Introduction:

This assignment is designed to encourage you to explore what is published about management and/or leadership. As stated in the Sciarra/Dorsey text, there are over 1000 books published on leadership; this is your opportunity to explore one in depth.

You will complete a literature review of some area of business management by reading a single book or exploring a topic through articles and the internet. After completing the review, you will apply what you discovered to the task of being a successful early childhood education director.

Book Name: Why the Best Man for the Job is a Woman, Esther Wachs

This assignment is due week 13: it will require research and preparation - don't wait until the last minute. By week 3 you will submit the author or topic you have selected for this assignment.

Getting Started:

1. The first step in this assignment is to choose an area of management/leadership which interests you. Browse through the textbooks; visit bookstores (business section); check out web sites; reflect on your own areas of strength and weakness to help narrow down your topic. Here are two sources of books:

• Review Possible references at the end of this paper for a list of books which work well for this assignment.

1. Once you have selected a topic , you need to explore it thoroughly in order to explain it in your paper. If selecting a book, read it carefully with the assignment in mind.

Writing Your Paper:

1. Your reading critique will consist of two basic sections, plus the resources used (articles, books, web sites, etc.). For this assignment, all aspects of APA format will be required: title page, main body of the paper with author citations, and reference page.

Section I

This section will include two parts:

1. a topic paragraph which contains a brief description of your topic and a couple of questions you will try to answer in the body of your paper and;
2. a one page outline which identifies three or four major areas of inquiry and points to consider within each. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH HOW TO CREATE AN OUTLINE, CHECK THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT, WHICH PROVIDES INSTRUCTIONS.

How to Make an Outline

A few sample areas of questioning might be: 1) What is the main theme or theory? 2) How does the author define leadership? 3) In what situations can this theory be applied? 4) What is required to apply this theory? The purpose of this topic paragraph and the outline are to help you organize your thoughts and integrate your sources. Every part of the outline should be developed in your paper and sources should be cited. The topic paragraph you write for this section may be used as the introductory paragraph for the completed paper.

This section will be posted to a discussion page and shared with your peers. In this way, everyone is exposed to all ideas and theories. Do not skip this section.

Section II

This section will consist of your written research paper, covering the areas of inquiry listed in your outline in detail. In the conclusion of your paper apply what you learned in your research to the task of being an early childhood director; include a statement or two commenting on the relationship between what you learned and staff morale.

The paper itself should consist of 3-5 pages of expository text with a separate page of resources with two correctly formatted citations per page, giving proper credit to each author.

Suggestions to improve research report writing:

• Uses specific headings to identify each section and key idea
• Use your outline to write your paper.
• Separate different ideas by paragraphs
• Begin your report with a topic paragraph and end it with a concluding paragraph
• Main body of the paper contains at least two (2) author citations per page
• Final paragraph should serve to bring paper to appropriate closure
• For this paper, use APA documentation for citations, references and resources - Refer to APA Format.doc or The Little, Brown Essential Handbook by Jane E. Aaron for the correct format or go to http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.htmlLinks to an external site. for information.
• Paper should be typed; content of paper (excluding resource page) will be at least 3-5 pages in length, with a 6-page maximum.
• Refer to the writing rubric at the end of this paper for specifics about evaluation and expectations.