Interest in the topic of trust both within and between organizations has grown greatly in recent years. One key issue to understanding trust and how it can be more effectively fostered is understanding its causes. Based on the 1995 Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman model of trust, this article describes exercises that allow students to inductively…

Most states have high stakes tests in place and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), with adequate yearly progress requirements, is tightening the screws on the whole system. No part of public education, however, is going to feel the stress more than the high schools and high school principals. When students who have passing grades…

Background: The No Child Left Behind legislation creates an increased need for new school-based empirical studies whose implementation will depend largely on researchers' access to various school populations and records. Access decisions are typically made by superintendents, or their designees, functioning as gatekeepers who control right of…

This article discusses a group of new technologies--blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, online photo galleries, and RSS (Real Simple Syndication)--collectively referred to as the Read/Write web. These tools allow users to easily create and publish online content, and are beginning to have a profound impact on curriculum, classroom…

This paper summarizes the results of a university case study that explored the process of demonstrating institutional trustworthiness and factors that influenced the institution's bid for trustworthy status. Interviews were conducted with 14 administrators and faculty, while volumes of institutional history, archival documents, and press coverage…

A qualitative case study examined professor perceptions of the influence of race on the establishment of credibility in the classroom. Non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews elicited participant-generated conceptualizations of credibility of three Black and three White professors in the Northwest. Results indicated that…

A study examined the attitudes of legislators toward issues facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to determine (1) if there were differences in legislators' perception of the usefulness of mass media and interpersonal sources for information, (2) if there was a greater evidence of mass media usage among legislators who can be considered opinion…

An internal evaluation was carried out on the governing procedures of the Center for Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the spring semester, 1985-86. The evaluation focused on the major governance committee within the Center (the Center Executive Committee) and its relationship with the two other forms of…

Current print and broadcast journalism is moving away from a concept of journalism as "information people need to know" towards a notion of the "Right to Know": everything conceivable about everyone is newsworthy. It is axiomatic that a well-informed public is a better electorate. However, the First Amendment guarantee of…

This paper discusses from a historical perspective past shortcomings of public service television with its protective information policies, indifference to audiovisual language, absence of diversity in journalistic thematic choices, and "boring" style of television reporting. It is argued that there has been a substantial lack of concern…

The utilization of program evaluation may be made more effective by means of the application of contemporary persuasion theory. The Elaboration Likelihood Model--a model of cognitive processing, ability, and motivation--was used in this study to test the persuasive effects of source credibility and involvement on message acceptance of evaluation…

The debate over the role of the press in the Third World has largely ignored questions of public perception of media roles and performance. To investigate whether an audience perceives the fundamental difference between development journalism (where the state has significant involvement in news decisions) and a free press, and whether that…

A study examined whether teacher efficacy affects the relationship between the teachers' perceptions of the school principal and the perceived communication conflict strategies teachers use when they disagree with the principal. To test this relationship, 830 questionnaires were distributed to public school teachers in six school districts across…

Fiscal Impact Budgeting Systems (FIBS) are sophisticated computer based modeling procedures used in local government organizations, whose results, however, are often overlooked or ignored by decision makers. A study attempted to discover the reasons for this situation by focusing on four factors: potential usefulness, faith in computers,…

This summary, the last of a four-part study of social networks in Pontiac, Michigan, presents highlights from the three previous volumes and advocates the use of network research for understanding the dissemination process in educational innovation. Based on the conclusion that social networks provide a metaphor for understanding complex social…