Educational Leadership Commons^™

A Quantitative Case Study Of Transformational Leadership Characteristics Of Valley View University In Ghana, Isaac Boateng

Dissertations

Problem. Finding transformational leaders for private higher education institutions in Ghanais a major problem facing the governing boards of such institutions. There is tremendous growth at Valley View University. Finding transformational leaders could help support the growth of Valley View University (VVU). The task of university leaders has become very complex, ranging from communication, interaction, collaboration, shared leadership, policy interpretation, meeting the needs of foundations, boards, parents, students, alumni, faculty, staff, accreditation boards and the government. Therefore, finding transformational leaders for Valley View University to meet the above leadership challenges is a major problem.

Purpose. The purpose of this study …

Abrasive Teachers And Principal Response ; A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Administrative Decisions Regarding Teachers Who Bully Students, James Clayton Weller

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose. The American K-12 school principal is responsible for providing a learning environment that is physically and emotionally safe. An abrasive teacher who displays bullying behaviors towards students is a threat to that environment, impeding student academic progress and decreasing student perceptions of safety. Principals intervene, with risk to themselves. This study sought to understand principal intervention by: (a) estimating the prevalence of abrasive teachers, (b) asking how principals identify abrasive teachers, (c) classifying situational elements that enhance or inhibit the principal’s motivation to intervene, (d) exploring the interventions principals used, (e) examining the effects those interventions had …

Parental Involvement In The College-Going Process: A Q Methodology Study, Glori White Peters

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored parent perspectives about their participation in a federal TRIO pre-college program. Specifically, parents were asked to identify the program elements that encouraged and supported their participation in the college-going process of their child in a TRIO pre-college program. Forty parents of low-income, first generation TRIO students were purposefully selected for this study because they had participated in the parent component and because their child had enrolled in college within a year of high school graduation.

Q methodology was used for this study because it is designed to address the subjective first person viewpoint. In this Q study, …

Teacher Self-Efficacy, Content And Pedagogical Knowledge, And Their Relationship To Student Achievement In Algebra I, Antonia M. Fox

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy beliefs and the level of student achievement their students obtain as evidenced by the Algebra I Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. This study also explored teachers' mathematics content knowledge, mathematics pedagogical knowledge, and the relationship of each of these to their self-efficacy beliefs as teachers, and to student achievement. Finally, the study explored whether there were significant differences between teachers who teach Algebra I at the middle school level versus those who teach Algebra I at the high school level in each of the four …

The Impact Of Leadership Behaviors Of Blue Ribbon Catholic School Principals On School Culture, Rosaline Cardarelli

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of six successful Blue Ribbon Catholic schools to determine the relationship between principal's leadership behaviors, teacher's perceptions of principals and resulting school culture within six successful Blue Ribbon schools. A mixed methods approach for analysis was used through both qualitative and quantitative methods by means of principal interview data, observations, survey data, principal survey, and teacher survey. Participants in the survey included six principals and 80 teachers from elementary and high schools from rural as well as urban schools. The six schools in the study were all co-educational and ranged …

A Descriptive Case Study Of Appreciative Inquiry As An Approach To Strategic Planning For Special Education In A Public School, Paul L. Ruhlman Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study's purpose was to describe appreciative inquiry (AI) as an approach to strategic planning for special education in a public school. The study investigated four research questions. How do plans for special education emerge as participants engage in the four phases of AI during strategic planning for the future of special education in a public school district? What were participants' experiences and perceptions of AI as a method to develop strategic plans for the future of special education? to what extent did participants' experiences using AI mirror the philosophical principles of AI? to what extent did using AI to …

Educational Policy Decisions Effect Upon Same-Gender Public Education, Richard Gerard Catoire

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, with emphasis on greater choice and flexibility for parents and students in public education, to include the provision for same-gender public schools and classrooms, led to a resurgence in same-gender public education in the United States. With the results of the research on same-gender education presenting conflicting evidence and mixed-perspectives on the outcomes of same-gender education in improving academic achievement or attainment, there are still questions to be answered, not only to the effectiveness of same-gender education, but also to policy decisions to establish same-gender public education programs. While proponents of …

Community College Vice Presidents' Perceptions Of Academic Partnerships, Gloria Jean Savage-Early

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Partnerships have a very important place among two- and four-year institutions as they allocate limited resources to continue to give higher education students a quality education. Community college vice presidents desire to give students options of completing degrees while maintaining jobs and supporting families along with options of pursuing advanced degrees. This qualitative study, which uses a phenomenological approach, will explore the perceptions of higher education community college vice presidents regarding the factors that affect partnerships between two- and four-year institutions of higher education. The main research question and sub-questions, to be explored are as follow: How do vice presidents …

Additional Support Or Extravagant Cost? : Student-Athletes' Perceptions On Athletic Academic Centers., Matthew R. Huml, Meg G. Hancock, Matthew J. Bergman

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to investigate student-athlete perceptions of the academic resources and support staff within stand-alone athletic academic centers. An online survey was completed by 196 NCAA Division-I student-athletes at two private institutions in the Northeast and one public institution in the Midwest. Results showed both public and private institution student-athletes preferred receiving advising related to their academics from either an academic or faculty advisor instead of their athletic advisor. Additional results show senior student-athletes questioning the career planning resources available to them, private student-athletes perceiving a lack of resources, and public student-athletes perceiving greater hindrances by …

The Identification Of Successes And Barriers In Establishing Professional Learning Communities From Principals' Perspectives, Katie Carol Clarke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify the successes and challenges in establishing professional learning communities (PLC) within 25 school districts in southwest Minnesota. Data was generated by school principals completing a closed-ended online survey that revealed degrees of implementation of PLCs. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and provided a foundation for the development of semi-structured focus group questions. This was a sequential mixed methods study, as the quantitative data was first collected followed by obtaining qualitative focus group data. Themes were generated during data analysis of the focus group questions and findings revealed successes and …

Leadership Curricula Of Professional Athletic Training Programs, Elizabeth Drake

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Nationally-recognized athletic training organizations have identified leadership knowledge, skills, and competencies as essential for athletic trainers to be successful in the current healthcare environment and to help advance the profession of athletic training. However, little is currently known regarding the methods and the extent of leadership development in athletic training professional preparation programs. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine student and faculty perspectives of the extent and ways that athletic training professional preparation programs address leadership in their curricula.

Data were obtained via surveys completed by 71 students and 83 athletic training professional level program directors. Overall, …

Teachers' Perspectives Of Effective Lesson Planning: A Comparative Analysis, Jessica Miller Wunderle Straessle

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Compliance Predictors Of The Institutional Effectiveness Requirements Of The Southern Association Of Colleges And Schools Commission On Colleges' Baccalaureate Instittutions Between 2008 And 2012, Benjamin Ninjo Djeukeng

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A Program Evaluation Of A Leadership Academy For School Principals, Kristi E. Wagner

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This program evaluation focused on mid-range outcomes of a leadership academy for school principals. The mixed-methods evaluation included interviews, principals' instructional observation database, and teacher surveys. The Principal Academy program was designed to build principals' knowledge of high-yield instructional strategies (Hattie, 2009), expertise with tools to collect classroom data that provide immediate feedback to teachers, and facilitate collaborative observation conferences to engage teachers in professional learning to improve classroom instructional practices. Participants in the study included Academy leaders and directors, principals, and identified teachers. Interviews revealed evidence of principals' increased knowledge of intended instructional strategies and targeted professional learning for …

Braceros, Mexicans, Americans, And Schools: (Re) Imagining Teaching And Learning In Mexican America, Francisco Guajardo, Stephanie Alvarez, Miguel Guajardo, Samuel García Jr., José Ángel Guajardo, Jocabed Márquez

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines the stories of Braceros, Mexican contract workers who participated in an international labor agreement between the United States and México between 1942 and 1964. The stories Braceros tell challenge some conventional historiographical notions that they were powerless agents and victims of exploitative labor practices. The stories shed new light regarding the kinds of agency and power Braceros actually displayed in negotiating certain circumstances specific to their work.

Biblical Lessons For Educational Leaders: The Servant Leadership Of King David, Apostle Paul, Dr. Joe Hairston, Dr. Tim Markley, Tracy D. Lett

Dissertations

This qualitative research study used the methodology of historical documentation. Primary and secondary sources were gathered alongside of the original sources for Servant Leadership as espoused by Robert Greenleaf in "The Servant as Leader" (1970). The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible will be referenced as a primary source and a host of primary and secondary sources regarding Superintendents Hairston and Markley will be supplied. Throughout this study, Greenleaf's definition and eighteen characteristics of a servant leader will be the framework for interpreting the biblical passages as they relate to the leadership of King David and Apostle Paul, as …

Superintendent Leadership And Collective Bargaining Processes, Procedures, And Outcomes, Kevin David Rubenstein

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between superintendent leadership practices and collective bargaining processes and procedures using a sequential explanatory, mixed methods approach. In phase one of the study, superintendents in the State of Illinois were asked to complete the Leadership Practices Inventory - Self Assessment (2013) (LPISelf) and a demographic profile to identify the type of bargaining that had been used in the most recent negotiations with the teacher's union in their district. The LPI-Self yields data to identify a dominant leadership practice among five leadership practices including "Model the Way," "Inspire a Shared Vision," "Challenge the Process," "Enable Others …

An Analysis Of Leadership Education And Training In Maritime Education And Training Institutions, Yusuke Mori

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sex And Gender Identity: A New Perspective For College Student Development, Steven Ray Wise

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

One of the goals of college student development professionals is to help undergraduate students develop a meaningful sense of personal identity. Early in the history of the profession, practitioners borrowed freely from related fields such as sociology and psychology to guide their practice, but beginning around the 1960s, scholars began in earnest to develop their own unique body of literature. In this work I examine the development of that scholarly work as it relates to identity development—specifically the evolution of understanding around the issues of sex and gender identity development.

Beginning with William Perry, whose work has impacted so many …

A Contextual Examination Of Mississippi's Principal Preparation Programs And Their Impact On Student Achievement, Wilner Bolden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principal preparation programs have faced increased scrutiny concerning their effectiveness in preparing K-12 administrators (Bennet, Gooden, Lindauer, & Petrie, 2001). Due to consistently stagnant academic performance of schools across the nation and reported shortages of quality school leaders, principals have been pushed front and center as the targeted school leader responsible for school failure. Because principals received their preparation from either a traditional or alternate route principal program, there is a need to re-exam the effectiveness of these programs to enhance principal practice and principal performance. The purpose of this quantitative study, a contextual examination of Mississippi's principal preparation programs …