Dr. Dale Rawson

The perceptions of superintendents in Nebraska and Kansas concerning the statutory framework governing teacher negotiations and the perceived role of the superintendent in the teacher negotiation process were compared in this study. The relationship among the factors of statutory framework, superintendent's age, years of superintendent experience, recent impasse experience and district size was also explored in order to determine the influence of those factors upon the perceived role of the superintendent in teacher negotiations.

A questionnaire was used to gather data from 100 superintendents from each of the states of Kansas and Nebraska. A t test was conducted on the data to determine whether a significant difference existed in the statutory framework governing teacher negotiations in Kansas and Nebraska as perceived by superintendents in those states. Analysis of variance determined whether a significant difference existed between the perceptions of superintendents concerning the role of the superintendent in teacher negotiations according to the factors of statutory framework, age, superintendent experience, recent impasse experience and district size. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships among the five factors and the perceived role of the superintendent in teacher negotiations as well as to determine the amount of variance concerning the perceived role of the superintendent which was explained by the factors.

Kansas superintendents perceived their statutory framework governing teacher negotiations to be significantly more management oriented than did Nebraska superintendents. The role of the superintendent in teacher negotiations was also perceived differently by superintendents in Kansas and Nebraska as well as by superintendents in schools with less than 200 students compared to selected categories of schools with more than 800 students. The most significant factors of statutory framework and district size explained only 9.39 percent of the variance concerning the perceived role of the superintendent in teacher negotiations.