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The School Leader's Guide to Understanding Attitude and Influencing Behavior
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The School Leader's Guide to Understanding Attitude and Influencing Behavior
Working With Teachers, Parents, Students, and the Community


December 2004 | 160 pages | Corwin
"Educational administrators will find the book to be an easily applicable tool for solving many of the dilemmas they face in their schools."
Theron Schutte, Middle School Principal
Boone Community School District, IA

"The book provides a theoretical base for practical application of strategies that will strengthen beliefs and attitudes that support behaviors that can move a school toward the fulfillment of its educational mission."
David Erlandson, Professor
Texas A&M University

"This book keeps its promises: it is truly a guide for action that will be used by educators, especially educational change agents. Each of the authors comes out of an unusual blend of theoretical sophistication and practical experience that make this book a stimulating intellectual read and a solid manual for practice."
Steven Tozer, Professor of Education
University of Illinois

Why do people behave as they do? What makes them take a stand on a specific issue?

Solving school problems and making policy decisions require that we anticipate how people will feel about an issue or how they will behave. School leaders must understand the values, attitudes, and beliefs brought to different situations. The School Leader's Guide to Understanding Attitude and Influencing Behavior makes it possible for educators to scientifically understand and influence the attitudes and behaviors of diverse constituencies, both inside and outside the school.
Using the Model of Reasoned Action (MORA) enables readers to understand how people form attitudes and make decisions about a wide variety of future behaviors. Armed with this information, educators can change attitudes and influence behavior of teachers, staff, parents, and the community. This excellent resource includes:

  • Examples of attitude scales
  • A sample questionnaire
  • A checklist of steps through an attitude-behavior study
  • Tables to organize and report data
  • Data analysis presented in an easily-applied manner
When you must know how best to influence the attitudes or behaviors of others, this remarkable book will show you. Make a positive difference in your school or district!

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part I: A Useful Model for Changing School Behavior
 
1. How Are Attitudes and Behaviors Formed?
 
2. How Are Attitudes Toward People Formed and Changed?
 
3. How Are Attitudes Toward Behaviors Formed and Changed?
 
4. How Is Perceived Social Pressure Formed and Changed?
 
5. Putting it All Together: The Model as a Whole
 
Part II: Conducting Your Study
 
6. Narrowing Your Interest
 
7. Collecting Your Data
 
Part III: Understanding and Applying Your Results
 
8. Analyzing and Reporting Your Results
 
9. Applying Your Results to Your Interest
 
Resource A: Glossary of Key Terms
 
Resource B: Sample Scales
 
Resource C: Sample Questionnaire
 
Resource D: Action Plan Checklist for a Study Using the Model
 
Resource E: Internet-Based Resources
 
References
 
Index

“Educational administrators will find the book to be an easily applicable tool for solving many of the dilemmas they face in their schools."

Theron Schutte, Middle School Principal
Boone Community School District, IA

"Finally a book that can serve as a useful tool for aspiring and practicing school leaders. Today's school leader needs strategies and competencies in working with diverse audiences and perspectives. The Pryors have achieved this."

Luana Zellner, Director
The Principals' Center, Texas A&M

“The business of education is a ‘people’ business; the most successful school leaders are those who have a full understanding of the individuals and groups they lead. This book provides a practical framework that enables school leaders to effectively asses the attitudes and better understand the behaviors of their staff.”

Kevin Brown, Director of Personnel
Alamo Heights ISD, San Antonio, TX

"As a former public school administrator for many years, and now at the university level, I believe principals will find important topics that are though provoking and applicable . . . an excellent tool for administrators."

Larry Butler, Coordinator/Middle Grades Program
Texas A&M University

"This book fills a major void in the literature focused upon educational leadership."

Robert Fallows, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership
Northern Arizona University

"Given the press for school administrators to implement and manage change, this book provides a framework for identifying why new initiatives are resisted and how best to reduce or eliminate this resistance."

Bruce Barnett, Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
University of Texas at San Antonio

"The book provides a theoretical base for practical application of strategies that will strengthen beliefs and attitudes that support behaviors that can move a school toward the fulfillment of its educational mission."

David Erlandson, Professor
Texas A&M University

"Beyond providing a useful framework to examine behavioral changes in schools, this book delves into the details of how attitudinal change occurs and provides the reader with a process for transforming changes in schools."

Alan Shoho, Associate Professor
University of Texas at San Antonio

"Today's principals are in the hot seat. Communities demand excellence for their children. This book helps principals understand how to approach problem-solving and decision-making for successful outcomes."

Cordell Jones, Principal
Woodridge Elementary, San Antonio, TX

"An exceptional job of blending theory and practice. Written for the school administrator, it is clear, concise, and useful! It provides a tool that can bring about change and positively impact student performance and achievement."

Fred Richardson, Manager, High School Redesign
Communities Foundation of Texas
Key features
  • Includes charts, forms, sample surveys, and sample scales to simplify process
  • Written in a user-friendly, non-academic style for the research-phobic administrator