A comparison of the leadership styles of the leaders at New World School of the Arts

The purpose of this study was to determine if the perceived leadership styles of the leaders at New World School of the Arts were different according to their roles in the organization. The study focused on the top leaders of the organization: the Provost who heads the college program, and the Principal who heads the high school program.^ The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Self and Observer developed by Kouzes and Posner (1990) was used to examine and compare the perceived differences between the leaders and the programs. The LPI measures five practices of exemplary leadership. The LPI Self and Observer was administered to the leaders, administrative subordinates, and faculty. In addition to the LPI a Demographic Inventory was used to collect data about the respondents.^ This study used a causal-comparative design to determine if differences existed between the leaders at NWSA as perceived by the leaders themselves and their respective administrative subordinates and faculty. T tests were conducted on the mean differences between the five leadership practices measured by the LPI. All tests were declared significant if exceeding the 5% level $(p={<}.05).$^ Significant differences were found within the college program across all five practice areas. To a lesser degree, significant differences were found within the high school in three practice areas: Inspiring, Enabling, and Modeling. Three significant differences were found between the college and high school in two practice areas, Enabling and Encouraging.^ There is little consensus of opinion within the college regarding the operative leadership style. Within the high school there is substantial similarity of perception regarding the operative leadership style. There is substantial similarity of perception between the programs regarding the operative leadership style. ^

School of Medicine Celebration at Florida International University

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Factors influencing university performance of associate in arts graduates transferring to the state university system

The purpose of this study was to examine the factorsbehind the failure rates of Associate in Arts (AA)graduates from Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) transferring to the Florida State University System (SUS). In M-DCC's largest disciplines, the university failure rate was 13% for Business & Management, 13% for Computer Science, and 14% for Engineering. Hypotheses tested were: Hypothesis 1 (H1): The lower division (LD) overall cumulative GPA and/or the LD major field GPA for AA graduates are predictive of the SUS GPA for the Business Management, Computer Science, and Engineering disciplines. Hypothesis 2 (H2): Demographic variables (age, race, gender) are predictive of performance at the university among M-DCC AA graduates in Engineering, Business & Management, and Computer Science. Hypothesis 3 (H3): Administrative variables (CLAST -College Level Academic Skills Test subtests) are predictive of university performance (GPA) for the Business/Management, Engineering, and Computer Science disciplines. Hypothesis 4 (H4): LD curriculum variables (course credits, course quality points) are predictive of SUS performance for the Engineering, Business/Management and Computer Science disciplines. Multiple Regression was the inferential procedureselected for predictions. Descriptive statistics weregenerated on the predictors. Results for H1 identified the LD GPA as the most significant variable in accounting for the variability of the university GPA for the Business & Management, Computer Science, and Engineering disciplines. For H2, no significant results were obtained for theage and gender variables, but the ethnic subgroups indicated significance at the .0001 level. However, differentials in GPA may not have been due directly to the race factor but, rather, to curriculum choices and performance outcomes while in the LD. The CLAST computation variable (H3) was a significant predictor of the SUS GPA. This is most likely due to the mathematics structure pervasive in these disciplines. For H4, there were two curriculum variables significant in explaining the variability of the university GPA (number of required critical major credits completed and quality of the student's performance for these credits). Descriptive statistics on the predictors indicated that 78% of those failing in the State University System had a LD major GPA (calculated with the critical required university credits earned and quality points of these credits) of less than 3.0; and 83% of those failing at the university had an overall community college GPA of less than 3.0.