Effects of legislative mandates for site-based management implementation on espoused theory and professional practice, as perceived by selected elementary school principals and teachers in Bexar County, Texas /
Texas is one of many states to decree that schools will practice some form of site-based management. The goal of this reform effort is to improve student performance. The limited evaluation of site-based management in schools has focused on the measurement of student outcomes without considering the...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1999.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=730298521&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Texas is one of many states to decree that schools will practice some form of site-based management. The goal of this reform effort is to improve student performance. The limited evaluation of site-based management in schools has focused on the measurement of student outcomes without considering the interactions of the people involved in the site-based decision-making process. Successful implementation and ongoing maintenance of the shared decision-making process is critical to the very existence of site-based management and the ultimate goal of increasing student performance. This study replicates earlier research conducted prior to state-mandated site- based management in schools in order to assess the success that such legislation has on the shared decision-making process. The theoretical basis for the assessment was Argyris and Schon's Theory or Professional Practice with its components: espoused theory and theory-in-use. The principals' interactions were assessed to what degree they exhibited behaviors according to Argyris and Schn̲'s Model I or Model II theory-in-use. This study consisted of three phases. Phase I insists of the collection and analysis of principals' espoused theories. Phase II consists of the collection and analysis of teachers' perceptions of principals' theories-in-use. Phase III consists of the final analysis of the current data, collected nine years after site-based management legislation with data taken from the same demographic population collected three years prior to site-based management mandates. If the relationship and communication process described by Argyris and Schn̲'s Model II are crucial in the implementation and maintenance of site-based management, then it would be useful to have ongoing assessment of whether Argyris and Schn̲'s Model II continues to prevail at a school. The findings of this study revealed: 1. Significant differences continue to exist between principals' espoused theories and theories-in-use. These differences are greater after site-based management legislation was passed than they were before. 2. Principals' espoused theories have responded significantly to legislation mandating site-based management in public schools. 3. Principals' theory-in-use or professional practice has failed to respond, in any practical sense, to legislation mandating site-based management in public schools. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Educational Administration". |
| Physical Description: | xi, 135 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-116). |