Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Noncognitive Skills On Student Achievement In Elementary-Age Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Karen Garmon

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the largest disruptions in educational history. The impact on learning loss and social-emotional well-being from the pandemic threatens to compromise achievement outcomes for an extended number of years. Previous research has proven relationships between grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and academic achievement (Duckworth, 2016; Duckworth et al., 2007; Dweck, 2008), but little is known about the validity of noncognitive constructs and academic achievement in elementary-age students, particularly how the relationship between these variables affected student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine if noncognitive traits had a relationship …

Examining School Administrator Perceptions Of Preparational Experiences Of Effective Educational Leadership, Jared S. Jones

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine what preparational experiences are necessary for assistant principals to effectively transition to the principalship. Fifteen principals completed a 21-item survey and answered seven interview questions to better understand how the North Carolina Standards for School Executives aligned with the daily tasks and responsibilities of school principals. The data also gathered principals’ leadership perceptions, the impact of preparational experiences, and assistant principal preparation. Results from the study concluded that all seven primary North Carolina Standards for School Executives accurately reflected and aligned with the tasks and responsibilities that school principals encountered …

Teacher Self-Efficacy Levels In Providing Reading Instruction To Students In Kindergarten Through Second Grades, Rebekka Powers

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy levels of kindergarten through second-grade teachers in their ability to provide reading instruction to students with a focus on the five foundational areas of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. In addition, the study sought to make recommendations as to how the district of study can enhance teacher efficacy in delivering reading instruction, as well as assist the district in providing instructional resources and teacher professional development that increase teacher efficacy levels in reading instructional practices. A mixed method approach was used to conduct this study. Data were …

North Carolina Public School Educator Perceptions Of Teaching During Covid And Impacts On Burnout, Leah Huttlinger

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Educators in North Carolina have been burdened with many different negative stressors, such as low pay, increasing class sizes, and violence in the classroom, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the role of the educator. Current research suggests an inevitable exodus of teachers due to the increased stress brought by the pandemic. Through this mixed methods study, I sought to examine relationships between COVID-19 stress, physical and mental health symptoms, and occupational burnout. Using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, I determined statistical relationships between specific domains of COVID stress and the physical and mental health of North Carolina educators. There …

Latinx Families’ And School Personnel's Perceptions Of Family Engagement In Virtual Learning In Five Nc Elementary Schools During The Covid-19 Global Pandemic, Elizabeth Schrecengost

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020 created many difficulties for both families and schools. Drastic lifestyle changes had to be made, and many schools across the United States were closed indefinitely, with a rapid transition to “remote/virtual/distance learning.” Latinx families, many from diverse backgrounds, were one of many special populations to struggle with the transition to virtual learning, for various reasons. This struggle with transition affected families’ levels of engagement with their children’s schools, which is a limited area of research. A myriad of research shows when there are strong partnerships among families, students, and schools and they work cohesively, …

Culture In The Classroom: The Impact Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Reading For Elementary African American Students In The Fourth Grade In Rural Eastern North Carolina, Cortrina Smith

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This study explored K-4 teachers and school district curriculum leadership’s understanding of and inclination to implement culturally relevant pedagogy as a framework for teaching reading, especially for African American students. This qualitative study sought the potential basis that teachers and educational leaders retain from their experiences and perspectives regarding using culturally relevant pedagogy as a framework for educating minority students. It was conducted in a rural school district located in eastern North Carolina; all 13 elementary schools in the school district had teachers who participated. Data were collected by analyzing teachers’ and school curriculum’s definitions of the impact of culturally …

A Sense Of Belonging: An Examination Of The Impact Of Leadership Behaviors On Teacher Morale In Rural Middle Schools, Taquilla Barksdale

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to shed light on the importance of addressing low teacher morale and provide methods for improving teacher morale through leadership behaviors. This study was designed to determine the leadership behaviors that will best heighten morale as perceived by middle school teachers. Thirty-nine teachers who teach middle-level grades (Grades 6-8) in rural areas completed a survey. The survey had 18 leadership behaviors. The teachers ranked the leadership behaviors within five leadership responsibilities based on the behavior’s importance to them. The five leadership responsibilities categories were based on the Wallace Foundation’s (2013) research. Instructional leaders, …

Education And The Gender Spectrum: Addressing Gender Identity Needs In The High School Environment, Donna Eason

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of teachers and administrators in addressing the needs of transgender and nonbinary students. Because most current research focuses mostly on the experiences of students, this study specifically investigated the beliefs, behaviors, challenges, and successes of educators. By analyzing the data provided by the participants, teachers and administrators could be made aware of how best to create and maintain inclusive school environments. The qualitative methodology included interviews with teachers and administrators from a charter school and a private school and focused on their thoughts, feelings, and actions regarding interactions with students who identify as transgender …

Gifted And Talented Science Instruction At The Middle Level: A Mixed Methods Evaluation Of Teacher Practices And Impact On Student Achievement, James King

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Middle school students (Grades 6-8) face a unique set of challenges. Add a gifted and talented (GT) identification, and the need for differentiation in instruction for the exceptional adolescent becomes critical. This research focused on specific practices such as ability grouping, curriculum compaction, providing students choice, problem-based learning, and professional development among others in a primarily rural school district. This mixed methods research used an explanatory sequential design and sought to examine what practices are being used in a middle school GT sixth-grade science classroom using a survey instrument to assess frequency of practice. The results of the survey indicated …

The Influences Of Equity And School Culture On Black, Latinx, And Mixed-Race Student Enrollment In Advanced Secondary Mathematics Courses, Fyniss Nixon

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This quantitative, descriptive analysis of three large, urban secondary schools in the South used equitable practices to intentionally increase the percentage of Black, Latinx, and mixed-race students in advanced mathematics courses. Each high school observed in this study acknowledged a disproportionately higher percentage of White students taking rigorous college and career-ready courses when compared with the Black and Latinx population. This disparity was not just isolated to the schools in this study. District, state, and national initiatives across the country are becoming acutely aware of the accessibility gap between (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) BIPOC and non-BIPOC secondary …

Deconstructing The Standards, Melissa Y. Pollard, Seon S. Sloley

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this Professional Learning Module (PLM) is to improve teacher understanding of academic standard deconstruction. We created this professional learning module to assist educators in better understanding how to deconstruct standards. In this PLM, you will find information about:

1.The need for deconstruction

2.The deconstruction process

3. Identifying learning Targets

4. Using a graphic organizer

5. Common assessments aligned to standards

We hope that both educators and district-level personnel will find this PLM instrumental in the training process of deconstructing standards. In unpacking, repacking, and organizing standards, teachers will develop a better understanding of what the standards are …

Evidence-Based Reading Interventions For Middle And High School Teachers, Brittany Evans, Beverly Hart, Mashonda Surratt

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Welcome to Evidence-Based Reading Practices. This module is designed to help middle and high school teachers intervene with struggling readers in their regular education classrooms. This module will take you approximately three hours to complete. During that time, you will learn what to do when students are missing the necessary foundational skills to become skilled readers.

View professional learning module.

Self-Mentoring: Discovering The Mentor Within, Lisa Savage, Pamela Williams

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module (PLM) was created to help educators, including classroom teachers, administrators, and instructional support staff learn about self-mentorship. The module will describe the concept of self-mentoring as a process for engaging in self-directed professional and personal growth. Districts may find it beneficial to use this PLM to train educators on how self-mentoring can be used as a leadership development tool for improving their professional and instructional practices.

View professional learning module.

Collective Teacher Efficacy, Annie Mcentyre, Stephanie Revis, Helena Vanhorn, Gina Gold

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module (PLM) was designed for those in leadership roles in educational organizations who desire to examine the effect of collective teacher efficacy for school improvement purposes. This module defines collective teacher efficacy as it applies to educational settings and impacts student learning. School leaders will learn research-based conditions and practices that have been found to foster collective efficacy in schools. Collective Teacher Efficacy Professional Learning Module is aligned with the North Carolina Standards for School Executives, Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, and Teacher Leader Model Standards.

View professional learning module.

Is There A Disproportionate Representation Of African American Males In Special Education? A Causal-Comparative Investigation, Kiena S. Hughley, Karen H. Larwin

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

African American male students are disproportionately represented in special education. The purpose of the current study is to examine the disproportionality of African American male students who are referred to special education programs and are identified special education services, specifically in the areas of Emotional Disturbance (ED), Specific Learning Disability (SLD), and other low incidence disabilities (OTH), which includes Speech & Language Instruction, Other Health Impaired, Autism, and Traumatic Brain Injury, in Northeast Ohio’s suburban school district for the 2017-2020 school year. The sample was drawn from a suburban school district in Northeast Ohio which consisted of six schools. Findings …

Factors Of Motivation In Education: Perspectives Of College Students And Their Professors, Caitlin Reash, Karen H. Larwin

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

This study examines motivational factors based on college students’ and faculties’ perceptions to determine which factors are most impactful. The researchers utilized Jones’ MUSIC® Model of Motivation College Student and Professor inventories. Both are designed to determine the factors that impact student motivation (Jones, 2020). The Caring factor was the highest endorsed factor by both college students and faculty in all data collections. A paired sample t-test revealed that the Usefulness factor was rated statistically different by faculty and students. These data can be used to inform programmatic decisions and course design in the university’s education department.

Principals’ Perceptions And Understandings Of Teacher Leadership, Anna Hart

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

No singular definition of teacher leadership (TL) exists in empirical literature or practice in the field. This lack of clarity has greatly impacted the implementation of TL in American schools. The purpose of this study qualitative case study was to investigate public school principals’ perceptions and understandings of TL in an effort to better inform continued efforts toward its ubiquitous application in American schools. Principals’ definitions of TL fell into three categories: action-based, quality-based, and role-based definitions. Principals’ recognition of the work of teacher leaders in schools fell into two parallel categories: action-based and role-based leadership. Findings reveal that many …

Preparation, Expectations, And External School Contexts: Navigating The Covid-19 School Closures, Samuel F. Fancera, Evan Saperstein

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to examine educators’ perceptions of their preparation and expectations for teaching and learning during the COVID-19 school closures through the lens of context-responsive leadership theory. School enrollment, educational attainment, poverty, and race were the county-level external school contexts we studied. The sample includes 270 participants from 13 New Jersey counties. Findings provide evidence for a positive, moderate relationship between school enrollment and perceptions of preparedness for the COVID-19 school closures. School leaders may improve teaching and learning during school closures when using their external school context literacies in certain situations.

Will They Be Welcomed In? The Impact Of K-12 Teachers’ And Principals’ Perceptions Of Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities, Emily Smith Edd, Karen H. Larwin Phd

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions K-12 principals and teachers have of inclusive education in a school district in western Pennsylvania school district. The dependent variables are the teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of inclusion and the independent variables are years of educational experience, extent of special education background, and level of support by district administrators. Instrumentation for this study is the Multidimensional Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES) survey. Data were analyzed for correlational relationships using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings suggest an average to high level of support by administration in …

A Holistic Approach To Designing Digital Archive Collections, Natalie Edwards Bishop

Dover Library Faculty Professional Development Activities

Transitioning analog archival collections into a digital medium requires more than a scanner and a digital platform. The balancing act between retaining provenance, addressing conservation concerns, and delivering an engaging digital experience for collection users can be daunting. When digitizing analog collections, archivists must take a holistic approach to digital collection design that includes practices that are not part of physical arrangement and conservation framework. This presentation will identify key stumbling blocks in the digitization process and present practical, no-cost solutions for tackling those hurdles, paving a smoother pathway for launching user-friendly digital collections.

Presented at the Association of Librarians …

Graduate Session: Presentation 2 - Informed And Equipped: 7 Strategies For Building Your Trauma-Responsive Classroom, Mallory Bricker, Shanda Jones

Life of the Scholar Multidisciplinary Conference

This presentation will introduce you to seven trauma informed strategies which will aid in classroom management and can be implemented immediately.

Decreasing Stigma And Increasing Partnership: The Black Church And Mental Health Community, Harriet Lakisha Bryant

Education Projects

Mental illness of any form needing mental health assistance has come with some negative stigmas and perceived apprehension in the Black community. African Americans' low use of mental health services, historically and presently, has been well-documented. As a result, many African Americans seek assistance from within their faith-based organization, particularly their clergy staff. Pastors influence views on mental health counseling and mental health-seeking attitudes of their congregants. For my consultancy, I partnered with Watts Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, a predominantly African American church to integrate mental health services into their church-based programming and to conduct an analysis of best practices …

Influencing Employee Retention Through Recruitment, Selection, And Onboarding Practices, Monica Gillette

Education Projects

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2019), 47% of human resource managers cite employee turnover as their biggest organizational challenge. This is a critical issue within most organizations and can directly affect overall business effectiveness as teams lose internal knowledge centers and see a decrease in productivity when they have vacancies. Moreover, employee turnover can cost the organization as much as three times the employee’s salary (Maurer, 2019) in recruitment efforts and lost productivity. There are three key areas in which hiring managers can proactively influence employee retention: employee recruitment methodology, the interview and selection process, and employee …

Mission Possible– Engaging Partners, Participants, And Patrons, Jewel Harrington

Education Projects

The purpose of this project was to lead the Tall One Outreach Ministries through a strategic revision of its mission statement. The revision yielded the organization to Mission Possible–Engaging Partners, Participants, and Patrons. Our goal was to serve and expand the purpose of Tall One Outreach Ministries. In addition, our goal was to seek to align the mission with result-driven outcomes of the three-fold outreach pursuits categorized as arts and entertainment, educational outreach, and business services. The focus of the consultancy project devoted time to the Arts and Entertainment sector as initiatives were established for Wilson Idol, Spare the Rod …

Reaching Beyond Satisfaction: Customer Retention Efforts In A New Organization, Michelle Poston Osborne

Education Projects

The significant challenge to Vita Eye Clinic is marketing itsawarenessand increasing the number of new patients. I reviewed articles that use knowledge of customer needs in organizational decisions. Some questions include knowing how organizations convert knowledge of customer needs into powerful organizational methods (Ross, 2015). Another question is, “How does awareness evolve when advertising stops” (Aravindakshan& Naik, 2010, p.315). The purpose of this project is to identify best practices for meeting the needs of the customer.Meeting the needs of the customer seems to be an important aspect of this project.Social media is a key factor in marketing awareness. Having a …

Implementing Best Practices In Human Resources For A Local United Way Organization, Keyona Mcneill Bostick

Education Projects

This consultancy project provides Human Resources (HR) best practices, policies, and procedures for a small nonprofit organization. The project focused on developing solutions that will decrease risk and improve performance for the challenges faced in HR departments. The challenges discovered were inadequate employee personnel files, absence of compliance policies and training, lack of a health and safety program, and other HR internal practices. The results of this project included establishing HR policies and the significance of each policy that was implemented with step-by-step procedures. It also included solutions to assist with compliance of employee personnel files, compliance training programs that …

Increasing Church Resources To Assist With Building For A Small Church In A Rural Area In North Carolina, Christina Bell Hill

Education Projects

There has been a shift in churches, and many are closing (Wuthnow, 2013). Church growth is imperative in keeping churches healthy and allowing them to grow and keep their doors open. Smaller churches often have more challenges when they are trying to build on additions to their churches because of the lack of resources available within the organization. The 2021 pandemic also showed everyone how we can do things differently, and viewing church online became extremely popular. The importance of the church has slowly started to drift away. The necessity of attending church in a physical building is no longer …

Improving Volunteer Retention With Nonprofit Organizations Through Implementing Onboarding Training, Tawanda Lashone Carpenter

Education Projects

Many nonprofit organizations are staples in the community as they provide services for disadvantaged and marginalized groups that seek services that are not easily accessible to them through for-profit organizations. Hence, the retention of volunteers is a challenge for many nonprofit organizations as they depend on volunteers to assist with the day-to-day tasks that cannot be accomplished by paid employees (Garner & Garner, 2011). During the time of this project, One Step Further, Inc. (OSF) Community Support and Nutrition Program (CSNP) was faced to deal with the national pandemic of COVID-19, leaving this organization to depend on paid staff exclusively. …

[W]Hole Health, Maudlin, Kimberly Williams-Roberts

Education Projects

Since the onset of COVID-19 during the early part of 2020, business owners and leaders have mostly focused on keeping their doors open amidst lockdowns and social distancing mandates. After over a year into the pandemic, the world is slowly opening up, despite the imminent threat of the virus. As we continue to adjust to this “new norm,” business leaders now must look at how these changes have and will affect their employees. The continuation of this process includes finding ways to provide the much-needed support to employees by way of improving wellness programs. Despite the availability of vaccinations, businesses …

Bridging Communication Disparities Between Medical Vendors And Healthcare Value Analysis Projects, Rose Rickrode

Education Projects

Vendor Value Analysis Consulting (Vendor-VAC) is represented by an online website created programmatically by Scarlett’s Web, Inc., at https://vendor-vac. This site has been developed to assist healthcare vendors who are seeking to properly market and present their products and/or services in a healthcare environment. Although vendors obtain personal visitation certifications in order to frequent a medical facility, their products and/or services must also be reviewed and technically certified via a defined criteria to be eligible for purchase. These standards are varied but specific to each organization and include assessment routes that fluctuate according to location and management. These diverse evaluation …