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Department Chairs’ Impact On The Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Of Their Departments, Nicholas R. Garcia Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Department chairs serve not only as the leaders of their departments but also as middle managers in their schools, colleges, and universities. While many department chairs see their role as having little authority, they still play an integral role in day-to-day campus operations (Hunt & Jones, 2015). As leaders of their departments, chairs can directly influence the department’s organizational culture (Schein, 2010), including the culture of diversity and inclusiveness. Departments nationwide are being held responsible for increasing the diversity of the faculty and responding to students' calls for diversity. Departmental organizational culture and the role of the chairperson are essential …

District-Level Supervisors: Leaders And Advocates For School Counseling, Thomas M. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

All school counselors are expected to serve as leaders and advocates in their school communities. However, many are underprepared for the work after they complete graduate-level training. The present study explored the experiences of district- level school counseling supervisors in facilitating leadership development with professional school counselors. District-level supervisors are ideally placed to support school counselors in their leadership development and advocacy work. Through a semi- structured interview process, eight district-level school counseling supervisors provided information about their leadership development experiences. Data analysis yielded four themes in this descriptive phenomenological study involving social justice, role advocacy, barriers to effective leadership, …

A Case Study Of Stakeholders’ Perceptions Of A Principal’S Behaviors That Influence School Climate, Classroom Practices, And Student Achievement In A Title I School, Kristy F. Budny

Theses and Dissertations

Public schools have increasingly transformed throughout the years, and the growth in suburban areas has brought many diversified schools that sometimes mirror schools in an urban setting (Kneebone and Berube,2013). Building principals, particularly those in charge of Title I schools, face numerous challenges each day within their buildings (Kahlenberg, 2001). Not only have the demands of high-stakes testing increased over the years, other external factors also present challenges within the school setting. While the school stakeholders play an integral role in how the school is shaped, the building principal’s behaviors ultimately serve as the overarching guide in shaping how the …

Leadership Influence And Organizational Culture Influence In Private Schools: A Comparative Multiple Case Study On The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And Strategic Leadership, Julia E. Tucker-Lloyd

Theses and Dissertations

The top leader of an organization influences the organizational culture, and the organizational culture influences the leader. Strategic thinking on the part of the leader is a result of organizational culture and/or will impact organizational culture. This qualitative study is a comparative multiple-case study that examines the relationship between leaders and organizational culture and what the leader’s strategic decision-making and organizational changes indicate about the relationship between leadership and organizational culture. The organizational context of private schools is used to better understand the dynamics between leadership and organizational culture.

This study uses an interview protocol with CEOs of private schools, …

The Experiences Of School Counseling Directors In Relation To Job Satisfaction And Leadership, Robyn Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

The current literature on school counselor job satisfaction does not address the experiences of school counseling directors. This is a unique set of counselors due to their role as leaders and supervisors in the building. Therefore, this study sought to better understand the experiences of school counseling directors in relation to job satisfaction and leadership. The researcher collected data through 10 interviews with participants having met the criteria of serving as a school counseling director of a middle or high school, supervising a department of at least two counselors, and working in the role for at least two years. Data …

Recognizing Her Characteristics As A Leader: An Examination Of The Self-Assessment Of Women Leaders As Shaped By Social Identity Theory And The Concept Of Double Consciousness, John C. Gregory

Theses and Dissertations

Women leaders are grossly underrepresented in police and Army organizations and relevant research suggests that women face the most significant challenges in reaching leadership positions in male dominant organizations. Although there have been recent policy changes to increase opportunities for women in police and Army organizations, women are still barely represented in senior command and primary staff positions in police and Army organizations. When women are underrepresented, particularly at the most senior ranks, there are implications regarding cultural, structural, and attitudinal challenges that simply should not still exist in these organizations. Using qualitative methods, this study examined the experiences of …

Leadership In Collaborative Governance: Understanding The Relationship Of Leadership And Collaborative Performance Of Local Departments Of Social Services Executives, Jennifer Behrens

Theses and Dissertations

Public administration agencies are increasingly called upon to collaborate across organizational boundaries as a regular part of practice. Leaders in the organizations are expected to deliver positive outcomes from collaborations. Common sense implies that good leadership leads to successful collaboration within public administration agencies. However, the exact link between leadership and collaboration continues to be a puzzle for both practitioners and academics in the field. This study examines the relationship of leadership and collaborative governance within a group of social services executives, who are specifically chartered to collaborate with one another and across organizational boundaries for successful delivery of public …

Interactive Empathy And Leader Effectiveness: An Evaluation Of How Sensing Emotion And Responding With Empathy Influence Corporate Leader Effectiveness, Gerald Burch

Theses and Dissertations

Empathy has been shown to be a very powerful social and work ability. This study surveyed 754 employees of a privately held eastern United States company, and incorporated annual performance evaluations to empirically link interactive empathy to leader performance of 102 leaders. Data was collected from the leader’s followers, peers, and supervisors and from self-report personality evaluations. The results of this study show that leaders that are willing to engage their followers with empathic displays are seen as better leaders from their supervisors and have more engaged employees. Other contributions of this study include validation of the interactive empathy scale …

The Career Path Of The Female Superintendent: Why She Leaves, Kerry Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to determine the reasons why women leave the superintendency. This study not only illustrated the different ways a woman can leave the position of superintendent but also the reasons she would choose to leave. These reasons can be either positive or negative, but they rarely are the sole cause for why a woman leaves the position. This interview study of 20 female participants who served as superintendent in the Commonwealth of Virginia identified four main themes as to why a woman chose to leave the superintendency. These included: (a) it wasn’t the job …

Relationship Between Principals’ Sense Of Achievement And Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Principals’ Leadership Behaviors, Javaid Siddiqi

Theses and Dissertations

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRINCIPALS’ SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT AND TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS By Javaid Siddiqi, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012 Major Director: Cheryl Magill, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership School of Education The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between principals’ sense of achievement and teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ leadership behaviors. This was determined by examining job satisfaction of principals and leadership style using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the School …

An Assessment Of Principals' Technology Leadership: A Statewide Survey, Jeffrey Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to collect data about engagement and involvement around technology issues by principals in Virginia. Virginia public school administrators were surveyed using the Principals Technology Leadership Assessment (PTLA) instrument and results compared to the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) (ISTE, 2002). This study, though limited in scope, provided meaningful data for research. The study reflects that despite 10 years of having NETS-A in place, Virginia public school administrators are barely meeting minimum standards in five out of the six dimensions. The study correctly looked at the old NETS-A standards but resulted in a …

The Perspectives Of Practicing African American Female Superintendents In The Commonwealth Of Virginia Regarding The Impact Of Spirituality On Their Leadership Practices, Shannon Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach to discover how African American female superintendents in Virginia integrated spirituality into their leadership practices. The struggles and experiences of these women as a population have been uniquely marginalized by both race and gender. These distinct influences have resulted in the development of generations of women who freely proclaim to be grounded in the spiritual. To investigate this topic, data were collected in face-to-face interviews conducted on site in the school division where each superintendent was employed. The data were analyzed using a modified version of Moustakas as proposed by Creswell (2007). Once …

The Impact Of Enabling School Structures On The Degree Of Internal School Change As Measured By The Implementation Of Professional Learning Communities, Joseph Tylus

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract THE IMPACT OF ENABLING SCHOOL STRUCTURES ON THE DEGREE OF INTERNAL SCHOOL CHANGE AS MEASURED BY THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES By Joseph D. Tylus, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Major Director: Dr. William C. Bosher Distinguished Professor, G. Wilder School of Policy Adjunct Professor, VCU School of Education This non-experimental, correlational study looked at the relationship between bureaucratic structures in middle and high schools in bringing about change in individual teacher classroom instructional practices through the centralized …

Leadership And Dental Aesthetics Of Adults As Perceived By Laypersons, E. Britton Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if dental aesthetics is perceived by adults to affect an individual’s ability to emerge as a leader. An electronic survey was constructed using facial frontal smiling photographs of 10 patients. Statements were formulated to evaluate four leadership characteristics: intelligence, self-confidence, friendliness, and trustworthiness. Evaluators indicated their level of agreement with each statement for each subject using a 100mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Data was obtained from 214 evaluators. Picture ratings were analyzed using repeated-measures mixed-model analyses. Evaluator factors and picture factors were considered when testing for crooked vs. straight teeth differences. There …

Motivators Of Job Satisfaction For Elementary School Principals In Central Virginia, Michelle K. Mcqueen

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the overall job satisfaction level and motivators of job satisfaction for elementary school principals in Central Virginia using the MinnesotaSatisfaction Questionnaire (1977) revision via Web-based survey through Virginia Commonwealth University's Inquisite Survey System. The research literature supports job satisfaction of school principals being a worthwhile topic of study. Researching aspects of job satisfaction is important because a job is not merely life-sustaining, but enriching and enhancing (Darboe, 2003), and the impact of leadership on everyone in schools is substantive. Elementary principals' general job satisfaction level was investigated using descriptive demographic data and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) …

Motivations, Roles, Characteristics, And Power: Women Volunteer Leaders On Nonprofit Boards Of Directors, Bridget Elizabeth Lyons

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the leadership experiences of woman presidents of nonprofit agencies who are perceived as successful. Recognizing that participants' descriptions of their leadership experience are both similar and different, those similarities and differences are explored and analyzed. Commitment to the organization's mission, communicating a vision into action, fostering collaboration, and an adaptable leadership approach all contributed to the success of these female board presidents. A case study design was used to obtain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of women leaders on nonprofit boards of directors. In-depth interviewing, observations with field notes, …