Digital Commons Network^™

An Explanation Of The Supervisory Model Used By Elementary Principal Supervisors In The State Of Missouri, David J. Hvidston, Bret Range, J Anderson, Brady Quirk

School Leadership Review

The goal for this paper was to discuss the efforts a school district has taken to utilize elementary principal supervisors to build and develop principals’ leadership capacities. The question considered was: (1) How are principals supervised and evaluated in one district? Attempting to answer this question is an important step in operationalizing guiding principles that can be shared with principal supervisors. The discussion included the importance of standards, the modeling of instructional supervision by principal supervisors, the reliance of guiding questions and potential data sources. Additional critical factors included coaching with two-way communication based on a trusting, reflective relationship. As …

Differences In Algebra I End-Of-Course Exam Performance Of African-American Girls As A Function Of Their Economic Status: A Texas, Multiyear Analysis, Latonia Amerson, Cynthia Martinez-Garcia, John R. Slate

School Leadership Review

The extent to which differences were present for African American girls as a function of their economic status in their performance on the Texas state-mandated Algebra I End-of-Course exam was examined. Specifically addressed was the extent to which African American girls differed in their performance on three Grade Level performance standards: Approaches Grade Level, Meets Grade Level, and Masters Grade Level. Inferential statistical analyses of Texas statewide data revealed that statistically significantly lower percentages of African American girls who were economically disadvantaged met the three Grade Level standards than African American girls who were not in poverty. Implications and recommendations …

Economic Status Differences In Industry-Based Certification Attainment Rates Of Texas High School Graduates: A Multiyear, Statewide Analysis, Robert Todd Hicks, John R. Slate, Janene W. Hemmen

School Leadership Review

This statewide, multiyear study was an examination of industry-based certification attainment rates by the economic status of Texas public high school graduates. Data analyzed were provided by the Texas Education Agency via the Texas Academic Performance Reports for the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school years. Inferential statistical analyses revealed that students who were economically disadvantaged earned industry-based certifications at a lower rate than all Texas high school graduates in aggregate. The gaps in attainment rates between students who were economically disadvantaged and the all student group increased over the three school years of data analyzed. Trends in attainment for both …

A Qualitative Narrative Study About Mental Well-Being And Coping Strategies In Generation-Z Undergraduate Student Leaders, Lacey Folsom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was a qualitative narrative on the advantages experienced by Generation Z students who participated in leadership roles within university-sponsored student organizations. This study incorporated generational, coping, and transactional theories to help the researcher establish a potential link between the mental well-being of students and their participation in cocurricular university-sponsored groups. The primary goal of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how students perceived the influence of their participation in student organizations on their ability to handle mental well-being issues. It sought to explore whether factors such as time commitment, skill development, or an increased sense …

Effects Of Secondary Traumatic Stress And Burnout In Special Education Teachers, Alison Bradford M.A.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Secondary traumatic stress and burnout have been well-documented in the psychological field. In recent years, these effects of occupational stress have started appearing in other professions, especially in helping fields such as mental health, social work, and even education. The purpose of the study was to explore teachers’ perspectives about their current levels of stress, including burnout and secondary traumatic stress along with their current methods of managing stress to determine whether secondary traumatic stress predicts burnout and whether secondary traumatic stress affected special education teachers at a higher rate than general education teachers. A survey was used to gather …

Exploring Educators' Experiences With School Ecosystems: A Qualitative Inquiry, Jane Mcintosh Cooper, Sheila Baker, John Decman, Leslie Gauna

School Leadership Review

This exploratory inquiry offers a glimpse into educators’ perceptions that connect their professional values and goals to their lived experiences in classrooms. Through the use of an open-ended survey, participants gave positive and negative experiences and ideal scenarios. Findings suggest that visibility and validity, professional advancement, and voice and agency were key gauges of alignment or dissimilitude for participants. Implications for administrators and leadership are discussed.

The Impact Of Texas High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Culture On Their Intent To Stay Or Leave From Their Position, Abigail Crawford, Lesley F. Leach, Ron Rhone, Juanita Reyes

School Leadership Review

ABSTRACT

Teacher attrition has been an issue in education for decades, however, post-pandemic, the problem has grown exponentially. Teachers at the high school campus are often particularly difficult to replace because of their specialized areas. Yearly faculty surveys often ask teachers to share their perceptions of their campus, including but not limited to, faculty relationships, administrative decisions, student discipline, and learning and assessment. While teachers’ perceptions of these areas of campus life might be positive or negative, do any of these areas motivate a teacher to leave or to stay? The purpose of this research is to investigate high school …

Bilingual Education Program Type And The Reading Performance Of Emergent Bilingual Children: A Multiyear, Texas Investigation, Clare A. Resilla, John R. Slate

School Leadership Review

In this study, we examined the extent to which Grade 3 reading performance of Emergent Bilingual students differed by bilingual education program type (i.e., Dual Language Two-Way, Dual Language One-Way, Transitional Early Exit, Transitional Late Exit). We specifically analyzed data for three consecutive years (i.e., 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019) of data about their performance in the three reading reporting categories (i.e., Category 1, Category 2, and Category 3) and the three grade level performance measures (i.e., Approaches Grade Level, Meets Grade Level, and Masters Grade Level) before the pandemic. In all 18 analyses, Emergent Bilingual students in the Dual Language …

K-12 School Administrator Candidates’ Perceptions Of Their Roles In Supporting Teachers To Address Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adam I. Attwood, Benita G. Bruster, John R. Mcconnell, Iii, Laura D. Barnett, Christi M. Maldonado

School Leadership Review

This study of a K-12 administrator preparation program adds to the research literature on trauma-informed education by addressing a gap in the literature on K-12 administrator candidates’ knowledge of the meaning of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and what their roles are in supporting teachers who have students with ACEs. K-12 school administrator candidates (N = 102) completed a survey designed by these researchers on this topic. The concept of ACEs is addressed as part of trauma-informed education from the K-12 administrator candidates’ point of view using a concurrent mixed methods case study approach at one administrator preparation program. Implications …

2023 Tcpea Outstanding Dissertation Of The Year Research Summary, Maegan Collins, Kaye Shelton Dissertation Chair

School Leadership Review

This phenomenological study explored perceived first-generation college student retention at a Texas four-year higher education institution post-vertical transfer. The participants in this study consisted of 12 full-time and part- time students who identified as first-generation college students and had vertically transferred from a two-year higher education institution. In addition, participants transferred between 35 and 120 academic credit hours from a two-year higher education institution and had been enrolled for at least one academic semester at their four-year higher education institution. On-campus and virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed, which resulted in major themes. This study revealed academic and social …

Igniting Resilience During Critical Times: Reflections Of Women Superintendents, Janice L. Taylor, Sharon Ross, Kathryn Washington, Kelly A. Brown

School Leadership Review

This qualitative study sought to explore the perceptions of women school superintendents in K -12 public schools in Texas about the challenges they face as leaders and how they endure these impactful challenges, particularly during critical times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Polidore’s Resilience Theory (2004) as the theoretical framework, the study sought to determine which of the nine resilience qualities, either innately possessed or through acquisition over time, helped to sustain the women superintendents during adverse situations associated with the highest level of leadership in a school district. The nine qualities of resilience include: religion, flexible locus of …

Empowering Youth Through Social Justice: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of The Deaf Community Travel Trunk Project, Emma Halliburton, Lisa Moore

Undergraduate Research Conference

As part of my honors requirement in my d/Deaf Education program, I crafted a Travel Trunk for humane education focusing on the area of social justice. Within that, due to my own personal connections, I elected for my Travel Trunk to center the Deaf Community. Using the book Listen, which details Evelyn Glennie's achievements, the project aimed to instill empathy. Students engaged with Glennie's story through a YouTube video and hands-on percussion activities, including wearing noise-canceling headphones. The research included pre- and post-surveys in an elementary classroom, assessing perceptions of deaf individuals as well as a field observation protocol. Utilizing …

Educator Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy And Preparedness To Work In High Poverty Schools, Kristen Carroll, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Marlynn Griffin, Taylor Norman, Summer Pannell, Mary Josephine Carney

School Leadership Review

This study examined the perceptions of educators to determine if they felt that they were adequately prepared to teach in a high poverty school setting. The participants, educators from four school districts, completed a survey based on their perceptions of their own level of self-efficacy and preparedness to work in high poverty schools. The analyses indicated that, overall, educators felt well-prepared with limited supporting evidence to work in high poverty schools in the areas of student learning and engagement, which included curriculum and pedagogy, differentiation, and assessment. Findings further indicated a need for professional learning so educators can best support …

Ineffective School Leadership: Teachers Weigh-In, Jerry Burkett, Sonya D. Hayes

School Leadership Review

Effective school leaders are essential to the success of the school environment. Teachers have left schools due to poor and ineffective campus leadership, but often do not report the reasons why they left or do not have a safe mechanism in place to support their claims and drive campus change. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the perceptions of teachers who work in elementary, middle, and high schools in Texas on the qualities of ineffective principals and how these qualities affect teacher retention. Respondents in an open-ended survey reported that ineffective principals lacked character, professionalism, and ethics; …

The Importance Of Endrew: Analyzing The Influence Of A New Legal Precedent In Pennsylvania Due Process Hearing Officer Decisions Before And After Covid-19 Closures, David H. Rush

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In 2017, a new standard for determining substantive violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established with the ruling for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Recently, the United States Department of Education and State Education Agencies have cited the Endrew decision as being important in defining what constitutes a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, in light of mandated school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite its noted importance, there has been limited analysis into how this new legal precedent has influenced special education due process hearing officer decisions. …

Understanding The Addiction Recovery Experience: The Use Of Experiential Learning In Undergraduate Human Services, Chaniece J. Winfield, Jason M. Sawyer

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Since 2020, the steady rise of overdose and substance use related deaths has created an ongoing need for a greater addiction workforce. Responding to this need, Human Service education programs are strongly encouraged to prepare competent professionals to work in recovery-oriented treatment settings. Research supports experiential learning to foster clinical competency, however its application toward SAMSHA transdisciplinary foundations in human service education is limited or unknown. The authors present an exploration of the use of experiential learning as a teaching tool to foster student competency toward the SAMSHA core transdisciplinary foundations of application to practice and professional readiness.

Covid, Church, & Cuts: A Single Narrative Case Study Of Pandemic Impacts On A Bi-Vocational Pastor & Barber, A. D. Hooker, Camille S. Talbert

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

This narrative case study provides an in-depth look into the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the perspective of an assistant pastor with a small African American church in an urban city. His story indicates that the pandemic had both positive and negative effects on the pastor’s ability to carry out his role of pastoral care and ministry. Some positives were the results of new technological adaptations that helped to improve members’ consistency in attending and participating in weekly services. Some negative effects imposed by COVID-19 was the revelation of imbalanced relationships and a lack of trust in God. The …

Curriculum As Theology: A Framework For Analyzing Curriculum As Theological Text, Russell Miller

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

This article seeks to establish a framework that contemplates curriculum as theological text by exploring the works of Neil Postman, W.F. Pinar, and C.S. Lewis in relation to past and present research and commentary. The paper investigates a range of concepts related to theology and curriculum including culture and religion, ethics, and morality. The author argues that curriculum is intrinsically a theological endeavor due to the nature of humanity and the interaction between learning and spiritual development.

Finding Golden Threads Of Commonality: An Interfaith Dialogue Sharing Experiences During Troubled Times, Vicki G. Mokuria, Diana Wandix-White, Aakash Chowkase, Vicki Mokuria

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

This interfaith dialogue conducted between three educator/scholars offers insights into how they navigated through the troubled times of COVID 19 and the summer of racial uprisings in 2020. The collaborative auto-ethnography presented in this paper helps us gain insights into how people of very different faiths, a Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu, found points of convergence as they openly discussed their challenges during those troubled times in our world.

Technology-Based Training With Social Work Students To Enhance Suicide Risk Assessment Skills During Covid-19, Warren L. Miller Jr, Aswood Bousseau, Jesse Capece, Jayashree Nimmagadda

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

The global COVID-19 pandemic has touched every aspect of human life. It has exacerbated how students continue to learn during a global health crisis. Specifically, training students to address mental health challenges (i.e., suicide assessments) during and post-COVID-19 is of the utmost importance. Previous research shows higher education institutions' responses to adjusting to previous world health crises, yet little is known about social work programs pivoting to technology-based training to educate BSW and MSW students to continue serving vulnerable populations in their field practicum during COVID-19. In this study, using the competencies attainment survey, the researchers at an east coast …

Exploring Ableism Through Teacher Identity And Empowerment: Teaching About Disability Through A Campus Common Reader, Alma Contreras-Vanegas, Amber Godwin, William H. Blackwell

School Leadership Review

This study was conducted to find how teacher candidates at a southwestern regional university understood ableism and empowerment based on their reading and interaction with the campus common reader. This work was important to help future teachers form healthy instructional practices that are inclusive of all students, regardless of ability in their future classrooms. The findings of this study showed evidence that this reading experience was transformative in helping teacher candidates form a teacher identity that was not only inclusive and welcoming of all, but also empowering.

"I Just Feel Worn Out”: Constraints To Teacher Agency Throughout Covid-19, Andrew Kipp, Spencer Clark, Carl Fahrenwald, Gustavo Perez

School Leadership Review

COVID-19 created serious and long-lasting difficulties within educational systems resulting in higher rates of teacher attrition in the U.S. Teacher agency, which is the teacher’s capacity to act professionally, is a predictor of teacher attrition. The school environment, through policies and practices, can inhibit teacher agency, and the constraint of agency promotes teacher attrition. As school structures shift to address new post-pandemic needs, there is an increased need to understand how school structures throughout the pandemic inhibited teacher agency and drove teacher attrition. We examine how school systems constrained the agency of three veteran high school teachers from March 2020 …

Graduate Student Instructors Coping Strategies And Concurrent Impact On Learning, Teaching, And Research, Razak K. Dwomoh, Boatemaa Tawiah-Sarpong

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Acculturation stress is ubiquitous among international students. There is a preponderance of the use of social support in dealing with stressors by international students. This paper investigates Ghanaian graduate student instructors’ (GGSIs) coping strategies for mitigating stress in learning, teaching, and research. Primary data collection was in-depth semi-structured interviews. Focus group discussions served as complementary data. Seven participants were purposefully selected using a criterion-based selection from a midwestern U.S. public university. Thematic analysis yielded substantial results. The results show that GGSIs use social support for learning, not teaching or research. Preferable strategies for teaching are professional work ethics and setting …

Educator Experiences In The Reshaping Of Schools During Challenging Times: "The New Normal Or Is It?", Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Pamela Wells

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this photovoice study was to better understand how the recent COVID-19 global health pandemic has professionally and emotionally impacted current school leadership. Educators faced varied challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from in-class to online or hybrid learning and often back and forth between both. The findings identified three overarching themes as major challenges faced by school leaders and professional school counselors during this pandemic: problem solving, emotional brutality, and exhaustion. The findings inform education stakeholders and policymakers about the experiences of educators in times of crisis, specifically during the recent global health pandemic. …

Preparing Aspiring Leaders To Address Special Education Needs In An Embedded Principal Residency Program: A Content Analysis, Dusty L. Palmer, Linnie Greenless, Fernando Valle, Cathy Palmer

School Leadership Review

This content analysis aims to investigate the effectiveness of a job-embedded principal residency program in addressing special education needs within schools. By analyzing various sources such as action plans, participant reflections, and student outcomes, this research seeks to provide insights into the impact of the program on improving special education practices, fostering inclusive environments, and enhancing overall student achievement. The findings of this study have the potential to inform principal preparation programs, school administrators, and educators about the benefits and challenges of implementing best practices to support support students with special education students.

The Rise Of Critical Race Theory: Current Perspectives And Policies On Crt In Education, Nate Scholten

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

In this policy brief on Critical Race Theory (CRT), I operationalize the theory, trace its origins in legal scholarship, discuss its rise within the field of education, and highlight current policies that have responded to this rise. While many see CRT as a helpful lens to view seemingly unnoticeable manifestations of oppression and injustice, others view the use of the construct as divisive, unnecessary, and detrimental to teaching and learning. After detailing the discourses on either side of this debate, I conclude this brief by drawing on Kumashiro’s (2004) notion of teaching for discomfort and the approach of action civics …

Policy Analysis Report: Later Class Start Time For Adolescents, Lee Anne Brannon

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This policy analysis offers possible solutions to the problem of early school start times across the United States. The average start time in middle and high school campuses is earlier than the recommended start time outlined by medical professionals. This report offers the rationale and research-based evidence to help schools understand the need for later start times, as developmentally appropriate for adolescent students.

The Race, Social Class, And Place-Based Gap In Rural Turnaround Policy: A Policy Brief, Karynecia E. Conner

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Abstract: For teachers, leaders, and policymakers To understand the factors that contribute to the successful implementation of rural school turnaround, there is a need to understand how turnaround leadership implements school improvement in different types of communities of color (Wright, 2019). Studies examining the implications of school turnaround in minoritized educational contexts have solely examined urban school contexts to exclude rural contexts (Mette & Stanoch, 2018). Rural schools of color undergoing turnaround face the fundamental unique educational challenges of rural schools and the education debt that has accumulated over time for people of color (Ladson-Billings, 2006). There is a greater …

Against The Tide: Indigenous Knowledge And Education For Humanization, Arturo Rodriguez, Kevin Russel Magill

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Power brokers and their market economies enforce education on a global level. According to the United Nations, the effects of global neoliberal capitalism cause human rights violations in all parts of the world, yet democratic countries scoff at these findings (Pogge, 2002 & 2005). People of the world continue to believe that tying minoritized students to existing structures and ensuring enculturation is the best possible outcome for all involved (Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2015). That is, minoritized children are educated to ensure first-world countries produce a minimally educated and willing labor force. In this paper we argue the following: 1) power …

The Covid Games: Resilience In The Shadow Of A Global Pandemic, Taylor D. Bunn

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This paper explores the student experience in North Texas through current research and interviews with students, parents, educators, and nonprofit leaders who leaned into the work of meeting basic needs in an extremely challenging time. The chapter begins with data on COVID-19 infection rates in the community and publicly available data from school districts and Texas Education Agency on academic achievement, grounding the chapter in quantitative facts. Next, findings from interviews provide context on the human impact of the pandemic. Parents and educators share their perspectives on the challenges students faced, unpacking what they wish they had known early in …