Education Commons^™

Senate Meeting, December 10, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Senate Meeting, November 19, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Senate Meeting, November 5, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Senate Meeting, October 22, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Contradicting Conventional Wisdom: Women Presidents' Abilities To Forge Purposeful And Instrumental Relationships For Institutional Outcomes, Susan Amy Woollen

Theses and Dissertations

CONTRADICTING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ABILITIES TO FORGE PURPOSEFUL AND INSTRUMENTAL

RELATIONSHIPS FOR INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOMES

Susan A. Woollen

268 pages May 2015

There is a perception in the literature that women presidents are weak in the function of instrumental relationship building. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the practices developed and utilized by women presidents of 4-year institutions to identify and build relationships with key constituents whom they recognized as having resources that could lead to institution building and to learn how the presidents secured those resources.

Through an interview format, 12 presidents elaborated on the internal …

Senate Meeting, October 8, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Reflections Of Self: Images Of People With Specific Learning Disabilities And Attention Deficit / Hyperactive Disorder In Children's Literature, Elizabeth R. Hayes

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explored the portrayals of people with a specific learning disability or with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children's literature. Eighteen books were analyzed to determine what themes and messages were being conveyed to children.

The major themes were about friendship, and overcoming issues associated with a SLD or AD/HD. In addtion, the portrayals suggest that children with SLD and AD/HD have similar problems like their peers with these conditions. However, there were portrayals of stereotypical roles and usage of negative language.

Perceptions Of Cooperating Teachers Concerning The Student Teaching Field Experience, Dawn Marie Paulson

Theses and Dissertations

PERCEPTIONS OF COOPERATING TEACHERS CONCERNING

THE STUDENT TEACHING FIELD EXPERIENCE

Dawn Paulson

142 Pages December 2014

This study explored the views of cooperating teachers on (a) their work with student teachers and university supervisors, and (b) ways to improve the student teaching process. In a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study, 153 cooperating teachers answered closed-and open-ended questions using an electronic survey; then a subset of 12 participated in follow-up interviews. All participants taught at rural or semi-rural middle schools and high schools in Central Illinois; all had experience with student teachers from a mid-sized institution in that area.

Major findings of …

Senate Meeting, September 24, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Faculty Perceptions Of Chairperson-Faculty Member Communication Exchanges And Department Climate, Jodi Lynn Hallsten Lyczak

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership communication has many consequences: those that affect an organization and its outcomes, and those that affect the followers. In academia, one of the most important leadership roles is that of the departmental chairperson. Through her or his communication, the academic chairperson influences nearly every aspect of departmental life for faculty, including organizational climate. In fact, it can be argued that the chairperson helps both create and sustain the department climate for faculty.

One perspective of leadership and communication posits that leadership is enacted in the dyadic communication that occurs between the leader and the follower. According to Leader Member …

College Student Unions: A Delphi Study Regarding Purposes, Amenities, Barriers And Future Influences, Michelle Annette Janisz

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to understand and forecast the changing role of the student union in the modern era and specifically explored the purposes served by student unions, what specific amenities and services contribute to serving those purposes, the barriers student unions face in meeting those purposes, and the most important influences that will shape the college and university student union of the future. A review of the history of college and university student unions, the components of campus environments, the role of student unions in student recruitment and retention, and the influences of environmental psychology anchor the research. The …

A History Of Academic Freedom In America, John Karl Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the history of academic freedom in America through the focus of three interpretive models--the Gentleman Scientist Model, the Liberty Model, and the Professional Model--to show how the concept evolved over the past century. It examines violations of academic freedom, AAUP statements, and debates about the meaning of academic freedom to show how it remains a contested concept. It concludes that by studying the origins and changes in the idea of academic freedom in America, current controversies can be better understood.

Senate Meeting, September 10, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Predictive Modeling And Alumni Fundraising In Higher Education, Mark Walcott

Theses and Dissertations

Institutions of higher education can benefit from using predictive modeling and data mining techniques to enhance capital and fundraising campaigns to yield higher levels of financial contributions. The purpose of this study was to enhance the sophistication of alumni fundraising by using predictive modeling and data mining techniques to address: (a) What factors are most likely to predict the likelihood of alumni making a financial contribution, and (b) What factors are most significant in predicting the amount of money alumni will contribute. Among the 17 variables used by this study those of significance for predicting the likelihood to give included: …

Distinguishing Assessment From Accountability: Honoring Student Learning And Values In Assessment, Erin Elizabeth Pearce Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Accountability is documented as one of the two major forces for engaging in assessment (Ewell, 2002, 2009; Keeling, 2006; Keeling et al., 2008; Love & Estanek, 2004; Terenzini, 1989). Due in part to neoliberalism's influence on education assessment rhetoric and discourse, accountability dominates how assessment is understood and practiced. The dominance of the accountability rhetoric effects how student affairs educators perceive and value assessment. The purpose of this study is to explore why assessment is not a pervasive or consistent practice within student affairs. Through an interpretivist case study examination of Manresa University's division of student affairs, participant observation, document …

Building Parent Support For Implementation Of Assessment For Learning ( A4 L ) At The High School Level, Sarah Highfill

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers articulate the positive effects of parental engagement with education. Networking with parents has become a recent focus for educational leaders working to enhance learning. With parent presence diminishing within secondary schools and emphasis on formative assessments rising, this study examined the possibility of family support to supplement the Assessment for Learning (A4L) reform implementation. Using an action research framework, four research questions were addressed. These included what attracts parents to support Assessment for Learning (A4L) reforms at the high school level, the value parents place on assessment reform, and what affects parent perceptions and influences their support of the …

Senate Meeting, August 27, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Mckinney Vento Legislation: A Policy Analysis Of The Evolution Of Homeless Law In Illinois, Cathleen J. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

This policy analysis looks at the evolution of homeless education laws both through federal legislation and state laws. A policy analysis was utilized to show changes through the reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Act.

One aspect of this analysis utilized qualitative data from four individual administrators in four central Illinois school districts. The qualitative data reviewed the training received by each administrator and the policies guiding their enrollment procedures.

Another aspect provided in this analysis is the changes established in response to court cases filed when school districts violated the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act. The reauthorizations that followed each finding …

U.S.- Educated Multilingual Students In Community College: Transitioning From Esl To English 101, Melinda S. Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on U.S.-educated multilingual students as they transition from a community college academic English as a Second Language program to and through a semester-long first-year composition course. Research on non-native English speakers has indicated that U.S.-educated multilingual students have both similar and varied background and literacy experiences compared to native English speakers and international students; they also often present unique literacy needs compared to their peers. These various and shifting similarities and differences sometimes complicate placement and instruction in college courses.

My case study focused on three U.S.-educated multilingual students' experiences in the final semester of a community …

More Than A Personality Match? High School Administrator Views On The Process, Factors Relevant, And Effectiveness Of The Selection Of Cooperating Teachers, Julie Lickfelt Pavlini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the factors perceived relevant to high school administrators in selecting cooperating teachers in English, math, and science. Qualitative research techniques were used; themes from the data were organized by the research questions and analyzed through the conceptual framework of Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Effective Teaching. This study included semi-structured interview probes and two activity components.

All five participants were complimentary of their school's cooperating teacher selection process and identified several traits and factors as important in selecting cooperating teachers: commitment to professional development and continuous learning, enthusiasm for teaching, varied but not …

Inequitable School Funding In Illinois Colorblind Or Blindfolded: A Critical Race Theory Analysis Counterstory Of Illinois' Lewis E. V. Spagnolo, Mariette Yevette Cheatam

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the Illinois school funding formula continuing to be one of the most staggeringly unequal in the nation, the Illinois State Supreme Court excludes school finance from judicial review. Although entities such as the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education, continue to both collect and analyze education results along racial and ethnic lines, many studies leave out the importance of racism in their analysis.

In its search for the colorblind doctrine, this critical race theory (CRT) study focuses on Lewis E. v. Spagnolo, 710 N.E.2d 798 …

An Analysis Of Program Evaluation In Community College Learning Assistance Centers, Doug Franklin

Theses and Dissertations

Learning assistance centers exist in varied formats at many colleges and provide services to support the educational mission such as tutoring, support for special needs students, study skills instruction, writing or math instruction. This study seeks to add to the small body of research on evaluation measures used within learning assistance centers and the program evaluation practices of such centers by determining the prevalence of program evaluation and what measures learning assistance directors perceive they should be using in the evaluation of their program compared to those actually being used?

Learning assistance center directors at 61 public two-year institutions, out …

Latino Emergent Bilingual Students' Experiences With The Middle School Transition, Kerry Pecho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined how Latino emergent bilingual students anticipate and experience the transition from a bilingual elementary school program to middle school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who were native Spanish-speakers participated in focus group discussions. Overall, participants described positive transition experiences, and much of the content was not unique to these students (e.g., feeling nervous, looking forward to more activities). Other content, though, revealed transition experiences that may be unique to this population (e.g., dramatic shift in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds of peers). Participants' responses suggested that they experience a …

Assessment For Learning: An Evaluation Of A Professional, Aimee Davis Feehery

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine how teachers have come to understand, use, and value formative assessment through their participation in our Assessment for Learning Teams for the past five years. Greeno, Collins, & Resnick's (1996) learning theory serves as the theoretical framework of the evaluation, as this program evaluation serves to determine if, and how, teachers have changed their mental models of assessment from a Behaviorist-Differentiationist model to the Cognitive-Situative model, or from an Assessment of Learning view of assessment, to an Assessment for Learning perspective. In order to determine if teachers have gained the conceptual …

Senate Meeting, May 7, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

District Size And Implementation Of High School School Improvement Grants, Marla Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employs organizational theory, the history of school reform, the role school district leadership, and the impact of district size to provide a foundation for study of high school reform implemented in twenty high schools with histories of academic challenges. The Federal Department of Education School Improvement Grant Program was created to financially support reform in persistently failing schools. The schools in this study are all located in the same Midwestern state; however, they have wide-ranging student enrollments and are located in suburban, urban, rural, and metropolitan school districts of differing sizes. The mixed method study includes two phases. …

Senate Meeting, April 23, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Sprouts Early Childhood Program: An Evaluation Of Child Outcomes, Lauryn Michele Toby

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation examines the cognitive, adaptive, communicative, social and autism-related outcomes for those enrolled in an early childhood intervention program for children age three to five with autism spectrum disorders. First, relevant literature on autism spectrum disorders, early intervention, evidence-based practice, and published investigations of existing comprehensive treatment programs for young children with autism are reviewed, the current investigation is outlined, and results and implications are discussed.

Using developmental trajectory analyses to investigate changes in each child's trajectory over time, as well as by comparing changes in scores over time on standardized measures of communication, adaptive skills, cognitive skills, social …

Senate Meeting, April 9, 2014, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Self-Monitoring On Academic Engagement Of Students With Emotional Disturbance, Clayton Theisinger

Theses and Dissertations

Students with emotional disturbance (ED) demonstrate educational needs in the domains of behavior and academics. Self-monitoring has been determined to be an effective learning strategy for addressing both of these crucial domains for students with ED. However, the characteristics associated with ED lead to a diverse population of these learners. As a result, further replication of self-monitoring studies are needed to determine the effectiveness on the differing needs of students. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of self-monitoring on the academic engagement of secondary students with ED during mathematics. In addition, the accuracy of self-monitoring by …