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Fort Hays State University

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Qualitative Study Of Current And Prospective Student Perceptions Of A University Website, Sheila J. Henderson, Jennifer Coloma Jul 2011

Qualitative Study Of Current And Prospective Student Perceptions Of A University Website, Sheila J. Henderson, Jennifer Coloma

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Building a sustainable system that goes beyond myopic interests and short-term policies is an arduous task for any school leader. In the U.S., our education system has been criticized for being too shallow in curriculum and unsustainable in the long run. In fact, a 2007 report by UNICEF concerning children’s well-being in 22 countries ranked the U.K. and the U.S. at the bottom of the industrialized nations in the survey. Hargreaves (2007) laments that these two countries, in their single-minded pursuit of economic competitiveness and development at all costs, are destroying the planet, while “eating their young.”


The Impact Of National Cultures On Corporate Cultures In Organisations, Kwasi Dartey-Baah Jan 2011

The Impact Of National Cultures On Corporate Cultures In Organisations, Kwasi Dartey-Baah

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The school’s main core business is teaching and learning. A quality curriculum and effective instruction are key elements to ensure successful teaching and learning in schools (Grigsby et. al. 2010). Thus, various activities and resources established in the schools should be optimized to ensure that teaching and learning are implemented effectively. From the human resource perspective, the main drivers of successful teaching and learning are teachers. Hence, quality teachers who can perform their responsibilities with commitment are prerequisites for successful and excellent education.


Resident Block-Rotation In Clinical Teaching Improves Student Learning, Ralitsa Akins, Gilbert Handal Jul 2010

Resident Block-Rotation In Clinical Teaching Improves Student Learning, Ralitsa Akins, Gilbert Handal

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In 2007, a new block-rotation in clinical teaching was implemented for the third-year residents in the pediatric residency program at Texas Tech HSC in El Paso, Texas. We describe the design and implementation of this rotation, as well as its impact on student learning and satisfaction. During 2.5 academic years, the teaching residents supported the experiences in the pediatric clerkship of 129 medical students. Evaluations of teaching residents and clinical teaching rotation, as well as written feedback indicate improved student learning and satisfaction. Our clinical teaching rotation presents a structured approach to “teaching residents to teach” with an ample time …


Perceived Causes Of Teacher Dissatisfaction In Sekondi –Takoradi District Of Ghana., Dampson George Apr 2010

Perceived Causes Of Teacher Dissatisfaction In Sekondi –Takoradi District Of Ghana., Dampson George

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

A teacher’s job satisfaction is one of the most essential issues for educational systems around the world. Next to pupils, teachers are the largest, most extensive, crucial and key to improving quality in any educational system (Afe, 2001; Stuart, 2002). This paper focuses on the third world country of Ghana where according to Bame 1992 and Akoto -Danso (2006) teachers are often in short supply. Akoto- Danso documented that enrolment into basic schools in Ghana has gone up by 17% from 3.7 million to a record of 4.3 million.


Teacher Morale: The Magic Behind Teacher Performance, Michael Hess, Jerry Johnson Apr 2010

Teacher Morale: The Magic Behind Teacher Performance, Michael Hess, Jerry Johnson

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Educational progress depends upon the quality of teachers. Unfortunately most of the persons who enter teaching profession do not like their jobs at all. They are here because they could not be selected for any other profession, Hence, quite a number of rejected and dejected university degree holders seek admission in training colleges and become teachers. Their inner-self never wanted to become a teacher. Many teachers take no pleasure in the teaching and simply pass their time. They do not care to set worthwhile goals before their pupils. They never care for what the students say about them. They are …


Teacher Perceptions Of Administrative Support For Democratic Practice: Implications For Leadership And Policy, Audrey Murphy Apr 2010

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 …


Work Motivation Of Teachers : Relationship With Transformational And Transactional Leadership Behavior Of College Principals, Uma Devi, R.S. Mani Apr 2010

Work Motivation Of Teachers : Relationship With Transformational And Transactional Leadership Behavior Of College Principals, Uma Devi, R.S. Mani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The strength of an educational system largely depends upon the quality of its teachers. It is a teacher who helps to transform an individual into a person of imagination, wisdom, human love and enlightenment, and institutions into lampposts of posterity, and the country into a learning society. The National Policy on Education (1986) has rightly remarked “The status of the teacher reflects the sociocultural ethos of a society; It is in this context that today a teacher occupies a unique and significant place in any society.


Developing Critical Thinking Skills Of Pre-Service Teachers In Ghana: Teaching Methods And Classroom Ecology, Charles Owu-Ewie Jan 2010

Developing Critical Thinking Skills Of Pre-Service Teachers In Ghana: Teaching Methods And Classroom Ecology, Charles Owu-Ewie

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The study sought to answer these questions: How do the teaching strategies employed by Ghanaian initial teacher educators and the classroom ecology they create affects the thinking skills of pre-service teachers? And what can be done to improve pre-service teachers’ thinking through teaching methods and classroom ecology? The study employed a qualitative case study approach to investigate the problem at Akatakyiman Teacher Training College (a pseudonym) in Ghana. Teachers in science, mathematics and social studies and students were interviewed and observed.


What Does It Mean To Be Highly Qualified?, Diana Brannon Jul 2009

What Does It Mean To Be Highly Qualified?, Diana Brannon

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) seems to be one of the most talked about and controversial educational reforms in decades. NCLB is an elementary and secondary education act signed into law January 8, 2002 designed to help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. It requires that teachers be considered “highly qualified” in the core academic subjects they teach. A highly qualified teacher according to NCLB is one who has a bachelor’s degree, full state certification and licensure, and has demonstrated competency in the subject area he or she teaches (U. S. Department of Education, 2004). However, …


Stress Levels Of School Administrators And Teachers In November And January, Robert Moody, James Barrett Apr 2009

Stress Levels Of School Administrators And Teachers In November And January, Robert Moody, James Barrett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Teaching today’s young people is not only arduous work, but can be dangerously stressful. Anxiety due to school reform efforts, minimal administrative support, poor working circumstances, lack of involvement in school decision making, the encumbrance of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among educators (Hammond & Onikama, 1997). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its subsequential mandated standardized assessments, family responsibilities, continuing education, low salaries, and poor working conditions can also create stress.


How Do You Go From ‘Good’ To ‘Outstanding’?, Rima Aboudan Apr 2009

How Do You Go From ‘Good’ To ‘Outstanding’?, Rima Aboudan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Many college educators receive a rating of ‘good’ on their teaching delivery. Following teaching evaluations, usually, raters highlight some clear areas for improvement in their rating reports. The challenge for the educator is to characterize what needs to be done and work on the pedagogy advice to gain an ‘outstanding’ rating in the final verdict of the college rating – satisfy those criteria they say, and outstanding you will be. But how? That is the question.


Preparing Students For The College Experience, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis Apr 2009

Preparing Students For The College Experience, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Preparing students for College life and most importantly for life beyond high school is a key challenge for many educators and secondary education institutions. Above all, today more than ever, educators must prepare students for the unknown and the unpredictable; careers not yet known to us, opportunities that we can not imagine, and for a world so different that we have no idea what it will look like in thirty or forty years. Hence some of the questions that arise are as follows: what shall we teach our students? What skills do we expect them to develop; and which processes …


Interaction Patterns In Mathematics Classrooms In Ogun State Secondary Schools, Adebole Ifamuyiwa, Abisola Lawani Jul 2008

Interaction Patterns In Mathematics Classrooms In Ogun State Secondary Schools, Adebole Ifamuyiwa, Abisola Lawani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Interaction among people plays some vital roles in the life of individuals. This is evident in the way people relate with one-another at home, in the school, within the society, and among peer groups. In particular, the relationship between students and their teachers is expected to have a great effect on their lives. The way students learn any subject, Mathematics inclusive, will depend on the teacher’s pattern of classroom interaction. Teacher-student interaction in the classroom is a two-way process. Each participant influences the other’s behaviour; that is, the students condition their teachers’ behaviour and vice- versa. The concept of classroom …


Total Quality Management Culture And Productivity Improvement In Ethiopia Higher Institutions, B.J Ojo Jul 2008

Total Quality Management Culture And Productivity Improvement In Ethiopia Higher Institutions, B.J Ojo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The desire of all parents is to have qualitative and functional educational programs for their children from nursery school to the university level. This is in conformity with the general belief that a sound education is the only permanent legacy that parents can pass on to their children to ensure their future. However, what we see nowadays is that many countries’ education system is turning out unemployable illiterates. Hallak (1990) emphasized that the quality of the education system depends on the quality of its teachers. Alloy Ejiogu (1990) stated that the quality of education in any given society depend considerably …


Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick Apr 2008

Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Within the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector there has been a considerable amount of debate in recent years about the level of quantitative and literacy skills exhibited by students on entry to university courses. Indeed the UK government commissioned two major reports on the development of skills at school level in the post-14 age range focussing specifically on the development of quantitative skills (Roberts 2002; Smith 2004) since there has been a sustained year-on-year fall in the numbers of students opting to study mathematics, science, and engineering subjects at degree level. Coupled with this reluctance of students to specialise …


Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel Apr 2008

Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Ladson-Billings’ assertion that students’ familial and cultural identities must be recognized and more fully incorporated into the educative process finds much support in the community of progressive educational scholarship, as countless academics (including bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, and Henry Giroux) and activists (including Myles Horton and Ernie Cortes) have critiqued generalist models of education that ignore community assets in their structures and delivery. Ladson-Billings and others insist that when educational programs (both school and community-situated) are designed and implemented as if they occur in social vacuums they implicitly ignore unique community identities and modes of understanding. They relegate …


Attraction: The Secret Of Teaching, Learning, And Leadership, Kay Woelfel Apr 2008

Attraction: The Secret Of Teaching, Learning, And Leadership, Kay Woelfel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The Secret, reveals that the single attribute that ensures success is one that every great educator has always had in his repertoire. Rhonda Byrne (2006, 4) says that “the greatest teachers who have ever lived have told us that the law of attraction is the most powerful law in the Universe.” Byrne points to poets, musicians, artists, and thinkers like Shakespeare, Beethoven, da Vinci, Socrates, Plato, and other legends. But lesser mortals, teachers and administrators in the field, also have known that “attraction” is the secret to school success. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower (1987, 2) put forth this idea …


Exploring The Relationship Between Avid Professional Development And Teacher Leadership, Jeffrey Huerta, Karen Watt, Ersan Alkan Jan 2008

Exploring The Relationship Between Avid Professional Development And Teacher Leadership, Jeffrey Huerta, Karen Watt, Ersan Alkan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Classroom teachers receive various forms of professional development throughout their careers with the intent of improving their teaching practices and ultimately, student performance. However, professional development can also have an impact on teacher leadership activities outside of the classroom as well. The purpose of this study is to assess whether professional development received from the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has an effect on AVID elective teachers’ level of teacher leadership within their schools. Teachers from middle schools and high schools implementing, or planning to implement, AVID were examined in order to answer the following research questions: 1) Is …


A Mentoring Process To Support Teachers’ Growth And Retention, David Bell, Earl Thomas Oct 2007

A Mentoring Process To Support Teachers’ Growth And Retention, David Bell, Earl Thomas

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

As educational consultants one of the pressing needs that we find administrators often recognize is the need for mentoring new and veteran teachers. Despite their concerns mentoring is often not part of the school system or it is executed in a haphazard manner. For example, when principals are asked to describe the current teacher mentoring system they often report that they just assign new teachers with veteran teachers who are willing to take on an additional responsibility. This suggests there is a lack of attention given to the importance of the quality relationship that must be established between mentor teacher …


Teacher Migration From High-Performing Middle Schools: A Case Study, Richard Conley Jul 2007

Teacher Migration From High-Performing Middle Schools: A Case Study, Richard Conley

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

I recently conducted fieldwork to explore the dynamics of teacher migration and understand how it relates to teachers’ perceptions and attitudes. The research was conducted through the eyes of a sixth grade language arts/social studies’ teacher working in a middle school I will refer to as PLC (Professional Learning Community) Middle School. By spending extensive time and conducting multiple interviews with the teacher and other staff members, I was able to explore some of the reasons and conditions why teachers leave schools, particularly high-performing schools to teach in other high performing schools. Attending weekly meetings at all levels and content …


Formulation Of “Questions – Answers” In Teaching-Learning Process As A Way Of Improving Learning Of Students At University Level, Mdel Mar Badia Martin, Candido Roselle, Antoni Tarrida Apr 2007

Formulation Of “Questions – Answers” In Teaching-Learning Process As A Way Of Improving Learning Of Students At University Level, Mdel Mar Badia Martin, Candido Roselle, Antoni Tarrida

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

One of the main things in a process of teaching-learning consists of making hierarchical contents of the programs and to determine specific and clearly which are the objectives of the course. It is not always easy for a teacher to discriminate the relative importance of the program contents. If we consider that the questions the students do are a reflection of what the teachers consider important, the exams could be considered as an adequate source to know their opinion about the contents that a student on a topic should know. Nevertheless, more important than the content itself, is the form …


Providing Students With Effective Feedback, Kathy Dale Oct 2006

Providing Students With Effective Feedback, Kathy Dale

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Feedback is a classroom process that has been under the researchers’ microscopes since the 1970’s to the present, and with good cause—it’s a teacher practice that works. Consistently, researchers have found that when teachers effectively employ feedback procedures, they positively and often powerfully impact the achievement of their students. In fact, Bellon, Bellon, and Blank note, “Academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behavior….This relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting….When feedback and corrective procedures are used, most students can attain the same level of achievement as the …


Simple Way For A Successful Path, Km. Nadeera Oct 2006

Simple Way For A Successful Path, Km. Nadeera

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Education is the basic path to create a complete person improving high thinking and analytical skills for solving problems. Certain defects of the science education would be observed in developing countries minimizing the nations’ strength towards the better development. Quality of the science education is the common fact to be considered in developing countries. Most of the developing countries are following western educational systems which are unsuitable for man’s strength in developing countries as a result of the colonization. Exam oriented teaching processes are going on without understanding and applications. Learner centered, activity based science education is unpracticed due to …


The Role Of Educational Leaders In Implementing A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Designed To Increase The Learning Opportunities For Diverse Students, Frank Andrews Oct 2006

The Role Of Educational Leaders In Implementing A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Designed To Increase The Learning Opportunities For Diverse Students, Frank Andrews

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

While there has been a dramatic shift in the demographic educational landscape of the United States, to a more culturally diverse student population, the characteristics of teachers and educational leaders have remained largely homogeneous. Classroom teachers and school principals remain predominately White, approximately 90%, and 84% respectively (National Center for Education Statistics, as cited in Taylor & Whittaker, 2003). According to many experts, the differences between school and home culture result in lower rates of academic achievement for diverse learners. This article focuses on the challenge facing educational leaders to respond to this demographic shift by leading the implementation of …


Teaching In The Information Age: Leadership Aspects Of Integrated Learning With Technology In Democratic Environments, Patrick Mendis Apr 2003

Teaching In The Information Age: Leadership Aspects Of Integrated Learning With Technology In Democratic Environments, Patrick Mendis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Teaching as a collaborative enterprise can further be enhanced by the use of integrated learning methods and the infusion of technology. Teacher as a leader must then work as a catalyst to facilitate this learning process. A creation of democratic environment has become increasingly easier with the use of the technology. Yet, the right attitude in leadership and the adaptive challenge are as equally important as the infusion of technology into classroom learning and teaching. Teacher is still the noble master and technology is the revolutionary servant in a more democratic world.