating an infection with antibiotics without knowledge of the properties of either the antibiotics or the cause of the infections. A simplistic focus on the treatment cannot cure a deep-seated disease when all interacting factors are not understood in either the case of a physician or an educational leader.

As Bell (2007) explains, there are three important purposes of understanding a theory of oppression:

First, theory enables us to think clearly about our intentions and the means we use to actualize them in the classroom. It provides a framework for making choices about what we do and how, and for distinguishing among different approaches. Second, at its best, theory also provides a framework for questioning and challenging our practices and creating new approaches as we encounter inevitable problems of cooptation, resistance, insufficient knowledge, and changing social conditions…. Finally, theory has the potential to help us stay conscious of our position as historical subjects, able to learn from the past as we try to meet current conditions in more effective and imaginative ways. (p. 4)

Aspects of oppression that should be discussed in such a theory in educational leadership preparation programs include the following:

1. the pervasiveness of “of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness” (Bell, 2007, p. 4);

2. the restricting “structural and material constraints that significantly shape a person’s life chances and sense of possibility” (Bell, 2007, p. 4), limiting both self-development and self-determination (Young, 1990);

3. the hierarchical systems that benefit the dominant or privileged group and disempower or silence subordinated groups;

4. the various roles played by individuals across relationships;

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5. the internalization of dominant and subordinate roles by individuals as explained by Freire (1970, 2007); and

6. specific forms of oppression (Bell, 2007).

Such discussion must be explicit, rather than implied by the discussion of achievement gap data and analysis in order for a systemic perspective to be developed.

After Knowledge Comes Action

In order for educational leaders to enact change in schools that can lead to greater social justice, an understanding of oppression and self-awareness can provide the foundation for advocacy and activism on the part of those who are oppressed. The goal of educational leadership preparation programs should be to prepare district and school leaders who can appropriately respond to inequity and social injustice and are willing to do so. Larson and Murtada (2003) identify three strands necessary for educational leadership for social justice. These include a deconstructing of leadership using critical theory and other theories that emphasize the perspectives and experiences of subordinated groups, exploring alternative leadership theories that are responsive to the needs of subordinated groups, and recommendations for practice. The development of awareness should be followed by an understanding of theory then continued on to activism.

Marshall and Oliva (2010, p. 23) articulate the following five characteristics of educational leadership for social justice:

1. a consciousness of the broader social, cultural, and political contexts of schools;

2. the critique of the marginalizing behaviors and predispositions of schools and their leadership;

3. a commitment to the more genuine enactment of democratic principles in schools;

4. a moral obligation to articulate a counterhegemonic vision or narrative of hope regarding education; and

5. a determination to move from rhetoric to civil rights activism [to promote social justice].

The important element in each of these authors’ analyses of what constitutes educational leadership for social justice is action. Educational leadership preparation programs are obligated to not only provide a venue for self-assessment and the development of a knowledge of oppression, but to support the moral imperative to change practices, policies, and systems that perpetuate inequity and oppression in future educational leaders if social justice is to be addressed in schools.

CONCLUSIONAlthough this study represents the views of just one educational leadership preparation program, the results should challenge all such programs to examine the knowledge and views of their participants. With less than half of the educators in this study expressing a familiarity with the concept of social justice and frequently a limited or incorrect understanding of the term, discussions of diversity and the achievement gap do not go far enough to build leaders’ knowledge of their role in enacting socially just change. Clearly, with only 7% of the educators in this study attributing any knowledge of social justice to their preparation program, the development of socially just leadership skills to change inequities in schools and to empower minority group students is not currently an overt topic of conversation. While leadership preparation faculty may feel that discussions of diversity and achievement gap data should lead to future leaders enacting more socially just policies and practices, the biases and ingrained perceptions of all people, including educational leaders, are so deep and often unconsidered that an awareness of perceptions, an understanding of those who are disempowered, and how that disempowerment is institutionalized must be explicitly addressed for change in those leaders and as a result of those leaders’ actions to support greater social justice to be enacted.

In the current educational environment, where resegregation appears to be occurring (Vogel et al., 2004), and

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discrimination appears to be increasing (Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 2010), such leadership is a necessity if greater social justice is to be advanced. Hafner (2010) provides an excellent discussion of texts that relate to teaching about social justice in educational leadership preparation programs. Using a continuum developed by Adams, Bell, and Griffin (1997), Hafner describes activities such as the development of an Equity Action Plan that can be used to move educators along in their understanding of the problems that comprise social injustice and help them to develop appropriate responses to those injustices. Such activities as those described by Hafner and others that target self-assessment and the development of personal awareness, increased knowledge of the cycle and institutionalization of oppression, and the development of meaningfully responsive actions that promote change in the oppression cycle can help prepare the leaders of our schools to confront and address inequity in all its forms, as well as serve as role models for students to do the same.

For a change in students’ thoughts and actions to occur, they must first be made aware of inequities and then be taught how to promote change. For this to occur in students, school leaders must have the knowledge and awareness to identify and confront those inequities and to include such issues in the curriculum. For such socially just leaders to enact change in schools, leadership preparation programs must provide pre-service leaders with the learning opportunities to develop their awareness, understanding, and path for action in an open and explicit dialogue.

REFERENCESAdams, M., Bell, L. A., & Griffin, P. (1997). Teaching for diversity and social justice. NY: Routledge.

Bell, L. A. (2007). Theoretical foundations for social justice education. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffins (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (pp. 3-29). NY: Routledge.

Colorado Civil Rights Commission. (2010). A promise for a better tomorrow: The state of civil rights issues in Colorado 2009 Annual Report. Denver, CO: Department of Regulatory Agencies, Colorado Civil Rights Division.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our future. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. NY: The New Press.

Dominguez, R., Ivory, G., & McClellan, R. (2005). Mentoring superintendent leadership: Insights on mentoring and communication from the UCEA Voices data. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council of Educational Administration, Nashville, TN, on November 10, 2005. Retrieved from www.coe.ksu.edu/ucea/2005/ DominguezUCEA 2005.pdf

Education Trust. (2006). Education watch—The nation: Key education facts and figures, achievement, attainment, and opportunity from elementary school through college. Retrieved September 25, 2008.

Florence, N. (1998). Bell hooks’ engaged pedagogy: A transgressive education for critical consciousness. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.

Friere, P. (1970/2007). Pedagogy of the oppressed, 30th anniversary edition. NY: Continuum.

Gamoran, A., (Ed.). (2007). Standards-based reform and the poverty gap: Lessons for No Child Left Behind. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.

Hafner, M. M. (2010). Teaching strategies for developing leaders for social justice. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffins (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice, pp. 194-218. NY: Routledge.

Howard, G. R. (2006). We can’t teach what we don’t know: White teachers, multiracial schools (2nd ed.). NY: Teachers College Press.

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Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (Eds.). (1998). The black-white test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.

Kozol, J. (2005). The shame of the nation: The restoration of apartheid in schooling in America. NY: Crown Publishers.

Larson, C., & Murtada, K. (2003). Leadership for social justice. In J. Murphy (Ed.), The educational leadership challenge: Redefining leadership for the 21st century (pp. 134-161). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lindsey, R. B., Robins, K. N., & Terrell, R. D. (2003). Cultural proficiency: A manual for school leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Marshall, C., & Gerstl-Pepin, C. (2005). Re-framing educational politics for social justice. NY: Pearson.

Marshall, C., & Oliva, M. (2010). Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education. NY: Allyn & Bacon.

McDonald, M. (2007). The joint enterprise of social justice and teacher education. Teachers College Record, 109(8), pp. 2047-2081.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Miller, L. S. (1995). An American imperative: Accelerating minority educational advancement. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

North, C. E. (2008). What is all this talk about “social justice:” Mapping the terrain of education’s latest catchphrase. Teachers College Record, 110(6), pp. 1182-1206.

Place, A. W., Ballenger, J. U., Wasonga, T. A., Piveral, J., & Edmonds, C. (2006). Voices III: Some principles’ discussion of social justice. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council of Educational Administration, San Antonio, TX, on November 11, 2006. Retrieved from www.nwmissouri.edu/dept/edlead/PDF/piveral/ UCEA_2006_Social_jus.doc

Robins, K. N., Lindsey, R. B., Lindsey, D. B., & Terrell, R. D. (2006). Culturally proficient instruction: A guide for people who teach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Rothenberg, P. S. (Ed.). (2007). Race, class, and gender in the United States (7th ed.). NY: Worth Publishers.

Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic, and educational reform to close the black-white achievement gap. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.

Schwandt, T. A., & Halpern, E. S. (1988). Linking auditing and metevaluation: Enhancing quality in applied research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Singleton, G. E., & Linton, C. (2006). Courageous conversations about race: A field guide for achieving equity in schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Torres, C. A., & Noguera, R. (Eds.). (2008). Social justice education for teachers: Paulo Freire and the possible dream. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

U. S. Census Bureau. (2008). An older and more diverse nation by mid-century. Washington, DC. U. S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved September 25, 2008 from http://www.census.gov/PressRelease/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html

Vogel, L. R., Whitaker, K., & King. R. (2004). “Exploring Implications of Brown for Schools of Choice and Raising Academic Standards.” Educational Considerations, 32(1). Milwaukee, WI: University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

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Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Linda Vogel, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is an associate professor and coordinator of the Educational Leadership and Policy Program, as well as the chair of the Leadership: Policy and Development Department, at the University of Northern Colorado. She teaches a wide variety of Masters and Doctoral degree classes and also coordinates the Native American Innovative Leadership (NAIL) program. Her research interests include standards-based education implementation, education policy, minority leadership preparation, culturally responsive teaching, and social justice leadership. Dr. Vogel recently published Leading Standards-based Education Reform: Improving Implementation of Standards to Increase Student Achievement (2010).

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FEDERAL ACCOMMODATION POLICY IN PRACTICE: IMPLICATIONS FOR A SUBSTANTIVE PROCESSLYNN HEMMERCANDACE BAKERTexas A&M International University

The design of governmental regulations creates an assumption that policy implementation is linear in nature and is un-problematic (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 in-terpretations 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 that teachers continue to have difficulty discriminating between accommodations and modifications and between learning strategies and accommodations (Bruininks et al., 1994; Ysseldyke et al., 2001), as well as choosing accommodations that benefit students (Fletcher et al., 2006; Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000; Helwig & Tindal, 2003). It may be that state-level guidance for policy implementation is addressed at the procedural level, while the IEP teams need guidance on the substantive level of accommodation assignments. This paper draws on policy implementation literature in general and accommodation policy literature specifically to understand the relationship between how states and districts approach ac-commodations policy and the resulting impact on the decision-making process used by the IEP team to assign accommo-dations. The authors make suggestions for considering a framework for a professional development experience addressing accommodation assignments. The authors’ suggestions seek to improve the substantive consideration between policy and practice to enhance the decision-making process used by IEP teams.

Key Words: policy implementation, administrative roles, special education, professional development

The design of governmental regulations creates an assumption that policy implementation is linear in nature and is unproblematic (Dorey, 2005), once received by the state and, once again, at the local level. As states, local education agencies (LEAs), and eventually school leaders and teachers engage in the implementation process,

it becomes evident that this hierarchal dissemination of policy results in various interpretations and actions. This implementation process is important to consider in the wake of federal education policies that call for all students, including students with disabilities, to learn and achieve high standards (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 1997; Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], 2004; No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002).

The legislative language in the 1997 Amendments to Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) and the NCLB (2001) clearly states that students with disabilities are to participate in assessments with accommodations as described on their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). More specifically, the legislative policy stated in the IDEA amendments of 1997 says, “State[s] must develop, disseminate information on and promote the use of appropriate accommodations to increase the number of students who are tested against academic achievement standards for the grade in which a student is enrolled.” With regard to local efforts, once this policy is received, the major task of district and school leaders is to ensure that educator practices are aligned with official policy (Davis, 1984; Parker & Bradley, 2000; Schein, 1993). What is often not considered, but is extremely important in the policy process, is an educator’s knowledge, capacity, and commitment to enact new practices derived from policy (Spillane, 1999).

Research is beginning to yield results concerning accommodations use and their resulting effect on scores (Shriner & DeStefano, 2007). However, there is less research devoted to systematic accommodation decision-making by IEP team members. Considering that it is the IEP team that decides which assessment the student will participate in and which accommodations the student will receive, this area of study bears further investigation. Research already

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recognizes that without clear policy direction, and guidelines, and support and accountability, the local setting in which state-level policy is to operate (as directed by federal policy) may induce weak links between intent and outcome (Christensen, 2000), resulting in variations among accommodation assignment procedures (Ketterlin-Geller, Alonzo, Braun-Monegan, & Tindal, 2007). The long-term effect of these inconsistencies and variations may not surface for some time. As such, this connection between policy and the decision-making process to assign appropriate accommodations must be examined to prevent the policy from being unintentionally neutralized or transformed in the process of dissemination.

This paper draws on the theoretical work of policy implementation literature in general and accommodation policy literature, specifically. In addition to information from the professional literature, the authors connect theoretical implications to the practical implementations realized in our previous administrative experiences as a school psychologist and a district administrator charged with accommodation policy implementation. Through this applied aspect of delivering accommodation policy, the authors describe the most salient manifestations of one state’s policy implementation process. This particular ensemble provides an opportunity to discuss the ways in which agency is constructed at the various levels of administering policy to result, eventually, in accommodation assignments for students with disabilities.

The implementation of accommodation policies underscores the key role state and local education agencies have in the process. This paper proposes that the apparent linear design of federal accommodation policy is challenged on multiple role and responsibility fronts that arise from environments and organizations (Nakamura & Smallwood, 1980), state agencies, local schools and districts (Firestone, 1989; Spillane, 1996, 1999), and teachers (Spillane, 2002). The question arises as to how the state policy language that directs school district activity eventually guides the IEP team with its decision-making process. More specifically, how is policy language directing best practices through the state and local education agencies to the IEP team? This nexus between policy and practice is complicated even more since little is known about district activities to build the decision-making capacity of the IEP team to assign appropriate accommodations.

This work is presented in two parts. The first provides an overview of accommodation policy and the local significance of one state’s policy dissemination process. This may serve as a starting point to analyze the articulation of federal policies when received by the IEP teams who make accommodation assignments. Along with the overview, the authors discuss the challenges encountered through patterns of interpretation stemming from environmental, organizational, and individual activity that ultimately affect policy implementation. In conclusion, the second part makes suggestions for research to consider a framework for a proposed model of change. These suggestions seek to enhance the technical consideration between policy and practice to improve the decision-making process used by IEP teams.

ACCOMMODATION POLICY

Overview

During the 1990s, there was a nationwide push to include more students with disabilities in state accountability exams. Accommodations were first introduced to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in 1996. The following year, the Amendments of the IDEA (1997) stated that all students should be provided with appropriate accommodations on all state and district-wide assessments. Several years later, the NCLB (2001) emphasized the need for school districts to report the scores of all students and mandated that students who received special education services be allowed the accommodations set forth on their IEP.

Though the 1997 Amendments to the IDEA and the NCLB mandate that students must participate in assessments with accommodations as described on the IEP, there is little research devoted to examining systematic accommodation decision-making by IEP team members. Research that does exist suggests that teachers have difficulty discriminating between accommodations and modifications (Bruininks et al., 1994; Ysseldyke et al., 2001) and between learning strategies and accommodations (Parker, 2006), as well as choosing accommodations that benefit students (Fletcher et

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al., 2006; Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000; Helwig & Tindal, 2003). Complicating matters further, individual states decide whether specific accommodations are permissible for students on their state accountability exams that may or may not be permissible on the NAEP testing. Lazarus, Thurlow, Lail, and Christensen (2009) found that a large number of teachers, both general and special, did not know which accommodations in their state might result in disallowing a student’s score. It is our interpretation that state-level guidance for policy implementation may be addressed at the procedural level, while the IEP teams need guidance on the substantive level of accommodation assignments.

Researchers have been studying the effects of accommodations on assessments for some time. As early as 1998, Hollenbeck, Tindal, and Almond stated that it was important to assess teacher knowledge of accommodations because their survey found that 1) teacher knowledge of allowable accommodations was limited, 2) few teachers agreed on whether a strategy was an accommodation, and 3) accommodation knowledge was no greater for special educators than general educators (p. 81). In 2001, Ysseldyke et al. found that teachers were confused by the terms accommodations and modifications, lacked understanding of the relationship between instructional and assessment accommodations, and had a tendency to overuse unwarranted accommodations. Fuchs and Fuchs (2001) also found that teachers overused accommodations by recommending the same accommodations for a large number of students. Helwig and Tindal (2003) further found that teachers predicted with only about 50% accuracy those students who would benefit from a read-aloud accommodation. More recently, Ketterlin-Geller et al. (2007) found that teachers often recommended accommodations for assessment even though the accommodations were not listed on the IEP.

In addition to the general confusion on the part of teachers, state policies regarding assessment accommodations vary across states. According to Lazarus et al. (2009), the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has been tracking state policy on accommodations since 1993. The NCEO found that in 1993, only 20 states had accommodation policies in place. Over the years, states became somewhat more consistent, at least in their terminology. By 2001, states were identifying whether accommodations were “okay” or “not okay” for use by students whose scores would be aggregated. However, by 2005, there appeared to be consensual use of the following terms: 1) allowed, 2) allowed, but nonstandard, 3) allowed in certain circumstances, 4) allowed with implications for scoring and/or aggregation, and 5) prohibited (p. 71). State policies also give guidance to schools to use in decision-making about accommodations. By 2003, all 50 states had a policy in place stating that accommodation decisions should be determined by the IEP team (Lazarus et al., 2009).

While states have determined specific criteria to guide the decision-making process (Thurlow, 2007), improving the quality of decision-making for accommodations requires that states also consider how they inform stakeholders of state and federal policy accommodation mandates, as well as contemplate the technical and substantive concerns of policy practice. Educators need practical guidelines for writing appropriate instructional and assessment accommodations and/or modifications since the IEP team is expected to determine the specific accommodations used for the large-scale assessments. Yet, there is no consensus among the states on accommodation approaches and levels of specificity contained in state policy (Pullin, 2007), which would help an IEP team in the decision-making process.

While a number of studies (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2001; Ketterlin-Geller, 2003) suggest data-driven models for making accommodation decisions, this system is not widely disseminated nor necessarily put into practice by states or LEAs, thus forcing educators (i.e., the IEP team) to develop local procedures to meet their responsibility (Ketterlin-Geller et al., 2007). Recently, a few states (e.g., South Carolina, Georgia, South Dakota, and California) have turned to using a web-based application, AccSelPro, released in 2009 by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDOE), to assist IEP teams in appropriate accommodation assignments (Duesbery, Swaffield, Elsman, Foster, & Colmer, 2009). Interestingly enough, as was shared by Courtney Foster, who was on the AccSelPro development team, California is currently drafting a professional development manual for teachers based on an AccSelPro web-based application (C. Foster, personal communication, October 4, 2010). Even with these recent state adoptions, a concern still remains regarding the lack of research on the impact of state policy dissemination practices as well as validity studies documenting the efficacy of data-driven models, web-based selection tools, and teacher preparation in the

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accommodation decision-making process.

The importance of the relationship between states’ production and dissemination of policy, as well as the local administration of policy, has been a topic of discussion for some time. In fact, the first reference attaching significance to policy dissemination activities employed by states is noted in the IDEA (1997). This statutory provision expected states to move beyond basic sharing of information to provide training in current “best practices” (Conroy, Clark, Gable, & Fox, 1999), and for school districts to adopt practices that have been found successful (Gilhool, 1997/98). However, the way in which accommodation policy is operationalized within states and LEAs and finally by the IEP team is still unclear.

Although the scope of this paper is not to suggest generalizable results, our review does support the need to examine current state and district accommodation policy implementation practices. By describing one state’s attributes of existing practices used to implement accommodation policy, light may be shed on an often-perceived but undocumented assumption that professional development exists merely by passing accommodation policy through the channels to the IEP team. In turn, this provides the groundwork for a discussion about professional development for the IEP team related to accommodation policy implementation procedures to afford academic access for students with disabilities. Developing an intentional professional development model that focuses on substantive as well as procedural knowledge of accommodation assignment may decrease the amount of IEP team member confusion regarding accommodations that is documented in the professional literature.

Local Significance

In 2007, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) created a state version of the Accommodations Manual (Thompson, Morse, Sharpe, & Hall, 2005) published by the Council of Chief State School Officers that included state-specific policy and procedures. The manual’s purpose, in part, is to provide policy mandates and practical guidance to district and campus-level staff concerning “selecting, administering, and evaluating the use of accommodation in instruction and assessment” (TEA, 2008, p. 6). Accordingly, it is assumed that familiarity with the manual will help district personnel understand the importance of their role and responsibility in helping students achieve “grade-level academic content standards,” as well as “learning about accommodations for assessment, selecting accommodations for assessment of individual students, administering assessments using appropriate accommodation, and evaluating and improving accommodation use” (TEA, 2008, p. 6).

As is true with many states, the TEA takes several steps to disseminate the policy information to key stakeholders. For instance, each fall semester, the TEA posts its accommodation manual online at the state agency website. Shortly thereafter, the accommodation team from TEA provides a video conference information session using a PowerPoint along with a question-and-answer forum to convey information to the intended audience of district special education directors and test coordinators, as well as to other relevant federal program directors. These conferences are video streamed through the state’s 20 educational service centers, and the PowerPoint is eventually posted on the TEA website. An additional means to disseminate accommodation policy information is through the annual Texas Assessment Conference, held in December. The conference is intended for district personnel responsible for administering state-mandated assessments. These methods of dissemination infer that once the policy is received by these district-level personnel, they in turn will proceed accordingly to inform the teachers and IEP teams at the school level.

From a practitioner’s perspective, there is much evidence to support the dissemination of accommodation policy by the TEA. However, there is no guarantee as to how the information will be delivered to the teachers, much less how the teachers will be trained to ensure that a quality decision-making process is utilized. As a past district test coordinator and a member of the Texas Statewide Network of Assessment Personnel (TSNAP), this researcher became aware that districts throughout the state developed their own version of staff development to disseminate accommodation policy information. For example, it was shared through our TSNAP meetings, that some districts opted to forward the TEA accommodation PowerPoint to their campus test coordinators. These campus test coordinators, though, may or may not have forwarded the information to the special education teachers. Other districts chose to conduct brief

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campus staff meetings with grade- or content-specific general and special education teachers. Oftentimes, these meetings would occur after the children were released from school and would last for an hour. In large districts, it could take up to three months to visit with each school. Also, there was no guarantee that all teachers in attendance were aware of the accommodation manual, much less knowledgeable enough to make appropriate decisions regarding accommodations for their students. Further challenges arose within teacher groups. Some teachers questioned the legitimacy of offering accommodations to a student on a state assessment. Others would attempt to include blanket accommodations on a state assessment without the benefit of knowing whether the accommodation was appropriate for the individual student, or even valid.

As a district test coordinator, this researcher observed that, as teachers became familiar with the accommodation policy, it was not unusual for many to request an accommodation that needed the TEA approval for use on a state assessment. As stated by the TEA, it is the district test coordinator’s responsibility to verify appropriateness and rationale for the accommodation before sending the request to the TEA. At these times, it seemed that teachers struggled to merge the official accommodation policy and procedures with their decision-making process for the task of completing the IEP recommendation.

The above scenarios contribute to our understanding of how and why policy knowledge is constructed and practice is implemented. As Thurlow (2007) pointed out, states have made their accommodation policies, manuals, and handbooks readily available via state websites. However, to improve the quality of decision-making for accommodations, research must also consider the venue of how stakeholders receive, process, and then apply the information. Ensuring that accommodations policy is extended to teacher practice should produce important results for student outcomes.

PATTERNS OF INTERPRETATIONProviding the appropriate accommodations to an individual is based on policy implementation derived in part from the IDEA, the IDEIA, the NCLB, and state policy and procedures. Much has been written concerning policy compliance at the various hierarchical stages, the role of political and economic conditions, leadership dispositions, and institutional resources to explain implementation (Lester & Stewart, 2000). In addition, policymakers go about creating policy to effect change, but they give minimal attention to the social forces and organizational conditions that ultimately reshape the policy (Hill & Celio, 1998; Tyack & Cuban, 1995). In addition, the final level of policy compliance is often mediated by local actors (Brouillette, 1996; Datnow, 2000; Goggin, Bownman, Lester, & O’Toole, 1990; Lester & Stewart, 2000), such as teachers.

As indicated earlier, the implementation of accommodation policy rests heavily on the teachers to mediate. These individuals are positioned to wield considerable agency and power based on how they make sense of policy and how they act in relation to policy in contextual situations. Furthermore, personnel charged with implementing policy are assumed to have the necessary capabilities, values, and attitudes to equally meet policy expectations. As evidenced in other policy studies (Pentz, Mares, Schinke, & Rohrbach, 2004), achieving policy outcome is based on the given information at hand and not necessarily on all relevant information.

Although teachers have historically understood the need to accommodate a student’s disability during instruction, it was federal policy that introduced the assignment of accommodations to the assessment process. This then provided a formal mechanism to articulate forms of accommodations prescribed for an assessment context. While the advent of policy generated a standardization of accommodation assignments, it did not fulfill the substantive need of IEP team members to make appropriate accommodation assignments. With this in mind, it is important to understand the influences that may surround a teacher’s decision-making process in choosing appropriate accommodations. For example, Coburn (2001) and Youngs (2007) suggested that when practitioners attempt to transform policy into practice, policy can set conditions of understanding, but the meaning behind the policy may not necessarily be followed. Furthermore, a teacher’s knowledge of policy may conflict with the subtle micro-decision-making processes and dynamics that teachers encounter in their attempt to formulate appropriate accommodations for students (Smit, 2005). In turn, a teacher may experience competing constructs of knowledge between policy interpretation and

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recognizing student needs, thus negating policy intent. As such, the authors suggest essential considerations of how collective and individual interpretations of policies shape learning opportunities must be considered.

The Accommodations Manual (Thompson et al., 2005) provides states with an implementation framework to guide them in developing their own accommodation manual with state-specific information and policy. While the teachers contextualize the mediation of policy, it must be reiterated that accommodation policy mandates are created and passed down from an external environment of state and federal agencies. As with any implementation of policy, though, there are certain responsibilities and tasks that must be fulfilled in order to achieve an objective, which in this case is ensuring that the appropriate accommodation is afforded to the student. How well policy is written, and/or how well policy guidelines and goals are articulated contributes to the implementation process as well. Scholars (Madsen, 1994; Peckover, Hall, & White, 2009; Spillane, Reiser, & Reimer, 2002) have examined the interface of policy and practice for many years, noting that policy written as a deliberate plan of action is assumed to guide decisions to achieve rational outcomes. However, as pointed out by Hope and Pigford (2002), the responsibilities and tasks needed for policy implementation are hardly a simple or passive practice.

Matters are further complicated by the uncertainty of how to achieve a policy goal. Cohen, Moffitt, and Goldin (2007) describe this uncertainty as a dual edge—one that may enable policy and the other that may “inhibit the capability that practitioners need if they are to respond in ways that are consistent with policy aims” (p. 529). For example, Madsen (1994) describes the role of the state department of education in implementing a state’s Excellence in Education Act (EEA). From her study, she found that the policy goals of EEA were severely hindered, if not compromised, due to ambiguity that extended across multiple components of the policy, i.e., funding, administrative direction and responsibility, and lastly, interpretations. These kinds of ambiguities influence the implementation process, creating concrete contradictions between policy aim and actual outcome.

This struggle in policy implementation is further contextualized by barriers sustained through legislative policy and administrative action. It is our interpretation of current literature that educators, in general, are required to provide reasonable accommodations in instruction and assessment for students with IEPs but are asked to do so without the benefit of a research-based decision-making tool for the IEP team. The need for teachers to develop professionally by adding specialized knowledge (such as appropriate and valid accommodation assignment) is not unfamiliar to teachers. Though as evidenced by the NCLB requirement for “highly qualified” teachers, this need has resulted in a greater discussion among policymakers, practitioners, and academia. Several studies, such as Mullens, Murnane, and Willett (1996) and, more recently, Goldschemidt and Phelps (2009), analyzed the relationship between teachers’ pre-institute knowledge, general intelligence, content-specific knowledge, in order to develop professional development models to result in increased student achievement. According to these studies, direct measures of teacher content and pedagogical knowledge are related to student performance. This further substantiates the importance of understanding the role a teacher’s knowledge of accommodations plays in student achievement. Extending these findings to this study, it may be that there is a relationship between the teacher’s knowledge of accommodation assignment and student performance.

As evidenced with the emerging accommodation policy, there is an expectation that teachers acquire new capabilities in the decision-making process to determine the appropriate accommodations. Thus, according to Cohen et al. (2007), if “practitioners cannot readily acquire new competencies[,] they are unlikely to deliver on policy” (p. 527). The decision-making process for choosing the appropriate accommodations is not simply an intuitive process. It requires practitioners to engage in learning how to use accommodations, how they might best fit the needs of a student, and whether each assigned accommodation is valid to ultimately result in higher student achievement.

Federal and state policy clearly recognizes that the IEP team is in the best position to determine a student’s assessment accommodations. States, in turn, are to establish and ensure implementation of clear and appropriate guidelines. While federal policy requires states to ensure that general and special educators know how to administer assessments and make use of appropriate accommodations, it rests on states to ensure that this occurs. Activities resulting from these state and national efforts underscore the key role of LEAs in the process, but as evidenced above, local education agencies are left to ponder how best to proceed.

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EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIESA professional development (PD) series for general and special education teachers based on the Accommodations Manual (Thompson et al., 2005), AccSelPro, and data-driven models (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2001; Ketterlin-Geller, 2003) is recommended as a means to improve the knowledge and skills of in-service teachers. It is suggested that the framework of the professional development series include four components: (a) recommendations from the professional literature concerning developing effective PD to engage teachers, (b) reliance on an expert panel to develop valid teacher competencies for accommodation assignment, (c) relevant curriculum resources for the study of the accommodation decision-making process, and (d) policy and procedures. This will permit general and special education teachers to formulate appropriate instructional and assessment accommodations for students who receive special education services.

The recommended accommodation professional development experience relies on the work of Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001). Their research included a national evaluation of effective professional development. Professional development programs that were funded through the Eisenhower Professional Development Program were used in their study; thus, their model is commonly referred to as the Eisenhower model. Garet et al. suggested that building teacher capacity to affect positive student outcomes requires using an effective professional development model. This model specifies three core features: content focus activities, opportunities for active learning, and coherence between a teacher’s experience and state standards and assessments. In addition, Garet et al. described three important structural features of the professional development model that foster the core features—type of activity, duration, and collective participation—all of which are necessary to elicit an optimal professional development experience. More recently, Quick, Holtzman, and Chanely (2009) followed up with a study that examined the relationship between teachers’ participation in an effective Eisenhower model professional development program and known instructional practices that are associated with student achievement. They further examined the characteristics of professional development opportunities that school and district personnel value and believe will help teachers improve their practice. Their findings support previous research that documented that “research- and practitioner-identified characteristics of effective professional development do, in fact, appear to be effective in increasing teachers’ use of an instructional practice that, in turn, appears to be effective in increasing student achievement” (p. 65). As explained previously, any professional development (from state agencies or school districts) on the accommodation decision-making process has been limited.

Decision-making in many contexts is complex. When combined with policy implementation, the capabilities and knowledge of those charged with the process should not be underestimated. Using professional development to strengthen capabilities and to inform the efforts that manage the decision-making process of the IEP is critical. Improving the knowledge and skills of teachers regarding appropriate accommodations for instruction and assessment should lead to improved accommodation assignments by IEP teams. When IEP teams make valid accommodation assignments that benefit individual student needs, academic outcomes for students with disabilities may be improved. Those students may show an increase in engaged activity for instruction and during assessment. The students may also show increased levels of participation on the state assessment. For example, a student may be able to move from the modified assessment into an accommodated assessment where his or her score will be aggregated with the general population. Results could not only improve teacher practice but may yield information to benefit teacher preparation programs so that teachers entering the field will be equipped to recommend and deliver valid accommodations for students with disabilities.

CONCLUSIONSResearchers suggest that teachers have difficulty discriminating between accommodations and modifications and between learning strategies and accommodations, as well as choosing accommodations that benefit students. There is theoretical suggestion that improving the quality of decision-making for accommodations will increase positive outcomes for students with IEPs; however, evidence is lacking. There is no evidence to suggest that state agencies or school districts have implemented an intentional professional development series for accommodation assignments

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that includes the structure and features found in an effective professional development design. While several states are moving toward providing key stakeholders with tools (e.g., accommodation manuals, AccSelPro), there is little indication that the application of these tools includes a professional development model that contains a decision-making emphasis. Therefore, the authors recommend that school districts provide professional development experiences based on an intentional design that intersects policy and practice.

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Youngs, P. (2007). District induction policy and new teachers’ experiences: An examination of local policy implementation in Connecticut. Teachers College Record, 109(3), 797-837.

Ysseldyke, J., Thurlow, M., Bielinski, J., House, A., Moody, M., & Haigh, J. (2001). The relationship between instructional and assessment accommodations in an inclusive state accountability system. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34(3), 212-220.

Lynn Hemmer, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Texas A&M International University. Her professional background includes over fifteen years of experience in the K-12 public school setting as a teacher, school administrator and district administrator. She most recently joined the faculty at Texas A&M International University after receiving her doctoral degree in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University. Her areas of specialization are in policy implementation, educational equity for special populations and administering and evaluating programs for students at risk to dropping out of school. She has presented original research findings in the area of policy implementation at regional and national conferences.

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Candace Baker, Rh.D. is an associate professor at Texas A&M International University. She spent 20 years working for public schools as a special education teacher, school psychologist, and private consultant prior to obtaining her doctoral degree from Southern Illinois University-C. She went on to a career in higher education and now has 10 years experience in special education teacher preparation. She has long acknowledged the need for professional development for general and special education teachers in the area of accommodating the needs of students who receive special education services.

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94Thomas and Huffmana

NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES OF HELPING TEACHERS USE DATA TO INFORM EDUCATIONAL DECISIONSKELLI THOMASDOUGLAS HUFFMANUniversity of Kansas—School of Education

In this paper we present a model of collaborative evaluation that has been used to engage teachers in data-based deci-sion 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.

Keywords: data-based decision making, evaluation, mathematics education, science education

Across the country, administrators are using various methods for collaboration and teaming to help teachers improve their professional work. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are functioning in many schools, with attention to characteristics such as supportive and shared leadership, shared values and norms, collective

learning and application of learning, supportive conditions, and shared practice (Hord, 2004). The PLCs have typically been established to embody the principles of ensuring that students learn, developing a culture of collaboration, and focusing on results (DuFour, 2004; DuFour & Eaker, 2002; DuFour & Eaker, 1998). Concurrently, data-based decision making has become a common practice for school administrators engaged in school improvement processes with the intent of improving teaching and learning.

It is imperative that principals also employ processes to help teachers examine various types of data and think about how data can be used to inform instructional decisions that lead to increased student achievement. In the advent of the accountability movement it makes sense to have teachers take a more proactive role with data. Using data diagnostically to inform decisions about how to improve student achievement is an effective method for helping teachers change instruction and impact student learning positively (Englert, K., Fries, D., Martin-Glenn, & Douglas, 2007; Kowlaski, Lasley & Mahoney, 2008). As a result, there is a growing need for administrators to provide leadership in data analysis and data use for the purposes of making informed educational decisions.

The process of engaging teachers in data analysis is potentially fraught with challenges. School administrators are well aware of the internal hindrances they might face motivating staff and finding time for teachers to meet as a group and examine data. However, there are also external forces that administrators will face when they engage teachers in the process of using data to inform decisions. It is important for educational leaders to be aware of external forces so they can help teachers properly prepare for data-based decision making and overcome the challenges that can thwart progress.

The purpose of this study was to identify external challenges that urban schools might face when using student data to make decisions and to analyze how a collaborative evaluation model for data-based decision making might help administrators confront the external challenges identified. In this paper we describe a collaborative evaluation model that we developed with funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The model uses an innovative immersion approach to data-based decision making combined with the concept of PLCs that helps school administrators and teachers improve school practice (Huffman, Thomas, & Lawrenz, 2008). We used the collaborative evaluation model in schools to overcome external forces that hindered progress toward improved practices.

School administrators and teachers are faced with an array of tests used to judge annual yearly progress (AYP). In

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many ways schools are bombarded with data. State tests, district tests, national tests, and classroom tests are all used to gather information about student achievement. This can lead to a situation in which schools are overwhelmed with information about students. There are so many different tests and sources of data that it is sometimes difficult to figure out how to react in such a way that helps students improve. Sometimes teachers will meet with one another to discuss data, but typically teachers are on their own to sort through the information and figure out how best to respond.

Some schools have moved towards collaboration to help teachers work with data and develop a data-based response. Collaborations that engage teachers in inquiry, reflection, and data-based decision making have all been shown to be powerful tools for influencing an individual’s beliefs and theories of teaching and learning (Bissex, 1994; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993, 1999; Huffman & Kalnin, 2003; Huffman & Thomas, 2009). Participating in collaborative inquiries can help teachers become what Kowalski, Lasley, and Mahoney (2008) describe as “evidenced-based decision makers” (p. 256). They contend that evidence-based decision makers not only know how to implement decisions, but also know how to examine school and classroom environments in a broader sense.

Helping a teacher become an ‘evidence-based decision maker’ involves more than just looking at the student test scores from ones’ own classroom. It involves school administrators helping teachers look more broadly beyond the classroom and attempting to think about the school and district as a whole. This is a new role for many teachers. Teachers have historically focused on their own classroom and administrators have focused on the school. The movement towards creating ‘evidence-based decision makers’ in schools will require everyone to think more broadly about roles and to consider factors outside the classroom that may affect student achievement and ultimately the schools’ Annual Yearly Progress (AYP).

THE COLLABORATIVE EVALUATION COMMUNITIES PROJECTWe received funding from the NSF to develop the Collaborative Evaluation Communities Project (CEC). The purpose of the project was to help teachers in urban schools build assessment and evaluation capacity by engaging in long-term, collaborative inquiry related to mathematics and science education. Stockdill, Baizerman, and Compton (2002) defined evaluation capacity building (ECB) as “the intentional work to continuously create and sustain overall organizational processes that make quality evaluation and its use routine” (p. 14). With the current trend of organizations moving toward internal evaluations to improve practices (Torres & Preskill, 2001), finding ways to help schools build evaluation capacity is important. The CEC project provided a unique structure for immersing teachers in a continual evaluation process in an attempt to improve teachers’ capacity to use data and engage in continuous improvement through data-based decision making.

The CEC project provided long-term collaborative experiences for school administrators and teachers as a means of developing the evaluation capacity of K-8 schools. The collaborative experiences occurred through the formation of collaborative evaluation communities (CEC teams) consisting of teachers, school administrators and university faculty who had expertise in both evaluation and mathematics and science education. The key concept behind the CEC project was that by immersing teachers in the evaluation process we could help build evaluation capacity and bridge the gap between school district evaluation efforts and the teaching and learning of science and mathematics.

The Collaborative Evaluation Communities Process

The CEC project used an inquiry cycle developed by the National Research Council (NRC, 1999) to engage the CEC teams in the ongoing process of evaluation (see Figure 1). The professional development program developed by NRC is called “Global Decision Making Through Local Action: Using TIMSS to Make Data-based Decision.” It was developed to help school personnel examine student achievement data and to make decisions based on data. The model utilizes a cycle that begins with an examination of student achievement data at the national, state, and local levels. At this stage, the CEC teams explored data and considered how those data might inform the evaluation of mathematics and science programs in the school. The CEC teams then proceeded through an iterative process of evaluation. By the end of the project, the process established a continuous improvement cycle (see Figure 1) that helped the collaborative

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evaluation communities use evaluation as a tool to create change in their schools and empowered the teachers to become leaders in their schools (Huffman and Thomas, 2009).

The following description of one school’s work illustrates how the process can be implemented. The first meetings of the CEC team at the school were dedicated to exploring national, state, and district student achievement data in mathematics. Next, the team related those data to the context of the school by considering the characteristics of their students, the curriculum, and their own instructional strengths and weaknesses. The team generated several areas that could provide a focus for evaluation. The broad spectrum of issues was condensed by the team into the following four categories and subcategories:

1. Professional Development

a. Teacher training related to district adopted curriculum

b. Curriculum implementation

c. Creating lessons to motivate students to be active participants in their own learning and encourage them tovalue mathematics

2. Curriculum Alignment

a. Curriculum alignment with standards and assessments

b. Transference of knowledge

i. from curriculum—state assessments

ii. from Reading—Math (ex. Venn Diagrams)

iii. Problem solving ability between subjects

3. Instruction

a. Instructional practices to include higher level thinking strategies for students and to examine teachers’ current practices

b. Accommodating English as a second language learners and learners who struggle to learn mathematics

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c. Creating lessons to motivate students to be active participants in their own learning and encourage them to value mathematics

4. Assessment

a. How to measure student progress

b. Develop alternative assessments to the formative assessments offered by the state and to pencil and paper assessments

Although several evaluation questions were generated related to the categories, the team selected one question to guide the group’s first evaluation activities. The team decided to focus on addressing the question, “How is student learning affected when teachers study the lessons and complete the investigations in the curriculum themselves before teaching?” All CEC team members agreed that this question would emphasize instruction and be more focused than the broad categories mentioned above. The team also believed this question addressed both student learning and professional development.

An evaluation process was established to help the group gather data related to the question, through which the CEC team

• participated in collaborative study of mathematics lessons;

• measured student achievement Pre/Post and at intervals during the school year;

• collected student-derived lesson data: observations, interviews, journals, and work samples;

• collected teacher derived lesson data: observations, teacher reflections; and

• used quantitative and qualitative methods for analysis.

The CEC team created a protocol for collaborative study of mathematics lessons for each unit in the curriculum. To facilitate data collection, the group modified/produced instruments to gather student data, lesson observation data, teachers’ lesson analysis data, and student lesson reflection data.

There were several outcomes of the team’s collaborative evaluation efforts. The team decided to analyze student needs based on student assessment data from the state mathematics assessment and the Northwest Evaluation Association, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Test. The results of those analyses informed decisions about mathematics teaching and learning in the classroom. While this may seem like professional work that teachers should already have been engaged in together, it was not common practice at the school. The group also worked to generate common pre/post tests that could be used for all units to measure student progress. The need for pre/post test agreement was highlighted by the teachers. Establishing common tests helped the teachers make observations about student learning which lead to instructional decisions that were connected to student data. The team used assessment data to conduct a curriculum alignment study. Analyzing student assessment results and expectations from the state mathematics standards, the team aligned mathematics units/lessons with the standards and student needs. These types of collaborative professional activities were not part of teachers’ work prior to participation in the CEC project. Through these activities the teachers were not only using external data to make decisions, they were also gathering their own data.

METHODSThe emergent and cyclical nature of qualitative research often leads to new insights and questions (Ridenour & Newman, 2008). This was the case throughout our work on the CEC project. After engaging as participant observers during the four years of the project and analyzing the data in pursuit of other research questions, we began to notice that the challenges administrators face when involving teachers in data-based decision making sometimes extended

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beyond the school. From this observation two questions guided this study:

• First, what external challenges do school administrators face when helping teachers engage in data-based decision making?

• Second, how does a collaborative evaluation model help administrators confront the external challenges identified?

To address these two questions we reviewed data from the project log gathered throughout the CEC project. Our notion of the project log is aligned with Ely’s and colleagues’ (1991) view of the log functioning as “the repository for all the data that have been gathered” that represents a “cohesive history” of the project (Ely, Anzul, Friedman, Garner, Steinmetz, p. 69). First, we conducted a critical incidence analysis of the data from the project log to extract evidence that characterized challenges faced by the participants. Next, data related to the incidences that were classified as representing external challenges were analyzed to develop codes that captured the essence of each incidence. Theses codes were then analyzed as we considered ways to collapse and integrate ideas that were in turn organized into common themes, which depicted the hurdles administrators needed to overcome. When we systematically reanalyzed the data using this thematic approach our analysis of field notes, focus group transcripts, and interviews lead us to identify three hurdles schools may face when interested in data-based decision making. We also identified how the collaborative evaluation process helped the CEC teams move beyond those challenges.

Data Sources

The project log included participant observer field notes, focus group transcripts and interviews with CEC participants during and after participation in the project. The field notes were recorded at monthly CEC work sessions during the school year (9 per year) and a CEC team summer workday for each team across four years of the project. Transcripts from two focus group sessions with a CEC team (one each at two of the three elementary schools) were also used in this study. The focus group sessions were conducted to gain an overall sense of the collaborative evaluation process from two schools that were at the end of their formal participation in the project. The interviews analyzed for this paper included six semi-structured interviews with CEC team teachers and one unstructured interview conducted jointly with a CEC team principal and a CEC team instructional coach. The teacher interviews were recorded and transcribed. At the request of the principal and instructional coach, the educational leader interview was not recorded, but the interviewer wrote detailed notes of the interview, including direct quotes when possible. All interview transcripts or notes were reviewed and approved by the participants.

Participants

The CEC project included collaborative teams at three urban elementary schools that served students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The first school involved in the project was located in an industrial section of a large mid-west city. The neighborhood was depressed economically, with housing that had not been well maintained. The school was crowded, with several grades taught in auxiliary buildings off to the side of the main building. Altogether there were approximately 300 students in the school. Of those, 40% of the students were of Hispanic origin and 50% were black. Large numbers of the students were learning English as a Second Language (ESL), and the teachers indicated that reading proficiency generally was at a low level. The CEC team consisted of 6 teachers, the instructional coach, and the principal. Five of the participants were Caucasian females and one (a teacher) was a Hispanic female.

The second school was located on the western edge of the urban area. It was a small school, serving approximately 200 students in Kindergarten through grade 5. The school slowly decreased in size in the aftermath of school busing (racial balance actions). Class sizes were relatively small (e.g., 18 to 20 students). About half of the students were minorities (50% Caucasian, 45% black and 5% other). The CEC team at the school initially consisted of all teachers (11) and the principal, although the number of participants dropped between the first and third years to approximately 6 teachers due to attrition. Ten of the participants were Caucasian (9 females and 1 male) and the principal was an African American female.

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The third participating school was a Title I school located on the edge of the urban core area. The school served approximately 285 students of which 31% were of Hispanic descent and 40% were of African American descent. Additionally, 80% of the students came from economically disadvantaged households. The school was designated by the district as an English as a Second Language focus school. The CEC team at the school consisted of all the 4th grade teachers (3 total) and all of the 5th grade teachers (3 total), as well as the district appointed instructional coach for the school and the principal. All of the teachers and the instructional coach were Caucasian females. The principal was an African American female.

RESULTS

Making Sense of Test Data

One hurdle is the challenge of making sense of test data. Data from the project log support the notion that test data are often considered primarily as scores to be categorized into groups, such as exceeds standards, meets standards, approaches standards, and academic warning. While this categorization may be helpful for identifying students who need additional instruction, teachers need more information to effectively modify the learning opportunities for students. As one principal noted, “The assessment practices of [the teachers] have changed but now we need to focus on item analysis and how to better use the results to change instruction, then teachers can see the benefits of using test data.” It is critical to understand what a test is actually designed to measure and to understand the extent to which a test actually measures what it purports to measure. One needs to think about such issues as the proportion of items on various subjects, the cognitive level of the items, and the content that is measured by a test.

Tests typically include a variety of items designed to measure basic knowledge, problem solving skills, etc. To interpret test results and make sound instructional decisions based on results one must first understand the test. What makes the process so difficult when using outside tests, such as state accountability tests, is that changes are made every few years. This highlights the need for a continuous long-term data-based decision making process. Just when teachers think they understand the test system, it changes, and teachers need to adjust and re-interpret the results of a new test.

In our schools, we spent a significant amount of time learning about the tests, the formats, the type of items, and what is claimed to be measured by the test. The school administrators played a key role in this work because test specification information was available to them and emphasized during school district meetings. Without leadership from the administrators, the teachers would not have had access to necessary, specific information about the tests. Shortly after our thorough review, the structure of the state mathematics test was changed. The proportion of geometry items on the state test was modified and the proportion of items at different cognitive levels was changed. At first this made the teachers in the CEC project feel frustrated because they had spent so much time understanding the test. The group lost some momentum because of the test changes, but eventually the teachers began to understand that change was inevitable. It actually helped them realize that the CEC process we were using needs to be viewed as a long-term continuous process because school environments are dynamic organizations whose context changes based on complex internal and external factors.

Policy Changes

Another external force for schools that came into play related to policy changes from the district evaluation and assessment office. The district was under increasing public pressure to help students achieve at higher and higher levels. In response, schools in the district were moving toward test preparation time periods to help students get ready for state testing. In many schools this translated to intense test preparation from January until the test date in April. During this preparation period students learned about item types, and teachers practiced basic skills with them in an effort to help students perform better on the test.

In the schools we worked with, the CEC process was utilized to facilitate examining the alignment between test content, content standards, curriculum, and instruction. CEC teams studied the types of knowledge (procedural, conceptual,

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factual, etc.), concepts, and skills students needed to successfully meet state content standards as measured through the state test. These studies were followed by an evaluation of the extent to which the curriculum and instructional practices teachers used aligned with the expectations of the standards. The focus on collaborative evaluation helped the administrators and teachers from our project conceptualize test preparation from a broader perspective. They were doing important work to align instruction with assessment rather than merely having students take repeated practice tests or complete targeted skill-based worksheets.

When our teams finally felt comfortable with using test data, the district leadership mandated that schools stop test preparation for fear it would be viewed as “teaching towards the test.” Concerns were raised about using assessment items in the classroom that were too similar to the items on the state test. The district leadership directed schools not to teach directly to the test but to focus on concepts related to the test. This was frustrating to the group because our CEC teams felt like we were finally making progress toward aligning instruction with assessment, but when the district sent a letter warning teachers about teaching to the test, the teams began to wonder about the extent to which we should align instruction with assessment.

With assistance from the school administrators, we had to help teachers understand the difference between aligning instruction with assessment and actually teaching to the test. The two are quite different, but the district leadership did not make a clear distinction between them. This was puzzling to the teachers. They were using assessment information to diagnose and identify student weaknesses and then work with students to develop needed skills and understandings. As one teacher lamented, “What should I teach to? If they are going to test XYZ skills and judge my performance and school performance according to how well my kids do on XYZ, well of course I’m going to teach XYZ.” Furthermore, because the state test is designed to be aligned with the state mathematics standards, teachers are not only teaching what they know will be on the test, but are also teaching toward the state mathematics standards.

Fortunately, the CEC evaluation process teachers were using to engage in data-based decision making helped them deal with this issue. Schools try to help improve student achievement by working to align curriculum and instruction with state mathematics standards that are tested. Our teams focused on conceptual aspects of learning mathematics rather than having students learn how to answer specific test items. In some ways, the process helped teachers to focus on more comprehensive or global concepts students should know rather than on trivial details that are all too frequently included on a test. It also helped teachers think more about the state mathematics standards than the state mathematics test.

Curriculum Changes

A third factor that thwarted progress was when the mathematics curriculum was changed midstream in the process. Our CEC teams worked to understand how to use the curriculum to support instruction, what concepts and skills were measured through curriculum assessments, how to help student achieve, and then district policy mandated that the curriculum change. This change in curriculum was accompanied by a strict daily script of what should be taught each day. There was a district-wide pacing guide to tell teachers what they should be doing each day.

Once again, having the collaborative evaluation communities’ process in place allowed the schools to implement a curriculum analysis in the summer prior to using the new curriculum. Our teams identified alignment problems between the new curriculum and the state standards. On the one hand, the district leaders directed teachers to follow the pacing guide and stay on track with coverage of material, but because of our work, teachers knew about concepts and skills missing in the curriculum and wanted to do something to address the gaps. As a teacher described, “because of the CEC team’s work I am more aware of Investigations [the district mathematics curriculum], we all know that Investigations has gaps and in the past we didn’t have time to think about them…. [the CEC evaluation process] definitely helped show areas for improvement. We could ask ourselves, was it in Investigations? Was it missing from Investigations, or did we miss it instructionally?”

The requirement to follow the pacing guide frustrated the teachers and school leaders on our teams. The CEC teams

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had an understanding about the curriculum and teaching at a more specific school level than district administrators. They also knew their own students better than the district central office, and they knew what modifications needed to be made to the curriculum. The CEC evaluation process helped school leaders and teachers see the problems with the pacing guide.

The process also gave the teachers more confidence in making modifications to the curriculum. In response to the district pacing guide, our teachers gathered evidence regarding gaps in the curriculum. They used this evidence to make the case with the district mathematics coordinator that they needed more freedom to address the gaps and to address areas where students were having difficulties. They were able to make a logical argument based on data with district leadership and to make the case that they needed freedom to help students achieve. The CEC evaluation process helped the principals and teachers make a strong case with data and helped shift the focus back to improving the curriculum for students.

DISCUSSIONOverall, these three challenges highlight external factors that can thwart progress when one engages in data-based decision making. The changes we faced regarding the state achievement test, the district constraints on preparing students for state testing, and the changes in the mathematics curriculum all highlight the need for those engaged in data-based decision making to understand that external factors will come into play.

It is inevitable that change will occur because school systems are dynamic entities. The CEC data-based decision making process was a way to deal with and respond to changes. The data empowered school administrators and teachers to make professional and reasoned responses to the challenges they faced. The administrator’s role was critical to this shift in approach. Not only was it necessary for the administrator to establish supportive conditions for the teachers to engage in the CEC process, but it was also important for the person in that role to share information that had typically been viewed as the purview of administrators rather than teachers. The focus on collaborative evaluation aided the data-based decision making of the CEC team by necessitating a shift in how collaborative work in the schools was viewed. The challenges helped administrators and teachers see the need for a continuous and collaborative evaluation process where teachers were actively involved in the analysis of data from a variety of sources.

When the process began, the school administrators believed internal challenges such as finding time, finding teachers who could do the work, and motivating teachers to engage in this process, would present the biggest challenges, but what was most surprising to administrators was that external factors became critical issues in the process. The CEC evaluation process became the most effective way for teachers to use data to make decisions and to overcome those external hurdles. The teachers became what Kowalski, Lasley, and Mahoney (2008) call “evidenced-based decision makers” (p. 256), and, as a result, they had a constructive way to deal with the challenge of helping students achieve. It is imperative that, as administrators engage teachers in data-based decision making, they also understand that outside barriers and hurdles are part of the process. Furthermore, the process itself is the vehicle for responding to external issues and for ultimately working to improve teaching and learning in such a way that all students have the opportunity to achieve.

REFERENCESBissex, G. L. (1994). Teacher research: Seeing what we are doing. In T. Shanahan (Ed.), Teachers thinking, teachers knowing (pp. 88-104). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher research and knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24, 249-305.

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DuFour, R. (2004). What is a “Professional Learning Community”? Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6-11.

DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. (2002). Getting started reculturing schools to become professional learning communities. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.

DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Ely, M., Anzul, M., Friedman, T., Garner, D., & Steinmetz, A. M. (1991) Doing qualitative research: Circles within circles. New York: The Falmer Press.

Englert, K., Fries, D., Martin-Glenn, M., & Douglas, B. (2007). Accountability systems: A comparative analysis of superintendent, principal, and teacher perceptions. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 2(4), 1-12.

Hord, S. M. (2004). Learning together, leading together: Changing schools through professional learning communities. New York: Teachers College Press.

Huffman, D. & Kalnin, J. (2003). Collaborative inquiry to make data-based decisions in schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(6), 569-580.

Huffman, D., Lawrenz, F., & Thomas, K. (2008). A collaborative immersion approach to evaluation capacity building. American Journal of Evaluation, 29(3), 358-368.

Huffman, D. & Thomas, K. (2009). Collaborative inquiry and data-based decision making. In T. Kowalski & T. Lasley (Eds.) Handbook on Data-based Decision Making in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kowalski, T. J., Lasley, T. J., & Mahoney, J. W. (2008). Data-driven decisions and school leadership: Best practices for school improvement. Boston: Pearson Education.

National Research Council. (1999). Global perspectives for local action: Using TIMSS to improve U.S. mathematics and science education. Washington, DC: National Academy.

Stockdill, S. H., Baizerman, M., & Compton, D. W. (2002). Toward a definition of the ECB process: A conversation with the ECB literature. New Directions for Evaluation, 93, p. 7-25.

Ridenour, C. S., & Newman, I. (2008). Mixed Methods Research: Exploring the Interactive Continuum. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Torres, R. T., & Preskill, H. (2001). Evaluation and organizational learning; Past, present, and future. American Journal of Evaluation, 22, 387-395.

Kelli Thomas, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at the University of Kansas. Dr. Thomas has taught in elementary and middle school settings and conducted research and evaluation in mathematics education. Her research focuses on issues related to reforming mathematics education.

Douglas Huffman, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is Professor of Science Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at the University of Kansas. Dr. Huffman has extensive experience in teaching, research, and evaluation in the field of science education.

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BREAKING BAD NEWS IN HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS: APPLICATION OF THE SPIKES PROTOCOLC. W. VONBERGENSoutheastern Oklahoma State University—School of Business

ROBERT E. STEVENSSoutheastern Oklahoma State University—School of Business

DAVID LOUDONSamford University—Brock School of Business

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 of-fered as an approach that can be easily and effectively adapted by healthcare managers when they must tell a person they have been terminated. Although breaking the bad news of a cutback will never be easy, having a plan of action that entails sound business and medical advice and is also the necessary thing to do can help firms carefully manage and execute reor-ganizations for the well-being of the organization and the terminated worker.

Keywords: delivering bad news, termination interviews, layoff conversations, conducting unpleasant conversations

“The best leaders learn how to deliver bad news kindlyso that people don’t get unnecessarily hurt.”

—O’Toole & Bennis (2009, p.57)

In the Oscar-nominated best movie for the year 2009, Up in the Air, Ryan Bingham, played by actor George Clooney, is a corporate layoff expert, “Termination Facilitator” in his words, whose job is to fire people from theirs. When corporations need to downsize quickly but hate the mess, Bingham flies in and breaks the news to the now

former employees. The anguish, hostility, and despair of his “clients” has left him unconcerned about others, falsely compassionate, and living out of a suitcase. Throughout the movie one is left wondering if there is a better, more humane way to conduct a downsizing.

In response to the disheartening realities of terminating individuals illustrated in this movie, in the popular press, and in the professional literature, this paper provides executives with guidelines on how to effectively and compassionately break bad news to workers that their jobs have been eliminated because of a downsizing. Downsizing is also sometimes referred to as reduction in force (RIF), layoff, restructuring, reorganization, resizing, retrenchment, involuntary redundancy, closing, displacement, or termination. All of these euphemisms refer to the voluntary actions of organizations to reduce expenses by shrinking the workforce and involve an array of initiatives implemented by organizations in response to a decision to reduce head count (Nelson & Burke, 1998).

Employee downsizings have become part of the fabric of modern organizational life, and what once were managerial reactions to difficult market conditions now have become proactive tactics for attaining strategic and financial objectives (Marks & De Meuse, 2005). Thus, RIFs have become an ongoing activity that continues in every phase

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104VonBergen, Stevens, and Loudona

of the business cycle, without regard to financial performance (Abbasi & Holliman, 1998), and is a great concern in healthcare organizations (Tighe, 2011).

According to Henry Schacht, former CEO of Lucent Technologies, “The most difficult decision any executive has to make is to reduce the size of the company” (as cited in Marks & De Meuse, 2005, p. 19). While the decision may be difficult, a more stressful activity is actually communicating to workers in interviews that their services are no longer needed. For instance, Grunberg, Moore, and Greenberg (2006) collected data from 410 managers (none of whom were layoff targets themselves) who either had or had not been in the position of having to inform subordinates about a layoff. The researchers found that the more managers were personally responsible for conducting a layoff, regardless of their age, gender, or marital status, “the more likely they were to report physical health problems, to seek treatment for these problems, and to complain of disturbed sleep” (p. 176). Displacing people is a wrenching experience, yet most executives underestimate the effects that small details in the downsizing and restructuring process can have on employees (Nelson & Burke, 1998) and on the organization. This process is often more complicated if a company has locations in several countries and must comply with different sets of laws in each country (Kloosterman & Gilbert, 2010) and if older workers are involved (HRHero.com, 2011).

THE TERMINATION MEETINGOne small detail frequently overlooked involves the actual termination interview itself. Often, it is just assumed that employees to be terminated will plainly be told that their services are no longer needed and then be escorted off the premises. This overly simplistic view may be incorrect, if we can generalize from the customer satisfaction literature, which indicates that the closing moments of a service experience are the most critical and have an enormous impact on the overall perception of the experience (Von Bergen, Soper, Loudon, & Stevens, 2007; Wood & Karau, 2009). As applied here, how the termination interview is conducted and the bad news of a job loss is delivered can have a significant effect, positive or negative, not only on persons being laid off, but also on those who carry on—the so-called survivors—as well as the entire firm. For instance, Barclay, Skarlicki, and Pugh (2005) found that, even if personal outcomes of a downsizing were favorable, perceived injustice elicited high levels of negative emotion (anger and hostility). In fact, prior studies suggest that how terminations are handled is more important than the termination itself for those downsized (Schwieger & Ivancevich, 1987).

Greenberg (1990) found that “it was apparently not the terminations per se that created bitterness, but the manner in which the terminations were handled” (p. 416). In one interesting study, Lind, Greenberg, Scott, and Welchans (2000) interviewed a large number of layoff victims. Many of these individuals considered legal action following their termination, and almost a quarter of them went so far as to speak to an attorney. The single best predictor of willingness to take legal action was the treatment former employees received at the time of their discharge. Among those who felt unjustly treated, Lind et al. (2000) found that a full 66 percent contemplated litigation. Among those who felt justly treated, this dropped to just 16 percent when an apology was added. Although legal and human resource personnel advise against apologizing—an apology can be seen as an admission of guilt—these results suggest that an apology may help promote feelings of interactional justice in which individuals are treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect (Cropanzano, Bowen, & Gilliland, 2007) and that such concern actually reduces the risk of litigation. Lipsig (1998) and Goldman (2001), likewise, found that those individuals who felt they were treated justly tended to take fewer legal actions.

Other research similarly suggests that poor termination practices can have serious costs for organizations and that firms should consider the layoff interview as a key component of managing the firm’s reputational capital (Wood & Karau, 2009). Greenberg (1993), for example, observed the effect of pay cuts at two manufacturing plants. At one plant, an executive politely spent about 15 minutes announcing a 15% across-the-board pay cut. At the second plant, an executive spent about an hour-and-a-half speaking, taking questions, and expressing regrets about making an identical pay cut. During the next 10 weeks, employee theft was 80% lower and turnover was 15% less at the second plant. No one wanted their pay cut, but workers understood why it had happened and valued the supportive treatment and, consequently, did not vent their ire on the firm in which the manager engaged in information sharing in a sensitive way. Collectively, this body of research highlights the importance of handling RIFs in a manner that

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preserves the dignity of the terminated employee and the financial rewards to an organization for doing so. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, noted that “The real question is how downsizing is done, rather than whether to downsize…. It’s far better for companies to downsize in a humane way” (1996, p. 118).

Unfortunately, most executives have difficulty identifying elements of an effective downsizing interview beyond protecting the organization from litigation (Quinley, 2003). Indeed, Wood & Karau (2009) argue that most organizations approach termination interviews from a defensive, legalistic framework. This legalistic orientation might result in procedures that communicate a lack of respect for the downsized worker, which, they argue, could make it more likely that the terminee will engage in the very types of behaviors that the employer seeks to minimize. This seems to be the case in an investigation by Karl and Hancock (1999), which found that manager termination training was positively related to increased victim hostility. Why? The authors suggest that most termination training focuses on litigation prevention strategies that may be inconsistent with favorable employee reactions, raising the possibility that practices designed to reduce legal action may actually increase anger, hostility, and other negative outcomes because such defensive-legalistic approaches likely communicate a lack of respect for the victim (Bowen, 2009). Indeed, one attorney says that, when employees seek out lawyers after a layoff, it is often because they are unhappy with how the employer handled the layoff (Lipsig, 1998).

But what procedures should managers follow? We believe that the medical literature can be helpful since breaking bad news is one of the most difficult and frequent tasks physicians and other health care professionals have to do. Bad news is defined as “any information which adversely and seriously affects an individual’s view of his or her future” (Buckman, 1992, p. 15).

This phenomenon has been widely researched yielding valuable guidelines and principles (Baile, Buckman, Lenzi, Glober, Beale, & Kudelka, 2000; Buckman, 1986, 1988; Fallowfield, Ford, & Lewis, 1995; Ptacek & Eberhardt, 1996; Ptacek & Ptacek, 2001).

A review of guidelines from the medical community’s delivery of bad news provides insights to healthcare managers and executives on ways to more effectively convey to workers the bad news inherent in a discharge. Framing termination interviews within the medical context of breaking bad news provides healthcare managers vivid examples of conversations which many may have experienced either as patients or as part of a relationship with a loved one and thus provides realistic insights into the very real and unpleasant situation of individuals losing their jobs.

PRINCIPLES GLEANED FROM THE MEDICAL LITERATURESix key elements have been used as a strategy that medical professionals have found useful in delivering bad news to patients (Buckman, 1986). These six elements are summarized in the acronym “SPIKES,” which stands for Setting, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Empathy, and Summarize. SPIKES is a strategy and not a script. It highlights the most important features of a bad news interview and suggests methods of assessing the situation as it evolves and responding constructively to what happens. This strategy can strengthen the physician-patient relationship and often leads to decreased patient litigation (Shapiro, Simpson, Lawrence, Talsky, Sobocinski, & Schiedermayer, 1989). We believe that the task of breaking bad news to employees about downsizing can be improved by understanding the process involved and approaching it as a stepwise procedure using SPIKES. Each element of the SPIKES protocol is defined below.

S—Setting

This step involves designing the right surroundings, including the physical setting of the discussion. It is important to allocate adequate time for the meeting and allow few interruptions so that privacy is maintained. Patients prefer receiving bad news from a physician whom they know. It is also important to try to establish rapport with the patient by maintaining comfortable eye contact, sitting at eye level with the patient, or touching the patient on the arm or holding a hand (if the patient is comfortable with this). Having tissues ready in case the person becomes upset is a

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small, but meaningful, step that can be taken to convey support. It is helpful to start with a question like, “How are you feeling today?” to indicate to the patient that this is going to be a two-way conversation.

P—Perception

This step involves finding out what the patient already knows or suspects. The medical practitioner should be able to construct a fairly accurate picture of the patient’s perception of the situation—in particular, how they view the seriousness of their condition. This knowledge is vital because it helps physicians assess the, often unexpectedly wide, gap between the patient’s expectations and the actual medical situation. The most effective method of conducting this conversation is by using open-ended questions (e.g., “What do you make of all this?” or “What is your understanding of your current situation?”). In using the information gathered from such questions, the doctor can correct misinformation and tailor the bad news to what the patient understands. It is essential for the physician to note the vocabulary the patient is using and use a similar level. Listen closely to the patient’s words. Listen to the way in which the patient describes the situation, noting comprehension as well as denial.

I—Invitation

It is useful to identify the level of detail the patient desires. For instance, a physician might say, “Some patients want every medical detail, but others want only the big picture—what’s your preference?” This establishes that there is no right answer, and that different patients have different styles. Physicians should check frequently to make sure that they and their patient are both thinking in similar ways. While the majority of patients express a desire for full information about their illness, some do not. If a patient does not want to know all of the particulars, the doctor should offer to answer any questions they may have in the future or to talk to a relative or friend. Knowing the patient and their preferences of receiving bad news is a helpful tool for the physician when determining how to deliver the news.

K—Knowledge

Most authors suggest using simple language rather than more technical words; e.g., “spread” instead of “metastasized.” On the other hand, some researchers have argued that it is important to inform patients of the specific terminology associated with their illness so that they can gain information on their own. Start at the level of the patient’s understanding and vocabulary to provide knowledge, information, and medical facts. Important points should be repeated as necessary and check for patient comprehension at each step. Provide information in small portions, and stop periodically to ask the patient if he or she understands. Long lectures are overwhelming and confusing and may lose the patient’s focus. Undue bluntness (e.g., “Your child will never go to school or have a normal life.”) and misleading optimism should be avoided. It is important to balance honesty and realism with sensitivity and support. Humor and flippancy should be avoided. The use of euphemisms is somewhat problematic. While some investigators found that the use of the word “cancer” as opposed to “illness” increased anxiety, suggesting that using euphemisms is beneficial to patient mental health, others caution that using less offensive synonyms, for example, “slow” and “developmentally delayed” instead of “mental retardation,” often hinder understanding and frequently prevent people from grasping the full significance of the condition, and thus should be avoided.

E—Empathy

This principle requires responding to the patient’s reactions and acknowledging all reactions and feelings and answering with compassion and understanding. Good communication requires empathy and caring in addition to skill. As emotions and reactions arise during the discussion, acknowledge them and respond empathetically. Such empathy may involve touching the patient’s arm or hand. Taking breaks, pausing, allowing the patient to gather their composure often shows care and a personal connection. Until an emotion is cleared, it will be difficult to go on to discuss other issues. If the emotion does not diminish shortly, it is helpful to continue to make empathic responses until the patient becomes calmer. The clinician does not have to experience the same feeling to provide an empathic response; it simply shows the physician’s recognition of the patient’s emotions. Once a doctor has shown empathy,

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identified, and acknowledged the patient’s emotion, he or she is ready to validate or normalize the patient’s feelings.

S—Summarize

Here the meeting is concluded. Before it ends, the information is summarized and the patient is given an opportunity to voice any concerns or questions. If the physician does not have time to answer these concerns, then the patient can be told that these issues can be discussed in detail at a following meeting. The clinician and their patient should leave the conversation with a clear plan of the next steps that need to be taken and the roles both will play in taking those steps. Researchers have recognized that patients do not hear much of what is said after the crux of the bad news is delivered, and to combat this problem, physicians should probe for understanding during the transaction itself and provide summary information after the conversation is completed. It is useful if this information is in written form so that when patients get over the initial shock, they will have a resource to remind them of the important information that was presented (SPIKES: A Six-Step Protocol for Breaking Bad News in Medicine adapted from Baile et al., 2000).

SPIKES APPLIED TO DOWNSIZING ORGANIZATIONSPhysicians who are good at discussing bad news with their patients usually report that breaking bad news is a skill that they have worked hard to learn. The same thing will apply to healthcare managers. Participating in unpleasant conversations is one of the most stressful duties in handling involuntary separations. Just as good communication between medical professionals and patients is important, so also is communication between managers and workers who must be told that they are being downsized. Delivering bad news is never effortless or painless, but to ease the level of discomfort, the delivery must be made with care, which is exactly what the SPIKES protocol enables. This section illustrates the application of the SPIKES protocol to healthcare situations with two slight modifications indicating that there are important activities both before and after the actual conversation that must be addressed.

Pre-SPIKES Interview Considerations

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (1989; popularly known as the plant closing law) requires employers of 100 or more employees to give 60 days’ advance notice before closing a facility or starting a layoff of 50 people or more to employees who will (or who might reasonably be expected to) experience a layoff. Thus, some consideration must be given to this regulation.

Apart from such legalities, Marks and De Meuse (2005) recommend preparing employees in advance for the impending change in head count. While some executives fear raising employee stress and distraction from work, in actuality there are usually already rumors of impending layoffs or closings and these tend to be much more frightening than reality. For example, at one organization, Marks and De Meuse (2005) noted that rumors indicated that 3,000 jobs were to be reduced at headquarters when in fact only 1,000 people worked there!

Proactive leaders can prevent such rumor mongering and distraction from performance by being truthful about business realities and how resizing can help the organization contend with competitive pressures. More specifically, they use the period prior to the actual termination interview to prepare employees for the even more stressful times ahead. Thus, the time to begin a careful approach to downsizing is well before the event’s broadcast or execution. More enlightened management even considers involving employees in the restructuring process. Such information sharing inherent in providing advanced notice to workers regarding a layoff can help mitigate the otherwise negative effects (Communication Can Reduce Problems, 2003).

Downsizing without preparation can make managers look incompetent (Mishra, Spreitzer & Mishra, 1998), and thus some time spent in planning this discussion is essential. As with any new skill set, some practice with the SPIKES strategy will be necessary. It is impossible to make giving unpleasant news enjoyable for the deliverer or for the recipient of the bad news, but practice can help. The authors recommend that the individual conducting the termination interview practice with another person before having an actual conversation. This can help an individual learn how to transmit negative messages constructively without being hurtful. After this technique becomes a part of a person’s

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behavioral repertoire, all that may be needed later is a quick mental rehearsal for an upcoming conversation (Von Bergen, Soper, & Minks, 1999).

Before conducting an actual termination interview, managers should address all legal and human resource concerns. It would be prudent to have a letter for the terminated employee outlining specific things the organization will do for the employee. Managers conducting the interview should recall the words of widely respected authority on leadership, John Kotter, who famously said that executives undercommunicate on important issues by a factor of ten (1996). In other words, supervisors must give considerable attention to how information, including nonverbal communication, should be communicated to downsized workers. Effective leaders often use supportive nonverbal cues when meeting with subordinates, such as (1) leaning forward while talking to others, which brings one closer to them and speaks clearly of one’s engagement in the conversation; (2) smiling appropriately, yet maintaining a serious demeanor given what is about to be discussed; (3) nodding to affirm what was said, which indicates that one is listening and understanding others; (4) slightly pulling chairs closer together; (5) keeping one’s arms open, signaling that one is interested in interacting with others; (6) engaging in eye contact to further demonstrate listening and involvement; and (7) lightly touching subordinates on the arm when they arrive or leave and shaking hands (Greenberg & Baron, 2008; Pease & Pease, 2006; Raghaven, 2009). This last point needs to be clarified. While handshaking is generally appropriate, touching someone else on the arm or shoulder is a sign that one is interested in what they have to say; yet, because some people may find this contact inappropriate or offensive, particularly in certain cultures, one has to be cautious here.

Setting

Patients wanted their physician to be honest, compassionate and caring, hopeful, and informative. They wanted to be told in person, in a private setting, at their own pace, with time for discussion by a familiar person. The implication for managers is that the organization should not allow management to treat downsized individuals as mere objects or production units, but to be considerate and respectful to them. Just as it is encouraged that a patient’s personal physician, rather than an outside specialist, deliver bad news to a patient, most experts agree that the worker’s immediate supervisor should be the one who delivers the bad news of a layoff, rather than a human resources representative, attorney, or a higher level manager (Walker, 1987).

Most experts agree that the best place to conduct a termination interview is in a neutral location, such as a conference room or an empty office. This allows the manager to exit gracefully after the termination interview and gives the downsized employee a few moments to collect him or herself in privacy (Rothman, 1989; Sweet, 1989). Unless there is established privacy and a distraction-free environment, the goal of the interview may be missed or may not be transmitted effectively. The location where the bad news is conveyed can have an impact on the employee’s morale if the setting is unsuitable for a sensitive matter such as a termination interview. Inappropriate locations include public areas, an employee’s desk or office, or any area where a third party may be present.

The manager conducting the layoff interview should be the employee’s direct supervisor because he or she typically knows the employee best. There is no place for a Termination Facilitator as publicized in the movie Up in the Air. Research indicates that employees prefer a direct supervisor-employee relationship style of communication (De Valck, Bensing, & Bruynooghe, 2001). Good communication skills, verbal and non-verbal, with the employee are important to maintain a sense of control and balance in the termination interview (Ptacek & Ptacek, 2001).

Communication is essential. Managers must tell the truth and overcommunicate (Mishra et al., 1998). They should carefully and thoroughly explain the criteria for layoffs and clarify the role of performance evaluations or other key criteria in the layoff decision-making process (Leana & Feldman, 1992). Using a procedure that is perceived as fair can build employee trust, especially when the outcome is negative, as in a layoff (Brockner, Wiesenfeld, & Martin, 1995). Providing laid-off employees with honest information and social support can help them face the future with more confidence. The communication process should be two-way; employees must be engaged in communication so that the managers may determine their reactions and their level of understanding.

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The supervisor should also develop a script that highlights the positive characteristics and contributions that the employee has demonstrated during their time with the organization. While some may believe that such positive scripts have the danger of being perceived as insincere, inconsistent with the termination decision, or condescending, research by Wood and Karau (2009) found that the focus on positives can have a favorable impact. This practice was associated with higher perceptions of respect and empathy, which suggests that people may generally feel more respected and that the terminating manager is more empathetic when positives are noted.

Another consideration impacting respect and dignity with regard to the setting involves the presence of a third party, for example, a human resources representative, a corporate attorney, or a security guard. Wood and Karau (2009) found that having a third party present during the termination interview resulted in lower perceptions of being treated with respect, and feelings of anger were highest when a security guard was present during the termination interview. Karl and Hancock (1999) likewise reported employee hostility increases when more than one person is present. Taken together, these findings suggest that third party presence may, in effect, add insult to injury and should be avoided.

There does appear to be some support for terminating employees at the end of the work day. Rothman (1989) suggests, “If at all possible, you should allow the employee the courtesy of being able to clean out a locker or desk when other employees are not present. The best time for this would probably be at the end of the workday” (p. 34). Nelson and Burke (1998) recommend that laid-off workers and survivors should be allowed to grieve and say goodbye to each other, suggesting perhaps late in the day but still early enough for good-byes to be made. There does appear to be some evidence that the magnitude of an employee’s hostility is greater when he or she is terminated early in the week rather than later in the week (Karl & Hancock, 1999). Terminating someone early in the week may be more disruptive to their routine and more humiliating than if they are terminated at the end of the work week. For example, an employee is likely to feel greater embarrassment and humiliation when they are at home Tuesday through Friday, rather than Saturday or Sunday, when he or she is normally at home.

Perception

In most cases workers have begun to hear rumblings through the rumor mill or, at least, have been learning of downsizing at competitors or other employers in the local area. Thus, it is appropriate to ask the employee what he or she already knows or suspects. In using the information gathered from the individual’s perception, the supervisor can correct misinformation and determine the methodology in which the bad news should be delivered. The most effective method of conducting this conversation is by using open-ended questions; this will help create a reasonably accurate picture of how the employee perceives the organization and situations that have caused the meeting. Examples of open-ended perception questions might include “What have you been told about the organization’s situation to this point?” “What is your understanding of the reasons why the company is implementing a reduction in force program?” or “What have you been told about the layoff decisions so far?” In the employee’s distress of hearing bad news, they may have far more concerns about finding new employment and severance packages than about being RIFed, suggesting that the supervisor should be prepared to address all three topics. To know what the employee is mentally bringing into the termination interview will help the manager conduct a successful meeting under these most difficult circumstances.

Invitation

This step involves offering employees who are affected by a layoff decision to present information they consider relevant to the decision. This is known as voice (Lind & Tyler, 1988) and it has been shown to lead to perceptions of justice (Folger & Greenberg, 1985), as well as to positive reactions, such as satisfaction and perceptions of fairness (e.g., Kanfer, Sawyer, Early, & Lind, 1987). Interestingly, the opportunity to voice one’s opinions regarding a decision increases the perceived fairness of the process, even if one does not thereby influence the decision (Folger, 1977) and regardless of the final decision (Tyler, Rasinski, & Spodick, 1985), because the opportunity to voice one’s opinions is a desired end in itself (Korsgaard & Roberson, 1995) and because it validates employee self-worth (Tyler & Lind, 1992).

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Although not in a downsizing context, Cawley, Keeping, and Levy (1998) reviewed 27 field studies which examined employee participation in performance appraisal. They found that when employees had a voice they were more satisfied, saw the process as fairer, and were more motivated to do better. While interesting, this is probably not terribly surprising. The really impressive finding was that these effects occurred even when participation could not affect the rating. This is akin to the layoff interview in which the decision has already been made to terminate a worker and there is no possibility of reversing the decision. Simply being able to speak their minds and voice their opinions, what Cawley et al. (1998) termed “value-expressive participation” (p. 618), caused employees to be more favorable toward the performance appraisal system.

Getting workers involved in this discussion can be achieved by asking open-ended questions; e.g., “How would you prefer that I give you the information about the organization’s decision on implementing the RIF?” “Are you the kind of person who prefers to know all the details about what is going on?” or “How much information would you like me to give you about the layoff decisions?” Such a practice may likewise create a more positive view of the entire downsizing interview. This pattern of results is consistent with a growing body of research in the justice literature suggesting that the opportunity to voice one’s opinions regarding a decision increases the perceived fairness of the process, even if a person cannot influence the conclusion (Folger, 1977; Tyler et al., 1985). The opportunity to express one’s opinion seems to be what is important, regardless of whether, and the extent to which, individuals choose to seize this opportunity (Greller, 1975).

Knowledge

Supervisors directing the layoff conversation should tell employees the truth, even though there might be a natural desire to tell others what they want to hear. Wise executives tell everyone the same unvarnished story. Nevertheless, beneficial as candor may be, great unintentional harm can be done when people speak honestly about difficult subjects (O’Toole & Bennis, 2009), hence caution is advised.

Supervisors should clearly explain the termination decision. Too often, when people are terminated they claim that they had no idea why it happened (Coulson, 1981). Supervisors should explain the issues factually and truthfully, explaining what is happening and what the employees’ rights are in clear terms. Then, after explaining the decision and emphasizing that it is final, they should move on to practical matters like severance pay and continuance of health care insurance.

Business research shows that perceptions of organizational justice, that is, being treated fairly amid layoffs, can ease workplace tension, reduce the risk of lawsuits, and improve job performance among workers who were not terminated (Cropanzano et al., 2007). Unfortunately, certain aspects of downsizing are inherently unfair. No matter how managers approach the problem, the ugly business of downsizing means that some employees get picked to stay while others are sent on their way. The process stings everybody in an organization. The key for managers is to recognize that organizational justice comes in several parts during the termination interview and business leaders reap rewards even if they get only one of these components right.

Two kinds of organizational justice seem particularly important during these conversations: procedural justice and interactional justice. Procedural justice involves peoples’ perceptions of the fairness of the procedures used to determine the outcomes they receive (Greenberg & Baron, 2008). A just procedure is one that is applied consistently and is free of bias, accurate, representative of relevant stakeholders, and consistent with ethical norms. During layoffs, this means an organization should consider factors such as seniority, job performance, and salary, and then establish a process that managers can apply consistently to all. In a layoff conversation, managers should spend some time explaining the processes used in applying the downsizing rubric. Employees may not agree, but an explanation of the factors used in making reduction in force decisions should be addressed. Tyler and Blader (2000) found that procedural justice affects what workers believe about the organization as a whole. If the process is perceived as just, employees show greater loyalty and more willingness to behave in an organization’s best interests. They are also less likely to betray the institution and its leaders.

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A person is interactionally just if he or she appropriately shares information and avoids rude or cruel remarks. In other words, there are two aspects of interactional justice (Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, & Ng, 2001), with one referring to whether one is truthful and provides adequate justifications when things go badly. The second part refers to the courtesy, respect, and civility with which one treats another. Many of the ill effects of downsizing can be alleviated if managers simply treat their employees with dignity and spend time providing relevant, truthful information.

For example, in one study, Skarlicki and Latham (1996) trained union leaders to behave more interactionally just. Among other things, these leaders were taught to provide explanations and apologies (informational justice) and to treat their employees with courtesy and respect (interpersonal justice). When work groups were examined three months later, individuals who reported to trained leaders exhibited more helpful organizational citizenship behaviors in which people go beyond what is formally expected of them to contribute to the well-being of their organization and those in it (e.g., being receptive to new ideas, being tolerant of temporary inconveniences without complaining) than individuals who reported to untrained leaders. Thus, it appears that “what is communicated is intimately tied to how it is communicated” (Penley & Hawkins, 1985, p. 322).

Empathy

Supervisors should be sensitive to the laid off worker’s feelings. When one loses a job, the resulting feelings of uncertainty—both personal and financial—are quite unsettling. This is bad enough, so managers should not make the situation worse by being insensitive and uncaring. Compassion and empathy are precisely what is needed most at this time.

Empathy has been identified as a key dimension of emotional intelligence and has been defined as the thoughtful consideration of employees’ feelings in the process of making intelligent decisions (Goleman, 1998). Goleman is quick to acknowledge that empathy does not mean adopting others’ emotions as one’s own or trying to please everyone, but instead considering others’ emotions as a factor in effective management. The ability to use empathy effectively during a termination interview is likely to be an important factor in how the employee views the experience. Moreover, showing empathy to the downsized employees helps maintain the trust and empowerment of survivors (Mishra et al., 1998). Indifferent, insensitive, or self-serving motives are likely to trigger negative perceptual and behavioral reactions in the terminated employee.

Von Bergen and Shealy (1982) provide a simple approach to expressing empathy. Briefly, they indicate that an empathetic response conveys to the worker an understanding of both the content and the feeling of a message. Content makes the feeling meaningful. The content gives intellectual meaning to the employee’s expression of his or her concern. The feeling gives emotional meaning to the worker’s experience, i.e., what he or she is saying. Empathy requires one to show an understanding of a worker’s experience by responding to his or her feelings. The following types of formats will be helpful in expressing empathy to the worker:

• You feel (feeling) because (content) .

• When (content) it made you feel (feeling) .

• I can see how (feeling) you feel. Tell me more about the (content) .

• It’s really _(feeling)_ when _(content) .

• You must have felt (feeling) when (content) .

These responses let the worker know that the supervisor is trying to understand both what the employee is saying and the emotions felt.

Summarize

In this stage the supervisor closes the discussion and communicates to the employee what he or she can next expect.

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In most cases, this includes a detailed letter outlining the benefits the organization will provide for the worker (e.g., severance packages and ways the firm will help employees with job transition). More mundane matters might involve telling the worker that his or her computer access will be terminated at a certain time and day and relaying information regarding use of the company telephone and available printing resources. Managers should provide laid-off workers with fair recommendations to future employers. Providing outplacement assistance for employees is a critical part of managing the transition process. These services can be provided by company career centers or can be outsourced to either public agencies or private firms. One outplacement intervention that has been demonstrated to be helpful to displaced employees is stress-management training (Nelson & Burke, 1998). After employees are notified of the layoff, they must tell their families that life will change. It is important that they understand the resources that the company will make available to them and what benefits they will receive and for how long. This symbolic act will enhance feelings of trust.

After summarizing the conversation and telling the employee the next steps, consideration should be given to the mode of exit from the termination interview, since such dynamics are likely to affect perceptions of respect and trust (Lewis & Weigert, 1985). Individuals may be allowed to leave individually or may be escorted, and their exit from the building may be either private or public. For example, in the case of security escorts, a guard may be able to take the terminated employee down a back hallway or use a service elevator that allows the employee to leave in a discrete manner. Alternatively, the guard may escort the terminated employee through the work area and directly out the front door.

Post-SPIKES Interview Considerations

A key activity associated with the interviews with terminated employees is reassuring surviving employees—those who were not fired. When someone gets downsized, the word tends to spread quickly. Survivors cannot help but wonder what the future holds for them. Will they, too, be let go? To the extent that uncertainty may breed distrust and spin off rumors, it is wise for supervisors to provide appropriate reassurances about the future. Such explanations can not only help layoff survivors feel better about their own futures, but about the company, as well (Caplan & Teese, 1997).

CONCLUSIONFor many organizations today layoffs are inevitable. Organizational leaders, however, must come to terms with the fact that the manner in which they downsize their operations affects employee motivation, team performance, and organizational effectiveness. To assist managers in conducting termination interviews we have offered suggestions that incorporate respect for the individual following a widely used medical protocol—the SPIKES model—that medical professionals have used in delivering unpleasant news to patients. If managers take the time to master the SPIKES protocol, they can come through the crisis with their business reputation intact and their remaining workforce productive and happy. We have offered this rubric because it provides valuable lessons learned from medicine that can be applied to delivering bad news in business.

Interwoven throughout the SPIKES protocol is an emphasis on organizational justice—employees’ sense of the moral propriety of how they are treated. Justice defines the very essence of individuals’ relationships to employers. In contrast, injustice is like a corrosive solvent that can dissolve bonds within the community. Injustice is hurtful to individuals and harmful to organizations. This is because resizing threatens the sense of fair play among employees. For victims and survivors alike, a downsizing erodes the assumption of fairness (justice) in the workplace, as they wonder why leadership could not stave off the dreaded event or identify some alternative course of action. For these reasons, justice considerations (Cropanzano et al., 2007) were highlighted, particularly in terms of procedural justice (appropriateness of the allocation process) and interactional justice (appropriateness of the treatment one receives from authority figures).

It is recognized that the approach offered here may contrast sharply with advice typically received from the legal staff. Indeed, Wood and Karau (2009) argue that most organizations approach downsizing interviews from a defensive,

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legalistic framework, rather than from an ethical perspective focusing on respect for persons as embodied in Kant’s (1785/1997) ethical theory, which suggests that we should always treat others as an end, not as a means, and, further, that an act of disrespect toward one person is an act of disrespect to all. We do not suggest that organizations not consider legal implications, but that there be a greater balance between legal and ethical perspectives, and that firms should move beyond a mere legalistic orientation and pay attention to the way it dismisses people, since there are serious reputational and financial costs involved in the termination interview. Bayer (2000) reminds us that a termination affects not only the individual but also the “dozens of others who can influence the company’s image and ability to hire” (p. 4) in the future, as well as the organization’s reputation in the market, and that “care and compassion” can mitigate the negative consequences of a layoff (Mantell & Albrecht, 1994; Rothman, 1989). Thus, how an organization conducts RIFs, and the manager’s demeanor during these layoff interviews, can have a significant impact on an organization.

Layoffs involve “winners” and “losers” because some individuals are downsized in the face of business exigencies while others are not. The SPIKES protocol acts as a buffer that allows employees to maintain respect and trust for an organization even when things do not go as they would have liked (Brockner & Wiesenfeld, 1996). It is inevitable in life that things will not always go our way. However, the negative effects of an unfortunate event are less severe if an organization is able to effectively communicate bad news. This is sound advice. It is also the right thing to do.

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C. W. VonBergen ([email protected]) is the John Massey Professor of Management at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1974 in industrial/organizational psychology. He has taught numerous psychology and business courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels using both online and traditional formats at Purdue University, Louisiana Tech University, and Massey University in New Zealand. Von also has over 20 years industrial and consulting experience across a variety of industries addressing human resources, employee relations, and organizational behavior issues. He has over 100 publications in primarily practitioner-oriented business and legal journals and periodicals.

Robert Stevens ([email protected]) is the John Massey Professor of Business at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1971. Dr. Stevens has taught at the University of Arkansas, the University

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of Southern Mississippi, Oral Roberts University, University of Louisiana Monroe, and Hong Kong Shue Yan College. His repertoire of courses has included marketing management, marketing research, sales management, and strategic management. The author and co-author of 30 books and well over 200 other publications, he has published his research findings in a number of business journals and numerous professional conference proceedings. He is currently co-editor of Taylor and Francis’ Services Marketing Quarterly, and Health Marketing Quarterly and serves on the editorial boards of three other professional journals. Research interest includes services marketing, planning, and research methodologies.

David Loudon ([email protected]) is a professor of marketing at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and is currently the editor of Health Marketing Quarterly and has published numerous articles in the management and marketing areas.

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118Tejeda-Delgado, Millan, and Slatea

DISTANCE AND FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING CULTURE AND VALUES: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSISCARMEN TEJEDA-DELGADOTexas A&M University – Corpus Christi

BRETT J. MILLANSouth Texas College

JOHN R. SLATESam Houston State University

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 ad-dressed. 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 educators must meet new chal-lenges while having little practical experience. Research, then, is – and will be – needed to guide future practice and peda-gogy. Therefore, to provide institutions with much-needed information about the value profile of the distance-learning student, it is essential that research on student values is performed. This information could aid in the creation and imple-mentation of programs aimed at increasing student success and decreasing student withdrawals. In sociological terms, then, distance-learning courses would meet the criteria set forth for societies: courses are groupings of individuals living or participating in a territorial space. Furthermore, courses contain formal, and develop informal, structures that regulate the allocation of rewards.

Keywords: higher education, distance learning, culture, values, conceptual

In the United States, approximately 20.4 million students are enrolled in higher education (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). However, during the fall 2009 term, 5.6 million students were enrolled in at least one distance learning course, representing an almost one-million-student increase from 2008 (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Considering that in 1994-

95, 2- and 4-year institutions had a combined distance-learning enrollment of 756,640 students, it is evident that distance learning is a growing trend (Lewis et al., 1998). In addition, by the end of 2008, over 4% of all undergraduates were enrolled in all-online higher education programs (Aud, et al., 2011). Together, these facts show that distance education is rapidly becoming a force that will change educational systems (Holmberg, 2002), but there is “compelling evidence that the continued robust growth in online enrollments is at its end” (Allen & Seaman, 2010, p. 4). To understand distance education fully and the forces that influence it, an extensive analysis of the extant literature is essential.

Today, distance education plays an important role in American higher education (Emmerson, 2004). Contrary to what one might believe, distance learning is not new. In fact, distance learning has existed in some form since the mid 1800s (Lewis, Snow, Farris, & Levin, 1999; Phipps & Merisotis, 1999). Online learning has opened up the halls of academic pursuit to non-traditional students who otherwise might not be able to seek a postsecondary degree (Lewis et al., 1999). Combined with the technological advances of the last decade and increasing budget pressures at the state and institutional level, it is no wonder that distance learning has greatly expanded during this same time (Phipps & Merisotis, 1999).

It is important to know this information; however, knowledge of why students believe what they do and behave

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the way they do is also critical, especially while creating and implementing programs aimed at enticing and helping students perform better. Values, as part of both individual and cultural belief systems, give us the opportunity to gain insights regarding what motivates students. Therefore, to provide institutions with much-needed information about the value profile of the distance-learning student, it is essential that research on student values is performed. This information could aid in the creation and implementation of programs aimed at increasing student success and decreasing student withdrawals.

RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe following descriptive research questions were posed for this research study:

• What is the distance-learning student’s value profile?

• What is the face-to-face student’s value profile?

The following four inferential research questions, focusing on self-directedness values were posed for this research study:

• Controlling for age, what are the effects of self-directedness values on the instructional format preference of students at a college in South Texas?

• What are the effects of self-directedness values on the instructional format preference of students at a college in South Texas, as a function of student gender?

• What are the effects of self-directedness values on the instructional format preference of students at a college in South Texas, as a function of student learning style?

• What are the effects of self-directedness values on the instructional format preference of students at a college in South Texas, as a function of student ethnicity?

In this conceptual analysis, distance learning, including a historical overview, prevailing themes in past research, and studies relating the importance of the community concept in distance education are covered first. Then we discuss the research studies surrounding culture and values. Subsequently, the rationale for the development of instruments to quantify values, including the Schwartz Value Scale (SVS) is reviewed. Finally, a summary concludes this article.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND DEFINITION OF DISTANCE LEARNINGLoosely defined, distance education can be seen as any formal approach to teaching in which the majority of the learning process occurs while the teacher and the students are at a distance from each other (Verduin, Jr., & Clark, 1991). Writing about distance learning in higher education, Phipps et al. (1998) defined distance learning by suggesting that all forms of distance education possess four characteristics: (a) the teaching/learning process involves activities where the teacher and learner are separated by a distance; (b) a combination of media, including television, video, audio, and electronic communication may be used; (c) knowledge and content is available through more sources than just the teacher; and (d) delivery of the course material can be done anytime and anyplace, with teacher/learner, learner/learner, and learner/group interaction all able to take place. This definition of distance education allows for more flexibility as technological innovations, from the nineteenth century to the present, have allowed this form of education to evolve. However, most studies regarding distance education today focus on online education. Online courses, then, are defined as those where a minimum of 80% of the course content is delivered through the Internet (Allen & Seaman, 2010).

Distance Learning in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Although distance learning has become a buzzword over the last decade due to the rapid increase in technological

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innovations, distance education is not new. In fact, in 1833, a Swedish university advertised distance studies in composition via correspondence (Holmberg, 2002). In the United States, the term distance education appeared in the University of Wisconsin’s 1892 catalogue (Rumble, 1986). In fact, distance education had already been in existence since the eighteenth century. The earliest known record of education at a distance comes from an advertisement in the Boston Gazette on March 20th, 1728, for shorthand lessons (Bower & Hardy, 2004). Caleb Phillips offered weekly lessons by post to students who lived in the country (Bower & Hardy, 2004).

Like Phillips, Isaac Pitman began teaching shorthand by correspondence from Bath, England in 1840 (Verduin, Jr. & Clark, 1991). Students, who needed new methods of learning that did not conflict with their work responsibilities, would copy brief Bible passages in shorthand and mail them by the “new penny post system” to Pitman for grading (Verduin, Jr., & Clark, 1991, p. 15). Pitman would then return the graded assignments. Thus, distance education began, with individuals offering academic instruction to persons who could not otherwise attend a physical institution.

Distance Learning in the Twentieth Century

Subsequently, many correspondence schools offering vocational courses were established between 1890 and 1930 (Emmerson, 2004). The Home Correspondence School of Springfield, Massachusetts, and the American Farmers’ School in Minneapolis both offered courses in agriculture and farming (Emmerson, 2004). In the collegiate setting, the University of Wisconsin’s Extension division was founded in 1906, and University of Wisconsin professors started an amateur radio station to be used for educational broadcasting in 1919 (Engel, 1936). According to Simonson et al. (2011), during the next decade 200 radio stations in the United States broadcast distance learning education programs. Technology continues to impact distance learning pedagogy even today.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, distance education ceased expanding, probably due to the economic depression in the United States, followed by World War II (Emmerson, 2004). Then, in the 1950s, audio transmission for educational purposes decreased as a new technology, television, began to take its place (Bower & Hardy, 2004). In fact, during the 1950s, Western Reserve University became the first institution in the United States to use television as a method of broadcasting educational material (Bower & Hardy, 2004).

However, it was the satellite technology and the fiber-optic systems of the 1980s that helped expand distance learning by enabling live two-way transmissions to occur (Simonson et al., 2011). During the late 1980s, Mind Extension University offered the first courses and full-degree programs via cable network broadcasting (Emmerson, 2004). Although television technologies and two-way transmissions allowed for greater interactivity, it was not until the 1990s that technology was developed which would globally expand the reach of distance education: the internet.

As Emmerson (2004) wrote, “Online distance education is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, because the Web is simply the latest technology resource in a long history of distance education” (p. 14). During and because of these technological changes, research has been conducted to understand distance-learning students and help improve courses and degree offerings.

STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

Age and Gender

Researchers focusing on the learner have usually concentrated on gender, age, learning styles, or a combination of all of them. For example, Barakzai and Fraser (2005) analyzed the effect of demographic variables on nursing student achievement and satisfaction. Sampling students from three different universities in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California, Barakzai and Fraser (2005) focused on possible relationships between language, gender, and prior computer experience and the students’ achievement and feeling of satisfaction. In general, students did well in both their science and medicine courses. In addition, both courses were perceived very favorably (Barakzai & Fraser, 2005). However, some of the researchers’ hypotheses were not supported.

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It was hypothesized that students for whom English was a second language would experience more difficulty in the online courses and, hence, would not display the achievement scores of their native English-speaking counterparts (Barakzai & Fraser, 2005). No statistical significance was present between the two groups. Previous computer experience was also believed to be important in the success of online learners. Computer experience was measured through computer ownership, experience with certain programs, and experience with the Internet. None of those factors indicated any significant statistical correlation with either achievement or satisfaction (Barakzai & Fraser, 2005). Gender effects were also analyzed in the study. In the resulting data, women consistently scored higher than men, but the difference was not statistically significant for either the science or the medicine classes (Barakzai & Fraser, 2005).

Contrary to Barakzai and Fraser’s (2005) results, Cheung and Kan (2002) reported that gender was statistically correlated to student achievement. In their study, Cheung and Kan (2002) evaluated factors related to performance in a distance education business communication course taught at the Open University of Hong Kong. Unlike much other distance learning research, these researchers focused on a course where the language of instruction was Chinese. Among the factors in their study, Cheung and Kan (2002) analyzed three demographic variables: age, gender, and marital status. Of the three variables that they examined, only gender was statistically significantly related with student performance, with women outperforming men. The researchers believed that the difference could be attributed simply to the female students putting more effort into their studies, or that women might generally perform better than men in certain subjects, whereas men may perform better than women in others (Cheung & Kan, 2002). Interestingly, although their sample consisted of students ranging from 18 to 50 years old, no statically significant relationship was revealed between age and achievement (Cheung & Kan, 2002).

In another study at Hong Kong Open University, Taplin and Jegede (2001) analyzed possible factors contributing to gender differences in online learning achievement. Questionnaires were sent to 712 high and low achieving students to identify whether motivation for learning, study habits, social and workplace contexts, self-perceptions and attitudes, previous educational experiences, and need and use for support services differentiated between male and female achievement (Taplin & Jegede, 2001). Taplin and Jegede (2001) demonstrated that high-achieving women were more apt to seek help from others, even for personal problems, than were low-achieving women. Interestingly, some follow-up interviews highlighted that some of the women preferred to seek help from peers than from tutors (Taplin & Jegede, 2001). For males, seeking outside support did not seem to be a distinguishing factor between high and low achievers (Taplin & Jegede, 2001).

Completing assignments and readings according to a schedule creating overviews of materials was also determined to be a distinguishing factor between males and females (Taplin & Jegede, 2001). Men tended to complete assignments according to a schedule, whereas women tended to form strategies that would allow them to create their own overviews of the material and write summaries (Taplin & Jegede, 2001). Ultimately, Taplin and Jegede (2001) made some recommendations, in which they delineated some things that could have been implemented for each gender to enhance their chances of success.

Learning Preferences and Styles

Aside from age and gender characteristics, researchers have conducted studies in which cognitive functions have been examined. One such study, with a focus on learning preferences, constraints, and their relationship to demographic factors, was initiated at two northeastern universities. Cristensen, Anakwe, and Kessler (2001) surveyed 399 undergraduate and graduate students in a correlational study to determine whether differences were present among factors and the general receptivity students had towards distance learning. Among their hypotheses, the researchers believed that no difference would be present between men’s and women’s receptivity to distance learning (Cristensen et al., 2001). In addition, they hypothesized that older students would be more receptive to distance learning than their younger counterparts (Cristensen et al., 2001). Cristensen et al. (2001) believed that a negative association would be present between a preference for traditional learning modes and distance learning receptivity.

Their results supported the hypothesis that males and females did not differ in their distance learning receptiveness

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(Cristensen et al., 2001). In regard to age and general receptivity, again, no significant relationship was yielded; however, age was negatively related to interactive distance learning (Cristensen et al., 2001). Cristensen et al. (2001) postulated it was possible that older students shunned the more interactive distance learning methods because their technological familiarity was lacking. This data supported the hypothesis that a negative association would be present between a preference for traditional learning modes and receptiveness towards distance learning (Cristensen et al., 2001). Nevertheless, the correlation was not statistically significant for interactive media, possibly because interactive media distance learning may approximate the traditional learning environment (Cristensen et al., 2001). Cristensen et al. (2001) stated that the results indicated that some traditionally held assumptions about distance learning receptiveness may not be valid in today’s new high-tech environment and that the predictive value of learning preferences and distance learning receptiveness was likely to decrease.

Although Cristensen et al. (2001) believed that the technologically changing environment might cause learning preferences to lose predictive value in relation to receptiveness to distance learning, their belief did not preclude that learning styles, not preferences, would have a predictive value for student interaction, success, and perceptions. Sabry and Baldwin (2003) explored interaction categories, not as preferences of learning environments, but in relation to either sequential or global learning styles. They delineated three types of learning interaction categories: learner-information (LI), learner-tutor (LT), and learner-learner (LL). Meanwhile, they used two learning style categories, sequential and global, from Soloman’s Inventory of Learning Styles (Sabry & Baldwin, 2003).

Results from 169 graduate students specializing in school librarianship were correlated, and most of the students in the sample were converging or assimilating (Simpson & Du, 2004). Interestingly, converging students liked the course the most, whereas the assimilating students liked the course the least (Simpson & Du, 2004). Learning style was statistically significant in explaining the enjoyment level in the course, thus rejecting the initial hypothesis of no difference (Simpson & Du, 2004). In addition, learning style was also statistically significant in explaining the level of student participation in the course (Simpson & Du, 2004). Diverging students participated the most in reading postings, whereas the assimilating students posted the fewest discussion posts (Simpson & Du, 2004). Ultimately, the researchers believed that their conclusions had pedagogical implications: in that course, designers should provide more support for students who learn best through abstract thinking and reflective observation (Simpson & Du, 2004). As with Sabry and Baldwin’s (2003) research, Simpson and Du (2004) showed that static student characteristics may have pedagogical implications.

Mupinga et al. (2006) selected undergraduate students taking online courses in the Department of Industrial Technology Education and collected MBTI data from 131 students enrolled in three Web-based sections. Cognitive styles measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators are structured as four dichotomous traits: Extrovert and Introvert, Judging and Perceiving, Sensing and Intuition, and Thinking and Feeling (Mupinga et al., 2006). The researchers did not find any one particular learning style to be significantly more prevalent than the others. The top two cognitive styles in terms of number of students were the ISTJ (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) and ISFJ (Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging), each with 16% of the students (Mupinga et al., 2006). The authors did not identify a predominant type (Mupinga et al., 2006). Therefore, according to Mupinga et al. (2006), the design of online instruction should attempt to accommodate students of all learning styles through beforehand identification of student characteristics and interests or providing information in various formats.

Irani, Telg, Sherler, and Harrington (2003) also used the MBTI to assess the personality types of distance learners. However, unlike Mupinga et al.’s (2006) study, Irani et al. (2003) correlated the MBTI individual preferences with the students’ course perceptions and performance. In this study, the researchers assessed the cognitive preferences of 39 graduate students taking an agricultural leadership two-way video conferencing course and correlated them with data indicating their course perceptions and archival data of their course performance (Irani et al., 2003). The highest percentages of students fell into the ISTJ, ENFP, ENFJ, and ENTJ types (Irani et al., 2003). For both introverts and judging types, GPA and course grades were strongly correlated with the students’ perception of the instructional technique, whereas moderate relationships were yielded between level of social interaction, and GPA and course grade. Intuition was also strongly correlated with perception of instructional technique (Irani et al., 2003). Overall, individual differences such as personality type might be a factor in how students perceive distance learning and how

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well they perform (Irani et al., 2003).

As the previous research studies exemplify, the focus has been placed on the innate characteristics of the distance learner. Nevertheless, these characteristics have mainly been those factors that are clearly identifiable either quantitatively or through psychological assessment. This concentration largely ignores other aspects that are brought into the learning environment. However, in traditional classrooms the concept of community has gained acceptance and has even influenced pedagogy. Tinto (1997) argued that as students come together, they form communities. The composition of the community and the strength of the sociological bonds that the student makes within this grouping are keys to student success (Tinto, 1997).

DEFINITION OF SOCIETYWilson and Peterson’s (2002) assertion that online communities fit the research purview of anthropology underscores that the social sciences, as a whole, utilize appropriate concepts and methodology useful to understanding online phenomena. To construct a suitable frame of reference in which to study online communities, a thorough understanding of the definitions of culture and society are necessary. Along with his definition of community, Tönnies also delineated what he saw as the main characteristics of society (Thon, 1897; Wirth, 1926). He saw societies as an artificial group of people held together by a common and conscious purpose (Wirth, 1926). Furthermore, Tönnies believed that humanity, as a whole, had passed from a community to a society orientation (Thon, 1897). A contemporary of Tönnies, and long considered one of the fathers of sociology, Herbert Spencer (1906) defined society by comparing it to an organism. He defined it as a group of individuals unlike other objects with which we are acquainted (Spencer, 1906). Further, Spencer (1906) believed that societies, similar to organisms, grow, and their parts multiply and differentiate from each other.

In sociological terms, then, distance-learning courses would meet the criteria set forth for societies. Courses are groupings of individuals living or participating in a territorial space. Furthermore, courses contain formal, and develop informal, structures that regulate the allocation of rewards. As in other societies, individuals (i.e. students) guard the territory, reinforcing the group’s norms, through informal punishments and rewards. Like Spencer and Parsons, the anthropologist Ruth Benedict ([1934]1961) believed in a dialectical relationship between individuals and society. In fact, she stated that, “society…is never an entity separable from the individuals who compose it. No individual can arrive even at the threshold of his potentialities without a culture in which he participates” (Benedict, [1934]1961, p. 253). Therefore, if courses are societies, then it follows that they would also have or create a culture, as other, physical, societies do, and a thorough understanding of the term culture is warranted if one is to study online societies to learn more about the individuals that compose them.

Definition of Culture

American anthropology’s foundation of the concept of culture can be said to have started with Edward B. Tylor. Tylor ([1871]1920) defined culture as a complex whole encompassing the “knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (p. 1). Furthermore, culture defines societies. That is, societies could be considered unique because their cultures differentiated them from one another (Tylor, [1871]1920). In describing anthropology, Benedict ([1934]1961) offered a similar definition in which culture is composed of the physical characteristics, and conventions and values that distinguish one community from all others. Benedict’s ([1934]1961) definition adds values into the discussion of culture, as she believed that values were integral in forming beliefs.

The connection between culture and thinking was then furthered developed. Kluckhohn (1962) stated that the culture was not just the visible acts, speech, or the products of them, but rather a way of thinking, feeling, and believing. Culture was the stored knowledge and patterns for doing and not doing things (Kluckhohn, 1962). Furthermore, Kluckhohn (1962) believed that culture regulates our lives by pressuring us to follow particular types of behavior. It is also the part of human life that, because we have learned it as a result of belonging to a particular group, allows us to live together in a society by giving us patterns of behavior, solutions to problems, and predicting the behavior of

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others in the group (Kluckhohn, 1962).

More recently, the anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1973) refined the definition of culture by stating that, like Max Weber, he believed that humans are an “animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun,” and that those webs are culture (p. 5). Placing this into perspective, Geertz’s (1973) assertion that humans are suspended in a web analogizes Benedict’s ([1934]1961) and Kluckhohn’s (1962) belief that culture is a determinant factor in behavior. Moreover, Geertz (1973) also believed in the connection between culture and thinking. While discussing human evolution and its relationship with culture, he stated that “the greater part of human cortical expansion has followed, not preceded, the ‘beginning’ of culture” (1973, p. 64).

The Connection between Culture and Values

Because cultures influence and/or determine not only behavior, but also the thinking processes of individuals in a society, it follows that among those cultural resources, values need to be considered. Culture includes attitudes, values, and beliefs, and each plays an unquestionable role in human behavior and progress (Porter, 2000). Triandis (1994) pointed out that culture provides traditions that inform people what has and has not worked in the past. These become customs that make the social environment more predictable (Triandis, 1994). Values work in the same way; they direct people to aspects of the social environment “to which they should pay attention and to goals they should reach” (Triandis, 1994, p. 15). Therefore, while studying societies and culture, values should not be ignored, for they hold great importance for the success of the individual in society. To illustrate, Georg Simmel, a leading sociological theorist, believed that a person needed to internalize these cultural values and that individual excellence could only be achieved by absorbing the external values of the group (qtd. in Coser, 2003).

Definition of Values

Since values should hold a primary interest, specifically for research regarding students, an overview of the concept of value is needed to understand more fully the possible relationships between values and online societies. Kluckhohn (1951) believed that values, as a concept, could be the bridging concept linking diverse specialized studies; therefore, he spent much time refining and defining the concept of values. Kluckhohn (1951) defined a value as “a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action” (p. 395).

Similarly, Rokeach (1968) viewed values as integral part of a belief system. He proposed that values were a type of belief, located at the core of one’s belief system, about how one should or should not behave. In addition, values were abstract positive or negative ideals that were not tied to any specific attitude, object, or situation (Rokeach, 1968). Further, he believed that once a value becomes internalized, it becomes a standard by which the individual will form opinions, a criterion by which the individual will act, and a standard for developing attitudes towards the world around him or her (Rokeach, 1968). Thus, values can be seen as internalized social standards, which remain somewhat constant once internalized. Therefore, this begs the question as to how people with varying values orientations would progress in different environments. Rokeach (1968) also developed a working definition for an individual’s grouping of values: “a rank-ordering of values along a continuum of importance” (p. 161).

Definition of Attitude

Even with these definitions regarding values and value systems, the concept sometimes gets confused with the concept of attitudes. Much like the term value, attitude also seems to be ever-present in social science discussions (Lemon, 1973). Similar to values, this widespread use has made it difficult to casually discern the differences between attitudes, values, and beliefs (Lemon, 1973). In fact, even among social scientists, inconsistency has been present in the definition of attitudes, usually because researchers have relied upon their own intuitive notions regarding values (Zimbardo & Ebbesen, 1970). According to Rokeach (1968), “an attitude is a relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner” (p. 112). Bem (1970) clarified Rokeach’s (1968) explanation by adding that attitudes are our likes and dislikes, “our affinities for and our aversions

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to situations, objects, persons, groups, or any other identifiable aspect of our environment” (p. 14). Therefore, to understand further the way students form their attitudes toward a course, subject, and method of study, research into values would seem to be important.

Values and Axiology

The importance of values and discussion of them has likely existed since humans began to reflect on their conscious experiences (Hart, 1971). Values, as Rokeach (1968) stated, are an integral part of a belief system. However, values do not stand in isolation. Values are rooted in experience; values and experience form a complex gestalt (Brightman, 1943). The study of this system, in contrast to research on isolated value judgments, is relatively new (Hart, 1971). Axiology, a term derived from two Greek words meaning worth and reason, is the discipline created during the twentieth century whose goal it is to study this complex system of decisions based appraisal (Hart, 1971).

Catton (1959) described values in the context of persons and social organizations choosing from among alternative desirable or undesirable options. The appraisal of such options reflects the person’s or organization’s individual values and value systems (Catton, 1959). Appraisal, though, is largely seen part of a person’s cognitive intuition (Hart, 1971). These appraisals both reflect and reinforce people’s values. As a result, values are a result of a continuous transaction among people, experiences, and the various environments in which people are in contact (Hart, 1971).

The available literature is not devoid of values or axiological research; values research in education has been conducted sporadically. Often, though, researchers have focused on business and cultural change. Regardless of focus area, a discussion of axiology-related research is merited to gain a substantive overview of the subject. Highlighted in non-education studies have been the importance of values and the methodologies with which to study them, and, during these times, values research in education has been scarce. Studies pertaining to education will be discussed first, followed by a brief discussion of values research in modernization studies and business.

EDUCATION STUDIES

1960s and 1970s

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, interest in values and education rested in finding out the differences among various subgroups. Meier (1970) focused on the value orientations toward higher education. Specifically, he was interested in finding empirical evidence of differences and extent as to how college students differ from their parents in their value orientations towards post-secondary education (Meier, 1970). In addition, Meier (1970) also wanted to determine the effect of social status and sex role differentiation on the value orientations toward higher education. For his study, he undertook systematic standardized interviews of undergraduates from the University of New Mexico. His sample consisted of 295 men and 300 women (Meier, 1970). Younger generation students placed a higher value on self-expression than their parents. This result was especially true for the students’ fathers, who tended to be more utilitarian in their value orientations toward higher education (Meier, 1970).

To identify commonalities and differences between ethnic groups, Audrey J. Schwartz (1971) studied the values and achievement of Mexican-American and Anglo secondary school students in California. A. J. Schwartz (1971) stated that, “value orientations are salient to achievement in they determine the desirable [for a person]…. they delimit the scope and intensity of his interpersonal relations which, in turn, affect his activities” (pp. 440-441).

1990s and 2000s

It seems that during the 1980s, the field of education veered away from an interest in values, not returning to it until the late 1990s. During the 1990s, Claire Planel qualitatively studied the role of national cultural values and their role in learning. Planel (1997) selected two elementary and junior high schools in England and two schools in France to study the effects of national cultural values on the learning process. Two classes from each school were selected, and each class observed one day a week for six weeks. In addition, during 1993-1994, groups of 3-4 pupils were

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interviewed, totaling 240 pupil interviews.

In studying how values might change because of a socialization effect in higher education, Robbins (1998) posited that values and attitudes would change as a student proceeded through higher education and that the change would be in the direction of those values and attitudes held by academia. Furthermore, Robbins (1998) believed that females and males would rate values differently upon entering, but ultimately the difference between them would disappear as they progressed through college. To evaluate her hypotheses, Robbins (1998) implemented the Schwartz Value Survey and a social distance scale to 462 participants, comprised of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral students, and non-tenured and tenured faculty.

Robbins’ (1998) findings provided partial support for the first hypothesis. Certain values changed significantly as a student progressed through higher education; however, these changes were not always completely linear (Robbins, 1998). In regard to the next hypothesis, the data did not support the idea that females and males would rate values differently at first and then decrease in their differences as they progressed in higher education (Robbins, 1998). She concluded that, because partial support existed for the values changing during a student’s academic career, her research supported the concept that students experience socialization and acculturation when immersed in an academic culture (Robbins, 1998).

Kumar and Thibodeaux’s (1998) research showed that Anglo-American students “had significantly higher scores than Far Eastern students on [the] Theoretical, Economic, and Political dimensions” (p. 257-258). However, the Far Eastern students were significantly higher on the social and religious dimensions (Kumar & Thibodeaux, 1998). The aesthetic dimension was the only one in which statistical significance was not present (Kumar & Thibodeaux, 1998). As predicted, differences were present between the value patterns held by Anglo-American and Far Eastern students. In regard to Far Eastern students and their length of time in the United States, the longer the students stayed in the United States, the closer their value patterns reflected those of the Anglo-American students (Kumar & Thibodeaux, 1998). This study clearly showed the acculturation and socialization effect of American higher education on foreign students.

To analyze the relationship between values and intentions changes across different situations, Chun Chung Choi (2005) implemented the Schwartz Value Survey, followed by the Conservatism Behavioral Intention Survey, to 109 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Midwestern state university. Choi’s (2005) study was exploratory in nature, and as such he did not make specific directional hypotheses regarding which values he believed would change in different situations. Furthermore, Choi (2005) also compared two subgroups within his sample: Chinese and White/European Americans. Because of previous research, Choi (2005) believed that differences would be present between the two ethnic groups.

Statistically significant differences were revealed in the conservatism-consistent behavioral indexes (Choi, 2005); specifically, “the intention to display conservatism-consistent behavior was stronger in some setting-psychological combinations than in others” (Choi, 2005, p. 17). However, Choi’s (2005) prediction that there would be some difference between ethnic groups was not supported. Due to the results, Choi (2005) deduced that a relationship existed between values and behavior, but that tendency to display particular behaviors consistent with certain values is dependent on the situation.

GLOBALIZATION AND BUSINESS STUDIESValues research in the education arena has shown that culture and values play an important role in the socialization and pedagogical understanding of students. However, values research has also been conducted to explain the effects of modernization and the complexities of doing business internationally. For the last 30 years, values have been of interest to researchers studying the effects of globalization and modernization (e.g., Granato, Inglehart, & Leblang, 1996; Inglehart, 1977; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005). During economic collapse, the reverse is true (Inglehart & Baker, 2000). However, of prime importance to values research in general is that these research projects have approached the study of culture and values quantitatively and empirically, thus laying the groundwork for

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modern quantitative studies of culture and values (Granato, Inglehart, & Leblang, 1996).

In business research, Hofstede’s (1980, 2001) research broke ground in its application of social science concepts. Terms such as symbols, heroes, rituals, values, and culture were applied to multinational business to discover those practices, which helped and those that hindered their operations (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). Hofstede (2001) stated that, similar to the other terms, “culture is usually reserved for societies…[but] the word can be applied to any human collectivity of category: an organization, a profession, an age group, an entire gender, or a family” (p. 10).

For his research, Hofstede (1980, 2001) implemented multinational surveys from which he mapped 53 nations or regions along five pan-cultural value dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and long-term versus short-term orientation. Hofstede’s (1980, 2001) research expanded operationalization of traditional social science concepts and has allowed for their application in other fields. For example, Kozan and Ergin (1999) applied values research to ascertain the influence of intra-cultural value differences on conflict management practices, in which they found that problems encountered in conflicts between collectivistic and individualistic value based cultures are likely to occur within the same culture as well. Studies such as these help expand and validate the role and importance of values research.

SUPPORTING RESEARCHFollowing in Parsons’s (1951) and Rokeach’s (1968) tradition of searching for universal structures in social systems, Shalom Schwartz and Wolfgang Bilsky (1987, 1990) ventured to identify an inventory of values by using the Rokeach Values Survey. Consistent with previous research, they generated a conceptual definition for values, which incorporates the five formal features in the literature (Llicht, 2011; Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990). Values are regarded as concepts or beliefs, are either desirable end states or behaviors, are applicable to multiple situations, guide the selection and evaluation of behavior, and are in order by relative importance (Llicht, 2011; Schwartz, 1992). Schwartz (1994), continuing with Rokeach’s (1968) beliefs that there are a limited number of values or value groups, suggested that all values fall under 11 groupings: self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, spirituality, benevolence, and universalism (Llicht, 2011). The spirituality grouping was later incorporated into the other groupings, leaving 10 value orientation groups (Schwartz, 2004). Researchers have supported these groupings (Feather, 1995; Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz, 2004; Schwartz, 2006).

Simpson and Du (2004) and Sabry and Baldwin (2003) asserted that static student characteristics may have implications on pedagogy. Values, although somewhat malleable because of exposure to new societies and cultures, still serve as semi-static characteristics that influence attitudes and behaviors in particular situations. Knowing how groups of students differ in terms of values, would then, like Irani et al.’s (2003) research on personality types, yield information on how values might be a factor in how students perceive and succeed in distance learning. In addition, because values seem to change during the pursuit of a post-secondary degree, as shown by Robbins (1998), and through due to prolonged contact with other values systems as shown by Kumar and Thibodeaux (1998), an exploration of values held by successful online learners should yield important implications for online students’ selection and pedagogy.

SUMMARYOver 10% of the 20.4 million students currently enrolled in higher education will be taking distance-learning courses (Carnevale, 2005; Snyder & Dillow, 2011). With enrollments rapidly increasing, it is apparent that distance education is becoming an educational force of its own that will change educational systems (Holmberg, 2002). Although distance education is not new, researchers have recently focused on demographic factors such as age, gender, and learning styles in research on distance learning (e.g., Barakzai & Fraser, 2005; Cheung & Kan, 2002; Christensen et al., 2001; Irani et al., 2003; Mupinga et al., 2006; Sabry & Baldwin, 2003; Simpson & Du, 2004; Taplin & Jegede, 2001).

Values, as a field of study, is not devoid of research. Studies focusing in non-educational fields have been implemented for the last 30 years (e.g., Granato et al., 1996; Hofstede, 1980, 2001; Inglehart, 1977; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005). Studies regarding values have been performed within education (e.g., Choi, 2005; Kumar &

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Thibodeaux, 1998; Meier, 1970; Planel, 1997; Robbins, 1998; A. J. Schwartz, 1971), but none were focused on distance education. Education, and distance learning specifically, lends itself to values research because of the socialization aspect inherent in education. Groups of people, such as students, can develop shared senses of community and society where each individual creates involuntary bonds between themselves and the group as a whole (Wirth, 1926). In societies, then, shared norms and cultures develop among its members, and these norms include values (Geertz, 1973; Klukhohn, 1962; Parsons et al., 1951; Spencer, 1906; Triandis, 1994).

Hence, if groups of people can now both socialize and earn a postsecondary degree at the same time, a student’s values become an even more important topic for study. Online students may or may not hold the same values as face-to-face students, and depending on the values they hold, the mode of instruction may become a barrier in the educational process. Schwartz’s (1992, 2004, 2006) development and research with the Schwartz Value Scale (SVS) survey has produced substantial data supporting the categorization of 10 motivational orientations or types. Because these groupings are very inclusive, the SVS lends itself for researching the value profiles of untapped groups of people. Explorations into the value systems of online learners should yield important implications, both curricular and pedagogical, that could aid in the creation and modification of online learning in the 21st century.

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Parsons, T., Shils, E. A., Allport, G. W., Kluckhohn, C., Murray, H. A., Sears, R. R., Sheldon, R. C., Stouffer, S. A., & Tolman, E. C. (1951). Some fundamental categories of the theory of action: A general statement. In T. Parsons, & E. Shils (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action (pp. 388-433). New York, NY: Harper Torchbooks.

Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. P. (1999). What’s the difference? Washington, DC: The Institute for Higher Education Policy.

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Planel, C. (1997). National cultural values and their role in learning: A comparative ethnographic study of state primary schooling in England and France. Comparative Education, 33(3), 349-373.

Porter, M. E. (2000). Attitudes, values, beliefs, and the microeconomics of prosperity. In L. E. Harrington, & S. P. Huntington (Eds.), Culture matters (pp. 14-28). New York, NY: Basic Books.

Robbins, G. (1998). The effect of higher education on attitudes and values: gender and the academic environment. Dissertations & Theses: Full Text. (UMI No. 9833562).

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Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., Albright, M. J., & Zvacek, S. (2000). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Stankov, L., & Knezevic, G. (2005). Amoral social attitudes and value systems among Serbs and Australians. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57(2), 115-128.

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Carmen Tejeda-Delgado ([email protected] ) holds a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education in the College of Education. Prior to TAMU-CC, Dr. Tejeda-Delgado was an assistant professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville for two years where she taught in the Educational Leadership Program and worked with Doctoral Students. Her research interests include addressing the educational needs of higher education students and the role distance learning plays within that realm. Dr. Tejeda-Delgado has had a number of manuscripts published in the area of Educational Leadership and Development and her work has been featured as a columnist in Inside Higher Education.

Brett Millan ([email protected]) holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Instructional Technology from Texas A & M University at Kingsville. Additionally, Dr. Millán has two Master’s Degrees from The University of Texas – Pan American. He has worked with South Texas College as a faculty member for over ten years, nine of which were spent developing and teaching online English, Anthropology, and Humanities courses. Dr. Millán currently serves as the Interim Director for Distance Education at South Texas College in McAllen, TX. Additionally, he currently serves as parliamentarian of the Texas Distance Learning Association Board and as a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Distance Education Advisory Committee.

John R. Slate ([email protected] ) is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Sam Houston State University. He teaches quantitative and qualitative research design and analysis courses and program evaluation courses at the at the doctoral level. Dr. Slate’s research interests involve educational reform. Recent publications have been in areas of school size and student achievement; block scheduling; and factors related to academic success.

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132Neilla

NURSING WORKLOAD AND THE CHANGING HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

DENISE NEILLUniversity of Houston-Victoria

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 work-load. 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 prin-ciples 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 others lead to mental overload and decreased performance. Study findings in human factors research indicate that human beings have the ability to attend to multiple details simultaneously and that the subjective perception of the worker is important in un-derstanding the multiple, complex dimensions of workload. This review identifies the body of nursing workload research and establishes the need to include a subjective perception of the nurse as part of any workload measure.

Keywords: nursing workload, human factors, subjective mental workload, cognitive workload

The demands in nursing and health care have received increasing attention in recent years. Since the release of the Institute of Medicine (1999) report, To Err is Human, there has been a growing interest in understanding the workload of health care providers. As a result of this closer examination, a recognized need to examine the

care provided and the caregiver characteristics using a human factors approach developed. A small number of nurse researchers began to incorporate the concepts of human factors in their studies of nursing workload, rather than simply focusing on the traditional measures of skill competency, task performance, and time required to complete a task. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the concepts of human factors research related to subjective workload measurement and to explore the application of these principles in nursing.

Over the past two decades, many changes have occurred in health services delivery as administrators have attempted to meet government mandates, and, as a result, the way that nursing care is provided has changed. Consequently, some researchers have voiced concerns that patient safety may be jeopardized as efforts to restructure patient care continue (Aiken, Clarke, & Sloane, 2002; McGillis-Hall, 1999, 2003). An analysis of intensive care unit (ICU) patient safety studies identified nursing workload as a primary contributor to source of safety and quality of care in these units (Carayon & Gürses, 2005). Workload variables such as number and acuity of patients; staffing pattern; interprofessional communication patterns; and environmental demands, including availability of supplies and noise level, contribute to quality and patient outcomes. However, little attention has been given to the contribution of nursing knowledge, intellectual capital, and mental workload demands for productivity, quality care, and patient safety (Aiken, et al., 2002; Carayon & Gürses, 2005; McGillis-Hall, 1999, 2003).

Nursing workload measures do not guarantee efficiency and do not adequately capture the complexity of nursing workload (Beaudoin & Edgar, 2003; Morris, et al., 2007; Weydt, 2009), especially as the measures relate to the work environment. Work environment variables have been the least studied aspect of nursing workload. However, some studies have reported that work environment factors such as support by the manager and colleagues and work content have a stronger relationship to job satisfaction than do economic variables. Nurses in five countries were surveyed over 20 months in 1998-1999 to determine factors related to nurses’ job satisfaction and quality of care perceptions (Aiken, et al., 2002). Findings indicate that when staffing was inadequate to get nursing and other work done, patient outcomes declined. In this same study, 35-45% of the nurses in the United States and Canada reported spending time on non-nursing tasks such as transport and food delivery (Aiken, et al., 2002). While several studies

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were located that have explored the multiple nursing tasks required in the delivery of patient care (Clini, Vitacca, & Ambrosino, 1999; Reis-Miranda, de Rijk, & Schaufeli, 1996; Reis-Miranda, Moreno, & Iapichino, 1997; Weydt, 2009; Yamase, 2003), no studies were found that examined the perception of the “staff nurse” about everyday mental workload demands.

Beaudoin & Edgar (2003) reported that nurses consistently recount that the quality of their work lives and work environment have deteriorated as a result of work content and work environment variables. Thirty to forty percent of the nurses surveyed reported a perceived decrease in quality of care over the past year as a result of the increasing workload environment demands (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, & Sochalski, 2001). These perceptions were validated by comparing nurses’ assessments of quality of care with independent data sources and actual patient outcomes. The findings indicated that nurses “do accurately perceive the quality of care, and appear to be able to separate their own complaints from those that impact negatively on patients” (Aiken, et al., 2001, p. 260).

A study by the American Nurses Association (2001) reported that 75% (n = 7,353) of the respondents believed that the quality of nursing care in their work settings had declined over the previous two years. Ninety-two percent of these respondents related this decline in quality to inadequate staffing. Similar results were found in a study of medical-surgical nurses in Pennsylvania. Forty-seven percent (n = 2,969) stated that the quality of care in their hospitals had deteriorated over the past year (Aiken, et al., 2002).

HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH BACKGROUNDSince the late 19th century, considerable effort has been expended in the fields of cognitive psychology and human factors research to separate workload into physical and mental components and to develop objective measures of the concept researchers described as mental workload (Kerr, 1973; Moray, 1969; Owen, 1991; Robinson, 1921; Welch, 1898). Mental workload can be defined as the amount of thinking, level of cognitive demand, or thought processing effort required by the worker to meet the physical, temporal, and environmental demands of the defined task. Human factors researchers have been interested in mental processing in an attempt to understand the human information processing system and why some demands are handled easily and others lead to signs of mental overload with associated decreases in performance. Research in human factors has attempted to address the multiple and complex dimensions of the mental workload concept from the subjective perception of the worker. Research studies on mental workload related to information processing and attention indicate that human beings have the ability to attend to multiple details simultaneously (Braarud, 2001; Georgia Tech., 2011; Haga, Shinoda, & Kokubun, 2002; Huddleston, & Wilson, 1971; Kahneman, 1973; Luximon & Goonetilleke, 2001; Navon, 1985; Owen, 1990, 1991, 1992b; Owen & Haugtvedt, 1993).

MENTAL WORKLOAD MEASURESAs work demands become more complex, the need for measures to determine mental workload increases. Several techniques have been proposed to quantify the ability to focus on multiple complex phenomena at the same time. Mental workload techniques can be grouped into three broad measures: psychophysical, performance, and subjective (Owen, 1992a; Veltman, 2002). Each measure has specific applications and limitations in determining the mental workload associated with the work demands and environment. Table 1 provides an overview of the three workload measures, highlighting the underlying assumption, measurement indicators, and measurement limitations of each.

Researchers in the aeronautics, engineering, and health care industries have emphasized the psychophysiologic and performance demands of workload with much less focus on the subjective perception of the individual performing the work. As the field of human factors research has developed within healthcare, there has been a growing recognition that personal perspective about work demands could provide valuable information that impacts quality care and patient safety. Psychophysiologic and performance measures of workload are traditionally accepted and used, while subjective measures have been used in only one identified study (Gregg, 1993). This review will focus on the current state of human factors research and establish the need for more nursing workload research utilizing a human factors framework.

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CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SUBJECTIVE MENTAL WORKLOADSubjective mental workload is the amount of work the worker perceives is needed to meet a demand. The perceived workload is influenced by numerous factors pertaining to the worker, the environment, and the task. There is a presumption, based on subjective experience and the frequent inability of humans to perform two tasks simultaneously, that humans possess a limited capacity central processing system, (Kerr, 1973). Humans must often choose where to focus their attention when faced with competing options. Attention in the context of mental workload is the process of selecting from a variety of stimuli for information processing (Navon, 1985). Selection, motivation, and task interference determine the level of attention given to stimuli. Selection refers to the conscious choice to focus on selected information or a stimulus and is influenced by motivation, which is the person’s desire to

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focus on or process the stimuli. Task interference is anything that inhibits attention or slows down the information processing (Navon, 1984, 1985; Owen, 1992a). Novel stimuli require greater processing and more mental effort than stimuli that are more familiar. As the amount of mental effort for a task increases, the ability to perform concurrent tasks decreases.

The six distinct categories for attention theories and information processing identified in the literature are summarized in Table 2. Each theory sought to explain why some people perform a task more efficiently and with greater ease than other people do. The theories assumed a limit to the amount of cognitive stimuli an individual can process at any given time.

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The theories point to limits in the human ability to process information. At times, humans are able to perform parallel activities (e.g., driving and talking) with varying levels of success. When two stimuli are presented together, the stimuli are addressed sequentially rather than simultaneously, suggesting the presence of a bottleneck in the individual’s processing ability (Kahneman, 1973). Limited capacity theories assume that, when there is enough stimulation, the signals interfere with each other and reduce the efficiency and speed of the signal response (Kerr, 1973). As nurses’ demands increase, the limited capacity to handle the incoming stimuli can lead to errors that decrease the quality and safety of patient care.

MENTAL WORKLOAD: THEORY AND RESEARCHMental workload is a complex construct with multiple dimensions. Mental workload perception is determined by the individual’s processing capacity and the requirements of the task. Processing capacity is influenced by individual characteristics (e.g. skill level, energy, personal behaviors and perceptions), performance circumstances (e.g. work environment and time demands), activity complexity (e.g. routine activity vs. special or emergency procedure), and indirect influences (e.g. staffing pattern, administrative support, non-direct care requirements).

Like processing capacity, working memory is another limiting factor in processing stimuli and meeting mental workload demands for safe, quality patient care. Working memory and familiarity with demands created by task requirements impact the perceived mental workload demands. The complexity of mental workload is enhanced by individual differences that make adequate measurement using a single instrument difficult (Benner, 1984; Haga, Shinoda, & Kokubun, 2002; Huddleston, 1974; Huddleston & Wilson, 1971: Kerr, 1973; Morganstern, Hodgson, & Law, 1974; Moray, 1969; Navon, 1984, 1985; Owen, 1990, 1991, 1992a, 1992b; Tomporowski, 2003; Veltman, 2002).

Many attempts to quantify nursing workload rely on either patient acuity or time-to-task measures (Aiken & Patrician, 2000; Gregg, 1993). According to the Cognitive Load Theory, conditions that overload the working memory capacity lead to decreased performance. Similarly, as working memory demands are decreased with practice, performance improves (Tomporowski, 2003). To determine mental effort or work, a distinction must be made between the momentary effort that a task demands and the total amount of work associated with its completion.

Time-pressure is an important determinant of the total effort associated with mental work and may be imposed by the explicit instruction to hurry or by the demand characteristics of the task. Severe time pressure “arises in any task which imposes a significant load on short-term memory, because the subject’s rate of activity must be paced by the rate of decay of the stored elements” (Kahneman, 1973, p. 26). Investing less than standard effort will cause deterioration in the performance. Consciously increasing personal effort beyond what is usual for an individual is not enough in most cases to eliminate all performance errors (Kahneman, 1973). Understanding concepts that contribute to decreased performance and to errors is critical to improving quality and safety in patient care.

MEASUREMENT OF SUBJECTIVE MENTAL WORKLOADDuring the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, the concept of subjective mental workload became increasingly popular and was operationalized as the individual’s ability to estimate the mental workload experienced at a given time (Luximon & Goonetilleke, 2001; Reid & Nygren, 1988). There were two major rating scales for estimating subjective mental workload: the NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT).

The NASA-TLX, developed in 1988 for use with military pilots, is the most widely accepted subjective measure of human workload and has been utilized in research with adults of all ages and both genders (Tomporowski, 2003). The measure is a standardized multidimensional subjective rating scale that provides an overall estimation of workload associated with task performance. The NASA-TLX has been used in aeronautics, psychology, computer systems, transportation, and the health professions (Haga, et al., 2002; Young, Zavelina, & Hooper, 2008). Studies have found the NASA-TLX to have high validity and user acceptance and to have the smallest variability between subjects (Hart & Staveland, 1988; Tomporowski, 2003; Vitense, Jacko, & Emory, 2003; Young, et al., 2008). Six subscales measure the relative contribution of underlying psychological factors to overall workload: demand, physical demand, temporal

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demand, performance, effort, and frustration (Hart & Staveland, 1988; Vitense et al., 2003; Young, et al., 2008). Gregg (1993) was the first to measure subjective mental workload in a group of intensive care nurses.

MEASUREMENT OF, AND INFLUENCES ON, NURSING WORKLOADThe lack of a clear definition in the literature has been identified as one of the major problems with understanding and measuring nursing workload (Morris, MacNeely, Scott, Treacy & Hyde, 2007). Additionally, there is a tendency to use the concepts of nursing work and nursing workload interchangeably. Nursing work describes the functional tasks such as assessment or medication administration that the nurse carries out to benefit the patient. In contrast, nursing workload is best described as “the amount of performance required to carry out those nursing activities in a specified time period” (Morris, et al., 2007, p. 464). Workload has been identified by ICU nurses as one of the most important job stressors (Aiken et al., 2002; Carayon & Gürses, 2005). High workload levels have been associated with suboptimal patient care (Carayon & Gürses, 2005). Providers with high workloads also eliminate non-essential care tasks and procedures. Potential adverse outcomes linked to high workload include reduced patient satisfaction, poor nurse-patient communication, impaired nurse-physician collaboration, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction (Aiken et al., 2002; Carayon & Gürses, 2005).

Nursing workload is affected by many different factors, some of which are more stable and easier to measure than others (Scott, n.d.). Easily measured variables include the number of admissions, patient census, procedures, turnover, case mix, and average age of the clients. Less easily quantifiable factors with a direct impact on nursing workload at the point of care include environment, the institution’s philosophy of nursing, the type of staffing (e.g., primary care or team nursing), the individual characteristics of the nursing staff (e.g., education, experience, and skill level), and the patterns of medical treatment (Hegney, Plank, & Parker, 2003; Page, 2004; Stone, et al., 2003). One of the difficulties in measuring nursing workload is related to the varying definitions and standards used across systems that make comparison of data more difficult and research more challenging.

Traditional Measures

Workload in nursing has typically been measured in terms of the number of patients, the number of care hours per patient, or by applying a patient acuity system based on medical diagnosis and care activities (Claudio, 2004; Gregg, 1993; Holcomb, Hoffart, & Fox, 2002; Slomka, Fulton, & Fitzpatrick, 2001; Walsh, 2003). Using these measures is fraught with problems. Determining nursing workload by historical acuity or census calculations does not reflect the actual workload of caring for patients on the unit. A key problem is that acuity measures do not account for many of the activities involved in actual patient care, such as educating family, coordination of care activities with other health care team members to meet patient needs, and unanticipated changes in the patient’s condition (Walsh, 2003).

Attempts to measure nursing workload based on the perceptions of the head nurse assumed head nurses were aware of the patient care and nurse needs and could recognize when staff were overworked (Trivedi & Hancock, 1975). Patient load for a shift was determined by examining patient census and considering admissions, discharges, and transfers. Only two variables were found to be significant in determining the head nurse’s perception of the severity of need for nursing care: nursing hours available on the unit and unit census. Many of the measures used by nurse administrators to evaluate the nursing work environment, such as employee absenteeism, turnover, and patient satisfaction, are trailing indicators or markers of workload. Reliance on these trailing indicator measures is a reactive rather than proactive approach to dealing with workplace issues (McLennan, 2005).

Cognitive or Mental Measures

Besides using incomplete data, acuity system measurements lack the ability to measure mental demands placed on nurses (Gregg, 1993; Jennings, Rea, Antopol, & Carty, 1989; Yamase, 2003) and situation-level variability (Carayon & Gürses, 2005). Nurses in clinical settings have expressed concern that acuity or patient number-based staffing measures do not accurately reflect their workload, because such measures do not take into account the mental demands and stresses of workload (Jennings, Rea, Antopol, & Carty, 1989; Meierhoffer, 1991; Schneider, 1994). With

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traditional workload measures, nurses may feel they are working too hard or that patient outcomes are unsatisfactory (Page, 2003). Ramanujam, Abrahamson, and Anderson (2008) reported that the nurses’ perception of workload demands has an inverse relationship to their perceived ability to provide safe care. As the workload demands increase, the perception that safe care delivery can be achieved diminishes. Additional signs of increases in the workload of nurses might be seen in declining patient satisfaction scores; increasing numbers of nurses who work overtime; and signs of stress and burnout in nurses, such as fatigue and dissatisfaction with the job or with nursing as a profession (Walsh, 2003; McLennan, 2005).

NURSE WORKING CONDITIONS AND OUTCOMESThere is a growing body of literature supporting the conclusion that nurse staffing and workload affect nurse satisfaction (Beaudoin & Edgar, 2003; Smith, 2002), nurse turnover (Allen & Mellor, 2002; Jolma, 1990; Smith, 2002), and patient outcomes (Page, 2004; McLennan, 2005; Morrissey, 2003; Ramanujam, et al., 2008; Smith, 2002). Evidence supports an inverse relationship between RN staffing levels and the incidence of urinary tract infections, pneumonia acquired after surgery, and antibiotic resistant organisms in intensive care units (Stone et al., 2003). Other staffing factors related to patient safety outcomes include a link between fewer years of experience in the clinical unit and patient mortality, and the development of infection at higher rates for new admissions cared for by agency or “pool” nurses than with permanently assigned intensive care unit staff. High nursing workload has been shown to be related to suboptimal patient care and nurse burnout (Aiken et al., 2002). Staffing variables are one aspect of nursing practice environments that may affect outcomes not only for patients, but also for nurses and organizations (Stone et al., 2003).

Mandated nurse-patient ratios is a method that has been proposed to improve quality outcomes in hospitals and keep nursing workload at a manageable level. Some researchers feel that mandating nurse-to-patient ratios alone, without ensuring that other work environment characteristics are considered, is short-sighted (Smith, 2002; Stone et al., 2003). They argue that the stakes are high, not only because of the potential for poor patient outcomes, but also because having nurses who are overworked and overloaded may lead to even greater erosion of quality care.

Staffing effectiveness indicators adopted by The Joint Commission Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) in July 2002 and patient outcomes are two commonly used measures to evaluate nursing workload (McLennan, 2005; Smith, 2002; Stone et al., 2003). For JCAH accreditation, agencies are required to choose a minimum of four indicators (two clinical/service and two human resource) from a list of indicators provided, and they are then expected to report the data summary and analyses related to effectiveness of staffing on patient outcomes to their administration each year. This report also includes suggested actions that may be undertaken to improve outcomes, including alterations to nurse staffing (Stone et al., 2003). These staffing effectiveness measures require that workload measurement go beyond patient diagnosis and nurse patient ratios to uncover the care hours needed to meet a specific patient population’s needs (Walsh, 2003). Until the composition of nurse work and factors affecting nurses’ work lives are understood, the quality of nurse work cannot be enhanced (Beaudoin & Edgar, 2003).

NURSING WORKLOAD AND THE HUMAN FACTORS (SUBJECTIVE MEASURE) APPROACH

Review of the workload literature identified the common stress of technologically advanced work environments for pilots, air traffic controllers, flight deck operators, transportation industry drivers, and nurses and noted that the NASA-TLX had been used to evaluate the perceptions of workload associated with clinical education in anesthesia (Young, et al., 2008). The NASA-TLX served as the foundation for the Nursing Task Load Index (Nursing TLX) developed to measure ICU nurses’ perceptions of workload (Gregg, 1993).

Many measures of workload in nursing are designed based on the needs and condition of the patient, thus evaluating nursing workload based on patient care activities. Carayon and Gürses (2005) conducted a literature review on nursing workload studies in intensive care settings and examined the findings for impact on the quality of patient care and

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safety and nurses’ quality of working life. They identified both macro and micro level influences on workload. Macro-level influences are common to all nurses, while micro-level influences are those that are short-term and unique to the combination of factors involved at a specific point in time (i.e. patient factors, interdisciplinary interactions, work environment, and personal characteristics of the nurse). Based on this review, Carayon and Gürses proposed a conceptual framework that defined causes, consequences, and outcomes of workload. Using a human factors engineering approach, they defined four different levels of nursing workload: unit level, job level, patient level, and situation level.

Levels of Nursing Workload

The unit level measure was based on measures such as nurse-patient ratio, nursing care hours, and bed occupancy, with some modification based on nurse education and experience levels. These workload measures were described as macro-level because they did not consider unique features of each ICU (i.e., the contextual and organizational characteristics) (Carayon & Gürses, 2005).

Job level workload provided information about ICU nursing compared to other jobs. The overall perceived workload was evaluated, and the quality of working life and patient care were considered (Carayon & Gürses, 2005). A variety of instruments are available for estimation of nursing workload based on patient care activities, including the simplified Therapueutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) (Reis-Miranda, et al., 1996), Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score (NEMS) (Reis-Miranda, et al., 1997; Rothen, Küng, Ryser, Zürcher, & Regli, 1999), Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R) (Aiken & Patrician, 2000), and Comprehensive Nursing Intervention Score (CNIS) (Yamase, 2003).

Since measures that are based on the patient’s condition are not particularly helpful in understanding the impact of situations on nursing workload, Carayon and Gürses (2005) introduced the situation-level workload to explain temporally bound events in the clinical micro system. The situation-level workload is evaluated for a particular event or over a short time period, such as a shift. Carayon and Gürses proposed the use of human factors engineering workload measures, such as the NASA TLX or SWAT, to assess this situation-level workload. They identified the need to consider both the contextual factors of the environment and patient demands and the individual attributes of nurses when examining nursing workload in the ICU setting. Using human factors engineering knowledge, approaches, and measurement methods to evaluate workload “can provide direction for specific interventions that can be implemented in ICUs in order to improve nursing quality of working life and quality and safety of patient care” (Carayon & Gürses, 2005, p. 298).

Measurement of Nursing Workload Using a Human Factors Approach

In the earliest study of subjective mental workload identified in nursing, Gregg (1993) developed the Nursing Task Load Index (Nursing TLX) to examine cardiovascular critical care unit nurses’ subjective mental workload in relation to specialty and general experience and education. The Nursing TLX is based on the NASA Task Load Index and consists of both scales that measure work demand and scales that measure responses to those demands. The final version of the Nursing-TLX includes seven scales: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, environmental demand, effort, performance, and emotionalism. Internal consistency of the total Nursing TLX was reported as α =.82, similar to that reported for the NASA-TLX, α = .87 (Hart & Staveland, 1988). According to Gregg, the internal consistency was similar to that reported (α = .80 - .83) in a study by Bertram which adapted the NASA-TLX for use with physicians. Inter-item correlations were highest between Temporal Demand and Effort, r = .79, p = .0001, and between Performance and Emotionalism, r = .72, p = .0001.

Gregg (1993) defined the task for her study as “four hours of patient care” (p. 108). She reported no significant relationship between specialty experience and subjective mental workload for participants in the study. Gregg suggested that the absence of a significant relationship between specialty experience and subjective mental workload may be an indicator that much of the information was processed automatically. She also reported an “essentially zero correlation coefficient between general experience and subjective mental workload” (Gregg, p. 106), which she found puzzling, based on the prior research indicating that more information can be processed by individuals with “a

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broad base of experience than by those with no experience” (p. 106). The attention theory of automation suggests that consistent practice on a task reduces the cognitive demands of the task (Kahneman, 1973; Owen, 1991) and would indicate that nurses who were more experienced would have lower mental workload scores.

Gregg (1993) found no significant relationships between mental workload and nurse characteristics, work environment, or work schedule variables. The findings did reveal a significant relationship between subjective mental workload and the volume of patients cared for and the diagnoses of the assigned patients (Gregg, 1993). The findings indicated there may be a relationship between traditional nursing workload and subjective workload measures on the variables “patient volume” and “diagnoses” suggesting that current nursing workload measures may address the mental demands of patient care more than nurses think. Findings also revealed a positive association between subjective mental workload and the number of days that a nurse had been off prior to participating in the study, but only if a nurse had been off at least five days. Gregg suggested that a reason for this finding might be that, as the number of days off increased, the likelihood of being assigned all new patients increased. Additional study and expanded conceptual thinking related to nursing workload “may lead to improved administrative systems for nurses and better nursing care for patients” (Gregg, 1993, p. 114).

CONCLUSIONNursing workload involves attention to multiple complex phenomena that often occur simultaneously. Attempts to measure the concept of nursing workload relying on traditional methodologies have yielded results that do not adequately explain the complex phenomena involved. Research has focused on determining the time, skills, tasks, and in a few cases, the mental demand associated with nursing workload.

Subjective measures provide a more accurate measure of a worker’s perception of the effort being expended. The popularity of subjective workload measures in human factors research is based on the idea that only the worker truly knows how much work is required to meet demands. If the worker notes that there is too much work associated with a given system or function, then alternatives to reduce the workload need to be examined. A second important factor in utilizing subjective workload measures is that they are more directly related to the mental demand concept than are physiological measures and behavioral measures. An understanding of the factors that impact nurses’ mental workload has the potential to improve quality and safety, thus improving patient outcomes. An additional benefit could be reduced burnout among nurses, which could keep more nurses at the bedside providing care.

When measuring workload, there is a need to recognize the critical link between the characteristics of the nurse and of the work environment and the impact of these personal and environmental factors on patients, nurses, and the system as a whole. Some attempts have been made to determine the impact of personal characteristics and environmental factors through attempts to develop valid tools such as the SWAT, the NASA-TLX, or the Nursing TLX, but the conceptual and empirical support, as well as a generally accepted definition of mental workload, has remained elusive.

Very few nursing workload studies have been conducted using human factors approaches. No studies were identified during this literature review that examined nurses’ subjective perceptions in medical-surgical units, in community-based settings or at the situation level. Adequate workload measurement tools are necessary to gain insight into nurses’ mental workload as they provide care in today’s complex health care environment. There is a need for a valid and reliable instrument using human factors engineering measurement that will provide insight into the nurse’s subjective perception of workload.

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Denise Neill, Ph.D,, RN, CNE ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at University of Houston-Victoria where she coordinates the RN-BSN and MSN programs. Her research interests include nursing workload concerns and the impact on quality, safe patient care and retention of nurses. Prior to University of Houston-Victoria, Dr. Neill was consultant for the Arkansas Nursing Students Association where she witnessed bright novice nurses burn out and, many times. leave the nursing profession during the early years of practice. In addition to her work at the university, she is a member of the Texas Nurses Association and has served on the staffing committee.

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144Williamson, Clow, and Stevensa

TO THE POINT: HOW MANAGEMENT FACULTY USE POWERPOINT SLIDES AND QUIZZESSTAN WILLIAMSONUniversity of Louisiana Monroe—College of Business Administration

KENNETH E. CLOWUniversity of Louisiana Monroe—College of Business Administration

ROBERT E. STEVENSSoutheastern Oklahoma State University—School of Business

This exploratory study examines U.S. management faculty usage of two types of supplements: PowerPoint (PPT) slides and quizzes. Results suggest the majority (67%) of experienced management faculty frequently employ PowerPoint in their classes. However, they do not see PPT basic slides provided by the publisher as very central to getting their message across. In using PPT they tend to personalize publisher slides to cover issues discussed in class and to embellish slides with visuals and videos for interest. Primarily they encourage their students to use PowerPoint slides provided on the instructor’s web-site to review lectures and chapter material to prepare for exams. Half of our study’s management professors used quizzes sparingly or not at all. When quizzes were used, professors developed their questions more often based on material pre-sented in class as well as from the text. Further research investigating the reasoning behind faculty’s choices is warranted.

Keywords: PowerPoint slides, management faculty, management education, quizzes

Largely gone are the days when most college professors and instructors come to class with a chalk chuck in hand to deliver lecture notes on slate boards. This is the age of the smart classrooms linked to the Internet and wired for “clickers” (Craig & Amernic, 2006; Debevec, Shih, & Kashyap, 2006). A mainstay in the move away from chalk

talks has been the use of PowerPoint (PPT) in presentations. PPT usage is ubiquitous. Tens of millions of PowerPoint presentations are given world-wide every day (Simons, 2005).

Whether PPT is a truly beneficial aid in the classroom is a question still being debated. It has been dubbed anything from “a wonder pill for flabby lectures” (Jole, 2000) to an important help in gaining students’ attention beyond lecture alone (Szabo & Hastings, 2000). PPT has been recognized (and criticized) for its entertainment value (Szabo & Hastings, 2000), while being preferred by students as valuable in helping them understand material (Nowaczyk, Santos, & Patton, 1998). While the arguments pro and con for PPT’s effectiveness rage on, it seems undeniable that PowerPoint remains virtually universal in its use.

Yet systematic study of PPT’s actual usefulness in helping students learn is in its infancy, especially in colleges of business (James, Burke, & Hutchins, 2006). Since it is the instructor who decides which pedagogical aids such as PowerPoint and quizzes to employ in the classroom, it would be worthwhile to gain a greater understanding of their perspectives on the utility of these tools. Our study focuses on the views of management professors in colleges of business across the nation with regard to PowerPoint and quizzes with an eye toward improving instructional outcomes.

LITERATURE REVIEWA number of studies have been conducted focusing on student perspectives on various textbook supplements. For example, Clarke, Flaherty, and Mottner (2001) studied the relationship between marketing students’ perceived

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importance of fourteen educational technology tools and perceived outcomes, such as perceptions of overall learning, ability to get a job, and expected performance on the job. One of the educational technology tools related to this study was online lecture outlines, including PowerPoint lecture outlines. The authors concluded that PowerPoint lecture outlines positively influenced students’ perceived outcomes. Atkins-Sayre, Hopkins, and Mohundro (1998) found that students believed PPT slides maintained their interest and improved their understanding and recall of information. Another study examined instructional technologies and found that PowerPoint presentations were significantly related to pedagogical effect, but not to perceived learning performance or grade outcomes among marketing students (Young, Klemz, & Murphy, 2003).

In comparing the effectiveness of PowerPoint to overheads, a study by Bartsch and Cobern (2003) indicated students believed they took away more from lectures when they were accompanied by PowerPoint. The same study also found that students scored better on exams with the use of the basic PPT rather than the enhanced version of PPT with additional visual and video materials embedded. In contrast, Rankin and Hoaas (2001) looked at PPT presentations’ effects on students in multiple sections of an introductory economics course. They compared the results of students in one section in which PPT was employed with another section using PowerPoint. No significant differences in learning outcomes were identified.

The studies noted above demonstrate that the evidence on the impact of using PowerPoint is mixed. While some studies have found that it is a positive influence and enhances learning, other studies have found the tool to be a deterrent to educational success (Cyphert, 2004; Harris, 2004; James, Burke, & Hutchins, 2006; Jones, & Bowen, 2004; Wineberg, 2003). In terms of student perceptions of PowerPoint, because of programs like Moodle, Blackboard, and Web CT, many professors place their PowerPoint slides online (Frey & Birnbaum, 2002). This practice has raised the fear that such postings result in students perceiving less of a need to attend class. Research dealing with this concern has produced mixed results as well. Frey and Birnbaum (2002) concluded that attendance in courses where PPT slides were posted was down by 15%. Szabo and Hastings (2000), however, found just that such postings improved student involvement. Specifically, using and posting the PowerPoint increased attendance, and students overwhelmingly believed that the slides were important aides in noted-taking and study.

One of the few PPT studies looking at students and professors across disciplines in colleges of business was conducted by James, Burke, and Hutchins (2006). The findings of their research are also a good summary of previous studies. They concluded:

• Instructors are more favorable in their impressions of the learning benefits of PowerPoint than are students;

• Instructors do not believe that PPT Internet postings have a negative effect on class attendance, while students do feel that posting slides on the Internet will decrease attendance;

• Both instructors and students perceive that PowerPoint slides have a positive impact on taking of notes and studying for exams and quizzes.

As far as PPT studies specifically involving the management discipline, Peluchette and Rust (2005) studied factors affecting management faculty’s classroom technology preferences. Here the popularity of PPT and black/white boards was second to the “other” category, wherein respondents most often identified the use of overheads. One other investigation identifying the management discipline specifically was a report by Burke, James, and Ahmadi (2009) on business faculty from three colleges regarding their use of PowerPoint. They found that almost one-third did not use PowerPoint, while over 40 percent were labeled heavy users of the technology. The students in their study reported that they saw PPT as more effective in theory-heavy courses, particularly management, and less useful in quantitatively oriented courses such as accounting.

Taken together, these studies seem to indicate the possibility that management faculty’s use of PPT may not be as widespread as by college faculty in general. There also appears to be a possible divergence in the views of management faculty from those of their students regarding the usefulness of PowerPoint, with students believing PPT would be useful in presenting management concepts.

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In contrast to the mixed results regarding the learning efficacy of PPT, research on the use of chapter quizzes over textbook material was more consistent. Most studies identified involved psychology students (e.g., Brothen & Wambach, 2001; Gurung, 2003). While certain studies found some enhanced results from quizzes, a sampling of others indicates taking chapter quizzes does not improve exam performance. In a study by Gurung (2003), students felt practice test questions and online quizzes were most helpful in learning textbook material and in preparing for exams. Nevertheless, systematic review of the test scores revealed no significant increase in test performance. Another study by Brothen and Wambach (2001) confirmed this finding. Completing quizzes and looking up quiz answers did not improve exam scores for psychology students. The authors concluded that the students were using computerized quizzes to learn the material in lieu of reading and studying the textbook. The net effect was lower exam performance. In another study involving psychology students, Ryan (2006) examined the effect of giving chapter quizzes at the beginning of class. While attendance and punctuality improved, grades on the exams did not.

The lone management faculty study regarding perspectives on quizzes we identified was by Bacdayan (2004). He found that 53% of faculty respondents had used quizzes within the latest three-year time span. Most (64%) used only announced quizzes. Respondents who did not use quizzes expressed some concern that the practice failed to treat learners as adults. Management faculty, quizzers and non-quizzers alike, saw quizzes as less effective in motivating learning than other techniques such as graded homework, interesting topics, and making class fun.

In review, since both PowerPoint slides and quizzes are now provided by textbook publishers on a routine basis, many professors find it convenient to use them and post them online. The number of studies exploring business instructors’ views on their usefulness is scant, however. Fewer still are studies looking at management faculty use of these aides. Thus there are substantial gaps in the current knowledge base regarding the efficacy of these well-known pedagogical tools with regard to their use by business management faculty. Filling these gaps could assist new faculty in making decisions regarding their employment of these aides. Additional knowledge could also inform existing faculty about current practice, moving them beyond mere assumptions as to efficacy and commonality of use. To this end, this study surveyed business management faculty’s perspectives and practices regarding employing PowerPoint and quizzes in their courses.

STUDYData were collected through an e-mail survey process. E-mail addresses were collected from U.S. university websites of management faculty. A total of 3,708 e-mails were sent; 758 were returned for various reasons such as incorrect e-mail address or SPAM filter rejection, resulting in 2,950 delivered e-mails. Usable responses totaled 120 for a response rate of 4.1%.

Respondents were asked a series of questions about their use of PowerPoint slides and quizzes for their courses. Faculty were first surveyed about whether PPT slides were used in class or made available in the course. Respondents indicating yes to making the slides available were then queried regarding the methods used to provide student access to the slides. Participants were next asked to rate the importance of PowerPoint slides and, then, how they would prefer the slides from the publisher to be designed. The last question on slide-usage asked faculty what use they encouraged their students to make of the slides.

To explore the use of chapter quizzes, respondents were queried about whether quizzes on the chapters in the textbook were assigned, and if so, to what degree quizzes were used in the course. Respondents were then asked for the source of quiz materials.

Table 1 provides the demographic profile of the faculty sample. Slightly more than two-thirds of the respondents were male (67.8%). The sample was composed primarily of professors with seniority. More were full professors (30.5%), while associate and assistant professors made up the largest share of the remaining categories, 28.8% and 24.6%, respectively. Correspondingly, the sample was dominated by experienced teachers. Cumulatively, over two-thirds of the respondents (67.2%) had more than 10 years of teaching experience. Thirty-seven percent had more than 20 years of teaching. One quarter (24.8%) of the respondents represented schools with enrollments of fewer than 5,000

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students. Participants from universities with 5,000 to 9,999 and from larger institutions with more than 20,000 were equally represented in the sample (23.1% each).

Table 2 offers detail on the level of courses taught by respondents. The majority of courses were taught at the junior level, 53.7%. Senior level courses accounted for 28.4% of the sample, sophomore level courses 15.8%, and freshman level courses only 2.2%. This appears to reflect the practice of structuring management major curriculums where few business courses are taught at the freshman level and only basic core business courses are taught at the sophomore level.

Two-thirds (66.9%) of management faculty sampled indicated they used or made available PowerPoint slides. Table 3 displays the methods provided to students to access the slides for those respondents employing them. (Note the percentages do not add up to 100% because some instructors make the slides available in more than one way.) The overwhelming majority of management faculty (87.6%) used their website to provide student access. Slightly more than half (51.7%) of the management professors post the slides on Blackboard or Web CT. Class handouts or the publisher’s website were next in popularity, though used much less frequently than categories just noted (13.3% each). Using PPT slides solely with class lecture amounted to about 10 percent (10.8) of the respondents.

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Just how important are PowerPoint slides to management professors? Slightly more than one-third (35%) claimed PPT was very important to them, while more than 20 percent (21.2%) indicated PowerPoint was not important at all. Cumulatively, a minority (44.5%) stated they saw the slides as important to some degree to them. (See Table 4)

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For faculty using publisher’s PPT slides, the vast majority of management faculty (75.0%) preferred slides that instructors could modify to their own purposes. Nearly half (47.5%) favored having the capability of including videos such as television advertisements or interviews with professionals. A good many (37.5%) wanted slides with material from the publisher not already included in the textbook. A similar number (36.7%) wanted a straight-forward outline of text material. Least popular (24.2%) were photos, advertisements, and other visuals. Table 5 outlines these preferences in greater detail.

For faculty employing PPT slides in their courses, Table 6 displays ratings of various uses faculty encouraged students to make of the slides. A five-point scale of “not at all” (1) to “all of the time” (5) was used to measure respondents actions. The highest rated use (mean of 3.77) was to aid the student in reviewing lecture material. This was followed closely by helping the student grasp a particular chapter (mean of 3.73). Using PPT slides to review for exams received a mean rating of 3.56, followed by assisting the student to prepare for an upcoming lecture with a mean of 3.22. Lowest rated use was to help prepare for quizzes (mean of 3.01).

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The survey then turned to issues involving the use of quizzes by management faculty. Table 7 presents survey findings for faculty using textbooks with their courses. A plurality (30.8%) indicated they did not use quizzes over text material. The next highest practice by respondents (23.1%) went in the opposite direction: they gave quizzes on all assigned chapters. Roughly equal were the practices of giving only a few quizzes (19.7%) or giving quizzes on a majority of assigned text readings (17.9%). A small minority (8.5%) indicated they gave quizzes over about half of chapters assigned.

Table 8 identifies management faculty’s preferences for source material for those respondents using quizzes in their courses. A strong plurality (39.5%) of participants preferred to base quiz questions on material both from the textbook and in-class content. Second in popularity (25.6%) was the use of publisher test banks to prepare quizzes. A sizeable number (18.6%) chose to develop their own quizzes from the textbook. Substantially less popular were approaches mixing questions from test banks with instructor-created items (8.1%), using test bank questions modified by the instructor (5.8%), and questions developed solely from in-class content (2.3%).

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DISCUSSIONThis study surveyed management professors in the U.S. on their preferences and practices regarding the use of PowerPoint and quizzes in the conduct of their classes. At 4.1 percent, the response rate, though modest in absolute numbers for a nation-wide sample, was not unusual for survey research. Nevertheless, colleges of different sizes were balanced in their representation within the sample. Participation was higher from more senior faculty. Perhaps younger, less senior faculty take more for granted the use of technologies such as PowerPoint in the classroom and felt less inclined to respond to practices they may view as commonplace. On the other hand, the sample makeup was dominated by professors with many years of experience in the classroom. Their willingness to spend time completing the survey may reflect a continuing interest in sharing what works and what doesn’t in pedagogy.

It is claimed that more than 400 million iterations of PowerPoint have been loaded onto computers around the globe (Simons, 2005). Management professors’ application of PPT is apparently no exception to the popularity of this tool. In our study a strong majority employ it in the classroom (66.9%). This is an identical level of usage (67%) to that found by James, Burke, & Hutchins (2006) in their study of three business schools. The ubiquity of the Internet was also displayed in the survey, with it being the widely preferred medium for providing student access to PPT. It appears that the widespread availability and familiarity of the Internet to students and faculty alike, as well as the convenience as these communication tools have become more universal may be contributing to the frequency of PPT use. It is simply more convenient now for professors, otherwise pressed for time, to make such pedagogical aids available with the confidence that every student can access them.

Wide-spread application and convenience of access, however, does not necessarily indicate how valuable PPT is to effective pedagogy in the eyes of the professor. For management faculty, the actual usefulness of PowerPoint in delivering higher education appears somewhat limited. One in five say PPT is not important in any way for their courses. Further, a majority of management professors in our study did not consider PowerPoint particularly important. Only 35 percent claimed the tool was very important in what they do. The reasons behind their opinions were outside the purview of our survey, but this is consistent with Peluchette and Rust’s (2005) finding that management faculty were not particularly enamored with PowerPoint as a primary pedagogical vehicle. Nevertheless, one might wonder if some professors may be missing a bet with this tool, properly employed, since at least one recent study concluded that, from the students’ view, PPT may actually be more useful in theory-laden courses in business disciplines, in particular, management (Burke, James, & Ahmadi, 2009).

On the other hand, management faculty’s views of PPT’s relative pedagogical unimportance when compared to faculty from all business disciplines, do seem to be more in alignment with some research on students’ perceptions of the usefulness of PPT in learning outcomes across courses (James, Burke, & Hutchins, 2006). Students saw PPT as not particularly powerful in helping them learn material, but did find it most effective in management courses. James, Burke, and Hutchins (2006) concluded that business faculty across all disciplines tended to be more optimistic about PPT as an instructional tool than their students.

How to resolve this seeming disparity? Perhaps relative to other business disciplines, PPT is more useful in management courses to convey theoretical concepts. But in absolute terms, PPT may not be particularly effective as a pedagogical tool, particularly where more quantitative content is involved. This give and take, once again, harkens back to the ongoing general debate about PowerPoint’s effectiveness noted in our discussion of other research. In the end, we suspect it gets down to how well the tool is used by the presenter and that it will not compensate for poorly executed instructor performance in the classroom.

Our survey indicates, perhaps unsurprisingly, that management professors, when they do use PPT, strongly prefer the capability to customize the publisher slides’ content, bending it to what they wish to emphasize in the course. Slightly less than half (47.5%), like to use PPT enhanced with videos, TV ads, or interviews with professionals. Roughly one in four still want the capability for visuals for their slides in addition to hard content. On a cautionary note, faculty in these latter categories might want to note Bartsch and Cobern’s (2003) conclusions that such add-ons may actually be distractions that diminish information transfer.

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Apparently there is a balance to be struck on slide design between novelty to capture and maintain attention and keeping it simple enough that the primary content is still conveyed. Going forward, the idea of incorporating enhancements to PowerPoint presentations in an attempt to provide novelty to today’s student may be reduced to more of a goal of achieving some sort of minimum cognitive stimulus as generations of students increasingly become inured to even the most cutting edge communication tools.

As to the purposes to which management faculty wish their students to put PPT, our survey indicated faculty primarily wanted the students to review slides as an adjunct to their lectures and readings, as well as an aid in getting ready for exams. Less popular were asking students to use PPT slides to prepare for an upcoming lecture or to study for quizzes. Clearly management faculty see PowerPoint not as the main event in their pedagogical endeavors, but more peripheral, especially when it comes to using PPT for quiz preparation.

The lack of popularity for using PPT as preparation for quizzes may be due, in part, to the lack of popularity among management faculty in our study of using quizzes, themselves, as a pedagogical tool. Consistent with Bacdayan (2004), almost one-half (50.5%) of our sample of management faculty either did not use quizzes at all or used them rarely. Coupling this finding with a preferred use of PPT slides involving videos, TV ads, or interviews with professionals to add color to their class-content, there seems to be a strong emphasis on trying to make class interesting. Nevertheless, where quizzes are used, respondents generally preferred to base questions on both textbook and in-class topics. This indicates that quiz use was not purely a matter of convenience—using the publisher’s text bank—but involved instructor effort to design questions covering class content as well.

Other research questions beyond the scope of our survey remain for future research. Comparing faculty’s views on the relative merit of PowerPoint versus other pedagogical techniques would be useful. For quiz use, the purposes instructors pursue in using them need further attention. For both, comparisons of management faculty practices with those of other business discipline could be instructive as well.

Overall, some caution should be maintained in drawing conclusions from our nation-wide survey of management faculty. While different size schools were relatively well represented, the overall sample size is restricted, reflecting only an average response rate for surveys of this sort. Generalizability may be further impacted by the fact that our study only targeted management faculty. In addition, the survey design did not specifically investigate the increasing use of hybrid and on-line courses. Given the increasing popularity of these course delivery methods, the accompanying complications of testing on-line could impact the frequency of using chapter quizzes.

Because practically all publishers provide PPT slides and test banks with their textbooks, it is much easier for instructors today to employ these pedagogical tools. This study sought to shed some light on management faculty practices with regard to these teaching tactics. As with other faculty, experienced management faculty often employ PowerPoint in their classes. However, they do not see basic slides provided by the publisher as central to getting their message across. They do, however, want to make the most of PPT if they are going to use it.

Management professors prefer to expand PPT content to cover issues discussed in class and to embellish slides with visuals and videos for interest. Primarily they encourage their students to use PowerPoint to review lecture and chapter material to prepare for exams. Much less popular with management professors are quizzes. Where used, they develop their questions more often from material presented in class as well as from the text. Further research investigating the reasoning behind faculty’s choices is warranted. Neither PPT nor quizzes, however, can fully compensate for ill-prepared faculty. PPT and quizzes aside, the premium placed on skills wielded by instructors in delivering an effective learning experience may well escalate as student preparation for learning declines with more taking part-time employment (Dutton, & Gokcekus, 2002) in the face of smaller budgets and less financial aid.

REFERENCESAtkins-Sayre, W., Hopkins, S., & Mohundro, S. (1998). Rewards and liabilities of presentation software as an ancillary tool: Prison or paradise? National Speech Communication Association Conference.

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Bartsch, R. A., & Cobern, K. M. (2003). Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations in lectures. Computers & Education, 41, 77-86.

Bacdayan, P. (2004). Comparison of management faculty perspectives on quizzing and its alternatives. Journal of Education for Business, 80(1), 5-9.

Brothen, T., & Wambach, C. (2001). Effective student use of computerized quizzes. Teaching of Psychology, 28(4), 292-294.

Burke, J., & Ahmandi (2009). Effectiveness of PowerPoint-based lectures across different business disciplines: An investigation and implications. Journal of Education for Business, 84(4), 246-251.

Carbaugh, R., & Khosh, K. (2005). Are college textbooks priced fairly? Challenge, 48(5), 95-112.

Clarke, I., Flaherty, T., & Mottner, S. (2001). Student perception of educational technology tools. Journal of Marketing Education, 23(3), 169-177.

College Board. (2004). Trends in college pricing. New York.

Cyphert, D. (2004). The problem of PowerPoint: Visual aid or visual rhetoric? Business Communication Quarterly, 67, 80-84.

D’Angelo, J., & Wooley, S. (2007). Technology in the classroom: Friend or foe. Education, 127(4), 462-471.

Debevec, K., Shih, M., & Kashyap, V. (2006). Learning strategies and performance in a technology integrated classroom. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(3), 293-307.

Dutton, M., & Gokcekus, O. (2002). Work hours and academic performance. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 3, 99-105.

Frey, B. A., & Birnbaum, D. J. (2002). Learners’ perceptions on the value of PowerPoint in lectures. University of Pittsburgh, Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education.

Gurung, R. A. (2003). Pedagogical aids and student performance. Teaching of Psychology, 30(2), 92-95.

Harris, S. (2004). Missing the Point. Government Executive, 36, 1-7.

Huon, G., Spehar, B., Adam, P., & Rifkin, W. (2007). Resource use and academic performance among first year psychology students. Higher Education, 53(1), 1-27.

James, K. E., Burke, L. A., & Hutchins, H. M. (2006). Powerful or pointless? Faculty versus student perceptions of PowerPoint use in business education. Business Communication Quarterly, 69(4), 374-396.

Jones, H. H., & Bowen, A. (2004). Sticking up for PowerPoint. District Administration, 40, 9-11.

Nonis, S. A., Philhours, M. J., & Hudson, G. I. (2006). Where does the time go? A diary approach to business and marketing students’ time use. Journal of Marketing Education, 28(2), 121-134.

Peluchette, & Rust (2005). Technology use in the classroom: Preferences of management faculty member. Journal of Education of Business, 80(4), 200-205.

Rankin, E. L., & Hoaas, D. J. (2001). The use of PowerPoint and student performance. Atlantic Economic Journal, 29, 113.

Ryan, T. E. (2006). Motivating novice students to read their textbooks. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 33(2), 136-140.

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Simons, T. (2005). Does PowerPoint make you stupid? Presentations, 18(3). Retrieved from http://global.factiva.com/

Szabo, A., & Hasting, N. (2000). Using it in the undergraduate classroom: Should we replace the blackboard with PowerPoint? Computers & Education, 35, 175-187.

Van Jole, F. (2000, November). Het PowerPoint denken. FEM Ide Week. Retrieved from http://www.2525.com/archive2/020928.html

Wineberg, S. (2003). Power pointless. American School Board Journal, 190, 11-16.

Young, M. R., Klemz, B. R., & Murphy, J. W. (2003). Enhancing learning outcomes: The effects of instructional technology, learning styles, instructional methods, and student behavior. Journal of Marketing Education, 25(2), 130-142.

Stan Williamson, Ph.D., holds the Boulware Professorship in Management and is a Scott Endowed Professor in Teaching Excellence at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He has published over 35 works, including two texts on strategic management. He is a former healthcare industry CEO.

Kenneth Clow, Ph.D., is a professor in marketing and holds the Biedenharn Endowed Professor in Business at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He served as Dean of the College of Business at UNC (Pembroke) and University of Louisiana at Monroe. Clow has published over 175 articles and textbooks.

Robert E. Stevens, Ph.D., is John Massey Professor of Business in the John Massey School of Business, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant, Oklahoma. He has over 200 publications including 28 books, 128 articles, 25 cases, 25 case teaching notes, and 14 other publications. Dr. Stevens has served as a consultant to local, regional, and national firms and has been an owner of 4 small businesses. He serves on the editorial board of 4 journals and is co-editor of Services Marketing Quarterly and the Health Marketing Quarterly.

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155 Fite

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BOOK REVIEW: NuRTuRING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: BuILDING ON THE LEGACy OF T. BERRy BRAZELTONKATHLEEN FITETexas State University–San Marcos

Lester, B. M., & Sparrow, J. D. (Eds.). (2001). Nurturing children and families: Building on the legacy of T. Berry Brazelton. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. 376 pp. ISBN 978-1-4051-9600-0

When this book arrived for review, I initially thought it was directed toward the medical profession and childcare. The authors—all highly influential innovators in their fields—represent nursing, psychiatry, psychotherapy, pediatrics, child services, psychobiology, preventative medicine, etc., and they are from such

highly acclaimed entities as Harvard Medical School, University of Washington, Tufts University, George Washington University, Linköping University of Sweden, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston, etc. Upon reading the book, however, I realized that educators, researchers, doctors, parents, social workers, and people from a multitude of other disciplines could also benefit from reading Nurturing Children and Families: Building on the Legacy of T. Berry Brazelton.

Born in Waco, Texas, in 1918, Brazelton had an amazing gift of astute observation and making connections. In 1950, he started a private pediatrics practice in Massachusetts where he became interested in the development and behavior of infants. In 1996, he founded the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, which has contributed to a paradigm shift in how we see and work with children and families. His modeling and endorsement of the power of respect of children, parents, and people in general has been central to his work and life, and he continues to add to his long and highly respected legacy of research, practice, and policy relating to how we can best understand and address the needs of newborns and young children, as well as the needs of their families and the environments in which they exist.

Nurturing Children and Families is a tribute to Brazelton’s influence. It represents over half a century of work across disciplines, using the writing and teaching of this great man, and it presents key research and findings that reflect, tie to, or build upon his work. There is an expansive description of recent advances that reflect how widespread Brazelton’s influence has been, how powerful his “anticipatory guidance” or sharing of the developmental future of a child can be, and the wisdom of “bench to bedside to practice” science.

The book has three parts: A Scientific Revolution in Behavioral and Developmental Research; From Theory to Practice: Innovations in Clinical Intervention; and Translational Science: Implications for Professional Development, Systems of Care, and Policy. There are 31 chapters, from which I will highlight selected chapters that I think would have special appeal for educators and parents reading this review, recognizing that the information in all of the chapters is eye-opening and informative.

Barry M. Lester, in Chapter 1, Transforming the Research Landscape, points out that “Brazelton showed us that the ability to interpret experience is present at birth” (p. 4) and that use of the Brazelton scale has “forever changed the way we see, think about, and understand babies” (p. 4). Among the valuable content, one finds detailed and fascinating information about fetal development, the resilience of babies and their individual differences, and the critical reciprocal interaction between mother and baby.

In Chapter 2, Aligning Systems of Care with the Relational Imperative of Development: Building Community through Collaborative Consultation, Joshua D. Sparrow addresses how biological systems have come to inform social systems. Brazelton’s Touchpoints describe how, in development, there exist periods of disorganization, followed by reorganization, resulting in new capacities and skills. The term collaborative consultation is used to describe the

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relationship of two or more parties, e.g. professionals, families, or community entities, who, without hierarchy, share a common mission and respect as they interact and learn from each other. Sparrow says these relationships have the potential to help all involved grow in understanding and practice concerning development and interactions. What a wonderful concept! The synergy and energy that come from these collaborations hold great potential benefit for parents, caretakers, and support systems, including educators.

Amy L. Salisbury, in Chapter 3, Advances in Understanding Fetal and Newborn Behavior, points out the capabilities of infants at birth: awareness, responsiveness, and social competence. Brazelton devised ways to help parents learn about their babies and interact with them. He helped take away the limiting view of infants as being solely reflexive, replacing it with an understanding of how, from birth, the newborn is an interactive being who can both initiate and respond to people and their environment. He posed the thought that, “if the infant truly possesses the ability to interact socially and react selectively to various stimuli from the moment of birth, it is a logical extension that these capacities exist prior to the event of birth.” Now, though we might suspect this, to read it in print, I must admit, created in me a moment of mental pause. The research studies presented in this chapter are fascinating. The child-mother relationship is such an amazing dynamic.

J. Kevin Nugent, in Chapter 4, The Development of the NBAS: A Turning Point in Understanding the Newborn, discusses how the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale helped to change the old view of the infant as a blank slate (at birth) to a clearer understanding of just how capable the newborn is in many ways.

In Chapter 5, Keys to Developing Early Parent-Child Relationships, Kathryn E. Barnard provides the reader with interesting information about the infant and its sleep patterns, as well as behaviors and recommendations for caregiving. An explanation of habituation and learning what not to attend to, known as negative learning, helps the reader understand how constant noise in the environment can actually negatively influence the learning of speech sounds.

Tiffany Field, in Chapter 6, Prenatal Depression Effects on Neurobehavioral Dysregulation, explains how the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale helped to identify infants born at risk. The information on maternal depression is so interesting, particularly the description of how it influences both the mother and neonate. The author addresses stress and cortisol levels, which, I learned, are a predictor for prematurity and low birth weight. The information about high-anxiety mothers and the behaviors of their newborns was very eye-opening, as well. There is a relationship between high-anger mothers and the disorganization of newborn sleep patterns. The author of the chapter also addresses the power of stress reduction therapy, e.g. massage.

Ed Tronick, in Chapter 8, Infants and Mothers: Self- and Mutual Regulation and Meaning Making, points out that Brazelton and others recognized that infants seek to communicate with their behavior, but the behavior dissipates when a connection or meaning is not made. Infants can, though in a limited fashion, self-organize, e.g. crying and moving and body temperature. The author includes stories about child rearing in other countries for contrast and comparison. Throughout the chapter, the reader is enticed to think about how the newborn makes meaning.

Mikael Heimann, in Chapter 9, Patterns of Instability and Change: Observations on Regression periods in Typically Developing Infants, proposes that early development is more discontinuous than what had been generally believed, with eight periods in the first year. The parent-child relationship is challenged with the regression, and the flux can create a faux impression that the infant is not as competent as he is. Substantiating studies from other countries, such as Spain, Great Britain, and Sweden add to the attraction of this chapter.

Chapter 11, An Ethical Framework for Educating Children with Special Needs and All Children, contributed by Stanley I. Greenspan, was an especially intriguing chapter for me as an educator. Along with high-stakes testing comes a microview of academics; that is, we tend to focus first on academic progress with, often times, a too limited understanding. Greenspan says, “academics build on a series of stages of emotional and social learning” (p. 121). Brazelton has been a true champion for an ethical approach to education for all children, including those with special needs. The chapter was amazing to read as it tracked, in stages, how social and emotional development

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and academic preparedness are interwoven at very early ages. The early pattern recognitions, enforced by emotion-bound interactions pave the way for the academic world of learning. Helping parents recognize the importance of how learning takes place and how parents can read the signals of their young children, with their individual differences, and interact with them is both interesting and valuable, for, as Greenspan says, “Intelligence, ordinarily thought to begin with symbol formation, starts developing earlier” (p. 126). He suggests a bioethical approach to education where children are allowed to learn at their own pace and potential, avoiding a deficit grouping.

Robert A. LeVine, in Chapter 12, Protective Environments in Africa and Elsewhere, recalls Brazelton’s work in the late 1960s, when he studied African mothers. LeVine was collaborator on the project. The chapter requires that we think more globally, outside of our modern-day, urban thinking, and reflect on how the children of these mothers were cared for without the technology and support we consider so essential. It was of interest to learn how the communities responded to and dealt with disabilities. In these less modern communities, women were usually valued by their ability to have children, their fertility. Initially this afforded the tribe or community more workers to sustain the lifestyle; but, as times changed, the views on childbearing and rearing were slow to change. Women without children and women in polygamous relationships, where there was jealousy among wives, were sometimes victims of witch-killings. The practice seems hard to understand because there is a cultural divide with western thinking.

In Chapter 20, Infant Mental Health, Charles H. Zeanah and Paula Doyle Zeanah discuss how the baby and its capacities are far more complex than had been thought, and that the effects of early adverse experiences on development can be more intricate than previously understood. These authors describe early experiences of young children in Romanian orphanages as compared to those who are placed in foster care with foster care faring better. Infant mental health connects to resiliency and recovery. In Brazelton fashion, the best approach is a strengths perspective that builds upon the positive rather than encouraging deficit thinking. It is overwhelmingly obvious to the reader that infant competence varies with the caregiver relationship. The studies presented in this chapter entice the reader to ask questions and make connections. For example, a study of mothers who had children with autistic spectrum disorder determined insightfulness in relation to the children’s security of attachment. It was found that “80% of the mothers who were insightful and resolved had children who were securely attached, whereas only 27% of mothers who were unresolved, uninsightful, or both, had children who were securely attached” (p. 236). To me, these are staggering statistics that confirm the importance of the mother’s insightfulness. As teachers, I believe there is a huge “ah-ha” moment here, as correlation to education seems evident. Indeed, the authors say, “Early childhood interventionists and early childhood educators transact daily with young children and their families, and the skills they build in young children may have lasting effects on children’s mental health” (p. 237). The call to treat the “whole” child is validated.

Alicia F. Lieberman and William W. Harris, in Chapter 21, Ghosts and Angels in the Nursery: Conflict and Hope in Raising Babies, remind us that “illness is often sociological as much as biological” (p. 242.) and call for a connection between infant mental health and developmental pediatrics. They discuss Brazelton’s observations of Mayan childrearing practices, his observations of a baby’s individuality, and the reciprocity of parent-infant interactions. Of particular interest to me was Selma Fraiberg’s research on unresolved childhood conflicts or “ghosts in the nursery” and how these can interfere in the parent-child relationship. The chapter also houses information that was new to me, as I know little about the field of traumatic stress or the effects of violence or poverty. There are several points that stand out in this chapter. One such was the reporting of findings by Scheringa and Zeanah “that young children showed more symptoms of PTSD (Post traumatic Stress Disorder) when they witnessed their mothers being abused than when the children were abuse victims” (p. 246). This caught my attention as an educator. The child and mother experience trauma when they are aware of the trauma the other is experiencing.

Daniel Pedersen and Jack P. Shonkoff, in Chapter 29, Translating the Science of Early Childhood Development into Policy and Practice, suggest that it is time for a paradigm shift focusing on vulnerable children, prenatally and onward. There is need to explore the neurosciences and child development research, and economic analysis. The authors suggest a new framework, grounded in the following core concepts, to guide early childhood policy and practice: A sturdy brain foundation is essential; Interactions matter in brain development; Skill begets skill. Cognitive, emotional, and social capacities are a package deal; Toxic stress damages developing brains; Pay now or pay more later; and We know how to improve outcomes but we must do better. The authors go on to discuss Educare as a model of good practice.

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They challenge us to build on the influence of Brazelton’s study of development and parent-child interactions and to seek programs and interventions that can produce positive impacts:

This framework has Brazelton’s fingerprints all over it. The ultimate challenge now facing the field is clear. It’s time to create a new era in early childhood policy that is inspired by science, built on best practices and committed to a culture of innovative thinking and continuous improvement. It’s time to build on the foundation that Brazelton has played such an important role in shaping and to move to the next level to increase the return on our collective investments through greater and sustainable differences in the lives of vulnerable, young children and their parents. (p. 340)

My concluding thoughts about this book are that Brazelton’s genius has infiltrated so many areas influencing parenting, child rearing, neuroscience, etc. The authors of these chapters have honored Brazelton and shown how they and their research have benefitted from his life’s work.

We should acknowledge that it is what happens to the individual and unique child and his interactions with the environment and others that shape the person he is to become. So, when we are reviewing the woes of academics or our problems with test scores or school dropouts, we need to think back to the foundation of childhood and the bioecology of children and to intervene to help children and their families much earlier—helping the pregnant mother, involving the father, educating caretakers and teachers about child development. In these days of budget cutbacks and teacher layoffs, we are revisiting teacher preparation and highlighting such subject areas as science and math. We need to remember that, as reflected in Nurturing Children and Families, at the base of academic success is emotional and social success from a very early period. I urge our lawmakers and decision makers to offer more training on fostering child development, not less.

Kathleen Fite ([email protected]) is a professor of education at Texas State University–San Marcos. Her research focuses on development and learning, and her most recent publications address how reflection, ritual, and spirituality influence learning and leadership and contribute to success in learning and social environments.