Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Principals And The Professional Victim Syndrome, James G. Pulos

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Principals today are constantly in the public eye. Every decision made subjects him/her to the scrutiny of staff and faculty, students, central office personnel, parents, community members, and board members. Contemporary principals are asked by their superintendents to lead reform efforts effectively or face the possibility of dismissal. Principals often face the dilemma of balancing politics in an effort to appease board members and the superintendent while simultaneously implementing critical change efforts in their schools. Hess and Kelly (2005) suggested that as principals attempt to lead reform efforts, they often go blindly into these positions unprepared and enter the principalship …

Academic Optimism Of Schools And Student Achievement, Pamela J. Mckinnon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The pressure to perform well on high stakes testing may have caused many educational leaders to shift their focus away from developing a healthy organization that may enhance and possibly even predict student achievement to simply focusing on test scores. Hoy, Tarter and Hoy (2006) suggested that high levels of Academic OptimismAO (including collective teacher efficacy-CTE, faculty trust in parents and students-FT, and academic emphasis-AE), when controlling for SES, is a strong force in predicting academic achievement. This study attempted to support previous research findings and to provide educational administrators with a framework for improving school organizational health for the …

Institutional Factors Contributing To The Under-Representation Of African American Women In Higher Education: Perceptions Of Women In Leadership Positions, Kimberly Ann Robinson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

he purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of African American women who have obtained senior leadership positions in Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions. Data were collected through open-ended, phenomenological-oriented interviews with 12 African American women holding senior level positions in both academic and student affairs in the north and southeast parts of the United States. This study focused on the perceived institutional barriers that have contributed to the under-representation of African American women in higher education senior administration and strategies that were used to overcome perceived barriers. Critical Race Theory was used as a …

A Study Of Leadership Dispositions Of Transformational Leaders In Georgia High School, Todd Douglas Veland

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Education reform has reached new levels of urgency and accountability over the last decade. The role a principal plays in leading the direction of a school is of vital importance. Leadership theories suggest that transformational leadership is the best way to achieve the goals of schools in the 21st century. Educational leadership programs try to emphasize transformational leadership skill, but these schools need to identify transformational leaders before they enter into school leadership. Dispositions are innate qualities and not necessarily a skill that can be taught by educational leadership programs.

The purpose of this study is to identify dispositions of …

Factors Associated With Adult Literacy Student Outcomes In Campus-Based Versus Community-Based Programs, Charles Hall

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) formally trains over 100,000 adult literacy students each year free of charge at a variety of campus-based and community-based programs located at community centers, churches, libraries, or businesses. A common, yet unproven, assumption among senior administrators and adult literacy faculty members at TCSG colleges is that adults who attend literacy classes embedded in the traditional college campus environment have better academic outcomes than those who attend only community-based programs. However, a gap currently exists in the literature with respect to a clear understanding of which student outcome variables are impacted when …

Relationship Of Select Admissions Criteria To Pre-Licensure Requirements In A Graduate Degree Program In Occupational Therapy, Sharon Delaney Swift

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As the profession of occupational therapy continues to become widely recognized as a top career choice, the number of applications to occupational therapy educational programs continues to rise. To date there has been little research regarding the admission process and the admission variables used to select candidates for admission. Healthcare professions such as occupational therapy must reliably select those applicants who can succeed in the academic classroom and in the clinical setting by providing competent compassionate patient care.

This study sought to examine whether select cognitive and non-cognitive admission variables could be used to predict graduate performance on pre-licensure requirements …

Parent Perceptions Of The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship, Charity C. Roberts

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand both contributors and barriers to use of the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (SB10). Although SB10 was designed to offer parental choice of schools for students with disabilities, it has diminished the capacity of parents to access due process granted through IDEA. Perspectives in this study were provided by parents who chose to rescind their child's participation in the voucher program and parents who continued to access the voucher. Analysis of the lived experiences of parents of students with disabilities in Georgia revealed both similar and diverse experiences, perceptions and concerns …

La Universidad Confesional Y Los Nuevos Modelos De Universidades: ¿Es Posible Mantener La Identidad?, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

This study presents the dynamic relationship between the different mission statementsand their impact on university’s models. The excessive promotion of theproduction of knowledge, as the central paradigm for higher education, has producedunbalances in universities. Religious affiliated institutions needs to repositionthemself with their characteristics to offering an education that includes allthree existing missions, but adds a fourth one as a way of enriching training. Thisnew mission purpose that centers on the development of wisdom, it is not onlyuseful for religious affiliated universities, but also for all kind of higher educationmodels. Toward the end, the paper turns to some of the complications …

Alternative Models Of Funding Higher Education: Past And Present Trends, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

The present study is built around the following general research question: why is Adventist higher education in a tight budget? This is approached using a comparative time frame analysis of past and present needs and characteristics affecting funding tertiary education. The main idea throughout this paper is that the different funding systems are setting up models of Adventist higher education that aren’t always the best fit for the institutional ideology and organization. Possible alternatives to shift into a more suitable funding system are provided and discusses as well. 

The Mexican Idea Of Twoyear University Degrees: A Model Of Opportunities And Challenges, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

This study had the following general goals: a) Map some of the political and social factors that prompted the establishment of two-years Technological Universities in Mexico; b) Describe the main features of the model and how it differs from other models; c) Discuss Neoliberal Human Capital Theory as one of the main theoretical backdrop for expanding this kind of institutions; and finally, d) Assess the model’s strengths and weaknesses. To accomplish these goals, the study drew data from existing policies and from a set of six interviews to human resources directors in Monterrey area, Northern Mexico. These recruiters belonged to …

The Predictive Roles Of The Personal Variables And The Leader Attributes And Behaviors Of Department Chairpersons Regarding The Outcomes Of Leadership As Perceived By Department Members In Selected Jamaican Universities, Vivienne Lyn Quarrie

Dissertations

Problem

Leaders within the Jamaican education system have often been selected either because of their personal aspirations or their emergence. Since institutional success is integrally linked to leadership, an intentional approach to leader identification should be established in an effort to consistently yield the desired outcomes. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to identify the predictive roles of the four personal variables (Leader Gender, Formal Leadership Training, Informal Leadership Training, and Years of Service as an Educator), and the nine leader attributes and behaviors of Bass‟s Full-Range Leadership Model (Idealized-Influence Attributed, Idealized-Influence Behavior, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, …

An Analysis Of Laboratory Inspections At The University Of Kentucky, Rachel Eldridge

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Recent news stories about laboratory accidents in which students were severely injured and killed have brought much-needed attention to lab safety. Creating a positive safety climate on college and university campuses is very important in reducing accidents. At the University of Kentucky, all laboratories are inspected once every year, and the results are recorded in a lab inspection database. These data include the department, building, lab classification, type of violation, room number, and the name of the PI (Principal Investigator). I want to analyze inspections to find out whether department and the lab classification are significant in looking at violations. …

Teacher Evaluations: Empty Ceremony Or Vital Activity, Catherine Kennedy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

One of the most critical duties of a school principal is to evaluate and lead teachers. A school district in Texas has mandated that all administrators conduct one hundred and forty-four walkthroughs per school year. Given that time is a priceless commodity in a typical school day, how effective is the above mandate to teacher and principal performance? The purpose of this research study was to examine how principals provide effective feedback to teachers on walkthroughs and evaluations. In addition this study looked at what teachers do with the feedback that is given to them on a walkthrough and evaluation. …

The Ed.D In Educational Leadership And Administration: The Students' And Alumni's Experiences, Edith B. Vera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The doctoral experience unfolds many complexities and challenges for students, faculty, and institutions that contribute toward degree completion. The purpose of this study is to investigate the students' and alumni's experiences afforded by the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The integration of quantitative and qualitative data, through surveys and interviews, contributes to the understanding of student and alumni experiences. A total of 56 Ed.D. students (cohorts 10-16) and 43 alumni (cohorts 1-12) participated in the surveys for this study; of those surveyed, 15 students and 12 alumni were interviewed. This …

Elementary School Teachers' Reasons For Staying In Their Current Schools: A Comparison Study, Luzmila Beanira Adrianzen

Dissertations

This study examines elementary school teachers' reasons for staying in their current schools, specifically, comparing two schools, one from a low-income district and one from a high-income district. The researcher assesses similarities and differences among teacher's perceptions of these factors in these two schools.

The researcher reviews literature on factors that explain teacher turnover and retention. Furthermore, literature on theories of motivation, such as Herzberg's two-factor theory and Vroom's expectancy theory to motivation was reviewed and also used as a methodological approach to analyze the data.

To examine elementary school teachers' reasons for staying in their current schools a quantitative …

Building A Climate That Supports And Protects Mandated Reporters: School Principals And Their Perceived Roles And Policies And Procedures In K-8 Schools, Gina Bartucci

Dissertations

Schools are designed to be safe and healthy places for children to grow and learn, and principals are the instructional leader charged with creating this climate. The role of the mandated reporter, which is the role assigned to all individuals who work in schools, is intended to protect children. The mandated reporter is supposed to be the voice for children-not just for the child who actually speaks out against the individual who is perpetrating against them, but also for the child who does not have the words to report the abuse. A suspicion is all a mandated reporter needs to …

Readiness For College: A Case Study Of Three Hispanic Immigrant Students Who Overcame The Odds, Holly Fields

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study is about Hispanic, immigrant, low-income students who have graduated from high school college ready and the contexts from which they achieved such success. Few studies exist relative to immigrant, Hispanic student college readiness. This research hopes to provide insight into how institutional, peer and family culture helped to produce the success of the three students in this study.

The purpose of the study is to provide a deeper understanding of the ways in which immigrant, low-income, Hispanic students and the modern contexts of schools interact to produce distinct life experiences for the participating graduates. This study aims to …

Still `Unfinished Education:' Latino Students Forty Years After The Mexican American Education Study, Lizely Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The onus of this dissertation was to evaluate the educational conditions of Mexican American students forty years after the Mexican American Education Study published a six-volume study detailing the findings of the Mexican American Education Study (1970-1974). The MAES study focused on five southwest states Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. To learn the current status of Mexican American students, a three-tier scale of analysis was created. Each level of analysis had a specific focus: macro, meso, and micro. The macro level presented a descriptive analysis of the educational status of Mexican American students in the five states presented …

The Historical Context During The 1964-1984 Period Of The National Writing Project: Its Importance To The Fields Of Rhetoric, Composition, And Teacher Education, Kay Lester Mooy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Historical Context of the National Writing Project (NWP) is a broad inquiry into the core values and importance of theory-driven pedagogical "best practices." This dissertation situates the teaching of writing within societal changes as well as changes in the disciplines. The researcher interviewed six primary sources (all participants in the first summer institute of the NWP) in a total of nine interviews. The research also reviews secondary sources and examines the personal documents of Gray twice, once before they were archived and once after archival procedures were begun. Results indicate that in the early days of the NWP theory …

African-Centered Education In Middle Schools: The Decision-Making Process In A Parental Engagement Model, Latrice Nichol Hicks

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

AFRICAN-CENTERED EDUCATION IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS: THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN A PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT MODEL

by

LATRICE N. HICKS DUNN

May 2012

Advisor: Dr. David Whitin

Major: Curriculum and Instruction

Degree: Doctor of Education

The ways in which key stakeholders influencing decision-making processes in African-centered schools in urban areas are qualitatively different from that of parental involvement in mainstream schools; these perceived differences influence decision-making in various ways. The purpose of this research is to investigate ways in which parents, teachers and administrators of African American middle-school student's talk about the decision-making aspect of parental engagement in African-centered school settings. Parental …