Content analysis of principal job descriptions and principal evaluation instruments of K--12 public education in Virginia

Principals are accountable for juggling multiple competing tasks daily. This study explored the degrees of emphasis placed upon leadership and management behaviors of school principals in Virginia by determining the congruence of job descriptions and evaluation instruments with state and professional standards. State expectations were communicated to varying degrees by responding school divisions in both job descriptions and evaluation instruments. School divisions universally expected principals to focus upon instruction and parent and staff communication, while other state responsibilities received less attention. Organizational management that focused on facilities maintenance was communicated as an important responsibility by a majority of school divisions but was not mentioned in state standards. A high level of congruence was found between job descriptions and evaluation instruments for most Virginia state responsibilities. A majority of school divisions\u27 evaluation instruments encompassed professional standards. However, less emphasis was revealed for responsibilities related to the larger society. Implications of this study indicate the need for Virginia school divisions to align job descriptions and evaluation instruments with state standards to support the work of principals, and for Virginia state standards to include major responsibilities required by a majority of school divisions

Job satisfaction among academic administrators at selected American colleges and universities

The problem of this study was job satisfaction among academic administrators in selected American institutions of higher education. Its main purpose was to document the level of job satisfaction among selected U.S. college and university academic administrators

HIV Treatment Outcome Disparities: Using Web-based Technology to Promote Adherence and Engagement with Care among African American Patients

Ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic and those individuals living with the virus experience differential outcomes in treatment. Technology-based approaches have been used to address a variety of health problems, but few studies have focused on the application of these approaches in addressing HIV treatment disparities. Using a sample of African-American patients identified as lost to follow-up for HIV treatment (n=33), this study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a web-based program designed to assess and improve treatment engagement. Participants were randomly assigned to either the web-based assessment program or the control group. Measures of behavior change intentions and motivation were administered to all participants. Assessment group participants completed additional measures to determine personal reactions and perceived credibility related to the web-based program. Findings indicated that assessment group participants reported significantly higher behavior change intentions than those in the control group. In addition, assessment group participants viewed the program favorably and rated it highly as a credible approach to improve their adherence and engagement with care. Findings from this pilot study indicate that the web-based program is feasible and acceptable as a clinical tool to improve engagement among African American patients with HIV

Perceptions of Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) among Women in an HIV-Positive Prevention Program

Background: Audio Computer-Assisted Self Interviewing (ACASI) has improved the reliability and accuracy of self-reported HIV health and risk behavior data, yet few studies account for how participants experience the data collection process. Methodology/Principal Findings: This exploratory qualitative analysis aimed to better understand the experience and implications of using ACASI among HIV-positive women participating in sexual risk reduction interventions in Chicago (n = 12) and Philadelphia (n = 18). Strategies of Grounded Theory were used to explore participants ’ ACASI experiences. Conclusion/Significance: Key themes we identified included themes that could be attributed to the ACASI and other methods of data collection (e.g., paper-based self-administered questionnaire or face-to-face interviews). The key themes were usability; privacy and honesty; socially desirable responses and avoiding judgment; and unintentional discomfort resulting from recalling risky behavior using the ACASI. Despite both positive and negative findings about the ACASI experience, we conclude that ACASI is in general an appropriate method for collecting sensitive data about HIV/AIDS risk behaviors among HIV-positive women because it seemed to ensure privacy in the study population allowing for mor

International Coercion, Emulation and Policy Diffusion: Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reforms, 1977-1999

Why do some countries adopt market-oriented reforms such as deregulation, privatization and liberalization of competition in their infrastructure industries while others do not? Why did the pace of adoption accelerate in the 1990s? Building on neo-institutional theory in sociology, we argue that the domestic adoption of market-oriented reforms is strongly influenced by international pressures of coercion and emulation. We find robust support for these arguments with an event-history analysis of the determinants of reform in the telecommunications and electricity sectors of as many as 205 countries and territories between 1977 and 1999. Our results also suggest that the coercive effect of multilateral lending from the IMF, the World Bank or Regional Development Banks is increasing over time, a finding that is consistent with anecdotal evidence that multilateral organizations have broadened the scope of the “conditionality” terms specifying market-oriented reforms imposed on borrowing countries. We discuss the possibility that, by pressuring countries into policy reform, cross-national coercion and emulation may not produce ideal outcomes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40099/3/wp713.pd

The Continuing Use of Problematic Sexual Stereotypes in Judicial Decision-Making

This article examines the continuing use of problematic sexual stereotypes at appellate level in the English and Welsh legal system. Using five cases as illustrations, it argues that, notwithstanding professional training and guidance on sexual equality matters, certain senior judges in this jurisdiction still at least sometimes openly employ crude and problematic sexual stereotypes in their judgments or fail to deal appropriately with the use of these stereotypes by trial judges. The central point is that there is still a significant problem with the open use of crude sexual stereotypes in legal reasoning at a senior level in this jurisdiction, despite the pressure on all members of the legal system to appear to be ‘politically correct’

Telemediations

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