School Leaders' Ethical Decision-Making Related To Student Cyberbullying: A Multi-Case Study Of Two Tennessee School Districts, Jeana M. Partin

Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-case study was designed to explore cyberbullying issues and how school leaders handle student issues related to cyberbullying. I explored how ethical decisions related to student cyberbullying are processed within two school districts in Tennessee. Furthermore, understanding how districts implement and interpret Tennessee Bullying and Harassment Policies helps in exploring school leaders' ethical decision-making process regarding student cyberbullying. Shapiro and Stefkovich's (2021) multiple ethical paradigms, care, critique, justice, and the profession, provided a comprehensive framework for analyzing how school leaders process complex 21^st-century ethical decisions related to student-centered cyberbullying issues. A multi-case study supports the research questions …

An Exploration Of Educator Experiences Making Data-Driven Decisions Within A Multi-Tiered System Of Support, Jennifer L. D'Angelo

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

School districts across the country often face challenges using data to implement a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) to meet the needs of all learners through high quality educational opportunities. This qualitative investigation explored how educators in a public school district in the northeastern United States experience the collection and analysis of data to inform decision-making within a MTSS. Guided by the theory of planned behavior and employing a phenomenological analysis, this study addressed the inconsistencies in educator training along with a lack of existing literature focused on the foundational elements of data literacy. The research questions focused on understanding …

Individual Placement And Review Committee Process: Perceptions Of Parents Of Students Who Are Both Deaf And Autistic, Elyza Polsky

All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects

A paucity of research exists surrounding the area of children with the dual diagnosis of autism and hearing loss (Wiley et al., 2018). While research exists regarding the perceptions of parents of children with other disabilities and challenges, it has only just begun to extend to parents of children who are deaf/autistic (Perry et al., 2019; Starr & Foy, 2012). The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological case study is to achieve an understanding of the perceptions and experiences of parents of deaf/autistic students from a school board in Ontario, Canada, and their involvement in the Individual Placement and Review Committee …

Emotional Intelligence In Difficult Decision-Making: A Multiple-Case Study Of Community College Academic Deans, Ekaterina Kalinina Brooks

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The decisions made by leaders noticeably impact employee morale and influence the fulfillment of the organizational mission. However, making decisions can be challenging when options are complex and involve multiple risks and benefits. Navigating such decisions in an era of technology when decisions are more transparent than ever before can be particularly difficult for academic deans in community colleges. These mid-level administrators often face internal conflicts stemming from the nature of their positions, campus politics, and the challenge of working between the competing interests of faculty and senior leaders.

Over the last three decades, research has pointed out that strong …

Evaluation Planning And Special Service Eligibility Decisions Of School Psychologists: Differences By Chronic Health Condition And Impairment Severity, Maria Tina Benno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are expert practitioners who are well-versed in conducting comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations to address a wide range of students’ needs in schools. The increasing prevalence of pediatric chronic illnesses (CIs) and the presence of students with CIs attending school requires school psychologists to be knowledgeable of the educational and social-emotional impacts of CIs on students’ functioning. Moreover, organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and National Association for School Psychologists (NASP) encourage school psychologists to demonstrate competency in understanding the influence of CIs on students’ function in the classroom (APA, 1998; Schmitt et al., 2019). Comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations …

A Mixed Methods Inquiry Into The Decision-Making Of California’S Principals During Local Control, Adrienne Ortega-Magallanes

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The 2013 implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plan in California granted school districts the opportunity to create their own expense plans based on student needs, with the aim of returning decision-making to those closest to students. Within subsidiarity is the belief that those at the least centralized decision-making level should have the dignity and freedom to decisions that affect the problem at its source, in this case, how to improve student achievement. It is argued here that principals, who have a strong indirect link to student achievement, are the least centralized. To explore the …

Service-Learning Curricula In Eastern Pennsylvania’S K-12 Schools: Educational Decision-Makers’ Experiences Through A Critical Lens, Megan Jerabek

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This research examines the experiences of K-12 curricular decision-makers in their consideration of service-learning curricula within their schools and districts. Recent evidence indicates service-learning offerings have decreased in K-12 schools in the last decade (The Education Commission on the States), and this research utilizes qualitative inquiry and a critical theory framework to understand this phenomenon via the lived experiences of educators with service-learning and the conditions at play that impact its inclusion and exclusion from schools. The findings consider the similarities and contradictions educators face, the policies and experiences that frame their perspectives of service-learning, and its accessibility within their …

Disconnected, Frustrated And Withdrawn: Institutional Policy Implications For Equity In Student And Faculty Community, Jessica Marie Welsh

Dissertations and Theses

DFW rates at intuitions of higher education for students from underrepresented populations trended higher than majority students. A single explanatory case study provides insight to the factors impacting DFW rates in first-year gateway courses at a four-year, public, comprehensive institution. The study employed the use of focus groups of students, non-tenure-track faculty, and tenure-track faculty. In addition, institutional data was collected and used to triangulate to the data collected from focus groups. The inductive results showed multiple institutional barriers causing DFW rates among first-generation, Pell Grant, and/or students of color. Using Turner and Angulo’s (2018) theoretical framework of high-risk decision-making …

Student-Athletes’ Decision-Making Process For Selecting An Academic Major, Gina S. Pearson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how collegiate student-athletes experience the decision-making process for selecting their academic major at a midsize, Division I university in the Midwest. With four participants from four different sports, this study’s results centered around four research questions: what was most important to the student-athlete when selecting a major, what challenges they ran into, what role others played in their decision-making process, and how the student-athletes’ athletic identity manifested in their decision-making for their major.

Results of this study indicated that student-athletes value the practical application to a career that their major can …

Borderline Grading Decisions: The Factors That Influence The Choices Of High School Physical Science Teachers, Kate Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers consider many different kinds of factors in determining student grades. They use a mix of achievement and non-achievement factors in grading decisions, to the criticism of educational measurement experts (Brookhart, 1991; Brookhart, 1993; Frary et al., 1993; Popham, 2009). The factors that influence this decision making are particularly salient when teachers consider borderline grades and make decisions about raising, holding, or lowering marks. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and self-reported practices of high school physical science teachers’ decision making about borderline grades. Through a series of two semi-structured interviews, twelve participants described the …

Decision-Making For Teacher Professional Development: An Analysis Of Contributing Factors, Jennifer Heckathorn

Dissertations - ALL

This is a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study of teachers' professional development experiences within two Educational Service Agencies in the northeastern part of the United States. It examines how much and what types of professional development teachers receive, and the factors that contribute to school leaders' decisions for offering professional development and teachers' decisions for participating in professional development. The study was based on what the field knows about the characteristics of effective professional development, and the lack of comparison between those traits and what we know about current professional development practices.

The study is composed of multiple phases, which include …

Script Concordance Testing In Genetic Counseling Training: A Pilot Study, Yakira Begun, Lila Rae Stange

Human Genetics Theses

Clinical decision-making has been successfully measured by script concordance testing in various healthcare training programs; it has never been used in genetic counseling education. The aim of this pilot study was to assess script concordance testing in the field of genetic counseling as an objective measure of clinical reasoning in trainees. The script concordance test was administered to 22 second year genetic counseling students in the Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics at Sarah Lawrence College. 12 genetic counselors served on a panel to provide expert judgment responses, and a scoring grid was developed using the Aggregate Scores …

An Exploration Of How School Leaders Make Decisions About Music Programs In Suburban Schools, Xavier Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the decision-making processes involved with deciding the funding and framing of music programs in three suburban school districts in the New York metropolitan area. School leaders were interviewed to understand the factors associated with the decision-making process. The findings helped to understand educational leaders’ perceptions, how programs changed over time, and the different actions that were taken. Key educators and school leaders from three school districts in the suburban New York Metropolitan area were interviewed. The participants from each school district included a district school leader, a building school leader, a school finance leader, …

Adult Transracial Adoptees' Childhood Experiences And Decision-Making In Forming Families Of Creation, Sarah J. Gray

MSU Graduate Theses

This study examined adult transracial adoptees’ (TRAs) childhood experiences and determined how specific factors influenced their likelihood to choose biological procreation, adoption, fostering, a combination of these options, or the choice to be child-free when forming their own families. These adoptees were Black, Indigenous and people of color adopted by white parents in the United States through domestic or international adoption. Childhood experiences included the TRAs’ sense of belonging, cultural socialization, and preparation for bias. The only dependent variable option predicted by a childhood experience was the preference to be child-free. TRAs who experienced higher levels of belonging were less …

Understanding Catholic School Attrition: Catholic Elementary School Students’ And Parents’ Perceptions And Matriculation Decisions, Thomas Gasper

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study shed light on the issue of attrition within Catholic education and points to opportunities for leaders to improve the effectiveness of elementary and secondary schools as well as identify barriers impacting access to poor and vulnerable populations. The purpose was to: describe factors eighth-grade Catholic school students and their parents consider in choosing a high school; determine correlations between degree of satisfaction with Catholic elementary schools and perceptions of programs in Catholic high schools; and understand the extent students’ and parents’ identified attributes corresponded to their high school selection.

Quantitative data was generated from surveys of …

Bidirectional Influences Of Decisions And Outcomes On Organizational Identity And Sustainable Viability In Small, Private, Nonprofit, Mission-Focused Higher Education Institutions, Brian J. Gilliam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As educational leaders in small, private, nonprofit, mission-focused higher education institutions confront challenges, their decisions influence organizational identity, culture, and viability. Decision-making is informed in a complex environment of internal and external influences. The purpose of this research is engaged scholarship to inform practitioners of decision-making in mission-focused institutions with better understanding of why and how adaptation is occurring, and provide a conceptual framework for decision-making and further study of organizational leadership in this important sector of higher education.

Four-year private, nonprofit, degree-granting institutions represent 34% of all accredited institutions in the United States and serve over 5 million students. …

Is Responsible Leadership Possible? Exploring The Experiences Of Business Leaders, Educators, And Scholars, Kanina Blanchard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study addresses a simple yet complex question: How can leaders come to make more responsible decisions within today’s highly economized context? Using narrative inquiry, I explore the stories which leaders in academia, business, and education tell about their experiences at what I call the point of impingement—the point where, as leaders, they must make decisions while facing conflicting and opposing norms and values. Underpinning the inquiry is Kempster and Carroll’s (2016) conceptualization of responsibility in leadership, and their argument that transformation toward a future in which responsible leaders address societal, ecological, and humanitarian challenges requires exploration of lived experience. …

Examining District Administrators’ Professional Development Decision-Making Processes Concerning New Special Education Teachers, Sarah J. Bacalia

Dissertations

New special education teachers face an abundance of challenges from day one that directly correlate to student outcomes (i.e. classroom management, instruction, curriculum, school culture and operations, test preparation and administration, state standards, parent relations, and interactions with other teachers). District administrators, (i.e. superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum and instruction directors, directors of student services, special education directors, and special education supervisors) play an important role in determining how to best use their districts' professional development time and resources to support new special education teachers as they work to continually improve student outcomes. Therefore, professional development should be a purposeful endeavor. …

Emotional Intelligence And Decision-Making In Higher Education Administrators In Post-Secondary Institutions In Eastern Tennessee, Rachel Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the impact of emotional intelligence on decision-making in higher education administrators. A qualitative research design was used for this study. Data was collected in three phases from the following sources; survey, case study submissions, and open-ended face-to-face interviews. The research data, about emotional intelligence and decision-making, were collected form ten higher education administrators. Constant comparative method was an important part of the data collection process for this study. Range of participant leadership experience was 3-8+ years and participant roles were either, Department Chair, Program Director, Dean, Provost, and President. The findings …

Stories We Carry Into Classrooms: The Literacy Narratives Of Teachers Of Students With Complex Support Needs, Sharon L. Head

Special Education ETDs

In this study, I used a case-based narrative inquiry to investigate the literacy narratives and the thinking about instructional practices of four teachers of students with complex support needs (CSN) from a small, rural school district in the Southwestern United States. I conducted initial and follow-up interviews and facilitated two focus groups across an eight-week period using a process designed to look at teacher narratives across time and after interactions with peers. My data were in the form of transcripts of all interviews and focus groups that I analyzed using two analytic processes: thematic and narrative (Polkinghorne, 1995). I described …

Policymakers' Decision-Making: A Critical Policy Analysis On Performance-Based Funding, Laura Rose Inez Soulsby

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Over the last three decades, state governments have been challenged by financial recessions. With limited resources, it is not surprising that taxpayers demanded greater accountability over state funds, and neoliberalism, a political ideology that prefaces a strong economy and individual marketplace choices, spread. Scholars have argued that performance based funding (PBF) policies for higher education, which ties financial resources to specific metrics of achievement, is a result of that spread. In contemporary literature, scholars are examining the impacts of PBF and limitations, especially for community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions. Research on the PBF policy making …

College Choice, Consumer Behavior, And Gender Enrollment Patterns: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Marathon University, Jessica I. Prach

Theses and Dissertations

Gender and enrollment patterns in higher education have changed over the past 40 years, where women are now the majority of students enrolling in colleges and universities nationally each year compared to men (U.S. Department of Education, 2018b). Despite enrollment trends indicating a dramatic increase of female students at colleges and universities, Marathon University has experienced the opposite. The purpose of this concurrent, mixed methods case studies was to identify why female students are choosing not to enroll at Marathon University, despite relatively even rates of application and admission compared to male students. The intent of this study was to …

Staying Alive: A Content Analysis Of The School Board Minutes Of The Governor Baxter School For The Deaf And The Decision-Making Processes Of The School Board For Redesigning The School, Rebecca Falbo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the decision-making processes of the school board of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf as they worked to keep their school alive. Thus, the research question was “What decision-making processes did the school board of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf adopt while redesigning and restructuring the school to be a viable educational option for Maine’s deaf and hard of hearing children?”

The review of the literature followed key elements of the theoretical framework. The theories that informed the present study were School Board Governance Theory, Institutional Theory, …

Female Senior Student Affairs Officers’ Experiences In Decision Making Across Their Careers, Somaia Hamza Mustafa

Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of female Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) in decision-making across their careers in colleges and universities. This study focuses on female SSAOs who work in public and private institutions in the Midwest region of the United States. The experiences and perspectives of female SSAOs focused on the changes in decision-making styles while making small or large-scale decisions over time, the skillsets utilized, the challenges that they faced and the strategies that they employed. This study also explores female SSAOs’ experiences and perspectives regarding decision making when handling crises on campus.

The research design for this …

Organizational Conditions That Promote And Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’S Perspective, Renee Treat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good …

Active Engagement Of Young Adults In The Church And A Sense Of Belonging, Cynthia M. O. Williams

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Research has shown a continuous decline in the presence and engagement of the young adult population within religious communities. A number of analyses have indicated that young adults are not feeling a sense of belonging, which leads to their withdrawing or disengaging from the church. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between a sense of belonging and active engagement of African American young adults who are within the church. This descriptive study presents findings from an analysis of data from the 2001 congregational life survey and contemporary interviews with young adults who were active church members …

Academic Advising In A Personalized Learning Environment, Stephen Poplar

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Guidance counselling in Canadian secondary schools today is coming under greater pressure. There are more students experiencing mental health issues, which impact their wellness. Student wellness demand has an impact on the ability of guidance counsellors to provide deep and meaningful academic and post-secondary advising for students. This OIP will look at one Independent school in Canada and how it is experiencing the same shift in student’s wellness that demands Counsellors attention. This school is also undergoing a transformational change to a personalized learning environment as the predominant teaching and learning model. This shift requires transformational leadership and provides an …

Crisis Leadership And Management Of Superintendents During The 2017-18 California Wildfires, Dianna Kitamura

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods heuristic research study was to discover how school superintendents described their crisis leadership and management experiences during the 2017-2018 wildfires in California through the lens of the Five Critical Tasks of Strategic Crisis Leadership framework of sense making, meaning making, decision-making and coordination, learning, accounting (Boin, 't Hart, Stern, & Sundelius, 2017). Additionally, this study determined the extent to which school superintendents identify their use of the Five Critical Tasks of Strateby Dianna W. Kitamuragic Crisis Leadership framework.

Methodology: This explanatory, sequential mixed methods heuristic research study investigated a quantitative survey and qualitative …

Regret Theory And Decision-Making In Retention Program Funding, Eugenia Jo Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior leaders of higher education institutions make management-related funding decisions that meet the needs of the institution without incurring financial loss. By classifying groups of students into strategic business units, these leaders can make targeted fund management decisions. Researchers have demonstrated that higher education institutions have successfully implemented student retention programs for students in the freshman unit, but in this early adoption stage, have been unable to establish a pattern in the sophomore unit decision-making process. This study was designed to determine the relationship between the management decisions to allocate funding for retention programs for students in the sophomore year …

Decision-Making In The Foster Care System, Julie E. Bertram

Dissertations

This study documented and analyzed the processes of mental health treatment decision-making, in the context of family support teams, within the foster care system. The research questions explored engagement, perceptions, and self-rated empowerment among family support teams that serve adolescent foster youth with mental health concerns. The sample consisted of 23 participants from core support teams and 36 other adolescent and adult team members who were involved in the study. Data collection methods included observations at family support team meetings and court hearings, 34 semi-structured individual interviews, a self-rated empowerment scale, and informal conversations in the field. Analysis of non-survey …