A Preservice And/Or Inservice Training Program for Board of Education Members Charles E
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East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works December 1974 A Preservice And/Or Inservice Training Program for Board of Education Members Charles E. Calloway East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Calloway, Charles E., "A Preservice And/Or Inservice Training Program for Board of Education Members" (1974). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2841. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2841 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 75-9491 CALIAWAY, Charles Edgar, 1947- A PRESERWICE AND/OR INSEWICE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMfBERS. East Tennessee State University, Ed.D., 1974 Education, general Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 1975 CHARLES EDGAR CALLOWAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THISDISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. A PRESERVICE AND/OR INSERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Education East Tennessee State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Charles E. Calloway December 1974 APPROVAL This is to certify that the Advanced Graduate Committee of Charles Edgar Calloway, Jr. met on the 25th day of November , 19_7/ The committee read and examined his dissertation, supervised his defense of it in an oral examination and decided to recommend that his study be submitted to the Graduate Council and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education. Chairman, Advanced Graduat Committee ii A PRESERVICE AND/OR INSERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS An Abstract Presented to the Graduate Faculty East Tennessee State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Charles E. Calloway December 1974 Charles E. Calloway, B. S., Union College, June 1969. M. A., Union College, August 1970. Ed.D., East Tennessee State University,. December 1974. A PRESERVICE AND/OR INSERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS Purpose. The purpose of this study was to develop a preservice training program for prospective board of education members, and one that would be of appropriate use by board members already serving. Method. Current issues of indexes and other guides to sources of literature were read in search of titles pertaining to the problem of the study as well as to the questions. The guides to Dissertation Abstracts, Educational Research Information Center (ERIC), Current Index to Journals of Education (CIJE), Education Index, and the card catalog were closely scrutinized. Appropriate papers, articles, and books were read for possible inclusion in the study. Notes were taken from those sources containing data which appeared useful. These notes were separated into major categories, and decisions were made as to which materials to include in the study. This was followed by a com- puter search of ERIC, DATRIX (a search service of Dissertation Abstracts), and SRIS (a search service provided by the Phi Delta Kappa Research Service Center). Letters were sent to the state school boards associations and the state departments of education in Tennessee and Tennessee's eight for bordering states requesting information concerning qualifications school board members as well as information concerning preservice and inservice training programs for school board members. Information concerning activities that should be included in such a program was also sought. A survey of school board training practices in Tennessee was conducted. This was accomplished by means of a Questionnaire con- school structed by this investigator and mailed to the chairmen of the boards in the 146 school systems of Tennessee, the superintendents of each of these systems, and one board member other than the chairman, randomly chosen from each school system. After all the data had been collected and analyzed, a com- prehensive preservice training program for prospective board members was developed based on the data found. The program was also developed with the intention of serving as an inservice program for presently serving board members. 2 Once the school board training program was developed, it was field tested for effectiveness. The field testing situation involved a number of school board members and prospective school board members from the East Tennessee area. Summary. The problem of this study was to develop a preservice training program for prospective board of education members. The pro- gram was also developed so as to be of use by board members already serving. More specifically, the major objectives of the study were: (1) to determine if Tennessee and Tennessee's bordering states have preservice or inservice training programs for school board members; (2) to determine the qualifications for serving as a school board member in Tennessee and in Tennessee's bordering states; (3) to deter- mine if some type of preservice training program should be required of all prospective school board members; (4) to determine the types of activities a school board member should be familiar with before assuming his job; (5) to determine what a preservice and/or inservice training program for school board members should consist of and based on these needs to develop such a training program; and (6) to field test the preservice and/or inservice training program with a group of school board members and prospective school board members. Conclusions. Based upon the findings of the study, it was concluded that: (1) there had been practically no research dealing directly with preservice training for school board members; (2) there was very little formal, organized training for school board members in the state of Tennessee; (3) superintendents, board chairmen, and selected board members desired and believed that there should be better training of board members in Tennessee; (4) Tennessee's border states varied widely in their efforts to train school board members for their jobs; (5) board members should not be required to take part in a training program either before or after election or appointment; there was a need for more board member training in the state of Tennessee; (6) the preservice and/or inservice training program developed could help board members and prospective board members to become better versed and more learned in those areas and competencies needed to become an effective board member; and (7) those persons involved in the education process in Tennessee and in Tennessee's border states were interested in seeing the quality of school boardmanship upgraded. Dissertation prepared under the guidance of Dr. Robert G. Shepard, Dr. Clyde L. Orr, Dr. Charles W. Burkett, Dr. Ralph W. Clarke, and Dr. Donald H. Poole. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his sincere appreciation to the following: Dr. Robert Shepard, his committee chairman and dissertation director for his help, guidance, and friendship; and Dr. Clyde Orr, Dr. Charles Burkett, Dr. Ralph Clarke, and Dr. Donald Poole for serving as committee members and for their guidance and encouragement during the study. To his wife Whitcomb, the writer is indebted for her patience, understanding, and encouragement throughout the doctoral program. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . .--.-. - . - -. viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . .. 1 THE PROBLEM . 1 Statement of the Problem 1 Subproblems . 2 Significance of the Study 2 Limitations of the Study 4 Assumptions . 5 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS . 6 PROCEDURES....... .. 9 QUESTIONS RELEVANT TO STUDY 11 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 11 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 13 INTRODUCTION . 13 QUALITIES OF THE EFFECTIVE BOARD MEMBER 14 HOW A NEW BOARD MEMBER CAN PRE PARE HIMSELF FOR HIS NEW JOB 16 INFORMING SCHOOL BOARD MEMBI .. 18 THE TENNESSEE SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION . 20 SCHOOL BOARD TRAINING PROCE DURE. 23 THE FUTURE . - - - - - 41 iv v Chapter Page 3. PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGY . .-.. 44 RELATED LITERATURE . .. -. 45 INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM LETTERS PERTAINING TO QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS . 46 SELECTION OF SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND SUBJECTS . 46 CONSTRUCTION OF THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT . 47 PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTING DATA . 49 EVALUATION OF DATA . 50 DEVELOPING THE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS . .. 50 FIELD TESTING THE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS . .. 52 SUMMARY . .. - -. - - - - . 52 4. DATA AND FINDINGS . .. .. - -. 54 SCHOOL SYSTEMS INVOLVED IN STUDY . 55 QUESTIONNAIRE TO SUPERINTENDENTS, BOARD CHAIRMEN, AND SELECTED BOARD MEMBERS . 55 STATE DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION AND STATE SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATIONS INVOLVED IN STUDY . 93 LETTERS TO STATE DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION AND STATE SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATIONS . 95 QUESTIONS TESTED FOR THE STUDY . 123 Question Number One . -. 123 Question Number Two . .. 123 Question Number Three . .. 128 Question Number Four . .. 135 Question Number Five . .. 139 Question Number Six . .- . 154 Question Number Seven . -. 155 vi Chapter Page Question Number Eight . 155 5. A RECOMMENDED TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL