Education Commons^™

School Leaders’ Assessment Of Teachers’ Preparedness For Culturally Responsive Teaching, Victoria Maria Siliunas

Dissertations

Societal and school inequities continue to be highlighted via widening achievement gaps that adversely impact historically marginalized groups of students and their communities. An acknowledgement of the importance of developing teachers who are prepared to work with students of culturally differing identities from their own in the day-to-day work of teaching has inspired a shift in language and practice from a more general multicultural approach to a culturally responsive teaching methodology in which a purposeful inclusion of the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of students is prioritized. Addressing challenges schools face related to cultural difference between teachers and the students they …

Explicitly Teaching Scientific Argumentation: Using Action Research To Study High School Science Readiness And Detracking, Ami Lefevre

Dissertations

Access to advanced-level science courses can be difficult for those students who start in a tracked system. Tracking is an educational practice where students are assigned to different classes based on ability level. African American and Hispanic students are most at risk since most minority students are found in the lower level track (Burris, 2014; Mehan, 2015; Oakes, 2005). This investigation used an action research approach to determine how explicitly taught elements of scientific argumentation would impact student mastery of argument skills and influence instructional practices by a professional learning community. A mixed method study was used to collect qualitative …

Addressing The School-To-Prison Pipeline Through Critical Self Reflection: A Self-Study Of Courageous And Transformative Leadership, Ernest D. Williams

Dissertations

Research reveals that zero-tolerance policies lead to school suspensions of a disproportionate number of African American students in urban areas (Center for Civil [CCRR], 2015). Suspensions increase student failure rates and dropout likelihood and reduce the ability to graduate on time (Skiba, Arrendondo, & Williams, 2014). Studies have also shown that African American students are suspended three times more than their White American peers and two times more than their Latino American peers (CCRR, 2015). This has impelled federal and local government agencies, community organizations, and educators to question the effectiveness of punitive discipline policies that have marginalized black and …

Perceptions Of High School Principals Of The Role Of Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support-- Formally Rti-- In Bringing About Social Justice And Equity For Black Boys, La Wanna Marie Wells

Dissertations

Historically, Black males are disproportionately represented as the least likely to graduate at every level of education and the demographic most likely placed in Special Education courses, incarcerated, as victims of homicide and who live in poverty. The United States of America implemented a voluntary program, Multi-tiered Systems of Support for educators to "intervene" with proactive measures that target groups that systemically fail: students of color, English learners, students with disabilities and the poor. The purpose of this research is to observe the perceptions of school principals who have implemented Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as an education program for …

A Historical Analysis Of South Holland School District 151 Desegregation Order: An Examination Of Superintendent Decisions Based On Board Actions Grounded In The Context Of Prevailing Social, Political, Legal And Educational Conditions For The Period 1967-2010, Cecilia Villanueva Heiberger

Dissertations

This study provided a historical analysis of the 1968 court ordered desegregation of South Holland School District 151. The purpose of this case study was to examine, according to primary source evidence, how the superintendents grounded their decisions within the prevailing social, political, legal and educational conditions of the time. The researcher applied the leadership framework of Sergiovanni's Five Sources of Authority by identifying words and actions of superintendents that support a source of authority. This case study sought to identify how the decisions made, actions taken, and resulting changes created a new context for each succeeding superintendent to operate …

Superintendent's Perceptions Of Adequacy In Illinois School Finance, Mark Alan Cohen

Dissertations

This qualitative research study investigated superintendents' perceptions of school finance in the State of Illinois. An online survey instrument, distributed via email, was used to collect the results. Superintendents that chose to participate answered questions about themselves as well as the demographic variables of the district they represent. The participants then went on to answer the finance survey questions. Responses to the finance survey were triangulated with the particular demographic information, much of which was separated into quartiles. The study sought to determine the answers to the following questions: (1) Do public school K-12 superintendents believe that they have sufficient …

Student Access To Advanced Placement (Ap) Coursework: Principals' Beliefs And Practices, Steve Wood

Dissertations

Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses provide high school students an opportunity to be exposed to the rigors of college while they are still in high school. Since school policies play a role in the opportunities for students to pursue these courses, educational leaders must be aware of the ways in which their personal beliefs and school practices influence the course-taking patterns in their students.

This study investigated the relationship between principals' personal beliefs and perceptions of school practices, and the opportunities for students to successfully complete rigorous Advanced Placement coursework. The study utilized a questionnaire distributed to eight-eight principals of schools …