Educational Leadership Commons^™

Presidents And Student Success: Repositioning To A Student-Centered Institution, Charles P. Ruch, Kenneth M. Coll, Cathleen B. Ruch

Journal of Research on the College President

Now reopened following the pandemic, each institution is in the process of assessing its impact and adjusting its institutional model to assure sustainability in the future. Returning totally to the ‘status quo ante’ is not a viable option as some repositioning is required. This study highlights three critical elements that inform this process from the perspective of the presidency. First, significant environmental trends and their impact are presented. Upon analysis, improved student success emerges as a critical driving force in repositioning. Second, an overview of successful institutional programs and initiatives that foster a student-centered institution are examined concluding with a …

Ongoing Challenges And Success Stories Of Title Ix Compliance In The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference: A Qualitative Study, Louis W. Hurd

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges athletic administrations face regarding Title IX compliance and strategies used to maintain compliance. This study will be narrowing the focus to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NCIS), focusing on athletic administrators, Title IX coordinator/Senior woman administrators, and women’s sport coaches. The results of this study will identify the challenges athletic administrations face with complying with Title IX in their respective schools, as well as how women’s sport coaches perceive that compliance to be fulfilled.

Implementing Transformative Education With Participatory Action Research: A Review, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

I write this review of the book, Implementing Transformative Education with Participatory Action Research, for readers, writers, and novice and veteran researchers in various social sciences disciplines and educational landscapes. The book explores using Participatory Action Research (PAR) to implement transformative education. The book argues that PAR can be used to create contextualized, sustainable, and student-centered learning environments. It offers invaluable insights from experts who have actively worked on innovative approaches to school transformation. The book also provides practical guidance and research-based strategies to help scholars effectively navigate challenges and implement transformative education. Overall, the book is a valuable …

Creating And Maintaining High-Quality Educational Spaces For Black Children: Challenges And Strategies, Darius B. Mensah

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Public education in the United States offers disparate outcomes that negatively impact Black children. Leaders who go against the norms and create spaces where Black children thrive face professional and personal challenges. Yet educators still do this work, employing strategies to protect their work and themselves. This study explores how educational leaders describe their experiences in creating and sustaining high-quality educational environments for Black students through the lens of Critical Race Theory. Nine participants, including the author, describe their backgrounds, their entry into the field of education, their professional and personal challenges, and the strategies they have used to persist …

A Sacrifice For Their Country And A Commitment To Their Community: A Phenomenological Study Of Veterans Transitioning From Soldier To Student, Clarence A. Becknell Sr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation

The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and lived experiences of former military men and women as they transitioned from military assignments to students in institutions of higher learning. This study focused on identifying gaps in support services that hindered the needs of former military men and women enrolled in higher education institutions. According to a study by the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2021), former military men and women encountered common challenges during re-adjustments, such as employment, maintaining healthy relationships, and pursuing educational endeavors. Using a descriptive phenomenological research design, the research study gathered information …

The Lived Experiences Of Challenges Faced By Female Stem Degree Holders While In Their Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Rebecca Keeter-Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study was to describe the challenges female higher education students (FHESs) experience in their science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree program. The central research question guiding the study was: How do female higher education STEM research participants describe their lived experiences while in their degree programs? Sub-Question one was, How do female higher education students describe the influence their personal history had on their choice to pursue a higher education STEM degree? Sub-question two was: How do female higher education students in STEM program describe their reality versus their expectation going into …

Administrators' Capacity For Supporting Reform-Oriented Science Instruction: An Urban School District Case Study, Venicia Ferrell, Joanna K. Garner

Center for Educational Partnerships Publications

Secondary school administrators play a vital role as instructional leaders, but little is known about their knowledge of science practices and perceptions of strategies for supporting reform-oriented science instruction. This multiphase, mixed-methods Q-Methodology study explored administrators' perceptions of instructional leadership and, in particular, high-quality science instruction. After a concourse of 40 items was developed through a review of literature and an expert panel, n = 22 administrators from one urban school district completed a Q-sort and a post-sort questionnaire in which they commented on a lesson excerpt. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to assimilate the participants into …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of African American Female Educators Becoming Urban School Principals, Tondra Bailey-Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the problem of why there are so few African American women in urban school principal roles in comparison to other racial groups. African American educators have a significant impact on African American students. Additionally, the need for diversity is not exclusive to African American educators and children, but diverse staff overall impacts student achievement levels and improves equity in disciplinary practices. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of African American women who are currently or were previously urban school principals. Through the theoretical lenses of critical race theory and social inclusion theory, …

An Autoethnograpy Of A Baby Boomer In Higher Education: Challenges And Catalysts For Change, Deborra Finlan

Theses & Dissertations

Higher education as a baby boomer brings mental, physical, and economic adjustments, concerns, and insecurities. Additionally, life delivers unexpected challenges and barriers which can cause hardships requiring various types of motivation. Fortunately, there are also catalysts which can contribute toward successes. Literature from four major elements were the focus in this study: motivation, adult learning, challenges, barriers, and catalysts. Theorists and theories included Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation with the added factor of cost, and Ryan and Deci’s theory on self-determination; Mezirow’s transformative learning and Knowles’s self-directed learning; Cross’s theory on educational barriers—situational, dispositional, and institutional; and Cobb’s social support …

Navigating The Unknown: A Black Faculty Member’S Journey In The Predominantly White University, Sherrise Y. Truesdale-Moore

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The author provides a narrative of her faculty experience in a predominately white university. She depicts her academic journey through the lens of an African American woman motivated to teach in higher education, share expertise, become a role model, and offer new knowledge to the profession. In the essay, she shares challenges about navigating the workspace while successfully fulfilling contractual obligations. For faculty of color teaching in a predominately white university, she emphasizes the need for a sense of belonging and mentoring through a culturally responsive approach.

Academic Leadership In The New Normal, Jeff Buller

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The COVID-19 pandemic. The assault on the U.S. capitol. Global warming. Toxic polarization. These and other factors have created what many in higher education now refer to as “the New Normal.” It's a period when many of our former assumptions about higher education—including the reason for going to college itself—are increasingly being called into question. How can department chairs lead most effectively in this altered landscape of higher education? What has really changed, and what has remained relatively untouched by recent events? In this workshop, participants will explore how to plan and guide their programs when the only thing they …

Preschool Teachers' Lived Experiences Embracing Challenges In Preparing Students For Kindergarten: A Phenomenological Study, Rhodora A. Alonzo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenology was to describe pre-school teachers’ lived experiences embracing challenges in preparing students for kindergarten at a public school district in Mid-Atlantic State. The theory that guides this study was Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory keying in on the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which represents the amount of learning possible by a student, given the proper instructional conditions. The research questions include, “What do pre-school teachers perceive as challenges to preparing students for kindergarten?” “What are teachers’ perceptions about the importance of alignment between the pre-school and kindergarten programs?” “What are markers of pre-school students that …

Exploring Principals’ Experiences With Social Justice Issues In Their Work As School Leaders, Djimtibaye Otalbaye

Dissertations

Social justice has taken on a special importance in education today, although it is not a new concept in terms of human history. Social justice is not a local issue, but exists in all parts of the world (Jean Marie et al., 2014). Differentiation among social environments of schools and increasing elements of diversity and roles of schools to create a socially just structure can be seen as main reasons for these issues (Turhan, 2010). Schools are therefore challenged to address the social conditions and hardships of students by responding to their needs (Avant, 2014).

The purpose of this basic …

Challenges Of Middle School To High School Transition: A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Students Transitioning From Eighth Grade To Ninth Grade, Simisola K. Aromolaran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transitioning from middle to high school comes with a lot of hiccups and challenges for adolescents as they are having to deal with this huge change during a season of life that is challenging. During adolescence, teenagers experience various mental, psychological, and physiological changes. This dynamic developmental period comes with intense changes, and having a better understanding can help teachers, school staff, parents, and peers work through these challenges with teenagers. This study explored the experiences of students when they transitioned from Grade 8 to Grade 9, examined the available support systems during this transition, and how students utilized the …

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Challenges And Strategies Of Students Who Are Parents In The Higher Education Setting, Amy Joelle Dewitt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the challenges of student-parents, or those students who are also parents, in higher education and discover the strategies that this student population has found to overcome such challenges. Participants included student-parents who attended residential classes, online, and/or in hybrid formats at a public institution. Tinto’s (2012) theory of student persistence guided this study with the abundance of trials student-parents encounter through their student career. Knowles’ (1990) theory of adult learning and views on self-directed learning also contributed to this study examining how students learn as adults who take accountability for …

Stem Education In College: An Analysis Of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges And Potential Solutions, Santanu De, Georgina Arguello

FDLA Journal

A vast majority of academic disciplines and curricula in the college center around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are critical to developing the skills necessary for a global workforce. Rapid changes in pedagogical setups, educational modes, and advances in instructional technology entail diverse challenges for key stakeholders (i.e. students, faculty, and the organizations). This paper highlights the most relevant challenges and potential solutions in STEM higher education at the college level, reported in the last decade. The holistic analysis combining the three stakeholders’ perspectives would help elucidate significant contemporary aspects impacting the fields. The goal is to further …

Enabling And Threatening Factors Affecting Persistence. A Qualitative And Quantitative Study On Rural First-Generation Stem Students’ And Stem Faculty's Perspectives., Travis A. Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study focuses on the factors that enable and threaten rural first-generation STEM students’ persistence. Limited empirical studies are available that focus on rural first-generation STEM majors’ persistence. Quantitative analysis was conducted using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests to determine any significant differences with the survey results. Content and thematic analysis was conducted on the student and faculty interviews to determine themes of enabling and threatening factors affecting persistence.

Enabling factors affecting persistence were found to be: Drive or Motivation, Experiences and skills, and Support. These were both faculty and student interview themes whereas a …

Leader Launch: A Needs Assessment And Intervention For Effective Leadership Development In Healthcare, Candice Freeman

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This case study examines how a rural healthcare system implemented LeaderLaunch, a leadership development program specifically supporting all front-line to director-level leaders employed within the organization’s facilities. John DeJoria, the healthcare system’s Director of Organizational Development, is a seasoned instructional designer and Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) who was charged with the opportunity of determining the system’s leadership development needs and responding with aligned performance improvement interventions, intended to build competency and capacity in current, new, and emerging leadership. This case explains how John and his team designed, conducted, and utilized a three phase needs assessment to select …

Female Superintendent Perceptions Of Challenges In Seeking And Serving In The Position Of Superintendent Of Schools, Michelle Mortensen

Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership

The purpose of the mixed method study was to identify the perceptions of challenges Minnesota female superintendents report they experienced in seeking and serving in the position of superintendent of schools, including their perception regarding school-board superintendent relations. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods: the researcher designed the research questions based upon the underrepresentation of females in the superintendency and the literature review. Data collection included two phases: 1) a multiple-choice survey distributed to survey respondents through electronic mail; and 2) open-ended interviews conducted with four volunteer interviewees. The multiple-choice survey provided quantitative information while the open-ended response …

Sustaining Millennials In Teaching Careers: A Comparison Of Entering And Veteran Teacher Views: A Pilot Study, Michelle Lemieux

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Staffing secondary schools has become difficult in the past 10 years in conjunction with a changing and challenging economy for Millennials. Secondary school leaders have difficulty finding, employing, and retaining content specialists each school year due to the lack of trained teachers to fill positions left by large numbers of retirees. The problem is there is a need for content specialists in secondary schools and only a limited number of new teachers, which is insufficient in replacing retirees, leaving educational leaders scrambling to fill positions each year. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that are deterring Millennials …

Challenges And Achievements: Student Educational Experiences In The Internationalization Baccalaureate Pilot Programs At The Ccu Business School, China, Huili Tang

Theses and Dissertations

This ontologically qualitative research study was conducted at Central China University (CCU, pseudonym). The purpose of this research was to (a) explore student narratives regarding their educational experiences in the CCU Business School's at-home internationalization programs; (b) provide an in-depth narrative analysis of student learning challenges and achievements; and (c) add valuable research-based knowledge of student-described experiences at CCU for use by program administrators. The findings focused on student-identified links between the challenges they encounter and their achievements. Additionally, student performance level and sex were closely associated with the challenges and achievements that students reported. In understanding the results, the …

Let Me Lae-Something On You, Or How I Found My Way Back To Education Through Laes, Robert Sean Myers Ii

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Of The Challenges And Strategies Of Rural School Superintendent/Principals In California, Christine Mccormick

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify the challenges faced by rural school superintendent/principals and the corresponding strategies used to mitigate those challenges. The role of the superintendent/principal is considered to be one of the most challenging administrative roles; little if no research had been conducted on the challenges and strategies of this dual administrative role. The target population for the present study was the forty-six superintendent/principals in California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA), Region 2. Three superintendent/principals from this target population, who have served four years or more in their role, were selected to …

Beginning Female And Male Catholic School Principals In Western Australia - It's Not Simply A Matter Of Gender!, Debra Sayce, Shane Lavery

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Commencing a principalship for the first time is demanding. Not only must beginning principals cultivate a variety of skills to effectively lead an educational institution, they do so while at the same time experiencing the vicissitudes associated with the newness of the role (Darish, 2006; Walker & Oian, 2006). This study explored the leadership experiences and perceptions of thirteen beginning Catholic school principals in Western Australia. Qualitative data were gathered through thirteen semi-structured interviews and researcher-generated field notes. These data were considered from the perspective of gender; seven of the beginning principals were female and six were male. The research …

Pbl In The Era Of Reform Standards: Challenges And Benefits Perceived By Teachers In One Elementary School, Nahid Nariman, Janet Chrispeels

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

We explore teachers’ efforts to implement problem-based learning (PBL) in an elementary school serving predominantly English learners. Teachers had an opportunity to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) using PBL in a summer school setting with no test-pressures. To understand the challenges and benefits of PBL implementation, a case study method was used and a variety of data collected. Results suggest collaboration amongst teachers is essential to design and implement PBL units. A challenge was the tension between the contradictory accountability and curriculum coverage goals of the regular academic year versus letting go to promote inquiry. Both teachers and …

Using Rhetoric To Manage Campus Crisis: An Historical Study Of College Presidents' Speeches, 1960-1964, Eddie R. Cole

International Journal of Leadership and Change

Student protests and other forms of campus conflict are prominent in higher education; however, little is known about the manner in which college presidents have historically responded to these protests and conflicts. Focused on North Carolina in the 1960s, a decade notable for student protests on college campuses, this article identifies three approaches used by college presidents in their public speeches to manage campus conflict. This research examines the speeches of college presidents in North Carolina, where the first mass protests of the decade occurred during the student movement for civil rights starting in 1960 until 1964 when the Civil …

Leadership Challenges For The University Of The 21st Century, James R. Ramsey, Madison Wesley

International Journal of Leadership and Change

Though its goal to provide quality, affordable education has not changed, the “University of the 21^st Century” has entered a period of transition. With the pressure to uphold its standards while maintaining cultural relevancy, the academy finds itself in the midst of a challenging time made even more difficult by its precarious financial situation. However, education in leadership must recognize that this transitional period is also one of opportunity. The University of Louisville has developed a strategy for addressing modern that endeavors to benefit students and educators alike as it unites them.

Experiences Of African American College Graduates, Aundria C. Green

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons that African-American alumni from a historically Black university (HBCU) and a predominantly White university (PWI) chose to attend, remain in, and graduate from college. The central research question was how do African Americans describe their college experiences? The secondary research questions were (a) What led the participants to attend college? (b) What led the participants to persist in college? (c) What led the participants to graduate from college? and (d) How was race described by the participants? Thirty-seven African-American graduates from a historically Black university (HBCU) and a predominantly White …

Hiv/Aids Education: What African Youth Say Is Effective, Steven J. Hite, W. James Jacob, Stacey A. Shaw, Donald E. Morisky, Yusuf K. Nsubuga

Faculty Publications

This study on HIV/AIDS-education programs was conducted with the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports in a national sample of 76 secondary schools in Uganda. Participants included secondary students (N=883) who critiqued their formal and informal school curricula and offered youth perspectives regarding what teaching mediums and programs of HIV/AIDS prevention are most effective. Results indicated that HIV/AIDS education is not taught in their respective school curricula. Students report on informal ways that are helpful in learning about AIDS, recommend changes to their school's curriculum, and report that reactions from various groups in their lives to HIV/AIDS education in their …

Conducting Epidemiological Research In South Africa: Challenges In The Data Collection Process, Yegan Pillay, Alan J. Flisher

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

This article addresses the challenges faced by research supervisors and research assistants while collecting data to explore the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in South Africa. The article focuses on budgetary constraints, interviewee expectations, moral issues, limited confidentiality, fatigue factors and racial issues that threatened the completion of the project. These challenges are examined from the emic-etic theoretical paradigm and the interactions between the research supervisors, the research assistants and the research participants are analyzed. The authors propose recommendations that can serve to prepare researchers who embark on conducting research in similar socio-cultural environments.