Education Commons^™

The Effects Of School Board Behaviors On Student Outcomes: An Evaluative Study Of Lone Star Governance, Morris Lyon

Education Theses and Dissertations

Enhancing student outcomes is fundamentally attributed to classroom teachers, yet Rice et al. (2000) highlight the influential role of school boards in shaping these outcomes. This study delves into the efficacy of Lone Star Governance (LSG) as a facilitative instrument for promoting optimal governance practices across diverse schools. It also investigates the influence of governance coaching on student performance.

This research targeted rural school districts in the coastal bend of Texas that participated in the Texas Education Agency's Lone Star Governance training. Employing a mixed-method embedded design, specifically an embedded experimental research model, the study assessed accountability score advancements. Complementing …

Applying Organizational Learning Theories To Continuous Improvement Practices Through Self-Study Methodology To Better Reflect Upon And Understand Factors That Influence School Improvement Efforts, Morgan Daniel Gallagher

Dissertations

The purpose of this self-study is to better understand and address the factors that influence continuous improvement efforts led by the researcher/practitioner. To this end, this study applies Bolman and Deal’s 4-frame model of organizational learning lenses to school improvement indicators on the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Through taking Bolman and Deal’s Online 4-frame Self-assessment, I am able to identify the organizational learning lens least integrated into my own leadership worldview. The organizational learning lenses that comprise Bolman and Deal’s 4-frame model are the structural, symbolic, human resource, and political lenses. I then apply core tenets of my least integrated lens …

Using Design Thinking As An Instrument For School Improvement And Innovation In Public Schools, Beth Emery Peterson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Design thinking, a creative problem-solving method in which the end user is an active member of the design team, has historically been used in business and industry, but school leaders are beginning to use the process in education settings. This multiple-case study examined the experiences of two public school leaders who used design thinking for continuous improvement initiatives or to spur innovation in their school or district. Through interviews, the school leaders shared their purposes, outcomes, challenges, and insights of using design thinking to address complex educational problems. Results indicate that design thinking is appropriate to use for continuous improvement …

Fostering And Sustaining An Inclusive And Cognitively Diverse Learning Culture That Promotes Innovative And Agile Thinking, Krista Zavits

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses the problem of practice (PoP) of how leaders in the International School of Central Eastern Europe (a pseudonym) elementary school might foster and sustain a cognitively diverse and inclusive learning culture that promotes innovative and agile thinking. The plan is theory-based, research-informed, and looks to transfer learning into practice. It is built on a foundation of social constructivism and pragmatic-idealism and is firmly grounded in constructivist, ethical, and distributed leadership. Contextually oriented, the PoP grew in response to the need for schools to re-envision teaching and learning so students can thrive in an ever-changing, …

Institutional Accreditation: Making The Process More Efficient, Effective, And Meaningful To Colleges And Universities, Cynthia J. Requa

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Institutional accreditation is a voluntary, peer-review process that is overseen through the seven institutional accreditors governed by the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of accreditation is to ensure institutional quality standards are being met by colleges and universities. The purpose of this study was to identify how the accreditation process could be improved with foci on efficiency, effectiveness, and more meaningful impact to the institutions. Drawing on Heifetz et al.’s (2009) theory of adaptive leadership, Kotter’s (2012) accelerators and the integrated planning principles of Stephens (2017) and Immordino et al., (2016), this study employed grounded theory to discover the …

Student Responsibility Through Building Teacher Capacities, Christopher C. Deboer

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Bound Yet Free Christian School is an organization committed to a growth mindset. The school’s Board of Directors invests in school improvement efforts, making use of external evaluations and encouraging professional development. Building on the previous external evaluations of the organization, two of the local school board’s resulting initiatives are explicitly addressed in this Organizational Improvement Plan. Making academic success a priority while building teacher capacities in intelligent, evidence-based pedagogies are the goals. A specific focus on assisting student development of responsibility and ownership for their learning is the focal point for improving student learning. This plan seeks to outline …

Perceptions Of General Education Deans And Department Chairs Of Their Colleges As Learning Organizations, May Charmayne Mulligan

Dissertations

Higher education institutions are being pushed towards increased assessment practices because of rising costs, mass access, new delivery methods, and rising competition on the national and global scale. Academic deans and department heads are at the center of these assessment efforts, and assessment should guide changes within the organization for improvement. Learning organization theory provides a framework for creating an environment favorable to assessment and improvement. Six learning organization principles – learning, communication, measurement, problem-solving, structure, and vision – were used for this study.

An online questionnaire was used to capture the perceptions of deans and department heads as to …

The Social Intelligence Of Principals: Links To Teachers' Continuous Improvement, Joan Mcquade

Educational Studies Dissertations

Despite multiple efforts to reform 21st education to better meet the needs of all students, school improvement successes have been sporadic and debatable. Research suggests that significant improvement lies within the purview of teachers and principals, and this current research provided the underpinnings for the study. Based on neuroscience research and the continuous improvement concept, I examined linkages between principals' social intelligence and teachers' continuous improvement. Using a mixed method sequential explanatory research approach, the study consisted of four phases that employed both quantitative and qualitative measures. Massachusetts' principals (127) and teachers (331) were contacted by email to participate in …