Education Commons^™

An Examination Of Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding The Implementation Of Professional Learning Communities In Central Minnesota Public Elementary Schools, Patricia Held

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The focus of this research is in the area of professional learning community (PLC) implementation in public elementary schools in central Minnesota. Such a study is important in order to ascertain the perceptions of elementary teachers in the successful implementation of PLCs in their schools. While there is research describing the perceptions of school district administrators in actualizing professional learning communities in their districts, there was no research found describing the perceptions of public elementary school teachers in central Minnesota regarding their participation in PLCs. The research approach adopted in this dissertation included a quantitative study utilizing an online survey …

Mcf-Togo - Thistledew Camp. A Historical Analysis Examining A Specialized Juvenile Residential Correctional Program., Anne Chelin-Anderson

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

This is an historical analysis of a specialized residential Minnesota youth program, Thistledew Camp, governed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections and approved by Minnesota Department of Education. This program served at risk youth ages 13-17 (age 18 if they had a birthday while at the camp) who were court ordered to the program because of behaviors, truancy, or probationary violations. Additionally, some students were placed in the facility by social services or their families because they were chemically dependent youth in need of addiction counseling services. The students assigned, or court ordered to the Thistledew Camp facility, were taught …

Bullying In The Workplace: Are Principals, Assistant Principals And Licensed Administrators Confident Identifying And Addressing Adult Bullying?, Emily Rustman

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) defined bullying as a, “repeated, health-harming mistreatment by one or more people of an employee by means of verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, humiliation, work interference, sabotage, exploitation of a known vulnerability, or a combination of any of all of these” (2013, WBI U.S. National Survey). According to a 2010 WBI national survey, “An estimated 54 million Americans report being bullied at work” (2013, WBI).

The purpose of this study was to determine if quality professional development or training had been provided to Minnesota principals, assistant principals, and licensed administrators related to identifying and addressing workplace …

A Case Study Of The Implementation Of Activate, An Executive Function Intervention Program, Randal Smasal

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The purpose of this case study was to explore how three elementary schools located in the eastern region of the United States of America implemented the ACTIVATE executive function intervention program. The researcher investigated the practices used in these schools, the perceived benefits for children, the barriers to implementation and recommendations for schools initiating an implementation of this program. The case study format provided for the collection of responses, perspectives and insights through semi-structured interviews from seven individual educators most responsible for implementation of the program. Transcripts were coded for themes and frequency counts of the data were gathered. Analysis …

Development Of A Valid And Reliable Job Performance Formative Feedback Instrument For High School Activities Directors, David M. Wedin

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The problem of the study was to develop and test for validity and reliability, a 20-item, 360-degree formative feedback instrument for assessing the performance of high school activities directors. Data were collected from coaches, extra-curricular advisors, licensed staff members, non-licensed staff members, and administrators regarding activities directors’ performances. Contributing high schools in the state of Minnesota participated in the study during the spring of 2017. A standard statistical item analysis was completed to calculate basic descriptive statistics and a Cronbach’s (1951) alpha to determine reliability. In addition, a pilot test and content analysis of the items was conducted to determine …

Parents’ Perceptions Of Chinese Immersion Programs In Minnesota, Xinming Ren

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The purpose of the study was to gain information from parents who had enrolled their child/children in selected Chinese language immersion programs during 2016-2017 school year in Minnesota. The study aimed to explore parents’ motivations and perceptions of Chinese immersion programs in Minnesota. By exploring parents’ perceptions, the Chinese immersion programs’ strengths and potential improvements were identified. The findings of the study were shared with Chinese immersion programs’ administrators, teachers, and parents to improve their awareness about Chinese immersion programs in Minnesota. The findings of the study were used to supplement the gap in the literature related to parents’ perceptions …

Satisfaction Levels Of Central Minnesota Parents Regarding The School Instruction Of Their Dyslexic Children, Kelly Haws

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Statement of the Problem According to Washburn, Joshi and Cantrell (2011) reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, affect 15-20% of the general population. Educational leadership requires school administrators to educate all students, regardless of their learning styles. With dyslexia affecting an estimated 15-20% of the school population (Washburn et al., 2011), it would be reasonable to assume that students with dyslexia are being underdiagnosed, and therefore underserved. Consequentially, potential revenue may be lost by public schools whose parents are choosing to enroll their child in the private sector because of past or perceived dissatisfaction in the public school’s ability to meet …

The Presence Of Correlates Of Effective Schools In Select Minnesota Charter Schools With Longevity, Frank Herman

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Abstract

Minnesota enacted the nation’s first charter public school law in 1991. Since that time, the charter school movement has grown in Minnesota and across the United States. In Minnesota alone there are 165 charter schools operating according to the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools in the school year 2016-2017. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) reported that there were more than 6,700 public charter schools enrolling about 2.9 million student nationally in the 2015-16 school year.

Since state statute defines charter schools as public schools funded by the state of Minnesota, and represent taxpayer investment, there is …

The Value Of Standards Based Teacher Evaluation: Perceptions Of Tenured Elementary Teachers In A Metropolitan School District, Bryan Bass

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Abstract

The authorization of federal legislation including the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (Public Law 107-110) and the United States Department of Education, 2009 Race to The Top (RTTT) (Pubic Law 111-5) federal grant stimulus spurred an increase in state accountability systems that focused on reform and innovation. Specifically, these federal statutes focused on a “renewed emphasis on state-level teacher evaluation policy” (Maslow & Kelley, 2012, p. 601). This enhanced focus on accountability for student achievement among teachers and principals has contributed to school districts attempting to design effective teacher evaluation systems that promote and encourage a culture …

The Use Of Principal Professional Learning Communities By Secondary Principals In Minnesota, Nicole K. Rittenour

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Principals in Minnesota are required to remain current in knowledge of leadership for relicensure and evaluation purposes. One method used by Minnesota principals to increase their leadership capacity using the latest teaching and learning research strategies, is the professional learning community (PLC). Limited research is available on principals’ professional learning communities in Minnesota and the challenges to participate in them. The study provides an examination of principal professional learning communities and how Minnesota school district principals use collaboration to increase their knowledge in the field of administration.

Barth (1985b) suggested “the principal is the head learner . . . and …

Priorities Vs. Reality: A Task Analysis Of Secondary School Principals In The State Of Minnesota, David O. Lund

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Abstract

“The principal’s role in delivering quality education has long been recognized as an important organizational characteristic of schools. How principals should perform their roles, however, has been the subject of debate” (Smith & Andrews, 1989, p. 21). Since the inception of the principalship, the role of the principal has encompassed all operations of their school. During the early 1900s principals were primarily managers of facilities. Principals were predominately male teachers who performed clerical administrative duties such as the school schedule, length of year, facility management etc. (Kafka, 2009). As the role of education in our society has grown, so …

Special Education Teacher Perceptions Of Effectiveness And Knowledge In Literacy Instruction: Implications Of Literacy Coaching, Sarah J. Papineau

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Students with reading disabilities need explicit and systematic instruction provided by teachers knowledgeable in effective literacy instruction (Foorman & Torgesen, 2001; Moats, 1999; Piasta, Connor, Fishman, & Morrison, 2009). The National Reading Panel report (2000) outlines five areas necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Knowledge in these five areas is imperative to providing explicit instruction for students’ struggling with reading (IDA, 2010; Moats, 1999). However, special education teachers often report being ill-prepared to provide the necessary instruction needed by students with reading disabilities (Amendum, 2014; Kennedy & Sheil, 2010).

Literacy coaching is an effective …

Perceived Effects Of Peer Observation On Collaboration Between Teachers At A Minnesota High School, Jacob O. Klingelhutz

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

This study examined teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of a newly implemented peer observation program in a central Minnesota High School. The two research questions for this study were: (1) To what extent do teachers perceive the overall effectiveness of participating in a peer observation process? and (2) To what extent do teachers perceive the overall quality of their professional interactions, communications, feedback, or discussions [with or from or by] peers as a result of participating in this process? A mixed-methods approach was used to gather data in the form of survey and interview responses. A 28-item questionnaire was developed, …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Teacher Candidate Performance Assessment Results And Teaching Quality At The End Of The First Year Of Teaching, Joel J. Traver

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Nearly a decade after the 1983 landmark report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Education Reform, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) initiated action to reform education in the United States and established five policy recommendations “aimed at ensuring powerful teaching and learning in all communities as America’s schools and children enter the 21^st century” (NCTAF, 1996, p. 4). More specifically, NCTAF sought to reform teacher preparation, professional development, and teacher recruitment with the essential outcome of improved teaching quality and accountability (NCTAF, 1996). Increased teaching quality may have resulted in improved student learning …

Perceived School-Associated Factors Contributing To Teacher Attrition In Southwest Minnesota, Christopher Fenske

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

In April 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released the report A Nation at Risk. This report stated, “The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people” (United States. Department of Education, 2004, para. 3). The report was the impetus for public education in the United States to prepare youth for work and responsible citizenship, to forge a common culture within an ethnically diverse country, and to reduce inequalities for the common good of the nation (Present, 2010).

The …

Leadership For Educational Equity: Seek Understanding Beyond The Words And Beneath The Practices, Cindy N. Shevlin-Woodcock

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

Current literature has identified multiple underlying causes for disproportionate and widespread underachievement between student groups: the history of inequities in American education (Noguera, 2012; Singleton, 2015), a prevailing White racial-frame worldview and systemic racism producing implicitly-biased educational policies and practices (Lawrence & Keleher, 2004; Feagin, 2014), and opportunity gaps perpetuating lower educational achievement and attainment by students of color and students from impoverished backgrounds (Jordan, Brown & Gutiérrez, 2010; Noguera, 2012). Educators must critically reflect on the obstacles to achieving educational equity and the lack of access to quality instructional opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds and the impact these …

Defining, Practicing, And Assessing Innovation By Minnesota’S Local Government, Reginald M. Edwards

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The purpose of the study was to examine, summarize, and categorize how leaders of select cities, counties, and school districts (kindergarten through 12^th grade) in Minnesota define, practice, and assess innovation.

The significance of the study was two-fold: 1) the findings may add to the body of research regarding innovation in local government, and 2) may contribute to the understanding of innovations by local government officials.

The study engaged 81 local units of government (i.e., cities, counties and school districts – kindergarten through 12^th grade) in the State of Minnesota via electronic survey. Of the 81 local units …