Education Commons^™

Changing Adult Behaviors: Examining The Factors Of Change That Facilitate The Mtss Implementation Framework In A Small Rural School District, Briana Whitaker

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This mixed methods study sought to identify the incorporation of support for implementing evidence-based instructional practices within an MTSS framework among teachers and the impact on student growth outcomes in three K-2 schools. The study also determined teacher perceptions regarding how support in adult behavior change, which is the theoretical framework of the study, impacted a shift in their instructional practices utilizing a qualitative survey, one-on-one interviews, and two independent samples t tests. Participants in the study expressed that school climate, principal instructional leadership, purposeful PLCs, and their attitudes about new behaviors best supported them in adopting innovative instructional reading …

Hickory Nut Gap Farm Culture Change, Stacia Harris

Education Projects

Organizational culture is crucial to success yet incredibly difficult to thoroughly understand and, when needed, change. This mixed methods study examined the specific culture at Hickory Nut Gap Farm to better define challenges and opportunities for growth and improvement. Using data and published research on organizational culture, this consultancy yielded custom strategies to help Hickory Nut Gap Farm create a consistent culture and also address other specific challenges revealed through research.

Best Practices For Nonprofit Organizations To Support Remote Learning, Geoff Hogan

Education Projects

Prodigal Son Foundation (PSF), an educational nonprofit organization (NPO) based in Charlotte, North Carolina sought to increase its partnerships with other local agencies and to improve fundraising efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a change in day-to-day operations and a need to reimagine the organization’s methods to support the local community. The shift to remote learning and the closure of schools due to the pandemic brought the need to determine how PSF would continue to serve the community. Customer satisfaction and feedback on programming options became the significant challenge for this consultancy project. Through the need for resources and information on …

The Impact Of Implementation Drivers On Teacher Efficacy Beliefs Within A Multi-Tier System Of Support Framework, Heather Jennings

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Schools are implementing a Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) to address being met with increased pressures to ensure every student has an equal opportunity to reach proficiency standards and close the achievement gap. An MTSS is characterized as a systematic approach to identifying and problem-solving barriers to learning. In implementing an MTSS, teachers have experienced added responsibilities and have had to increase or refine their skill set in data analysis, data-based decision-making, implementing interventions, and managing academic and behavioral interventions. Through a case study, qualitative and quantitative in nature, the study identifies implementation drivers in the areas of leadership, competency, …

Allocation Of Faculty Among Nursing Programs At A Community College, Jessica Ivey Msn

Education Projects

Organizational structure is important in any business to ensure that organizational mission and goals are being met. The structure defines roles, establishes a hierarchy, and creates the culture for the organization. Establishing the structure will assist with communication, decision-making and the overall culture of the organization. Gaston College expressed a need to redesign their structure by combining all their nursing programs to create a School of Nursing. Currently, each nursing-related program is separated into their own departments/programs. This includes faculty and staff assigned to one program instead of allocating staff to multiple programs. This project consists of defining new roles, …

Creating High Performing Teams In A Professional Practice, James O. Gist

Education Projects

Latta Family Dentistry is a small rural dental office located in Latta, South Carolina. The owner, Dr. Kareem Sprattling, is looking to provide affordable dental care and would love to open another office in a similar town. In order for him to open a new office, he must first improve the effectiveness of his current team and improve on structures already in place such as technology, the website, and the current efficiency while attracting new patients. Challenges this dentistry faced ranged from a revolving door of new employees, people working within a silo, the need for a much updated website, …

The Impact Life Experience Has On Leadership Development, Tawyna G. Daniels

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to address the problem of ineffective leadership by focusing on the impact life experiences have on leadership development. Participants in this qualitative study were educational leaders (principals) located in a central North Carolina school district. The researcher sought to study how select leaders’ life experiences impacted their leadership development, identify common themes that influenced select leaders, use the results to address the need for effective leadership in educational environments, and use the results to bring awareness of the importance of leadership development through experiential learning. Qualitative data in this study revealed that that …

Design Thinking In Health Sciences: Developing Solutions-Oriented Graduates Impacting Local Medical Communities Through Innovative Leadership, Tracey T. Thurnes

Education Dissertations and Projects

Design Thinking in Health Sciences is a multi-year project that focuses on applying design thinking pedagogy across the health sciences in the undergraduate and graduate educational experiences through pop-ups and curriculum infusion at Elon University. In addition, the project serves to partner with local community organizations to provide “real-life” exposure on how design thinking can be implemented to serve the greater community. A convenience sample of graduate and undergraduate health science students completed a version of the INCODE-ICB-v5 survey that measures many of the same identified characteristics of The Ten Principles of Good Interdisciplinary Teamwork. Surveys were distributed pre and …

An Investigation Of The Characteristics Successful Executive Directors Perceive To Be Most Important In Charter Schools, Jeremy Wayne Quick

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study was a multiple case study to explore the phenomenon of the charter school executive director and the characteristics needed for success. The executive director characteristics directly affect the success or failure of a charter school (Berman, 2008). A variety of studies have researched the skill sets needed for successful leadership in several types of organizations; these skill sets overlap, and the research has revealed how these skills were interconnected. The evaluation of all these leadership skills helped define the skill set needed for successful charter school leaders and can be used by many stakeholders to improve upon current …

Analysis Of School Counselor Leadership Practices Through The Lens Of Bolman And Deal’S Four-Framework Model, Patrice Suzette Banks-Rogers

Education Dissertations and Projects

School counselors play an integral role in school reform. School counselor leadership is key to academic, personal/social, and career readiness of all students in a school. This nonexperimental, quantitative study explored the following research questions: (1) What is the relationship between school counselors’ primary leadership orientation and specific demographic factors (current grade level served, total number of years as a counselor, and prior teaching experience); (2) What is the relationship between school counselors’ primary leadership orientation and actual and perceived job responsibilities; and (3) What is the relationship between school counselors’ primary leadership orientation and school counselors’ professional development preferences? …

The Left- Handed Leader: Educational Experiences And Leadership Practices, Rebecca L. Huffstetler

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of left-handed school leaders during their elementary and secondary school years. Further, this study examined the impact of these experiences on leadership practices exhibited by left-handed school leaders. The researcher used a mixed methods approach to conduct this study. For the quantitative portion of the study, left-handed and right-handed school leaders completed Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) Self, Fourth Edition. To obtain qualitative data, left-handed school leaders also participated in an open-ended question interview where information was collected on their educational experiences in elementary school and secondary school …

The Relationship Of Learner-Centered Beliefs Of Principals And Student Achievement, Camela Bonita Dingle Bell

Education Dissertations and Projects

Educators are focused with efforts to improve student achievement through reform and policies; a majority of the efforts are focused on accountability reform. The learner-centered model focuses on school reform that is organized around the personal domain for systemic reform. How principals work with students is greatly influenced by policy and what they believe about student learning and behavior. This dissertation attempted to establish principal beliefs and their effectiveness on student achievement on the End-of-Grade and End-of-Course test in the state North Carolina.

Survey data was collected and analyzed to determine if, and to what extent, significant differences between learner-centered …

Effective Leadership: Perceptions Of Principals And The Teachers They Lead, Pamela Murphy Helms

Education Dissertations and Projects

A small public school system in the piedmont of North Carolina was the setting for this study. Individual school data, as well as aggregated data from studied schools were analyzed in order to form overall conclusions of perceptions of leadership within the district. Schools were grouped according to the age of the student (elementary K-5, secondary 6-12) in an effort to provide the opportunity for further data analyses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the principals' self-reported leadership behaviors and the teachers' perceptions of the principals' leadership behaviors using Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory …

An Analysis Of The Connection Between A Principal Development Program And Executive Leadership, David (Jay) Jones

Education Dissertations and Projects

America faces the following problems related to the supply of school principals: shortage, poor understanding of the changed role, and inadequate training. In response to problems, the state of North Carolina has implemented the School Executive Standards to evaluate principals and drive the professional development of them. The purpose of this descriptive study was to report on the perceptions of principals and assistant principals regarding the connection between a district level principal development program and preparation to meet the "North Carolina School Executive Standards". A sequential QUAN-QUAL analysis was applied to data collected through a survey and individual interviews. Measures …