Participation and satisfaction of school personnel in decisions made in large, medium, and small and in negotiating and non-negotiating school districts in Eastern Tennessee

With the advent of professional negotiations between school personnel and boards of education in Tennessee, the complexities of decision-making in the school setting will evolve. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze data from seventeen selected Eastern Tennessee school districts in an attempt to determine how, by whom, and with what quality decisions were being made in the decision areas of Curriculum and Instruction, Finance and Business Management, Certificated Personnel, Pupil Personnel, School Plant and Facilities, and Community Relations, prior to the onset of formal negotiations between the school system personnel and the systems' management personnel. The study attempted to define more thoroughly the degree and effects of control perceived by employees of the school systems selected.

The study was designed to address the following questions:

1. Does the size of a school district affect the perceived levels of participation and satisfaction of its employees in the decision-making processes?

Question one required further delineation into the following sub-questions:

a. How do teachers, principals, and central office personnel in each size school district perceive the relative participation of each of their groups in important decisions?

b. How do teachers, principals, and central office personnel in each size school district perceive the relative satisfaction of each of their groups in important decisions?

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2. Are there any relationships between the levels of participation and the levels of satisfaction within the school systems relative to position held by the respondent?

3. Relative to personal perceptions of their own levels of participation and satisfaction in decision-making, do teachers' responses in school systems that chose not to negotiate during the first year of negotiations differ from teachers' responses in school systems that chose to negotiate?

Groupings by school district size and negotiating potential were included. The data were collected through the use of a questionnaire. Both one-way and two-way analyses of variance were performed within the three size groupings (large, medium, and small) and within the three groups of respondents (teachers, principals, and central office personnel) for mean differences in the perceptions of levels of participation for specific groups in decision-making and levels of satisfaction with the decision made. The process was repeated for the non-negotiating and negotiating groups. A post hoc contrast test (Scheffe) was included to identify and explain the significant differences that existed in the sample means. A Pearson product moment correlation was used to test the relationship between the levels of participation and satisfaction in the decision areas.

Teachers' and principals' mean levels of perceived participation in decision: made ranged from "provides information" to "recommends decision." Among the three size groups, teacher respondents reported differences in the decision areas of Curriculum and Instruction, Finance

vi and Business Management, Pupil Personnel, and Community Relations. No differences existed between principals in the three size groups for perceived levels of participation. Central office personnel's mean levels of perceived participation in decisions made ranged from "recommends decision" to "influences decisions," and differences were reported in Curriculum and Instruction, Certificated Personnel, and Pupil Personnel.

Teachers' mean levels for satisfaction remained in the "neutral" range and their areas of difference were Curriculum and Instruction and Finance and Business Management. Both principals' and central office personnel's mean levels for satisfaction remained in the "neutral" to mildly "satisfied" range, and both reported differences in Finance and Business Management and Certificated Personnel.

The correlation coefficients revealed that all size groupings had significant relationships between participation in decisions and satisfaction with the decisions made, with the one exception of central office personnel's responses in the decision area of Curriculum and Instruction.

The non-negotiating teacher group reported higher levels of perceived participation and satisfaction in each decision area. The correlation coefficients also revealed that both teacher groups had significant relationships between participation in and satisfaction with the decisions made in all decision areas.