ADOL 630 - Lesson 1 - Assignment
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
Discussion questions on "Development of Administrative Theory."
1. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/survstyl.html Access this link and
take the leadership style questionnaire. Which of the three types of
leaders are you? What are some advantages and disadvantages of each style as
that style relates to public education? Identify your response as: L1, A1,
YourLastName
2. Do you think that individuals wanting to become school administrators
should study leadership theory? Why, or why not? Identify your response
as: L1, A2, YourLastName
Discussion questions on "Organizational Structure."
1. After reviewing Chapter 2 of your text, you will note that in almost all
cases, trends and concepts adopted by both business and industry were
implemented into the school structure many years later. Why is this so?
Identify your response as: L1, A3, YourLastName
2. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of a decentralized
organization? Identify your response as: L1, A4, YourLastName
3. Consider the differences and similarities between TQM (Total Quality
Management) and MBO Management By Objectives). Provide an example of how
both could be used in the school setting. Identify your response as: L1,
A5, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapters 1 and 2 for Lesson One and then read chapters 3 and 4 from
Lunenburg and Ornstein for Lesson Two.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 2 - Assignment
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
Discussion questions on "Organizational Culture."
1. In the content, we read and discussed open and closed systems, as well
as “healthy” and “sick” schools. List 4 specific and measurable ways in
which one can accurately measure the current status of a school. Identify
your response as: L2, A1, YourLastName
2. From the text, the content material, and the listed URLs, provide 10
specific recommendations for the school administrator. Identify your
response as: L2, A2, YourLastName
3. Why are organizations and organizational cultures so resistant to change?
What factors in a public school situation often prevent needed change from
occurring? Identify your response as: L2, A3, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapters 5 and 6 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 3 - Assignment
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
Discussion questions on "Leadership"
1. What are some effective ways in which a new school administrator can
develop and maintain his/her leadership ability? Identify your response
as: L3, A1, YourLastName
2. How does one’s leadership style depend on the particular circumstances
that a principal faces? Identify your response as: L3, A2, YourLastName
3. What are the differences between leadership and management? Are both
necessary for a school leader? Which one is more necessary for change?
Identify your response as: L3, A3, YourLastName
Discussion questions on "Decision Making"
1. List and describe the common process used in decision making. Identify
your response as: L3, A4, YourLastName
2. What is the purpose of using a Devil’s Advocate? Identify your response
as: L3, A5, YourLastName
3. What would you suggest as some weaknesses of the site based decision-
making process in terms of personnel? Identify your response as: L3, A6,
YourLastName
Additional Discussion Question
Perhaps one of the best ways to discuss and examine leadership is to think
of great leaders. What separates individuals such as General George Patton,
Abraham Lincoln, Hannibal, and Winston Churchill from others? Did these
people become famous leaders simply because of the circumstances they were
faced with, or were they born with all the traits necessary for a leader?
Donald Phillips, in “Lincoln on Leadership,” examined Lincoln’s leadership
styles and thoughts from examining the president’s speeches and writings.
Phillips identified 15 specific leadership principals as they relate to
people, character, endeavor, and communication. Some of Lincoln’s leadership
principals included the following:
People
• Get out of the office and circulate among the troops.
• If your subordinates can stand it, so can you. Set a good example.
• Wage only one war at a time.
• When you extinguish hope, you create desperation.
• Use force only as a last resort.
• Remember that your followers generally want to believe that why
they do is their own idea and that what they do makes a difference.
• A good leader avoids issuing orders, preferring to request,
imply, or make suggestions.
Character
• When you make it to the top, turn and reach down for the
person behind you.
• It is your duty to advance the aims of the organization and also
to help those who serve it.
• Never act out of vengeance or spite.
• Never crush a man out, thereby making him and his friends
permanent enemies of your organization.
• Have the courage to handle unjust criticism.
• Don’t surrender the game, leaving any available card unplayed.
Endeavor
• Remember that compromise does not mean cowardice.
• Try ballots first; when ballots don’t work, use bullets.
• If you are a good leader, when your work is done, your
aim fulfilled, your people will say, “We did this ourselves.”
• Always let your subordinates know that the honor will be all
theirs if they succeed and that the blame will be yours if they fail.
Communication
• Speak in simple and familiar strains with people, without any
pretension of superiority. Leave people with the feeling that
they’ve known you all their lives.
• You should often couple written documents with verbal discussions,
thereby catching the idea with two senses rather than just one. Both
you and your subordinates will remember it better, even if you do
not understand it better.
1. Your assignment is to identify two great leaders of history. You are to
address which style of leadership they demonstrated. Specifically, look to
their relationships with their subordinates or followers and the strength
exerted by the leader to reach his/her objective. Identify your response
as: L3, A7, YourLastName
2. What would be the best type of leadership for a school principal? Please
identify a minimum of 4 criteria that a school leader should have regarding
leadership ability. Identify your response as: L3, A8, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapters 7 and 8 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 4 Assignments
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
Discussion questions on "Communications"
1. Select two individuals whom you normally communicate with. Observe and
record types of body language signals that you notice these people use for a
2-day period. L4, A1, YourLastName
2. Perform a search on the topic “dress for success.” From your readings and
observations, what does the way in which a person dresses have to do with
communication? L4, A2, YourLastName
Discussion questions on "Organizational Change"
1. Think of a time when you have witnessed an organization going through a
change. What were the concerns of the employees? What did the leadership or
management do, if anything, to eliminate or lesson those fears? L4, A3,
YourLastName
2. In this lesson, the concept of “buying in” was mentioned or referred to
several times. From previous chapters, what type of leadership style or
management innovation would this suggest? L4, A4, YourLastName
3. List two mandates from the No Child Left Behind Act that you think will
do the most to change our current educational system. L4, A5, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapter 9 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 5 - Assignments
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
1. Do you think that education in America is substandard to education
provided to students in other countries, especially in Europe? If so, why?
L5, A1, YourLastName
2. Why has the federal government, until now with the No Child Left Behind
Act, taken such a hands-off approach to education? L5, A2, YourLastName
3. Go to: http://www.ontheissues.org/social/Barack_obama_Education.htm.
Comment on the Education plan outlined by, then President-Elect Obama.
L5, A3, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapter 10 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 6 - Assignments
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
1. Access http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/development/modeling.html.
What are the four types of supervision (management)? What determines the
type of supervision given to employees? L6, A1, YourLastName
2. Access the AFT, NSBA and NEA Web sites. What are some of the similarities
and differences expressed by these three organizations? L6, A2, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapter 11 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 - Lesson 7: Assignment
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the 3 more common types of
financing school construction? L7, A1, YourLastName
2. How does “weighting” students help to reduce the inequality of public
funding for education? L7, A2, YourLastName
3. A majority of states provide for a system of charter schools. Discuss the
implications of a charter school opening in a public school system. L7, A3,
YourLastName
4. What do you see as the possible impact of a voucher plan on American
public education? L7, A4, YourLastName
5. How do the provisions under IDEA differ from those of Section 504? How
are these two provisions funded in regards to local boards of education
paying for these services? L7, A5, YourLastName
6. What constitutes a “legal search” of a student? Do school officials need
the same degree of authority to search a student as do the police? L7, A6,
YourLastName
7. What are “major life activities,” as specified by the Americans With
Disabilities Act? L7, A7, YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
Read Chapter 12 and 13 from Lunenburg and Ornstein.
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ADOL 630 – Lesson 8: Assignment
Students are to email answers directly to the instructor and copy them,
along with the questions, to their electronic portfolio.
1. Provide definitions for the following terms: curriculum alignment,
curriculum mapping, and curriculum sequencing. How are these terms related?
L8, A1, YourLastName
2. Many people feel that the curriculum of a school consists of everything
that a child comes into contact with. If this is the case, what are some
examples of things in a school’s curriculum that might negatively influence
a student? L8, A2, YourLastName
3. What are some logical steps that an employer can use to determine the
validity of a resume or application? L8, A3, YourLastName
4. Why are some questions “off limits” during an interview? Provide at least
5 examples of these illegal or “off limits” type of questions. L8, A4,
YourLastName
5. Why is reference checking used so little in the employment process? L8,
A5, YourLastName
6. List 3 reasons for employing from within the school or community and 3
reasons why employment from outside the area might be beneficial. L8, A6,
YourLastName
Textbook Assignment
• Read Chapters 14 &15 from Lunenburg and Ornstein
• Read Gardening in the Minefield, and prepare an analysis/reaction to the
book. The response, which should be written following APA guidelines, should
be at least 4 pages in length. In the paper, address what you consider to be
some of the strengths and potential problems associated with the job of
school principal. Analysis/Reaction Paper, YourLastName
