Educational Leadership Commons^™

The Efficacy Actions Of Priority School Leaders During The Dynamic Change Of School Reform, Micole D. Dyson

Dissertations

There are increasing demands and challenges from the state and federal government for continual academic improvement for all schools. Each year, the Michigan Department of Education creates a “Top to Bottom” list of schools, with the lowest-performing schools designated as priority schools. This priority designation invariably creates the need for principals to examine their own self-efficacy beliefs as they work with teachers to improve these schools.

The purpose of this basic qualitative study is to identify and describe principals’ beliefs in their abilities to organize and execute complex actions to achieve changes within priority schools. Identifying and naming a leader’s …

Review: ‘Culturally Responsive School Leadership’, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Context matters. These two words ring true everywhere, in every situation we find ourselves and for everything we do or say, but they have a particularly strong impact in American schools. Even though the fact that American schools have legally been desegregated since 1954, researchers such as Bolgatz (2005b); Delpit (1995); Lindsey, Robins and Terrell (2009); and (Singleton, 2014) argue that schools and classrooms are still largely segregated in a variety of ways. The majority of schools for example, lack contextually appropriate curriculum, do not promote diversity among students, teachers, and staff, and/or fail to engage all parents and community …

Using Oral Rehearsals To Develop First Grade Writing Proficiencies, Teresa Sanchez

MATL Action Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Improving The Rigor Of Online Education: Exploring Characteristics Of Faculty And Syllabi Within An Online Program Assessment Process, Brad J. Hamel

All NMU Master's Theses

As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive …

Design Parameters For Planning Cluster Randomized Trials Of Cognitive Skill Interventions: An Empirical Analysis Using The Collegiate Learning Assessment, Yu Du

Dissertations

Recently, higher education has started to place a premium on rigorous research that uses randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to test the impact of educational interventions. This may be due in part to concerns about a deficiency of high-quality evidence of the effectiveness of programs, policies, and practices to improve undergraduate students’ outcomes. Given the naturally nested structure in higher education, e.g., students nested in colleges/universities, researchers in higher education start considering a specific type of RCT called a cluster randomized trial (CRT), which have been frequently used in K-12 impact research. In a CRT, whole clusters, such as colleges/universities, are …

Perceptions Of Rural High School Professional School Counselors Regarding The Impact Of Strategies To Help At-Risk Learners Graduate, Beth Duvall Fleming

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study the perceptions of school counselors regarding the impact of the school counseling program, interventions, and other strategies to help at-risk learners persist to graduate. A qualitative research design employing an interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions allowed the respondents to share insights into the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of their individual experiences as school counselors. The results suggest students with various risk factors choose not to persist to graduate, transferring to homeschool or withdrawing from school as a dropout. Academic deficiency, severe misbehavior, poor attendance, and social …

Veteran Transition From Combat To Campus: A Mixed-Methods Study, Joanna R. Jones

Dissertations

The current research was carried out to investigate the overall satisfaction and benefits concerning student veteran programs at a public university located in southcentral Kentucky and the possible correlation of effectiveness within the supportive transitioning assistance programs for student veterans. The study included survey(s) distributions to administrators of veteran programs and student veterans.

The descriptive investigative study involved both aspects of quantitative and qualitative design, hence categorizing the study as mixed-methods. Descriptive research design is considered a scientific method which involves observing and/or describing behavior regarding the subject without influencing it in any way. Surveys were used during this study …

Principal Self-Efficacy And Learning Organizations: Influencing School Improvement, Kristina A. Hesbol

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Faculty Scholarship

One key characteristic of high-performing schools is how they function organizationally, enabling them to enact reforms effectively and to deal with regular organizational ambiguity and chaos. The principal plays a pivotal role in developing a school culture that supports high-performing schools. This research studies the relationship between principal self-efficacy and a principal's perception of her school as a learning organization. We examined specific subcategories of learning organization attitudes and behaviors to determine whether principals consider distinct organizational behaviors a proxy for indicators of a learning organization, and whether that was related to their self-efficacy. The findings indicate that principals must …

University Auxiliary Services: A Review Of Factors Impacting Privatization Decisions, Rita S. Gordon

Dissertations

The dynamics of higher education funding present unique challenges and opportunities for administrators. One method university administrators employ to contain expenses and provide additional revenue is privatization of academic and non-academic services.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the specific factors considered in a decision to privatize bookstore and/or dining service operations, and perceptions about whether the post-privatization decision met pre-privatization expectations. Gordon’s (2019) Privatization Decision Framework was created based upon existing research and then used to develop survey questions. Twelve pre-privatization decision factors, nine post-privatization contracted relationship expectation factors, overall satisfaction with the privatization decision, and …

Transformational Leadership Behaviors In Christian School Athletic Administrators And Its Correlation With Coach Efficacy, Christopher David Hobbs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Athletic administrators in a Christian school setting have an unusual amount of influence over large portions of the student body via their influence on coaches. This study investigated the possibility of a correlative relationship between how varsity team head coaches perceive the degree of transformational leadership behaviors of their athletic administrators and their own coaching efficacy. Transformational leadership behaviors could be the most relevant leadership style for modern society while the benefits of coaching efficacy range from an increase in job satisfaction to an increase in student-athlete satisfaction with the athletic experience. A correlation between athletic administrator leadership and the …

Professional Learning Communities And Relational Trust: A Correlational Study, Theresa Ann Pedersen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are considered best practice, but additional research was needed to examine the relationships necessary to build and sustain PLCs. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine if there is a relationship between the perceptions educators have about their PLC and the level of relational trust among its members. Scores for the analysis came from two surveys, The Professional Learning Community Assessment-Revised and The Omnibus T-Scale (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 2003). The sample consisted of 104 educators in 3 school districts in Iowa, Illinois, and New York; each was awarded model PLC distinction. Each teacher completed …

A Multiple Case Study On Fifth-Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of Scripted Reading Programs' Impact On Reading Comprehension, Antonio Tyrone Hairston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine fifth-grade Read 180 teachers’ perceptions of a commercial scripted reading program and how their perceptions might influence implementation at eight elementary schools in only one school district in Virginia. The theoretical framework of this study was adapted from Lave’s (1991) situated learning theory grounded in constructivism. According to Lave, situated learning should occur in an environment where the instructor provides a learning situation that embodies problem-centered activities that support knowledge. The study assessed how perceptions of a commercial scripted reading program impacts student comprehension for fifth-grade Read 180 elementary teachers …

A Phenomenological Study Of Elementary Principal Experiences With School Improvement In The Age Of Accountability, Leigh Ann Bramlett Sears

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe elementary principals’ experiences with school improvement in Northeast Georgia Title I schools. The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory, which explains a triadic view of behavioral, environmental, and personal factors. Reciprocal interactions between factors contribute to self-efficacy beliefs associated with future action to achieve goals such as those in a Title I School Improvement Plan. Triadic reciprocal determinism was defined as cooperative, interdependent components shaping principals’ knowledge, skill, and direction to lead changing federal and state mandated school improvement initiatives. This study attempted to answer the …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Job-Related Experiences Of Early Career Catholic Elementary School Principals In The Mideastern Region Of The United States, Sarah Kerins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the job-related experiences of early career Catholic elementary school principals in the Mideastern region of the United States. Alderfer’s (1969) existence, relatedness, and growth theory provides a foundation to answer the central research question: How do early career Catholic elementary school principals in the Mideastern region of the United States describe their job-related experiences? Participants were purposefully selected from a population of Catholic elementary school principals employed within the Mideastern region of the United States who had completed one but not more than five years of service. Using a transcendental …

The Relationship Between Teacher Self-Efficacy And The Quantity Of Office Discipline Referrals They Write, Brian Patrick Conary

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Teachers’ levels of self-efficacy affect not only how they view themselves, but also how they view their students. Some students receive more discipline referrals than others, leading to higher retention and dropout rates for those students with a significant number of discipline referrals. Discipline referrals are subjective. Therefore, each person’s viewpoint attributes to how student behavior is perceived and reported. In addition to a disproportionate number of referrals received by certain students, some teachers are more prone to write a large number of referrals. Social cognitive theory states that an individual’s self-efficacy influences his or her actions. Individuals with a …

A Phenomenological Study Of Graduated Nursing Student Athletes' Experiences Balancing Academics And Athletics, Robert E. Steed

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe the lived experiences of eleven graduated nursing student athletes who completed traditional, four-year nursing programs while concurrently finishing four years of athletic eligibility in their respective sport at three private, Christian, Midwest universities and across three different competitive collegiate athletic divisions. The theories guiding this study are Tinto’s Theory of Individual Departure from Institutions of Higher Learning, Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement, and Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress Response, as they relate to student athletes’ persistence to graduation and to nursing students who reportedly experience higher levels of …

Reducing High School Dropout: An Instrumental Case Study Of Successful High School Dropout Prevention, Sasha Davila Crocker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to understand the dramatic reduction in dropouts in a rural high school in central North Carolina. Dramatic reduction in dropouts is generally defined by having reduced the school’s dropout rate by at least 50% in less than three years. The theories guiding this study were social learning theory and the stage theory of organizational change. The research questions were as follows: (1) How did the high school drastically reduce the dropout rate? (2) What was the role of each key informant in reducing the dropout rate? The data collection processes included individual …

Profiles Of A Non-Profit Statewide College Women's Leadership Training Program's Effectiveness, Wendy Grey Huckabee Broyles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this intrinsic, multiple case study has been to describe the effectiveness of the non-profit statewide college women's leadership training program, Leading Edge Institute, through profiles of the program’s key stakeholders. The study participants included key stakeholders: members of the organization’s faculty, staff, and alumnae. The theory guiding this study was the transformational theory of leadership (Burns, 2010; Bass & Riggio, 2006; Caldwell, McConkie, & Licona, 2014; Kendrick, 2011), as it appreciates the individualization of diversity that informs different perceptions of reality (ontological philosophical assumption) and considers how social context helps those individuals develop personal values (social constructivism …

The Transformational Leadership Practices Of A College President: A Case Study Of Dr. James L. Doti, Adejoke Katherine Kassim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this single instrumental case study was to explore the transformational leadership practices of Dr. James L. Doti, the president emeritus of Chapman University, Orange County, California. The theory that guided this study was the transformational leadership theory by James McGregor Burns and Bernard M. Bass. The central question for the study was, “How did Dr. Doti lead the transformation of Chapman University between 1991–2016?” This study investigated the president’s demonstration of the four components of transformational leadership as identified by Bass: Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individual Consideration. The setting was at Chapman University, Orange …

A Correlational Study Of The Demographic And Job Factors Related To Job Satisfaction And Burnout Among School Psychologists, Carla Donahue

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

School psychologists are uniquely trained to provide a variety of services within a school setting. Because of the diversity in job responsibilities and the growing expectations of school psychologists across different settings, low rates of job satisfaction and high rates of burnout are contributing to school psychologists leaving the profession, and fewer students enrolling in school psychology programs. The shortage of school psychologists exacerbates the problems, with low job satisfaction and high rates of burnout as practicing school psychologists often serve more students and schools than is recommended by the National Association of School Psychologists. Studies of job satisfaction and …