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Many schools and school districts are attempting to introduce principles and practices of Total Quality Management (TQM). These attempts take many forms with varying degrees of commitment of resources and management attention. This paper describes the research design of a study intended to identify best current practices in applying TQM concepts to K-12 school districts across the United States. Specifically, the paper describes the sampling procedure and data obtained in the first phase of selecting schools and districts for later study. A questionnaire sent to a national sample of 205 schools and school districts involved in TQM elicited 43 completed surveys. Three additional respondents sent information (without surveys) and five more respondents participated in telephone interviews. Criteria for inclusion in the study included: (1) involvement of constituents in decision making; (2) a focus on instructional processes; and (3) evidence of data collection and baseline measures. The questionnaire was not seen as powerful enough to determine whether a school was really serious about using TQM to make important changes in teaching and learning so a second level of screening was pursued. Approximately 22 of the responses met the three basic criteria and will be considered for the second level qualification stage consisting of follow-up phone interviews. A set of schools which will become the sites for longitudinal case studies will be selected from this screening. It is argued that TQM has the potential to achieve significant change because the organization uses the results of its evaluation of outcomes and processes to improve practice, and the focus on the client/customer translates into a gain in credibility. One figure and the quality improvement practices survey are included. The initial analysis of survey data from practices in quality improvement in teaching and learning is appended. Contains 21 references. (LMI)

Factors that influence the perceptions held by school site council members and others about the quality of site-based management (SBM) are examined in this study. Specifically, the relationships among a group's assessment of SBM, perceived level of influence on council decision making, perceived level of support from other groups, and perceived level of program effectiveness are analyzed. Qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires administered to site councils of various constituencies in 16 site-managed schools in 4 school districts yielded 118 completed surveys. Response rates by district were 79, 49, 90, and 63 percent. Interviews and observation of council meetings supplemented the surveys. The findings indicated that people did not feel empowered, yet they assigned SBM a moderately high performance score. There was no correlation between feelings of influence on council decision making and the overall assessment of SBM. SBM scores were also highly related to the perceived degree of the principal's support of the program. An inconsistent finding indicated that most groups, especially parents and elementary school teachers, perceived SBM as successful in achieving its goals, but did not feel empowered and were unconcerned about their amount of influence. A possible explanation is that constituents defined success in terms of factors other than major changes in curriculum and the classroom. Appendices include a list of definitions, the survey instrument, return rates, and statistics. (18 references) (LMI)

The Minnesota Executive Program is a six-week course for experienced senior executives who must work with the chief executive officer in formulating overall corporate strategy and establishing policies to guide the implementation of that strategy. It was introduced in early 1971 when the first group of Chief Executive Officers attended a 3 1/2 day seminar on corporate strategy. As far as we know the Minnesota Executive Program is the only University-sponsored program designed chiefly for experienced senior officers. Thus far its main appeal has been to medium-sized ($40-200 million sales volume) companies. An attempt is made to enter into a four-year Member Firm agreement with all participating companies. The agreement between the company and the Graduate School of Business Administration is as follows: 1) The Chief Executive Officer agrees to attend a 3 1/2 day seminar on corporate strategy at which he obtains an overview of the six-week course for which he will be nominating applicants. 2) The company agrees to nominate at least three senior vice presidents to attend the six-week course (no more than one man per year) over the four-year period subsequent to date of signing the agreement. 3) The Chief Executive Officer agrees to serve on the Minnesota Executive Program Advisory Board which meets once a quarter to provide input and policy guidance to the program. To date over 85% of Minnesota Executive Program (MEP) registrants have come from Member Firms. The purpose of the Minnesota Executive Program is to achieve an effective impact on the organizational climate or a participating firm by providing an opportunity for several of its top executives to: 1) Enhance general policy and strategy-making skills. 2) Develop greater sensitivity to and understanding of major environmental trends as they affect the long-run outlook and markets of a firm or industry. 3) Develop skill in utilizing environmental intelligence data for making more effective decisions. 4)... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]