Education Commons^™

A Qualitative Exploration Of Multiple Case Studies Of The Perception Of School Social Workers Concerning Their Roles In Public Schools, Alesha Nicole Morrison

Dissertations

This qualitative exploration in the form of multiple case studies interviewed a group of seven social workers from the St. Louis Metropolitan area to gain their perception as school social workers concerning their roles in public schools. The literature on school social workers indicated that school social workers brought unique knowledge and skills to the school system and the student services team. School social workers were instrumental in furthering the vision of the schools to help provide an improved setting and environment for teaching and learning. This study conducted case studies of the social worker in the professional environment to …

Improving Teacher Comfort Levels And Self-Efficacy With Technology Integration And Application Of Technology Into The Elementary Education Curriculum Through The Tech Buddy Program, Susan Christine Adams

Dissertations

Professional Development for technology integration into the elementary curriculum has been a costly and frequently ineffective endeavor. The idea for the Tech Buddy model came from this frustration. Teaming a teacher who had high comfort and self-efficacy levels with technology, however who still had much to learn, together with a teacher who was willing to learn, but had low comfort and self-efficacy levels seemed natural. The study consisted of 13 educators and one Administrative Intern from the school of study. The study paired a mentor who had a high level of comfort and self efficacy with ICT integration with a …

A Mixed-Method Program Implementation: Overcoming Obstacles Life Skills Program In A Medium-Sized Suburban School District, Jennifer Gross

Dissertations

While many educators viewed transition as a one-time event, it often proved to be more of a process than simply an occasion (Cohen & Smerdon, 2009). The researcher observed through the role as a school counselor that students with high anxiety tended to exhibit low resilience during times of transition. In order to assist students as they moved from eighth to ninth grade, the school of study implemented the Overcoming Obstacles Life Skills Program (OOLSP) using student mentors. This study explored student perception of anxiety and resilience in relation to participating in this program. The researcher utilized the Connor-Davidson Resilience …

Team Captain: A Quantitative Study Examining The Relationship Between Extracurricular And/Or Co-Curricular Participation And Leadership Styles Of Beginning Superintendents, Shawn Poyser

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study was conducted to determine if there was a significant relationship between extracurricular and/or co-curricular participation and leadership styles of beginning superintendents in the state of Missouri. First-year superintendents from 63 school districts in Missouri were invited to participate in the study, and 28 participated. The first instrumentation used in the research was a Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X Short Form, created by Bass and Avolio (2004), consisting of 45 leadership style questions and was administered online through Mind Garden, Ltd. In addition to the MLQ 5X-Short, participants were invited to complete a second survey created by the researcher, …

The Learning Needs Of Community College Emerging Scholars, Janet K. Walsh

Dissertations

The community college mission has always centered on providing higher education opportunities for all people (American Association of Community Colleges [AACC], 2015a; Bailey, Jaggars, & Jenkins, 2015; Dassance, 2011; Dotzler, 2003; Greenburg, 2008; Schuh, Jones, Harper, & Associates, 2011). However, many students who enrolled at the community college level were not college ready and often required developmental coursework to help bridge the knowledge gap prior to taking college level courses. Unfortunately, those students were unlikely to obtain higher education credentials (Bailey et al., 2015; Carnegie Foundation, 2014). On the other hand, the researcher observed a relatively small number of students …

A Quantitative Study On Student Emergency Financial Assistance: The Impact On Community College Student Success, Persistence, And Completion Rates, Abigail Benz

Dissertations

Financial instability is a common fiscal burden for many community college students and can serve as primary barrier to educational success (Quaye & Harper, 2015). Although traditional financial aid is structured to assist students in financing college expenses, many low-income students often face financial emergencies beyond the scope of financial aid (Johnson, 2015). These financial emergencies have been specifically identified as serious obstacles to educational success and have prompted many institutions to establish student emergency financial assistance programs (Geckeler, Beach, Pih, & Yan, 2008). This study explored one student emergency financial assistance program at a public community college and the …

The Relationship Between Students’ Achievement Scores Of Administrators Who Completed The Missouri Leadership, Excellence, And Development Program, Tina Turner

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to examine the impact of Missouri Leadership for Excellence, Achievement, and Development (MoLEAD) program on the school district administrators who attended and their constituents. After three cohorts of school leaders have attended the MoLEAD training, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education authorities have yet to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The purpose of this study was to determine the value and benefit of administrators attending the MoLEAD professional development. The participants of this study included school administrators who attended MoLEAD training in Cohort One in the state of Missouri. Data from the …

Mentoring Pre- And In-Service School Leaders Through A Combined Principal Mentoring Model: A Case Study Of The University Of Illinois At Chicago, Alicia Haller

Dissertations

Scholars have demonstrated that school leadership is second only to instruction in terms of school-level impact on student learning. Additionally, researchers and policy makers have argued that in order to ensure aspiring and novice principals develop the leadership and instructional competencies necessary to improve schools, they need to be provided with authentic learning experiences and supported by knowledgeable mentors. This case study explored a unique combined principal mentoring model, developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) that spans from the pre-service phase into the early in-service phase. In order to provide a rich description of the model, the …

Missouri Public School Administrators’ Perceived Effectiveness Of Senate Bill No. 75, Joby B. Steele

Dissertations

In this quantitative study, the perceptions of safety and preparedness of Missouri’s high school administrators after participating in active shooter training as mandated by Missouri’s Senate Bill No. 75 were analyzed. As school shootings continue, states have passed legislation to prepare schools to provide safety for students and faculty members (Shah, 2013b). There are currently limited data about the perceived effectiveness of Missouri’s Senate Bill No. 75 and its ability to help administrators feel safe and prepared in the event of an active shooter. This study involved examination of what schools can do to prepare for a school shooting before …

Musical Listening Interest, Socio-Demographic And Socio-Psychological Factors As Predictors Of Test Anxiety Among Students Of A Christian University In Jamaica, Wayne E. N. Ireland-Cleghorne

Dissertations

Problem

There is an enormous deficit in the literature on the factors associated with test anxiety generally, and test anxiety and music listening interest in particular, in the Caribbean region. This deficit is made even more distinct by the numerous studies that exist on test anxiety elsewhere and the effect it has on students’ behavior and performance in the classroom.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between musical listening interest and test anxiety, while controlling for variables that are deemed plausible predictors of test anxiety. Predictor variables utilized include sociodemographic factors such as gender, age, …

Transformative Models In K-12 Education: The Impact Of A Blended Universal Design For Learning Intervention, Kai Monet Mathews

Dissertations

Accountability measures, by way of standardized curriculum and assessments, have played a large part in the attempt to ensure that students from all backgrounds receive equal access to quality education. However, the inherent disadvantage of a standardized system is the implied assumption that all students come in with the same knowledge, learn at the same pace, and learn the same way. In the wake of an increasingly diverse K-12 population, educational researchers, learning theorists, and practitioners agree that the concept of the average student is, in fact, a myth. Students come to school with different needs, norms, interests, cultural behavior, …

Faculty And Staff Perceptions Of Stress, Efficacy, Personality, And Health Practices During Implementation Of Comprehensive Educational Change At One Secondary School, Virginia Mae Lonser

Dissertations

Problem

Private faith-based schools have experienced a severe drop in enrollment over the past few years contributing to perceptions of job insecurity. Especially in the realm of residential secondary education has this observation been true. This descriptive case study investigated perceptions of stress of secondary-school faculty and staff involved with a school-based systemic change implementation in an attempt to turn around the attenuation in enrollment.

Method

This research study followed a bounded mixed-methods case design using data collected as participant observations of the 24 residential secondary-school faculty and staff and tests were performed to show relationships between variables. Tools were …

The Impact Of Secondary Career And Technical Education On Postsecondary Career And Educational Placement, Roy Allen Moss

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to provide evidence of the impact career and technical education courses have on students after graduation. Numbers of Career and Technical Education (CTE) completers have continually dropped at the participating schools for the past five years. Five categories of placement after graduation were studied including the following: college, employment, postsecondary vocational training, military, and no placement. Archival data were gathered from postgraduate surveys conducted by high schools as required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Data were collected for graduates in 2011, 2012, and 2013 from four area high schools that …