Education Commons^™

An Exploration Of Effective District Practices For Enculturating And Retaining Kentucky's Newest Teachers In The Profession, Cari Lea Boyd

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

The teaching profession within P-12 education has more beginners in the field than ever before, growing the profession by 48%, which outpaces the 19% growth in student enrollment. The most common teacher among all practicing in America’s schools is someone in her or his first year of teaching. The decreasing levels of experience in the profession has led to increased rates of attrition because beginners have the highest attrition rates with up to 50% leaving the field within the first five years. Research conducted on teacher retention has focused on why teachers leave the field; hence, a major gap in …

Superintendent Recruitment: Effects Of Superintendent Job Status, School Councils (Principal Selection Models), District Wealth, And Signing Bonus On Applicant Rating Of The Job, Mark Jeffery Martin

Dissertations

This nearly perfect replicated study (Millay, 2003) was a superintendent recruitment simulation with the purpose of investigating factors that influence recruiting qualified individuals to serve as district superintendents of public schools. The study was a factorial experiment involving a four-way 2 x 2 x 2 x (3 x S) fixed-factor betweenwithin analysis of variance (ANOVA) which yielded 24 cells. The participants in the study were Kentucky Superintendents (N = 72) and individuals in Kentucky certified to be a school superintendent (N = 72) but employed in another position.

The between-groups variables were superintendent job status (superintendent, certified), district wealth (high, …

The Efficacy Of Teacher Made Special Education Referrals In Appalachian And Non-Appalachian Schools Of Kentucky, John T. Elliott

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This quantitative study utilized a causal-comparative research design to determine the difference in efficacy between teacher made special education referrals in Appalachian and non-Appalachian schools of Kentucky. Data were provided from the 2014-2015 academic year. A total of 109 Kentucky schools provided data for the study. This study will help educators better understand multi-disciplinary referrals for special education as they relate to referral efficacy as based upon student qualification rates. This quantitative study determined the difference between special education qualification rates for teacher made referrals in Appalachian and non-Appalachian schools in the state of Kentucky.

The Goal-Driven, Resilient, And Influential Teens Program In Kentucky High Schools: The Impact On Social And Emotional Learning And Influencing Factors, Brant Von Goble

Dissertations

In order to assess the effects of the Goal-driven, Resilient, and Influential Teens (GRIT) program on social and emotional learning and academic performance in high schools throughout Kentucky, data from several sources were compiled and analyzed. These sources included results from the Student Engagement and Performance (STEP) survey, an instrument developed by the Rock Solid Evaluation Team at Western Kentucky University and administered yearly to high school students and teachers, and school-level academic and socioeconomic data from the Kentucky Department of Education. Additional data on fidelity of GRIT program implementation were obtained from FranklinCovey, the GRIT program’s developer and publisher. …

Superintendent Effect On Student Outcomes: Leadership Style, Educational Attainment, And Experience, Casey Allen

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Superintendents with five years of experience (n=48) were surveyed on Full Range Leadership style, educational attainment, and years of experience to determine whether Kentucky school superintendents had an effect on student outcomes. Data was collected on each superintendent’s district Overall Accountability Score (OAS) to determine student performance. Using the district OAS as the dependent variable, independent t-tests were performed to compare high transformational leaders to low transformational leaders, high transactional leaders to low transactional leaders, and high laissez-faire leaders to low laissez-faire leaders. Again, using district OAS as the dependent variable, a t-test was performed to compare superintendents with Kentucky …

The Branch Campus Contribution To The Mission Of The Main Campus In Kentucky, Caroline L. Atkins

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of branch campuses on the mission of their main campuses in Kentucky. An online survey and key informant interviews were conducted with administrators. Both research methods identified strategies to minimize the impact of institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers (Cross, 1981) that impede the successful academic and social integration (Tinto, 1975; 1993) of nontraditional students who frequent these campuses. In addition, institutional research offices provided student enrollment and credit-hour production data for analysis by site. The study classified demographic information on administrators, including gender, full- or part-time capacity, administrative title, and …

Money Changes Everything: The Relationship Between Financial Factors And Persistence For Financially Independent Undergraduate Students At A Kentucky Four-Year Public Institution, Ladonna Hunton

Dissertations

Research on factors related to persistence suggest that re-enrollment decisions are based upon an evaluation of the returns on investment in education. If students perceive that the costs of a college education outweigh the benefits, they will discontinue their involvement by choosing not to re-enroll. As a result, students’ choices to maintain their enrollment in postsecondary education can be an effective indicator of affordability. This study examined the degree to which financially independent undergraduate students’ persistence decisions are related to financial factors, including unmet need, total financial aid received, and type of financial aid received. The data examined in this …

A Southern Progressive: M. A. Cassidy And The Lexington Schools, 1886-1928, Richard E. Day

Richard E. Day

The 42-year career of M. A. Cassidy exemplifies the transition of public school leadership in Kentucky from non-educators who held religious-political ideologies to professional progressive educators who sought to make Kentucky schools more efficient through expertise and scientific management. This concept was fully adopted in Section 183 of the Kentucky Constitution (1891) which required the General Assembly to “provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” Confident that professional educators were best suited to devise solutions to social problems, and justified by the twin notions of equality of educational opportunity and meritocracy, Cassidy was part of a …

Higher Education Consortium Leads To College Students Taking A Fresh Look At Continuing Challenges For Their Region, Joseph Fink Iii

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Institutions of higher education have long had teaching, research and service as their primary missions. Emphasis among those three areas of activity can vary substantially from one institution to another. For example, a land grant university may have a greater emphasis on service or outreach to the communities it serves than would, say, a traditional liberal arts college. Society appears to have an increased expectation that the research conducted at research universities will lead to economic development opportunities (Yusuf & Fink, 2007). Fortunately, each type of institution has much to offer society at large and the communities or regions where …

A Proposed School System For Metcalfe County, Kentucky, Thomas Butler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to propose for Metcalfe County a school system that will come nearer meeting the standards of a good educational system than the one now in use. It is by no means expected that this proposed system will be perfect and the writer fully realizes that oftentimes a scheme on paper will not work out so well when actually put into practice. However, being acquainted with the amount of money available, the geographic and economic conditions, and the roads of the county it is the best that can be done under existing circumstances.

The Reorganization Of Hopkins County Schools, John Adams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Purpose of the study - Educators and lay citizens alike, in the main, want the schools to extend their services so as to meet all the educational needs of the youth. Surveys of the schools in the Hopkins County District in recent years have convincingly revealed that these services are not being rendered. At the suggestion of the Hopkins County School Superintendent H.W. Wilkey, and others this study is being made.

This is an intensive study of the schools of Hopkins County as they exist today, with suggestions for a plan of reorganization to bring them to the point of …