Education Commons^™

Towards Intercultural Understanding And Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Building An Internationally Minded School, Meaghan Higginson

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

As an International Baccalaureate school in a diverse Canadian city, Welton Academy’s (pseudonym) vision is to be a world-class, academic school with a focus on shaping students into globally minded, engaged citizens. The demographics of the school are changing, as the student body is becoming increasingly more ethnically diverse. Currently, one of the school’s strategic missions is focused on international mindedness. Although the school’s vision to promote international mindedness includes global engagement and multilingualism, the area of intercultural understanding is not identified. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores a Problem of Practice (PoP) that highlights the need to develop intercultural …

How Principal Supervisors Build Principal Capacity For Instructional Leadership, Kevin Godden

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

The purpose of this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is to assist districts, specifically senior educators, in utilizing practices designed to improve the capacity of principals for instructional leadership related to deep learning. This OIP is built on a theory of action that recognizes that principals play a critical role in creating the conditions for teachers and students to learn in meaningful ways. Under certain conditions, central office staff have a positive mediating role in enhancing principal instructional leadership and ultimately student learning. It is the premise of this OIP that when principal supervisors establish learning focused partnerships with principals, they …

Implementing Authentic Formative Assessment To Improve Student Learning, Ola Elshurafa

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) capstone addresses the Problem of Practice (POP) pertaining to the lack of a robust system of authentic formative assessment at the Department of Business Administration (DBA) in an Arabian Gulf University. A synthesis on the literature around formative assessment has informed a conceptual model for the POP which highlighted the importance of formative assessment and its positive influence on student learning. This OIP designs a comprehensive and systematic plan which guides change towards the improvement of the POP, targeting stronger system performance and enhanced outcomes for student learning. Using an organizational culture lens, this OIP …

The Principal’S Impact On The Success Of Mathematics Professional Development, Michael Chad Staheli

Theses and Dissertations

Principal involvement is recognized as a key component to success in professional development implementation. Both the principal efforts undertaken, and the visions stated influence teacher development and student achievement. Using the instructional, transformational, and learning-centered models of leadership, as well as frameworks in vision, and organizational theory, this research sought to clarify the impact of principal involvement on student performance. Interview data was collected from 16 principals participating in a mathematics professional development program entitled the Comprehensive Mathematics Initiative. Of the participants, 9 of the principals were from schools that achieved high levels of student performance on standardized mathematics tests …

Superintendent Practices And Initiatives For Building Principal Instructional And Collaborative Leadership Capacity In A High-Performing High-Poverty School, Fatemah Ali Al Ramel

Dissertations

This study explores how superintendents build school principal leadership capacity by developing (a) principal capacity to function as instructional leaders and (b) a culture of shared and collaborative leadership. A particular focus for this study is the ways in which superintendents work with principals to build instructional and shared leadership capacity in order to turn low-performing schools that educate high-poverty student populations into schools that outperform their demographic peers. This study describes the activities and strategies that characterize the ways in which superintendents build a strong collaborative leadership team with their school principals, then use that collaborative team to develop …

The Relationship Between Instructional Leadership And Organizational Commitment Of Teachers, Mary T. Skelton

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if principal instructional leadership practices are related to elementary teachers’ organizational commitment. Quantitative data were collected through an online survey from kindergarten through fifth grade teachers in a southern state. The survey respondents were full time regular education classroom teachers who had been teaching for at least one year under their current principal. There were 182 respondents who completed the entire survey and whose data were statistically analyzed. The 75 survey questions that were statistically analyzed measured teacher’s perceptions of principal instructional leadership and self-reported organizational commitment of teachers with a Likert …

The Effect Of Demographics On The Implementation Of The Principal Walkthrough, Jason A. Marx

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this quantitative study was to research how school and principal demographics influence a principal’s implementation of the walkthrough process. Principals from New Jersey were administered a survey to provide insight into how they implement the walkthrough process in their schools. The findings suggest that socioeconomic status and level of principal experience have no influence on how walkthroughs are implemented; however, the findings also suggest that level of principal experience does have an impact on whether or not principals share the results of walkthroughs with teachers.

An Exploration Of Principal Perceptions Of The Danielson Framework For Teaching In Providing Feedback And Improving Instructional Leadership, Stephen Hernon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Teachers have consistently been proven by research as the most critical factor in the academic success of students (Baker et al., 2010, Darling-Hammond, 2000, Tucker & Stronge, 2005, Taylor & Tyler, 2012). Having a quality teacher therefore provides the best pathway to strong student achievement, and knowing how to evaluate quality teaching becomes critical to student success. A growing body of models for evaluating teachers has formed over the past two decades; and among those are new, research-based models. Principals are key to the success or failure of the new approaches to teacher evaluation because they are in the position …

Support Provided By Administrators For Mathematics Teachers: A Case Study Of One North Louisiana High School, Jessica M. Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations

National and International assessment results as well as general student unpreparedness for college and beyond in terms of mathematical abilities indicate a need for increased student achievement in mathematics (Hart, 2005; National Center for Education Statistics, 2017; Peterson, Woessmann, Hanushek, & Lastra-Anadon, 2011). The purpose of the study was to explore effective leadership traits of secondary school administrators that foster and support teachers of mathematics. Research specifically made connections to instructional and transformational leadership practices, actions, and traits. This exploration was investigated through a case study using interviews completed by high school educators, administrators, and district leaders.

A sample of …

Increasing Instructional Leadership: An Applied Research Study On The Effects Of Developing Principals As Instructional Leaders In The Magnolia County School District, Leigh Anne Newton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied research study seeks to improve principal capacity as instructional leaders. The need for principals to increase their instructional leadership capacity became evident with the ever-changing requirements of state accountability and student achievement. Using four elements in this study, cohort-based professional development for principals, principal PLCs, data meetings, and consultant and district administrator campus visits, the program sought to develop and grow principal leadership. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews were used in the study. The findings reveal improvement in instructional leadership capacity in the district and can provide educators with information, including an action plan, to implement instructional leadership …

The Relationship Between Instructional Leadership Practices And Leadership Self-Efficacy Of School Leaders, Carter B. Akins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With educational reform focused on school accountability, principals must attend to tasks that lead to school improvement. Identifying such tasks as instructional leadership practices and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of instructional leadership practices through leadership self-efficacy may contribute to school improvement. Thus, the purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate instructional leadership practices and the degree to which these practices predict the leadership self-efficacy of school leaders. Participants in the survey were 100 principals and assistant principals of public schools in the southeastern United States, spanning 18 school districts, and 180 schools. Findings indicated instructional leadership practices of …