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Reports research into American children’s attitudes towards the Asian tsunami of 26 December 2004, based on a poll of 1,251 eight to 18‐year‐olds. Divides this age range into “tweens” of 8 to 12 year olds, and “teens” of 13 to 18, and notes differences between these subgroups in the answers received. Compares the reaction of Generation Y, which includes both age groups surveyed, to the preceding Generation X. Finds that: 68 per cent of children surveyed were closely following the news about the tsunami and only 7 per cent were not following it at all; 54 per cent felt that the media were paying the right amount of attention to the event and only 11 per cent thought there should be less coverage; 88 per cent had heard acquaintances talking about it; 61 per cent felt motivated to take action and became involved in the relief effort, with private prayer the most common action; 33 per cent actually gave money; 20 per cent were very worried about a further tsunami; 50 per cent thought that Americans were doing all they could to help the victims, but 29 per cent thought that more could be done. Concludes that Generation Y is characterised by its group and community orientation, and differs in this from the disaffected and individualistic Generation X that preceded it. Considers the significance of the concept of generation, noting that young adults are the oldest portion of Generation Y and that their attitudes to the geographically distant disaster were closer to those of the tweens and teens than were those of adults as a whole.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors of parent satisfaction, then identify predictors of overall school satisfaction among three groups of variables: district characteristics, parent demographics, and school satisfaction factors. Despite the importance of parents in the success of schoolchildren, few empirical studies address the complexities and factor structure of parent satisfaction with their children's school.

This paper reports findings from a survey of 30,279 parents from 121 schools in 27 school districts across the USA conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc. The researchers employed factor analysis to identify factors of parent satisfaction, and then regressed overall satisfaction on district characteristics, demographic variables, and satisfaction factors.

In this paper three parent satisfaction factors were found: the extent to which parents received adequate information from the school about their children, and the degree of involvement the school and teachers afforded them, the adequacy of school resources, and the extent to which school leadership (Board of Education and School Superintendent) was effective and managed the school budget well. These factors significantly predicted overall parent/school satisfaction even after district and demographics were controlled.

The study increases one's understanding of the underlying factors that explain parent satisfaction, and demographic, and district characteristics that predict parents' satisfaction. The findings suggest factors that school administrators manage these factors in order to improve parent satisfaction.

Despite the importance of principals' satisfaction with their school's performance (PSS), few empirical studies have addressed the components and predictors of principals' satisfaction with their school. The purpose of this study is to identify the most salient components of PSS among school satisfaction indices, districts' characteristics, and principals' demographics.

This study was a secondary data analysis of a survey of 431 principals in 29 school districts across the USA conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc. The researchers first identified reliable indices of PSS from the survey instrument responses. PSS was then regressed on districts' characteristics, demographic variables of the principals, and school satisfaction indices.

A total of 11 reliable PSS indices were identified. Negative student behavior, decision‐making involvement, and equipment and facilities indices significantly predicted PSS after district and demographic variables were controlled.

This study offers an explanation of the underlying dimensions of principals' satisfaction of their schools' performance. The findings suggest actions that principals should take in order to improve their school satisfaction and ultimately, school effectiveness.

In the world of public school education everything depends on good leadership. Sadly, many of our schools administrators can't differentiate the difference between leading and managing; far too many of them don't know the first thing about fundamental leadership principles. In short, they don't understand the fundamentals of Mission Oriented Leadership, the need for top-down leadership, or the critical differences between leadership and management. A cursory review of the selection process for school administrators, and the graduate level curriculums for those who seek a degree in school administration, clearly supports the contention that policymakers and educators are under the misconception that anyone can be taught or trained to be an effective school leader. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis (IJOA) is a leading journal that has published high-quality research focused on various facets of organizational analysis since 1993. This paper aims to conduct a retrospective analysis of the IJOA journey from 2005 to 2020.

The data used in this study was extracted using the Scopus database. The bibliometric analysis, using several indicators, is adopted to reveal the major trends and themes of the journal. The mapping of bibliographic data is carried using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny.

The study findings indicate that IJOA has grown for publications and citations since its inception. Five significant research directions emerged, i.e. organizational diagnostics, organization citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment to employee retention, psychological capital and firm performance, based on cluster analysis of IJOA’s publications.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of IJOA. The study presents the key themes and trends emerging from a leading journal, considered a high-quality journal, for researching various facets of organizational functioning by academicians, scholars and practitioners.

Purpose – Using Philadelphia as a case study, the chapter explores whether the city is poised to meet the Obama administration's goal of restoring the country's place to first in the world in college attainment. The chapter provides an overview of the national funding and policy contexts in which the president announced the college attainment goal, examines Philadelphia's efforts to improve high school and college graduation rates, and describes the challenges facing low-income students in disadvantaged neighborhoods who articulate college ambitions. The chapter ends with a set of policy recommendations to improve education outcomes in cities that struggle to educate their own.

Methodology/approach – At its core, the chapter uses interview and focus group data to understand college awareness in North Central Philadelphia. The study draws upon interviews and focus groups conducted with students, parents, teachers, program administrators and staffs, and other community stakeholders.

Findings – The data show that Philadelphia is unprepared to meet the president's challenge due to extremely low literacy rates and other significant barriers associated with poverty.

Research limitations/implications – It is a small qualitative study. Additional study designs can build upon the data collected.

Practical implications/originality/value of paper – The study provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities to improve education outcomes in Philadelphia.