Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Dissertation

Keywords

School supervision--United States;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which clinical supervision is practiced in American public schools. The investigator gathered data on the form of the practice, central office support for it, principal training in clinical supervision, the purposes for which clinical supervision was used, and principal's valuing of the process for improving practice. The sample of building administrators used for this study was drawn from a list of schools recognized as effective by the U.S. Department of Education from 1982-83 through 1985-86. The population consisted of 778 principals, the sample, 311; 218 principals responded to a questionnaire mailed in March and April of 1988 for a 70% response rate. Responses were received from 44 states. The data were analyzed descriptively; the two-tailed t test for independent means and the chi-square test for independence were used to determine statistical significance of differences.

Descriptive analyses of the questionnaire data revealed that 46.8% of the respondents used clinical supervision as defined in the study. Ten comparisons between principals who used clinical supervision (users) and those who did not (non-users) were found to be significant (.05 level). Chi-square analyses revealed that significantly more users than non-users reported: sequential use of classroom supervisory practices; central office support for clinical supervision through expectation of regular use of clinical supervision, documentation of clinical supervision, and inservice sessions on clinical supervision for both administrators and teachers; institutionalization of clinical supervision; stronger ratings of district commitment to clinical supervision; and experiencing training exceeding a one year time period. t test analyses revealed significant differences between user and non-user group means with users showing higher or stronger mean ratings for: the assumption, data obtained from the classroom are analyzed with the teacher's goals in mind; central office commitment to the practice of clinical supervision; and competence in using clinical supervision.

The investigator concluded that clinical supervision was practiced widely; that central office support for the practice is important to its continued practice; and that clinical supervision is used for both formative and summative teacher evaluation.

Year of Submission

1989

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Department of Educational Administration and Counseling

First Advisor

Fred D. Carver

Date Original

12-1989

Object Description

1 PDF file (v, 209 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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