Deck 6: The Human Dimension of Organization

Question 1

Define the term loosely coupled systems and give a specific example of how this concept is used to understand school organizations.

Answer 1

Subsystems in a school are related to one another, but they each maintain their own identity and autonomy. A specific example would be that the guidance office, although under the supervision of the principal's office, is not tightly supervised by the principal. The guidance office staff members have a great deal of latitude in how to handle their responsibilities.

Question 2

Define human capital and give one specific example of what a principal can do to increase/improve human capital.

Answer 2

Human Capital is the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and social skills of employees. An example is for the principal to provide teachers with staff development that the teachers believe is most important to them.

Question 3

Which of the follow is/are included in the five basic assumptions based on effective schools research.

A) The administration must recognize that the school's culture can be changed. b. The school's vision and mission must be consistent with the district's goals.
C) The central purpose of the school is to teach, and success is measured by student progress.
D) The attitudes and behavior of the staff are more important than resources.
E) Both c and d.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Loosely coupled systems can best be described as:

A) organizations that have subsystems that are related to one another, but each subsystem maintains its own identity.
B) organizations that have many subsystems that have their own goals, unrelated to overall organization goals.
C) organizations that have a main office much like a school district administrative office) with satellite offices much like individual schools) that have their own vision and mission.
D) All of the above.

Question 5

Define organizational culture. Give an example of at least one specific aspect of culture.

Question 6

Arthur Blumberg noted that it is useful to think of administration as a/an _______ than as a/an __________.

A) practice; art.
B) craft; science.
C) career; position.
D) structured theory; practical theory.
E) instructional responsibility; management responsibility.

Question 7

Which of the following is/are examples of bureaucratic measures of how administrators control instruction?

A) The principal works with teachers on grouping students for instruction. b. Teachers have specific amounts of money provided by principals to spend on resources they believe they need.
C) The principal assigns students to classes.
D) Both a and c.

Question 8

Using the characteristics of effective schools research, describe a school's culture that utilizes at least three of the concepts that can be implemented relatively quickly and with minimal cost. In addition or in conjunction with this discussion, illustrate how this school can use one or more of the characteristics that are necessary to maintain the school's capacity to increase effectiveness over time.

Question 9

List two different type of examples of potential effects of principal abuse in what Joseph and Jo Blase call the "Dark Side of Leadership".

Question 10

Which of the following would be an example of correct human resources accounting?

A) Older teachers who are burned out should be replaced by younger, less expensive teachers who are motivated. b. The expense of professional growth and development of teachers should be considered as a return on investment.
C) It is best to spend professional development dollars on older teachers as they don't have the recent university knowledge of younger teachers.
D) Teachers should be responsible for their own professional development to insure they receive the training that meets their needs.
E) Both a and d.

Question 11

Which of the following would be an example of principal abuse of teachers?

A) In a meeting, the principal often ignores a particular teacher's ideas, but recognizes similar ideas from others. b. Invited to be part of grant writing team, the principal removes this teacher from the team without explanation.
C) The principal reprimands a teacher in front of a group of parents.
D) b and c only.
E) a, b, and c.

Question 12

The move from logico-positivist assumptions about schools can be described best by which of the following?

A) A move toward qualitative research methods.
B) A focus on building human capital.
C) Defining organizations in terms of the people who populate them.
D) All of the above.