Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D. in Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Ronald Patridge

Second Advisor

Andrew P. Mullins, Jr.

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

The study's purpose was to survey the perceptions of Mississippi's elected and appointed public school superintendents and board presidents concerning their decision-making roles and responsibilities. Of the 298 surveys mailed 61 (74%) of the 83 appointed superintendents and 40 (60%) of the 66 elected superintendents responded. Seventy-three (49%) of the board presidents responded to the survey.

The survey instrument was divided into four decision-making areas: policy and procedure, curriculum and instruction, personnel, and school business management. The study tested eight hypotheses at the.05 level of significance. Four of these hypotheses stated that there is no significant difference in the role perceptions in decision-making between elected superintendents and board presidents in each of the four decision-making areas. The other four hypotheses stated that there is no significant difference in the role perceptions in decision-making between appointed superintendents and board presidents in each of the four decision-making areas. Data are presented showing the response percentages of superintendents and board presidents, levels of chi square significance and degrees of freedom.

The study found that at the.05 level of significance, differences between appointed superintendents and board presidents took place in the decision areas of policy and procedure, personnel and school business management. There was no significant difference found between appointed superintendents and board presidents in the area of curriculum and instruction. The study revealed no significant differences between elected superintendents and board presidents.

The study concluded that confusion over decision-making roles was most prevalent between Mississippi's appointed superintendents and board presidents. Although differences did exist, Mississippi's elected superintendents were found to be in substantial agreement with board presidents over their respective decision-making roles.

Recommendations were made for further study to determine why differences existed between board members and appointed superintendents. Recommendations were also made for further study on why these same differences did not exist between board members and elected superintendents.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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