This article addresses issues associated with applications of ideas from "chaos theory" to educational administration and leadership as found in the literature. Implications are considered in relation to claims concerning the behaviour of non-linear dynamic systems, and to the nature of the interpretations and recommendations that are made. To aid…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that scores from a self-anchored scale for depression function as unidimensional indicators of depression and that scores from a self-anchored scale for self-esteem function as unidimensional indicators of self-esteem. A total of 228 responses were obtained from a purposive sample of clinical and…

The existing maximum likelihood theory and its computer software in structural equation modeling are established on the basis of linear relationships among latent variables with fully observed data. However, in social and behavioral sciences, nonlinear relationships among the latent variables are important for establishing more meaningful models…

This article reports the use of a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique as a means of exploring our understanding of the leadership of Heads of Subject Departments within School Based Management (SBM) secondary schools in Hong Kong. Arguments made by Gronn (1999, 2000), Spillane et al. (2001) suggest that studies of leadership need to…

Existing research leaves a gap in explaining why African American adolescents do not exhibit more anxiety and depression than other youth, at the same time that they experience more contextual risk factors. The current study examined the roles of social support as well as possible mediators self-esteem and ethnic identity (sense of belonging to…

The study develops a school safety and student achievement model, incorporating the concepts of student background, school structure, school culture, school disorder, and student academic achievement, and fits it to 613 elementary schools in New York City, using Structural Equations Modeling technique. The model fits the data well based on both…

This is the first study to test whether the stages of change of the transtheoretical model are qualitatively different through exploring discontinuity patterns in theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables using latent multigroup structural equation modeling (MSEM) with AMOS. Discontinuity patterns in terms of latent means and prediction patterns…

The purposes of this study were to present a conceptual model for selection into the early childhood profession and to test the model using contemporaneous assessments. A stratified random sample of center-based child care providers in 4 Midwestern states (n=964) participated in a telephone interview, and 223 were also assessed with the Early…

Background: Research has shown that motivation is a key factor in the learning process as well as in school achievement. In essence, a number of researchers have highlighted the close link between motivation and achievement-related behaviours such as effort. Aims: The present study aims to acquire more specific information concerning the relations…

Scores from a revised version of the School Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ) were validated using a sample of teachers from a large school district. An exploratory factor analysis was used with a randomly selected half of the sample. Five school environment factors emerged. A confirmatory factor analysis was run with the remaining half of…

Background: Previous research suggests a link between inter-parental conflict and children's psychological development. Most studies, however, have tended to focus on two broad indices of children's psychological adaptation (internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems) in considering the effects of inter-parental conflict on children's…

This study investigated a measurement model of personality resilience and the contribution of personality resilience to lower achieving first grade students' academic achievement. Participants were 445 ethnically diverse children who at entrance to first grade scored below their school district median on a test of literacy. Participants were…

The authors examined circumplex models of interest structure across time (Grades 8, 10, and 12), gender, and analytic method in a secondary analysis of vocational interest type (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) data generated from the American College Testing database (national sample of 69,987 students).…

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that grade retention has a positive effect on children's teacher- and peer-rated academic competencies and on sociometric measures of peer acceptance. We also expected that the positive effect of grade retention on peer acceptance would be mediated by…

Using data from a sample of 455 African American children (ages 10 to 12 years) and their parents, this study tests a hypothesized model linking (a) maternal work demands to family routines through work-family conflict and depressive symptoms and (b) maternal work demands to children's externalizing and internalizing problems through family…