James S. Rinehart

School Participant Empowerment Scale: Assessment of Level of Empowerment within the School Environment.

Two hundred eleven teachers in public schools rated 68 beliefs about what makes them feel empowered in schools. The items were factor analyzed revealing six dimensions or subscales: (a) Decision Making, (b) Professional Growth, (c) Status, (d) Self-Efficacy, (e) Autonomy, and (f) Impact. A 38-item School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) was constructed by selecting marker items for each of the six dimensions. Obtained internal consistency estimates of reliability for the total scale was .94, and ranged from .81 to .89 for the six factor scales. Evidence of discriminant validity also was discussed.

Teacher Recruitment: A Test of The Similarity-Attraction Hypothesis for Race and Sex

Race (Black and White) and sex of applicants and of organizational representatives were systematically manipulated to produce demographically similar and dissimilar pairings. Vacancy characteristics associated with teacher positions were manipulated through recruitment messages. Contents of recruitment messages were varied to reflect different groupings of homogeneous attributes relating to economic incentives, work environment, or work itself Each attribute grouping rendered a different recruitment message (n = 3),and all recruitment messages were evaluated by each applicant. Reactions of applicants provided partial support for the similarity-attraction paradigm within the recruitment context. Racially similar pairings produced more positive results than racially dissimilar pairings. Contents of recruitment messages were found to interact with sex of an organizational representative and race of an applicant. Black applicants preferred female organizational representatives presenting recruitment messages emphasizing either work environment attributes or work itself attributes. White applicants preferred male organizational representatives presenting recruitment messages stressing only work environment attributes.

Teacher Empowerment and Principal Leadership: Understanding the Influence Process

Traditionally, principals have been held accountable for the effectiveness of schools. This continues to be largely true as principals work to influence the change process toward increased teacher involvement and empowerment. As principals initiate these changes, they do so primarily through interactions with the faculty. One explanation for a principals influence may be social influence theory from social psychology. Social influence theory suggests that credibility (a combination of expertness and trustworthiness) and social attractiveness are potent and persuasive elements of influence. Using social influence theory components, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the principals social influence and teacher empowerment. Results of the study indicated that teacher empowerment is most closely related to principals social attractiveness (perceived similarity to teachers) and trustworthiness (perceived willingness to suppress ones own self-interest for the benefit of the school).

Principal Recruitment: An Empirical Evaluation of a School District's Internal Pool of Principal Certified Personnel.

Applicant pools for principal vacancies are shrinking nationwide. This shortage of job applicants requires school districts to evaluate their internal pools of principal certified personnel. In this study, 194 certified individuals from a large school district responded to a survey measuring attraction to the job of principal, current job satisfaction versus expected satisfaction in the job of principal, barriers to pursuing the job, and recommended changes in the job. Few participants intended to apply for principal vacancies due to age (median=51), lack of self-reported capability to do the job, and satisfaction with the current job. Participants perceived their job satisfaction would decrease on assuming the job of principal relative to factors such as time with family and job security, and increase relative to factors such as salary and opportunity to experience varied activities. Implications for principal recruitment and recommendations for restructuring the job are discussed.

The Effects of Recruitment Brochure Content and Gender of the Reactor for Doctoral Programs in Educational Administration

Student recruitment for doctoral programs in educational administration is an important topic that has escaped experimental study. To provide more information about this topic and about a specific recruitment tool, an experimental study was conducted. Contents of recruitment brochures were varied to reflect the salient aspects associated with three different theoretical perspectives, and reactions to these different brochures were assessed with female and male teachers in a between-within repeated measures design. Reactions of female and male teachers, as potential candidates for a doctoral program in educational administration, were more positive when the recruitment brochure stressed program requirements and expectations than when it stressed the psychological and development aspects of pursuing a doctoral degree.