A STUDY OF THE COMPONENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE MUSCOGEE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the major components of an effective, internal school district communication system as perceived by teachers and administrators of the Muscogee County School District. Specific objectives were (1)to identify the most important and least important components of an effective, internal school district communication system as perceived by the teachers and administrators of the Muscogee County School District, and (2)to analyze the relationship between respondents' background information and their responses to the importance of communication elements.;The major findings of the study are summarized below: (1)The most important components of an effective, internal communication system as perceived by the professional personnel of the Muscogee County School District are (a)information regarding pay and benefits, organizational policies, job duties, and professional opportunities; (b)mutual trust and openness between superior and subordinate; (c)knowledge of where information can be obtained within the district; and (d)communication clarity. (2)The least important components of an effective, internal communication system as perceived by the professional personnel of the Muscogee County School District are (a)sending and receiving messages through the grapevine, and (b)the use of the squawk box, weekly and monthly faculty meetings, the school intercom, staff development classes, suggestion boxes, bulletin boards, and curriculum guides. (3)There is a consensus by the Muscogee County School District professional personnel regarding the importance of 76 communication components for an effective, internal school district communication system. (4)Although there are significant differences between teachers and administrators regarding their perceptions of the importance of communication components, the disagreement tends to be in intensity of agreement rather than in the direction of agreement. (5)The background variable most significantly related to perceptions regarding the importance of communication components is position (teachers vs administrators) of employment.;Subsequent to a comprehensive review of the literature related to organizational communication, a questionnaire was constructed for identifying the major components of an effective, internal communication system. The instrument also obtained information regarding the respondent's sex, age, position, length of time in education, length of time employed by the Muscogee County School District, and length of time in present position. The questionnaire was administered to all administrators of the Muscogee County School District and to a randomly selected, stratified sample population of classroom teachers and other professional staff members. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and chi-square and correlation analysis.