Date of Award
Fall 1972
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Elliott, William E.
Second Advisor
DeRoche, Edward
Third Advisor
Steeves, Frank L.
Abstract
The need for the development of an alternative to the traditional age-graded self-contained system of elementary education has led to many new staffing patterns. One staffing pattern which has received a great deal of national consideration is the Multiunit Elementary School (MUS-E) developed by Herbert J. Klausmeier at the Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning. This plan established only one new staff position in its model, that of unit leader. The purpose of this study was to identify personality and demographic characteristics of effective unit leaders. Characteristics of effective primary unit leaders and effective intermediate unit leaders were considered separately to determine if there were similar characteristics of the two groups. In addition, effectiveness of primary and intermediate unit leaders were assessed by both the principal and unit teachers to determine if they identified like traits. This study also determined if certain guidelines for unit leader selection suggested by the Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning were being followed and what school personnel are involved in the selection procedure. Eighty-one MUS-E's in five states were identified in the "Multiunit School 1971-1972 Directory." One primary and one intermediate unit leader were then randomly selected from each of the identified schools to participate in the study. All principals in the eighty-one MUS-E's identified were mailed two complete sets of The Unit Leader Questionnaire, The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, and The Evaluation of Unit Leader Effectiveness-Principal/Unit Teacher Report. The principals were requested in the cover letter to complete the evaluation form on the two unit leaders identified. In addition, he was asked to have all unit teachers of those teams complete the same evaluation form and have the unit lea1ers complete both of the questionnaires. A sixty-three percent return was obtained from the sample...