Digital Commons Network^™

The Manifestation Of Leadership In Three High -Flying New Hampshire Elementary Schools, Steven Thomas Kelley

Doctoral Dissertations

Perhaps the most dominant feature marking today's educational landscape is the presence and growth of "reform efforts" occurring in schools everywhere. Educational institutions across the U.S. struggle to reform and improve the teaching and learning that occurs within their walls. The public demands higher standards, has greater expectations, and demands academic excellence. State testing has pointed out strengths and weaknesses present in our schools and in some cases, prompted state governments to intervene in an attempt to "rescue" schools that are not demonstrating adequate progress.

Over the past fifty years, school administrators and educational researchers have been captivated by the …

Elementary Accreditation: Pro Forma Or Substance? A View From Inside The Schoolhouse Gates, Maryann Johnson Minard

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1986, educators, government officials and community members have grappled with the unwieldy task of defining effective measures of school improvement. Calls for accountability and improvement resound in the halls of legislatures, the media, and in communities nationwide. The accreditation of schools has served as a conduit for accountability, but has it served as a vehicle for improvement?

This study sought to determine how closely the process of elementary accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) aligns with research-based models of effective school change and acts as a …

Third-Grade Evaluators Thrive As Readers, Amy Frances Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This study addresses the question, "When third grade students become evaluators of themselves as readers, what new roles do they negotiate for themselves?" I studied third grade students who became evaluators of themselves as readers, examining evaluation process. This included their own determination of their strengths, goals, assignments, and what to use as documentation of their learning processes in portfolios, as well as the influence of the classroom community on goal setting. Using observation, co-teaching, and group and individual interviews, I documented the new roles students adopted as they became better evaluators of their learning needs and took a more …