Education Commons^™

Secondary Teaching Thriving: Investigating Secondary Teacher Well-Being And Contributing Factors To Thriving, Ryan H. Nichols

PhD in Education

The purpose of this study was to examine secondary teacher thriving using the PERMA well-being model. This non-experimental, quantitative survey aimed to discover secondary teachers’ well-being and how the dimensions of well-being are predictive of thriving among secondary teachers in the United States. Using a comprehensive researcher-created instrument assessing participants’ sense of thriving and PERMA well-being, the study resulted in statistically significant findings with 55 secondary teachers participating in the survey. Both sense of thriving and the dimensions of thriving were statistically significant in a one sample ttest. Demographics, such as school classifications, years of experience, and geographic locations, were …

The Role Of Self-Efficacy And Emotional Exhaustion In Teacher Considerations Of Job-Related Stressors And Attrition: A Mixed-Methods Study, Raymond Nance

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Teacher attrition is a problem currently afflicting classrooms around the world. Emotional exhaustion and teacher self-efficacy have been demonstrated to be factors in attrition. This study assesses the efficacy of potential tools for use in evaluating emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy before problems arise and to guide professional development in efficacious directions.

This parallel-convergent mixed-methods study performed quantitative regression analyses on the joined effects of emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy to assess their potential mediating role between teachers’ job stressors and considerations of leaving the job. The existence of mediation was demonstrated. Qualitative thematic analysis of transcripts from six interviews with current …

Culturally Relevant Practices And Community: Increasing Minority Leadership In School Administration To Improve School Climate, Cassandra Suggs, Joy N. Rogers

Dissertations

This dissertation and research looks into the area of Culturally Relevant Practices and Leadership in K-12 schools and the potential effect on all students in having minority leadership present. The research dives into interviews of teachers, hiring leaders, district leaders and building leaders. It also uses survey results from over 700 students, with the central theme of the questions around school safety, climate, culture, support, academics and a sense of belonging. The research purpose was to look into the potential positive effect on students and staff, if Culturally Relevant Practices and hiring of minority leadership was in place within school …

Using Mindfulness Techniques In Elementary Schools: Training For Staff, Mariah Linnell

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Mindfulness is a state of mind focused on drawing attention to what is happening in the present moment. Students at all levels, whether it be elementary, middle, or high school can experience numerous academic, personal and social, and behavioral benefits from practicing mindfulness. The training presented in this project will address the need for elementary school staff to be using mindfulness techniques when working with the diverse range of students. The objective is that this training will result in the education of school staff on mindfulness and how to effectively implement these techniques with students, which will have a positive …

An Investigation Of The Experiences Of New Teachers And Their Reasons To Stay In The Classroom, Jessa N. Mcentire

Honors Theses

New teacher attrition rates have increased over the years. Twenty percent of new teachers will leave the profession after three years. That number increases to forty-four percent after five years of teaching. For those just entering the profession, these numbers can be daunting. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons for this departure and what actions schools employ to help lessen this attrition rate. After screening four teachers to gain a general insight into their experiences, eight teachers with a similar educational background were selected for additional interviews. This study was intended to determine how much of …

The Relationship Between Teacher Identity And Teacher Retention In Title 1 Schools: A Multiple Case Study, Michelle A. Arroyo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teacher turnover is a significant phenomenon and a dominant factor driving demand for new teachers and, in turn, creating school staffing problems. Retaining teachers in the classroom is critical to properly serve a growing and diverse student population. The purpose of this case study was to investigate critical components that cause teachers to remain teaching in Title 1, hard to staff schools and how their professional identities contribute to that decision. A qualitative research design was used by conducting one interview with seven teachers employed at a Title 1 elementary school in the Southwest portion of the United States.

The …

An Exploration Of Supports For Increasing Classroom Physical Activity Within Elementary Schools, Hannah G. Calvert, Julianne A. Wenner, Lindsey Turner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) can significantly benefit students’ health and educational outcomes, but many teachers do not utilize CBPA. This study examined teachers’ perceptions about the value and impact of several approaches to support CBPA implementation, and teachers’ weekly self-reported CBPA use. Interviews were conducted with 35 classroom teachers (including those using and not using CBPA) at two public elementary schools, and CBPA tracking logs were collected on a weekly basis. Interview transcripts were interpreted through key domains within implementation science. On average, teachers reported using one activity every other day. Interview data revealed that utilizing professional collaboration time for …

Good To Great In Educational Development, Bruce Kelley

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We have been asked to describe One Thing that guides us as educational developers. For me, this is the strategic planning process described in Jim Collins’ Good to Great (2001). Collins provides a model that helps leaders navigate through change to build effective and influential centers. This framework has allowed me to develop a successful center despite periods of transition and uncertainty. Much of what I experience in my professional life is good. The challenge is to take it to the next level—to turn good into great. Collins’ strategic model provides a roadmap for how this might be accomplished.

The Influence Of Administrators On Literacy Instruction Through The Promotion And Selection Of Professional Development, Lucy K. Johnston-Josey

Dissertations

Literacy is a key component to success in school and in life. Literacy has been a focus of education since 1965 when President Jimmy Carter announced a “war on poverty.” Since then, history has shown that educators should place an emphasis on literacy within schools. Because literacy is so important, I set out to explore how administrators influence literacy through the promotion and selection of professional development.

Mississippi was chosen as a basis for the study because it falls below the nation in terms of literacy rates on the National Assessment for Educational Progress assessment. Nineteen participants from four school …

The Aspirational Curriculum Map: A Diagnostic Model For Action-Oriented Program Review, Eric Metzler, George Rehrey, Lisa Kurz, Joan Middendorf

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

When the process of curriculum mapping begins with the faculty’s articulations of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students should master upon graduation, a curriculum map results that enables faculty to review the curriculum for effectiveness, see the workings of the whole curriculum at a glance, plan assessments, and recognize where adjustments or changes need to be made. This article explains these benefits and lays out a step by step process for building such a curriculum map that can be adapted to any institutional context. We also describe a variety of outcomes from and reactions to our process.

Moving Toward The Center: The Integration Of Educational Development In An Era Of Historic Change In Higher Education, Bruce Kelley, Laura Cruz, Nancy Fire

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Educational developers have generally articulated their mission around three major poles: faculty/professional development, instructional development, and organizational development (Diamond, 2002; Lewis, 1996). While the first two poles have received greater attention in the past, an increasing amount of emphasis is being placed on organizational development. This shift is a result of a growing tendency to see educational development as an integral component in helping colleges and universities effect change in multiple areas. The challenges higher education faces “require multiple teams of cross-unit expertise in order to make progress” (Schroeder, 2011, p. 202), and educational developers are often called on to …

Intercultural Learning Perspectives Of World Language Educators In Kentucky, Ernest Luke Mcclees

Online Theses and Dissertations

A line has become blurred between intercultural interactions and daily personal interactions. The once long distance for trade, travel and communication is at its’ smallest gap. However, “American graduates have been cited as being culturally deprived and linguistically illiterate, compared to students from other countries” (2013 Kentucky Standard for World Language Proficiency). For educational leaders to improve this current educational inadequacy, it is important to understand teachers’ intercultural beliefs and how they impact their classroom practices. What is not known is the present state of world language teachers’ global competence understanding and what they perceive to be best practices to …

Good, Fast, Cheap: How Centers Of Teaching And Learning Can Capitalize In Today’S Resource Constrained Context, Michael H. Truong, Stephanie Juillerat, Deborah H. C. Gin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article provides leaders and educational developers of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) with innovative and practical strategies on how to increase their centers’ capacity and impact by focusing on quality, efficiency, and cost. This “good, fast, cheap” model represents a promising way that CTL can continue to grow, scale, and innovate in the midst of limited resources. By leveraging existing campus resources, external vendor products, and low cost technologies, CTL are able to remain effective and impactful, without compromising quality or requiring abundant resources. This article will include real use case examples from a CTL at a mid …

Administrator Perceptions Of How Developmental Education Impacts Student Attrition, Jennifer Michelle Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nationally and locally, developmental education students attending community colleges are not persisting at a high rate. This growing attrition problem affects many aspects of a local community college including enrollment, completion rates, and tuition revenue. The purpose of this study was to analyze community college administrators' perceptions of developmental education and how developmental education affects student attrition. The conceptual framework of this study, social constructivism, provided a foundation to better understand the role each administrator plays in this social group. A qualitative study through structured interviews was conducted, targeting 10 college administrators from 1 local community college, from each of …

Architechture: Rebuilding The Traditional University For The 21st Century, Sarah E. Shearer

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks …

The Career Development Of Latina Women Achieving The Position Of Public High School Principal, Consuelo A. Palacio

Theses and Dissertations

For this qualitative study, I used the lens of the Social Cognitive Career Theory to investigate the lived experiences of Latina women navigating their career paths into the roles of public high school principals. Latina women are underrepresented and in some states they are not represented at all. Few Latina women have secured the position of high school principal in public education; however for those who have, it is unclear how they attained the position. It was significant to learn about the factors that have lead to the representation of Latina women who serve as high school principals. The representation …

The Significance Of National Association For The Education Of Young Children Accreditation In Elevating Quality Of Early Childhood Education: Administrators’, Teachers’, And Parents’ Beliefs About Accreditation And Its Process, Kristine Vardanyan

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The following is a doctoral dissertation that studied administrators’, teachers’, and parents’ perceptions and attitudes related to an early childhood center/preschool accreditation experience. A qualitative case study of one preschool center focused on the influence that the decision to pursue accreditation and implement the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) self-study process had on administrators, teachers, and parents. Interviews with administrators, teachers, and parents explored (a) issues that motivated the pursuit of NAEYC accreditation; (b) the NAEYC guidelines and their experience of the self-study and quality-improvement process; and (c) their perception of outcomes following accreditation. Current NAEYC …

The Influence Of Physical Education Teachers' Beliefs On Secondary School-Based Physical Activity Opportunities: A Case Study Of One Ontario Public School, Gregory D. Rickwood

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the relationship between the beliefs of physical education teachers from one public secondary school in Ontario concerning physical activity and school-based physical activity opportunities. More concisely, did physical education teachers’ beliefs influence school-based physical activity opportunities and were there other social factors that influenced their engagement in these opportunities.

The method of inquiry was grounded in the academic literature that examined the characteristics of effective school cultures, and how culture was related to school-based physical activity opportunities. From this review, it showed that a post-positivism framework within a case study design …

Line In The Sand: An Essay On Principal-Teacher Relationships, David Dunaway

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

was a fall Saturday morning, and I was in my Auburn doctoral program monthly seminar where we talked of various topics of interest to our group of 15. Somehow the topic came around to the relationships between teachers and principals. Consensus of the group was that the proverbial line in the sand was an inevitable and unchangeable part of being a school principal. I, to the surprise of no one then or now, disagreed. This time I was not playing my well-honed role of Devil’s Advocate, I really believed that there was no good or logical reason that there should …

As A New Ceo, President, Vice President, Director Or General Manager For A Business Organization, What Should Be Your First 30 To 60 Days Priorities And Efforts?, Michael Marshall

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

I am often asked this question by many business executives, business professors, business teachers and trainers, business consultants and advisors, and in my personal teaching and training. The answers to this question are the same for any business executive who is tasked with ‘Turn-Around Management’ to help grow the business. The first 30 to 60 days are critical

Leading Change Through 360o Decision-Making: Six Steps For Making Meaningful And Sustained Decisions, Paul Watkins, Dave Stevens

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Slumped at her desk poring over the disappointing bond results, Dr. Whitten, early in her first year as superintendent, began to question the decision behind considering such a proposition. She wondered aloud, “How could the patrons of the community not vote to approve this building project? "The Meadowville School District was in the midst of a population explosion, which equated to the state’s largest student growth rate. Currently, more than 500 students are taught in mobile classrooms throughout the district, and student population is projected to continue to grow at a rate of six to seven hundred students per year …

Organization And Supervision Of Inventions And Innovations At The Basic Level Of Education In Nigeria, Madumere Obike

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Educational management is inextricably linked with inventions and innovations. It will not be a mistake to say that effective management equates with productive inventions and innovations. Improving the quality of education and achieving better results should be the priority of educational management. This being the case, it should be the concern of management to meet the needs of the learners and to deal with global economic challenges. To this end, management skills such as organisation and supervision that deals with inventions and innovations are very important. Often times problems arise when inventions are resisted because they appear to be revolutionary …

Teacher Perceptions Of Administrative Support For Democratic Practice: Implications For Leadership And Policy, Audrey Murphy

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This paper reports results from a qualitative study that examined perceptions of administrative practice expressed by members of a grassroots teacher group committed to the practice of democratic education. The group (the Friday Roundtable) was comprised of K-12 public school teachers in rural Appalachian Ohio who spent considerable time together trying to answer the collective question how can we be better teachers? A key element of that dialogue involved consideration of increased state and national pressures that often included educational expectations of their building administrators that the teachers perceived as undemocratic. Using case studies of eleven individual teachers situated in …

A Study Of Character Of Prospective Administrators In Administration Preparation Programs, K. Roberts

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In the world in which we live character is at the forefront. It’s hard to tell what is the truth as the lines have been blurred because of a word called “spin” and a person’s own mental justification for their actions. Daily accounts of superintendents and other school administrators are headlined in the media, whether mainstream media or specialized education media, about failures in character. What caused that superintendent or administrator to sacrifice their character? They relied on their reputation and became lax in their moral obligations and judgments.

Are Administrators Disconnected? A Comparison Case Study Of Important Teacher Dispositions In Elementary Science, Bethany Stewart, Charles Eick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The identification of dispositions as a gauge for teacher effectiveness has become a part of many school systems and teacher education programs. Accrediting agencies, such as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), have been instrumental in emphasizing teacher dispositions’ presence in higher education institutions and local schools. NCATE defines dispositions as: “Values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues, and communities and affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator’s own professional growth” (2006, p. 53). NCATE and INTASC strongly …

The University Chameleon: Identity And Time Issues Faced By Faculty In Dual Positions, Eric Daffron

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

My transition into full-time administration came gradually. A young assistant professor of English, I got my first taste of administration when I accepted a position as coordinator of my university’s study abroad programs. Later I served an enriching experience as director of my university’s honors college. With both positions, I remained on faculty, teaching usually a couple of courses each semester. Over time, I felt a certain dissonance in my dual role. A double agent of sorts,1 I felt pulled-in terms of time and especially identity-between my role as faculty member and my role as administrator. In fact, I came …

Enabling Structure And Collective Efficacy: A Study Of Teacher Perceptions In Elementary Divisions Of American Schools In Mexico, Dereck H. Rhoads

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Signs When Positional Authority Is Out Of Control, Anne Jefferson

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In this article, various scenarios are shared to illustrate the abusive use of positional authority. The scenarios are real with the professional lives of individuals seriously affected as a result of abuse.

Surviving The First Years: A Principals Guide For Implementing A Quality Special Education Program, Lisa Bertrand, Ruth Roberts, Margaret Dalton

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In today’s schools, building level administrators are faced with a variety of challenges as they strive to provide leadership that promotes successful learning experiences for all students. Promoting the success of all students is also the foundation of current federal legislation with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates as well as the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Answering the call of these directives and the goal for all students to experience success, building level principals must have fundamental knowledge of special education programs and services. However, research indicates that principal preparation course work may not target special education …

Promoting The Success Of All Students:, Lisa Bertrand, William Bratberg

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In today’s schools, building level administrators are faced with numerous challenges as they attempt to provide leadership that promotes successful learning experiences for all students. Setting the stage for this leadership, the Council of Chief State School Officers organized the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) in 1996. This consortium was formed for the purpose of developing model standards and assessments for school leaders. The ISLLC’s primary constituency is the state education agencies responsible for the administration of licensure. It included representatives of state agencies/departments of education and professional standards boards, with considerable participation by professional associates.