Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Addressing A Cohort Discrepancy Among Ninth-Grade Students At A Rural/Suburban High School, Bryley Keaton Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Ninth grade is a critical period where some children experience academic and social growth, while others struggle to navigate their new context, leading to reduced outcomes at school and worsened physical/mental health (Benner & Graham, 2007; Rice, 2001). This mixed-methods action research (MMAR) study addressed how professional practice changes could better support students during this foundational period. Quantitative data was collected from school databases to compare the rate of student success and identify demographic discrepancies, while qualitative data was used to identify possible causes. These data were then integrated to create insightful meta-inferences into the problem of practice. From these …

Career Development And Employability Skill Integration Within The Equine Science And Management Undergraduate Program At The University Of Kentucky, Savannah Faye Robin

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

College graduates need to be equipped with career and employability skills that are necessary to be meaningfully and gainfully employed in their future. These skills consist of self-management, career-management, essential-employability, and discipline-specific skills. More responsibility is being placed on college and university academic programs to ensure that students are graduating with these skills when they enter the workforce. However, students are growing less likely to participate in out of course career development activities and resources. Integrating these skills into program curriculum can be an effective way to ensure that all students have the ability to develop these necessary skills.

While …

Meeting Transfer Students Where They Are: A New Organizational Approach To Transfer Student Communication, Support, And Recruitment, Daniel Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Transfer students have long played a significant role in the growth and diversity of colleges and universities. Recent research points to a continuous decline in enrollment over the coming decade (Kelderman, Gardner, & Conley, 2019), and as tuition costs continue to increase and enrollment numbers decrease, institutions of higher education have begun turning to transfer students to fill their lecture halls and football stadiums. A key variable in higher education’s transfer recruitment blind spot is a fundamental lack of understanding of the structural and organizational changes needed to both attract and retain these non-traditional students (Tobolowsky & Cox, 2012). For …

Collaboratively - Led Living Learning Programs: An Exploration For How Collaboration Is Facilitated Between Student Affairs Units And Academic Affairs In Llps, Trisha Clement-Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

According to Inkelas et al. (2008), Living Learning Programs (LLPs) that are collaboratively led by academic affairs and student affairs units tend to have a significant impact on student learning, when compared to students who participate in LLPs that are operated by one unit (Inkelas et al., 2008). Despite evidence that co-authored LLPs are beneficial to enhancing the LLP student experience, there is little to no research that explores how administrators facilitate collaboration between the units used to co-author the LLP student experience. For this reason, the focus of this study was to explore how administrators facilitate collaboration between academic …

Measuring Transformational Leadership In Athletic Training: A Comparative Analysis, Kristan M. Yates

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

The purpose of this study was to measure the construct of transformational leadership among athletic training academicians and clinicians. Additionally, this study sought to determine whether perspectives regarding transformational leadership were the same or different based on full-time vocational roles. Finally, this study introduced a methodology for survey data analysis relatively unknown in athletic training research circles. Participants included athletic training education program directors as well as individuals in leadership roles at the state, district, and national level.

California Turnaround Schools: An Analysis Of School Improvement Grant Effectiveness, Khalil Graham

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of School Improvement Grants (SIGs) in the state of California (CA) in increasing student achievement using the turnaround implementation model. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) included educational priorities focused on fixing America’s lowest achieving schools. SIGs (i.e., up to $2 million per school annually over 3 years) to the nation’s persistently lowest achieving public schools required schools accepting these awards to implement a federally prescribed school-reform model. Of these models, the school turnaround model is the most aggressive and least used. Using data from CA, the …

The Influence Of Corporate Leadership And Management Practices On A Public School District, Randall Paul Napier Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

The purpose of this case study is to understand how management and leadership ideas that were present in Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky influenced management and leadership practices adopted by Scott County Public Schools during 2002-2011. Data for the study were collected during the summer of 2011, using individual and focus group interviews including teachers, administrators, community and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky employees; on-site participant observations, and documents.

This study examined Scott County Public Schools implementation of the Quest for Useful Employment Skills for Tomorrow, the formation of The Center for Quality People and Organizations, changes in Science Technology Engineering Math …

Organizational Adaptation Through Diffusion And Social Networks: A Study Of Family Consumer Sciences Extension Agents, Deborah Adkins Murray

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This study examines the interconnectedness of social networks of the early adopter Family and Consumer Science Extension Agents (FCS Agents) of the Mental Healthiness and Aging Initiative (MHAI) pilot conducted in eleven (11) eastern Kentucky counties between October 2007 and April 2009 and compares the social network connections of the FCS Agents in the other six Extension Districts in Kentucky.

This research used whole-network survey analysis applying the social network approach, a conceptual model for explaining the communication of new ideas and information within an organizational network. Organizational networks are important structural elements of organizational systems and key to understanding …