Management by Objectives: The Process and Status of Implementation in State Departments of Education and Selected School Districts

Purpose. The problem of this study was: (1) to determine which of the fifty state departments of education in the United States were participating in a Management by Objectives (MBG) system of management; (2) to determine which of the public school districts identified by their respective state departments of education were utilizing an MBO system of management; (3) to determine how such a system was installed in each agency; and (4) to determine if the concepts and techniques of MBO, as practiced in selected educational agencies, favorably compared to the standards established for this study. Method. The descriptive-survey method of research investigation wsb utilized to collect data from the managerial offices of the fifty state departments of education and selected school districts throughout the United States. Data were gathered using a two-part questionnaire which was completed and returned by selected educational administrators at state and local levels who had Implemented MBO in their educational agencies. Summary. MBO had been implemented in a majority of the state departments of education in the United States. Officials from state departments of education and various MBO consultants assisted in locating ninety-nine school districts that were involved with an MBO system. Officials from state departments of education and selected school districts provided responses relative to demographic data and information relative to the methods of MBO implementation (Part I of the questionnaire)and responses pertaining to MBO concepts and techniques (Fart II of the questionnaire). Data from the questionnaire were reported, and a narrative was written describing the findings. Conclusions. Twelve hypotheses, which were related to questions in Part I and Fart II of the questionnaire, were tested. Significant differences were found by testing the hypotheses using the Student\u27s t test. There were significant differences in mean scores relating to seven of the twelve hypotheses