Education Commons^™

Leveraging Professional Learning To Impact Leadership Of Technology Integration, Tennille Woodward

All Dissertations

School and district leaders lack awareness of the depth and complexity of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Education Leaders and how the implementation of the leader standards provides for students and teachers to learn relevant skills and strategies. Continuing the work of Schoenbart’s 2019 dissertation, the Education Leaders Technology Survey (ELTS) provides a self-assessment for education leaders to reflect on their leadership of technology integration and provides baseline data for this study. Professional learning around the ISTE Standards for Education Leaders provided through a Canvas course provides education leaders with a theory of action to …

The Perceived Role Of School Counselors In Ramp And Non-Ramp Schools, Rob Rhodes

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceived roles of elementary and secondary school counselors within schools with comprehensive school counseling programs and those without such programs. Central to this study are questions of how school counselors’ roles are perceived differently within Recognized ASCA Models Program (RAMP) schools and non-RAMP schools. I this study, I examined the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Professional Mindsets and Behaviors (see Appendix 1), as outlined in the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2012), as well as school counselors’ professional practices and perceived roles in RAMP and non-RAMP schools.

Through interviews and comparative analysis, …

A Narrative Inquiry Of Selected Women’S Career Pathways To State-Level Leadership In Agriculture, Timothy Keown

All Dissertations

In this study, I used a qualitative narrative inquiry to examine stories from three individually selected state-level agricultural sector women leaders as they described their career paths to leadership roles. This purpose of the study was to address the problem of a lack of practical understanding of women leaders’ experiences in pursuing, achieving, and keeping leadership roles within the agricultural industry. The existing literature shows that women are less likely to hold an agriculture leadership role in their career. To establish the research question, I used feminist educational theory. This theoretical framework and the associated epistemology of narrative inquiry served …

Evaluating Utah's Rural Online Initiative: Empowering Organizational Leaders Through Remote Work, Paul A. Hill, Amanda D. Ali, Lendel K. Narine, Andrea T. Schmutz, Tyson M. Riskas, Debra M. Spielmaker

The Journal of Extension

Compared to urban counties, Utah's rural counties experienced high levels of unemployment. Informed by a statewide needs assessment, Utah State University Extension developed a remote work leadership course to equip business leaders with knowledge and skills to create remote jobs as a solution to rural unemployment. This descriptive evaluation study collected data from course participants (N = 62). Findings showed short-term outcomes were achieved; participants experienced increases in knowledge and skills and had more positive intentions toward creating remote jobs and hiring employees from rural counties. Extension professionals can design and evaluate their programs using the framework in this study.

Empowering Teens To Make A Difference In Their At-Risk Community, Lisa Rothenburger, Alayne Torretta

The Journal of Extension

When identifying problems and creating solutions that support the community culture of health, youths provide a unique perspective. This article describes how staff from Somerset County, NJ 4-H partnered with staff from Middle Earth, an at-risk youth service provider, to organize a group of teens who identified and implemented projects that affect the health and wellness of their community of Bound Brook, NJ.  Extension professionals can replicate a sustainable and synergistic youth-adult partnership by creating the opportunities, making the initial connections within the community, and following the 4-H club model to ensure teens experience the essential elements.

Identifying The Effects Of Narcissistic Leadership On Employee Job Satisfaction: A Study Within The Accounting Profession, Susan Shurden

All Dissertations

Narcissism is a personality disorder now identified in professionals in both education and business. The disorder is diagnosed when an individual possesses five of nine characteristics listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders/ (fourth edition, text revision version). Narcissism is prevalent in most successful leaders and is both destructive and constructive. The focus of this Dissertation is on the destructive characteristics and how narcissistic leadership affects job satisfaction among employees within the accounting profession.

Leadership: Perspectives From Deaf Leaders And Interpreter Leaders, Marty M. Taylor

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article examines leadership from the perspectives of 50 deaf leaders and interpreter leaders from Canada and the United States. This qualitative research study contributes to knowledge about what leaders value and what are important leadership practices to each group of leaders. Data were collected through individual interviews using semistructured open-ended questions. Twenty most frequent themes were identified in the interview data. The values of respect and communication were strongly related among and within the two groups. When participants were asked about the differences and similarities between deaf leaders and interpreter leaders, five themes were identified: the importance of relationships, …

Streetleverage.Com: A Social Web For Interpreter Educators, Deb Russell

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This Open Forum article features an interview conducted with Brandon Arthur, curator of StreetLeverage.com. In this interview, he describes the creation of StreetLeverage.com and the ways in which it is impacting educators, students, and practitioners. He explores the ways in which social media is shaping our field and how educators can embrace this new form of publishing in order to provide students with rich, meaningful material to bridge theory and practice. Finally, the article expands on the role of live events that build on dialogue as a mechanism for mobilizing interpreters and bringing changes to the profession.

The Leadership Experience Of Female Chief Admissions Officers: A Phenomenological Research Study, Krista Timney

All Dissertations

College admissions is a highly-competitive, business-oriented, and collaborative profession where women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. A study is needed of the barriers that have the potential to hinder the advancement of women in this unique and challenging field, as well as the opportunities and approaches to leadership that may lead to their success. The southeast region of the U.S. was chosen for this study because it is an area where women have been successful in advancing into leadership roles in admissions. The primary research question was: How do female chief admissions officers describe their lived leadership experiences? …

A Structural Equation Model Of Leader Attributes In The Principalship, Amy Young

All Dissertations

To become a principal in South Carolina, one must have teaching experience, a master's degree, and certification in the area of primary responsibility. Beyond what is learned through coursework, internships, and certification tests, what intangible factors critically influence a principal's actions and decisions, and (ultimately) success? Trait theory begs the question of whether any of these criteria truly influences the decisions and actions of the principalship. Are there interactive traits of leadership that describe the behaviors of school principals? This study revisits trait theory by examining leader attributes relative to the principalship of South Carolina public schools. This study replicates, …

Professional Development To Promote Employee Engagement: A Multi-Case Study, Starrin Shafer

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Organizations with high employee engagement have positive outcomes in their organizational results. These organizations attained greater satisfaction from their customers, employees were more productive, and increased profits. Employee disengagement is detrimental to businesses, costing companies billions of dollars every year as a result. The suffered losses are a result of high turnover, low employee and customer satisfaction, and decreased productivity. Disengaged employees affected the overall economy in the United States by approximately $300 billion. Because employee engagement has an extensive influence on an organization's financial position, many organizations designed professional development training programs targeted at enhancing the engagement skills …

Perceptions Of Leadership Attributes Of South Carolina Technical College Presidents, Kevin Mckenzie

All Dissertations

This study examined the leadership attributes perceived to be possessed by the presidents in South Carolina's Technical College System. The participants consisted of 16 presidents and 80 subordinates that were selected by the presidents. All participants were asked to complete the Leader Attribute Inventory . Additionally, each participant was requested to identify and rank attributes needed for future leadership at their institution. Demographic data were also gathered about the participants and summarized. The survey responses were collected via United States Postal Service, transposed into spreadsheets and analyzed to determine what relationships existed between the presidents' self perception and the subordinates …

Roles, Responsibilities, Celebrations, And Post-Presidency Aspirations Of Female College Presidents, Almeda Jacks

All Dissertations

Of the 3,300 university and college presidents in higher education in the United States, only 23% are held by females (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2007). The percentage of female students in most institutions in higher education is higher than those of male students.
The Central questions that guided this research study are as follows: What are the roles and responsibilities of presidents of higher educational institutions? How do presidents of higher education celebrate their professional and personal accomplishments? Additionally, what are the post-presidency aspirations of the eight women interviewed who all currently are in their first presidency position in …

Ethical Perspectives And Leadership Practices In The Two-Year Colleges In South Carolina, Shirley Butler

All Dissertations

This study examined the ethical perspectives and leadership practices of leaders in community colleges. The participants consisted of 68 presidents and chief institutional officers from the two-year colleges in South Carolina. All participants completed the Ethics Position Questionnaire and the Leadership Practices Inventory. Demographic data were also gathered on the participants. The survey responses were collected electronically, and analyzed to determine what relationships existed between the leaders' ethical ideologies and perspectives and their leadership practices. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's Product-moment Correlation tests, and ANOVA tests were computed to examine the data. The findings from the study indicated several associations between leadership …

Workplace Incivility And Conflict Management Styles Of Community College Leaders In The Nine Mega States, Michelle Bartlett

All Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the conflict management styles and perceived levels of workplace incivility of community college senior level administrators in the nine mega-states. Six research questions guided the study. Research question one described the self reported conflict management styles of the participants. Research question two described the participants' perceptions of workplace incivility. Research question three examined if relationships existed between conflict management styles and demographic variables. Research question four examined if relationships existed between workplace incivility and demographic variables. Research question five examined if relationships existed between workplace incivility and conflict management styles. Research question …

Ethical Leadership In Higher Education: Evolution Of Institutional Ethics Logic, William Hanson

All Dissertations

In higher education, we face a decade in which institutional integrity and legitimacy is under fire. In the words of Charles Dickens, this is certainly 'the worst of times' both economically and ethically for our nation, as well as for our colleges and universities. While members of higher education call for student academic ethics reform, ethical infractions by institutional leaders and faculty permeate professional literature and news--student loan scandals, charges of plagiarism, and falsified research, are but a few. This study begins with the premise that perhaps our efforts toward reform should focus on a better holistic understanding of system …