Education Commons^™

The Process Of How Teachers Become Teacher Leaders And How Teacher Leadership Becomes Distributed Within A School: A Grounded Theory Research Study, Steven J. Sanocki

Dissertations

It is undeniable that leadership is necessary for any organization to succeed. However, educational leadership is often compartmentalized and relegated to the hierarchical leadership found in schools such as principals, superintendents, and those with a formal title. The concept of teacher leadership has begun to surface in progressive schools and districts throughout the country, as is evidenced throughout both the professional and scholarly (research) literature. Teacher leadership is occurring in practice, yet it lacks a clear definition and/or a consistent employment in K-12 education. Teachers have historically stepped out of their traditional role as a teacher and into formalized roles …

Effective Leadership Behaviors: How One Principal Made Sense Of And Integrated Research-Based Behaviors Into His Daily Practice, Heidi Ann Beidinger-Burnett

Dissertations

Unlike the principalship of yesteryear, today’s principals are under great pressure to improve academic achievement for all students. Recent literature describes the need for principals to become instructional leaders whereby they can lead change and improve student achievement. However, a lack of quality principal preparation programs and a shortage of effective principals exist. Thus, principals are often unprepared or underprepared for their role. The purpose of this participatory action research study (PAR) was to follow the process of how one high school principal made sense of and integrated research-based leadership behaviors into his practice to lead the redesign of his …

Student Thoughts And Perceptions On Curriculum Reform, Douglas D. Vanderjagt

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how students experience and respond to Michigan’s increased graduation requirements. The study was conducted in a large, suburban high school that instituted a change to a trimester system in response to the state mandate. A criterion-based sample of 16 students, both college bound and non-college bound, participated in one-on-one interviews regarding their knowledge about, their understanding of, and their experience with the new Michigan Merit Curriculum, and how this increase impacted the student participants’ high school academic choices and/or postsecondary plans. Additionally, this study engaged focus groups of one or …

Principal Leardership Behaviors Which Teachers At Different Career Stages Perceive As Affecting Job Satisfaction, Valari Hill

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of teachers as to how the leadership of their principal affects their job satisfaction. This study collected the view of teachers at different career stages and examined their perceptions and needs. The participants consisted of 12 elementary school teachers at three different career stages (beginning, middle, and late).

Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed three major themes and nine subthemes.

The first theme reveals that principal leadership style is not consistent and includes the subthemes: (1.1) principals are not successfully sharing their vision with teachers, (1.2) principals attempt …