Digital Commons Network^™

A Wild Distinction: The Metamorphosis Of Teacher Identity Through Cognitive Dissonance And Urban Field Experiences, Meg White, Corine Meredith Brown, Connie L. Schaffer

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Teacher identity is not a common construct - it is used in different ways, by different people, and in different contexts. Yet the process of developing teacher identity as beginning professionals is critical. To paraphrase the word of one pre-service teacher, there is a wild distinction between the identity of a student and the identity of a teacher.

Exploring Difficult Truths And The Possibility Of Healing And Transformation Through The Art Of Norman Rockwell And Samuel Bak, Connie L. Schaffer, Martha Graham Viator

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Racism remains a pervasive problem in society. Beyond iconic photographs that capture a distinct moment in history that prompt reflection on racism, art can be a powerful prompt to encourage society to reflect on this persistent difficult truth. Norman Rockwell and Samuel Bak reconfigured highly recognized photographs into portraits with the intention to explore questions about racism. The photographs and the art they inspired feature a single child in the midst of surrounding racism. Through the use of these images, Rockwell and Bak move audiences beyond the immediate consideration of racism, toward healing, and to future transformation.

Salient Experiences In Student Development: Impact Of An Undergraduate Stem Teacher Preparation Program, Amie S. Sommers, Kelly Gomez Johnson, Paula Jakopovic, Julio Rivera, Neal Grandgenett, John A. Conrad, William E. Tapprich, Christine E. Cutucache

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The need for a comprehensive, high-quality pipeline for the development of undergraduate pre-service teachers, especially those that represent a diverse student body, within STEM disciplines is acute. Here, we studied the NoyceSCIENCE program to determine the most impactful experiences offered to undergraduates through the lens of student development theory. We used qualitative coding to analyze data collected from journals (n = 29) written by students of varying backgrounds, and at varying levels within the program (i.e., the Scholar and Intern level) over a 3-year program running period. We observed that faculty mentorship, the ability of undergraduates to mentor others, volunteer …

School To College To Career: The Need For Seamless Transitions, Phyllis K. Adcock, Jeanne Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Educators are keenly aware that high school students need guidance to prepare for college and careers. A multitude of options are available to help students, such as dual enrollment, remediation and advanced coursework, and the use of college readiness assessments to determine the desired and necessary pathway. What educators have not yet addressed is how to create successful transitions to meet the needs of each student.

Evolving Legal Issues In Education: Introduction To The Special Edition, David L. Stader, Jeanne Surface, Kathryn I. Matthew

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The articles in this edition of The Clearing House include some of the challenges currently facing public schools and institutions of higher education. Restrooms have become a bio-political battleground attempting to bring order and equilibrium to what is maleness, and what is femaleness. The rights of transgender students have brought disequilibrium to traditional gender mapping in public places. R. Stewart Mayers tells the story of GG v. Gloucester County School Board in his analysis of Title IX arguments. Paul Watkins and Edward Moreno review the challenges school districts face when transgender students request access to restrooms facilities that correspond to …

Living Education Law In 2017: How Facebook, Prayer, Toilets, And Guns Impact Today's Teachers, Gretchen Oltman J.D., Ph.D, Jeanne Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Survival for public school teachers goes beyond curriculum design, discipline and other skills. School law is critical for teachers to face the areas of challenge that are currently present. There are two types of common legal mistakes made by teachers: a) failing to take disciplinary action when they should, and b) unintentionally violating students rights. Social media, religion, the rights of transgender students and the possibility of teachers right to carry a weapon are all within the realm of rapidly changing public school law. Teachers should stay well-informed, so they are ready to protect students and their own constitutional freedoms.

Faculty Perceptions Regarding The Inclusion Of Military-Connected Children Into Educator Preparation Curriculum, Brianna Conway, Connie L. Schaffer

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The current study researched university faculty members’ knowledge and perceptions regarding military-connected children in the public-school setting. Faculty members from seven departments at a local university participated in the study. Faculty members completed a short survey regarding general knowledge of military-connected children and their families, as well as their inclusion of information about this population of students into their curriculum. Results suggest faculty members at the university received little to no educational training regarding military-connected children in their pre-service education. Furthermore, many faculty members at the university did not include information on military-connected families in their coursework, but were open …

Jesse James Syndrome, A Scholarly Review Of Serving Gifted Students In Rural Settings, Jeanne Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Serving Gifted Students in Rural Settings is a superb set of essays that would help practitioners in rural settings develop or enhance services for gifted students. The authors are specialists in Rural Studies, Counseling, and Gifted Education. Dr. Tamra Stambaugh is an Assistant Research Professor for Special Education and the Executive of Programs for Talented Youth at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Susannah M. Wood is an associate professor at the University of Iowa in the Department of Rehabilitation and Counselor Education. The talent of the two editors created this manual for practitioners that brings much-needed guidance for building and enhancing programs …

Improving Behavior And Reading Levels: Students’ Response To Two Years Of Participation In A Teacher Administered Elementary Level School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports Program, Gregory W. Betts, John W. Hill, Jeanne L. Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this quasi-experimental within-group study was to determine the impact of a teacher administered All Children Experiencing Success, School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program on students’ measured externalizing behavior categories and reading instructional levels. Third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade students were identified at pretest with moderate (n = 18), mild (n = 22), and low (n = 46) disruptive externalizing behaviors. Students participated for two school years in this highly structured program designed to improve the culture, context, and curriculum of the research elementary school. The null hypothesis was rejected in the direction of student Universal Behavior Screen …

Changing Times In School Law - Introduction, Jeanne L. Surface, David Stader, Anthony Armenta

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As 2012 came to a close, the re-election of President Obama assures the continuation of state waivers to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the use of student growth modeling to make teacher and administrator employment decisions, and more accountability measures for PK-12 public schools and public and private institutions of higher education. The inexplicable school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, once again opened the political discussion about school safety. The reauthorization of Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA) looms on the horizon. The U.S. Supreme Court has once again ventured into the divisive affirmative …

Not Second-Class: Title Ix, Equity, And Girls’ High School Sports, David Stader, Jeanne L. Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Title IX is designed to protect students from discrimination based on sex in any educational institution that receives financial assistance. This article focuses on Title IX as it applies to high school athletic programs by considering the trial of a high school district in California. A federal court found considerable inequalities between boys and girls athletic teams in the district. While this case may not be representative of a majority of school districts, it does provide guidance to ensure compliance.

Educator Sexual Misconduct And Nondisclosure Agreements: Policy Guidance From Missouri's Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, Jeanne L. Surface, David Stader, Anthony Armenta

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Allegations of sexual misconduct may prompt districts to enter into non-disclosure or settlement agreements with alleged perpetrators in exchange for a recommendation. Non-disclosure settlements typically limit how much information districts can share with other districts. This process, often referred to as passing the trash, can be particularly troublesome. Missouri's Amy Hestir Student Protection Act provides policy guidance regarding non-disclosure agreements when allegations of educator sexual misconduct arise.

Introduction To Rural Educational Leadership, Jeanne L. Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Without going too deep into theoretical perspectives regarding social and organizational change (as with, say, Hegel’s dialectic), it can fairly be argued that change occurs when the center doesn’t hold, or said another way, when the status quo no longer serves most people. It is at that point that different ideas take root and begin to direct the process of change. And where do the different ideas come from? Wendell Berry (1987) argued that they come from the periphery, which in the context of the 21^st century, is the countryside.

The Rural School Leadership Dilemma, Jeanne L. Surface, Paul Theobold

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The idea that rural schools and communities, indeed, even rural people, are somehow substandard or second-class has deep historical roots. The goal of this essay is to reveal that history so as to render stereotypical conceptions all things rural less powerful and more easily dismissed by rural school professionals. Consequently the focus is on one dilemma every rural school leader faces: when to speak up in the face of rural denigration.

Tested In And Placed In: Are Sixth-Grade Boys And Girls Completing Early Challenge Math Coursework Before They Are Ready?, David C. Hemphil, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the algebra readiness outcomes of randomly selected sixth grade boys (n = 15) and girls (n = 15) who tested into and completed early challenge math coursework compared to the algebra readiness outcomes of randomly selected same school sixth grade boys (n = 15) and girls (n = 15) who tested below the admission threshold but were placed into and completed early challenge math coursework based on teachers’ recommendations to determine if these students, both tested in and placed in, were enrolled into higher-level math courses before they were ready—a growing concern …

Relevance, Rigor, And Relationships: Student Perceptions Following Participation In An Integrated Experiential Zoo-Based Academic High School Science Program, Henry Doorly Zoo, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this survey study was to compare students’ measured Likert scale perceptions of posttest school climate survey, relevance, rigor, and relationships domain scores following 11th- and 12th-grade participation in either an integrated experiential zoo-based academic high school science program (n = 18) or a same school district integrated experiential school-based academic high school science program (n = 18). Science coursework delivery site served as the study’s independent variable. ACT composite scores and science grade point average scores were equivalent for students participating in both science pro-grams. Students participating in the zoo-based experiential academic high school science …

Leadership Dispositions And Skills For Ethnically Diverse Schools, Jeanne L. Surface, Peter J. Smith, Kay Anne Keiser, Karen L. Hayes

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Quality educational leadership is especially critical today in the era of school improvement, student achievement, and teacher accountability. Leaders help meet ever-changing contexts and opportunities. Senge (1990) observed, “The new view of leadership in learning organizations centers on subtler and more important tasks. In learning organizations, leaders are designers, stewards, and teachers” (p. 340).

In addition to these new leadership challenges, this is a time when school resources—human as well as financial--are limited not only in PK-12 schools but to universities as well (Price, 2008). While American educators today are serving an increasingly diverse community, educators are still predominately middle-class, …

Adolescent Dating Violence: How Should Schools Respond?, Jeanne L. Surface, David Stader, Thomas Graca, Jerry Lowe

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of teen dating violence. Unfortunately, school district failure to take action is far too common, despite the statutory duty to ensure the safety of all students during school hours and at school sponsored events. School districts can be held liable for student dating violence under Title IX, under 42 U.S.C. …

Do Declining Neighborhood Economic Conditions Trump Hoped For School Renovation Renewal Benefit?, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) individual student achievement, (b) teacher mobility rates, (c) perceptions of safety at school, and (d) student enrollment patterns, over time, in two recently renovated, same city, urban, No Child Left Behind compliant, Title I elementary school buildings located in close proximity neighborhoods one with improving the other with declining economic conditions. Achievement results indicated that fifth-grade students (n = 18) who attended a renovated school second-grade through fifth-grade in a neighborhood with improving economic conditions compared to fifth-grade students (n = 15) who attended a renovated school second-grade through fifth-grade in …

Have Institutional Review Board Regulations Affected Research Approval Patterns?, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Accuracy Of The Teacherinsight Online Perceiver Tool In Determining The Effectiveness Of High Rated And Low Rated Math And Science New Hire Teachers Following One Year And Three Years Of Single School District Employment, Nicole Regan, Karen L. Hayes

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The combined goals of recruiting and retaining effective teachers are often difficult to realize due to fluctuating student enrollments and class-size targets, teaching-load norms or requirements, and budgetary and resource constraints. While schools and districts market and recruit bright new teachers to the field, they too, struggle to maintain enticing career development standards that would retain the most effective teachers in the district (Guirano, Santibanez, & Daley, 2006). With the high turnover in schools, student achievement suffers. Teacher attrition has grown by 50% over the past fifteen years. The national teacher turnover rate has risen to 16.8%. In urban schools, …

Not All Threats Are Equal, Jeanne L. Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

School leaders must be fully prepared to respond to all types of threats that occur. In order to respond to threats most appropriately the school needs to have a systematic approach that combines education, prevention, intervention, discipline, security and crisis preparedness measures. All threats must be assessed carefully and swiftly balancing the First Amendment rights of the student making the threat and the safety of the school. All threats are not equal but, all must be dealt with.

Assessing The Impact Of Twenty-First Century Rural School Consolidation, Jeanne L. Surface

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of the study was to make a qualitative assessment of the impact of school consolidation on several rural Nebraska communities that have recently lost their schools. This research uses a multiple-case study design with interviews conducted in three Nebraska communities. The data from this research fell into four broad themes: social capital changes resulting from consolidation, the effect of the consolidation on the children of the community, the future of the community, and circumstances driving consolidation. Data indicates very differing views about consolidation; respondents with children in school were generally supportive of the consolidation and felt that it …

The Effect Of A New Teacher Induction Program On New Teachers Reported Teacher Goals For Excellence, Mobility, And Retention Rates, Bonnie Perry, Karen L. Hayes

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Over the past twenty years there has been a decline in the number of minority teachers entering and remaining in the teaching profession. While the overall teacher shortage is worrisome for educators and administrators, the shortage of minority teachers is one of grave concern. A lack of minority educators inside our buildings is just one consequence of minority teacher shortage. There is also the critical issue of few minority teachers as role models for minority students. Consequently, even fewer minority students are looking at teaching as a potential career (Shure, 2001). The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher …

Follow-Up, A Key Component Of Successful Professional Development, Peter J. Smith, Diana Casey

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Inexperienced teachers' perceived classroom effectiveness of their planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities domains were analyzed to determine the effects of active follow-up compared to information-based follow-up of classroom management training (N = 50). Inexperienced teachers enrolled in I Can Do It Classroom Management Training were randomly assigned to active follow-up to the training (n = 24) or information-based follow-up to the training (n = 26). As reflected by the pretest and posttest evaluation form measuring their perceived effectiveness in the domains of planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities, teachers participating in active follow-up …

Explicitly Differentiated Eighth-Grade Reading Instruction In A Rural Middle School Seeking To Reestablish Adequate Yearly Progress Benchmarks, John W. Hill, Sean Dunphy

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of explicitly differentiated reading instruction on eighth-grade students’ reading comprehension assessment scores and classroom reading grade scores in a rural middle school seeking to reestablish satisfactory No Child Left Behind, Adequate Yearly Progress, benchmarks. After one school year of participation in assessment-based and readiness-focused explicitly differentiated instruction, randomly assigned students across all three reading ability conditions high (n = 25), middle (n = 25), and low (n = 25) had statistically significantly improved pretest-posttest reading comprehension assessment scores and classroom reading grade scores. Furthermore, statistical equipoise was observed for posttest-posttest …

Principal Led In-Class Positive Behavioral Support Intervention, David Lavender, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Results of this one-year study supported the use of an in-class behavioral intervention program that allowed 8th-grade students to reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive behavioral incidences with direct principal led administrator assistance resulting in student return to differentiated individualized instructional classroom activities. Students involved in a second verbally disruptive incident in the classroom were identified for intervention. Academic and behavioral improvement noted for verbally disruptive students with co-occurring below grade level reading test scores (n = 23) and verbally disruptive students with grade level reading scores (n = 12) suggests continued use of this intervention. All participants were in attendance …

Racial Isolation And Student Achievement, Peter J. Smith

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Achievement data of African American, Hispanic American, and Caucasian students from racially segregated and racially integrated settings in an urban, Midwestern school district were analyzed to determine the effect of racial isolation on achievement within each racial group. In the district studied, achievement of students from segregated schools was not significantly different from the achievement of same race students from integrated schools. The study’s results should encourage district officials and instructional leaders to look at those factors that have a positive impact on student achievement regardless of the level of racial isolation.

Walking The Talk: Educational Administration Candidates' Espoused And Observed Dispositions, Kay Anne Keiser, Peter J. Smith

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Teachers who seek a career as a school administrator envision their leadership will be transformational and charismatic--and are often surprised by the conflict and confrontation that is an inevitable part of school administration (Hall, 2008; Hartzell, Williams, & Nelson, 1995; Sigford, 2005). Just as preservice teachers imagine a future career where all children love learning and respect teachers, only to find a reality that is less utopian (Su, 1992), this disconnect between the ideal of the vision and the reality and the new job often produces disappointment and shock (Senge, et al., 2000). The reality is that successful school leaders …

Seeking The Sense Of Community: A Comparison Of Two Elementary School's Ethical Climates, Kay Anne Keiser, Laura E. Schulte

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

School climate is created through the combined culture of the adults and students within a school – both the culture they share as an organization and the diverse cultures they bring from home. This study compared the school climate of two elementary schools, one urban and one suburban, by measuring 179 fourth and fifth grade students’ and 65 teachers’ perceptions of their schools’ ethical climates. The Elementary School Ethical Climate Index (ESECI) was utilized to factor perceptions into teacher to student, student to teacher/learning environment, and student to student interactions. For each of the ESECI subscales, two-way analyses of variance …