Perceptions of Iowa Superintendents Regarding the Appropriateness of Parent Advisory Councils

viii, 94 leaves. Advisor: Charles D. RowleyThe problem. The study was designed to determine the perceptions of Iowa superintendents regarding the appropriateness of parent advisory councils and to determine whether differences existed between superintendents regarding selected school issues. Procedure. A random sample of 112 Iowa superintendents responded to a questionnaire designed by the researcher. Twenty school issues were rated on a Likert type scale for input and participatory decision making. A two-way classification analysis of variance and t-test were used on the independent variables, school district size and administrative experience. Findings. Differences existed among superintendents for input and school district enrollment on five issues. No differences existed among superintendents for participatory decision making and school district size on all selected issues. Differences existed among superintendents for input and administrative experience on three issues. Differences also existed among superintendents for participatory decision making and administrative experience on two issues. There were differences among superintendents for the interactive effects of both input and participatory decision making on school district size and administrative experience for one issue. Differences also existed among superintendents for twenty issues when considering the appropriateness of input and participatory decision making. Conclusions. Six of the seven hypotheses were rejected. It was generally concluded that input was more appropriate for parent advisory councils than participatory decision making. Recommendations. It was recommended that : (1) parent advisory councils should be considered as an effective avenue for providing input on school issues, (2) parent advisory councils should be utilized to provide input rather than participatory decision making, (3) a nationwide study involving a larger sample should be conducted to determine the appropriateness of school issues for parent advisory councils, and (4) a study regarding the appropriateness of parent advisory councils should be conducted to determine whether differences exist in the perceptions of superintendents utilizing parent advisory councils and those not utilizing parent advisory councils