.... 80
Population and Sample ...................... 82
Instrumentation ............................ 84
Data Analysis .............................. 100
Chapter Summary & Transition ............... 102
APPENDIX รป SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ..................... 102
REFERENCES .......................................... 114
Since the mid-1980s in the United States, a movement to reform public education (primary through secondary levels) has grown along with public dissatisfaction with the product of the nation's public schools. In varying degrees, school reform has also become an issue in other countries. Levels of dissatisfaction have been higher in the United States, however, because the United States spends more on education than do other countries while simultaneously witnessing steady deteriorations in student performance in international testing in relation to the performance of students from other countries, standardized testing within the United States over time, and literacy levels within the general population (Mintrom & Vergari, 1997).
Many approaches to reform of public education have been advocated. One of the more persistent and controversial of these approaches would require public schools to function within a framework of business concepts (Hesse, 1997). This approach is controversial (1) because many people both within the education establishment and in the general population oppose on a variety of grounds what they perceive to be the introduction of a "bottom-line" mentality in public education and (2) because the phrase "within a framework of business concepts" is far too general to convey exactly what proponents of the approach have in mind for public schools.
Generally, proponents of requiring public schools to function within a framework of business concepts state that they want to make public schools cost-effective. An American public that has witnessed the introduction of...