Educational Leadership Commons^™

Preschool Developmental Play And Autism, Michelle Brooks Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This school improvement project applies the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) model to explore strategies to increase peer engagement among preschool students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in a developmental playroom setting. Play is a cornerstone of early childhood development, fostering cognitive, social, and emotional growth. However, children with ASD often encounter challenges in engaging with play environments due to social communication difficulties and sensory processing differences. Grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, this project adopts a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) framework to facilitate peer interactions and enhance engagement in inclusive play settings.

The intervention focuses on guiding …

The Effects Of Chronic Absenteeism On Average Daily Attendance Funding In Humboldt County Elementary Schools, Corabelle A. Esmailian

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Chronic absenteeism is linked to poor academic performance and lower social-emotional skills, both of which can have long-term effects on students and their communities. The California Department of Education uses average daily attendance (ADA) to determine most of the funding that public schools receive. When a student is absent, their school loses a portion of potential funding for that day. This study explores chronic absenteeism’s impact on the funding of Humboldt County’s elementary schools with a sequential exploratory research strategy and critical systems lens. Interviews with elementary administrators were conducted using a phenomenological approach to understand how this affects their …

Educator Perceptions Of Crisis Frequency And Levels Of Preparedness In Rural Schools, Misty C. Duncan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recent national trends, particularly in rural education, highlight the urgent need for enhanced crisis prevention and intervention strategies. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of crisis frequency and preparedness among rural educators. Through a survey, data were collected on participants' perceptions of crisis frequency and preparedness across various crisis areas. Preliminary findings revealed a significant gap between the perceived level of preparedness and the actual needs for school safety. Despite some training, the quantity and quality of training received by rural educators varied widely, impacting their preparedness to respond to crises. Moreover, an alarming percentage of educators reported not …

Spirituality And Unexpected Leadership: The Untold Stories Of Black Women Assistant Principals, Iantha B. Kittles

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative study that uses the theoretical framework of Womanism (Walker, 1983/1967) to examine how Black women assistant principals use spirituality as a guidepost for their work in K-12 educational spaces. To expand on the work of Womanism, I draw on Dr. Berlisha Morton’s Southern Womanism (2016) and Dr. Emilie Townes’ Womanist Spirituality (1995), grounding this study in the conceptual framework of Southern Womanist Spirituality, which emphasizes the intersection of Black women’s work, spirituality, and social justice as well as race, gender, and place. The study uses a hybrid research methodology, Hush Harbor Circles, to promote healing …

The Influence Of Trustee Orientation On Endowment Performance, Seth Walker

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between trustee orientation and endowment performance at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States. Trustees play a vital fiduciary role in managing institutional endowments, which have become increasingly essential due to declining public funding and rising operational costs. Despite trustees’ critical responsibilities, limited research exists on how orientation practices may influence their effectiveness in endowment oversight. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to develop an instrument to assess the scope and quality of trustee orientation processes and then to compare the results of that scale to ratings on the 2022 NACUBO-TIAA Study of …

Nothing Short Of Superheroic: A Quantitative Study Of Lifetime Exposure To Superhero Comic Book Media As A Predictor Of Attitudes Towards Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Michael Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This dissertation examined the relationship between lifetime exposure to superhero comic book media and attitudes toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Drawing on theories of identity formation—transitional objects, parasocial relationships, and cultivation theory—it investigated whether engagement with superhero narratives predicted DEI attitudes. Using quantitative methods, data from 499 U.S. adults were collected via Qualtrics. Two instruments were used: the Lifetime Superhero Comic Book Media Exposure Scale (LSES) and the Intolerant Schema Measure (ISM), which assessed prejudice across race, gender, sexuality, class, age, and religion. Multiple linear regression revealed that superhero media exposure significantly predicted ISM scores (B = 0.118, …

Exploring The Collective Efficacy Of Elementary Special Education Teachers And Its Relationship To Distributed Leadership, Emma L. Jones

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This study examined the relationship between collective teacher efficacy (CTE) and distributed leadership practices among elementary special education teachers. CTE reflects teachers’ shared belief in their collective ability to improve student outcomes, while distributed leadership emphasizes shared decision-making, collaboration, and shared responsibility across school personnel.

Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the study combined survey data from the Collective Teacher Belief Scale with follow-up interviews. Survey results from 31 special education teachers indicated moderate to high levels of CTE, with slightly greater confidence in managing student behavior than in delivering instruction. Interviews with teachers across varying CTE levels provided deeper …

Middle-Level Teachers’ Attitudes On Disciplinary Literacy Instruction In The Non-Ela Classroom, Katherine E. Bowers

Dissertations

The persistent gaps in student achievement, particularly in the context of discipline-specific literacy skills, across public schools in the United States continue to widen. With a focus on South Carolina, this study investigates how professional development efforts have sought to address these gaps and enhance literacy instruction. Despite many initiatives, testing scores and teacher perceptions reveal limited progress in literacy outcomes. The study discusses a key challenge: the lack of substantial literacy instruction beyond English language arts (ELA) classes, resulting in a growing disparity between literacy mastery and the current reality. The research acknowledges the existence of literacy-focused professional development …

Faculty Motivation For Online Teaching And Learning, Elizabeth Sachiko Haas Greene

Dissertations

The study will examine which factors predict faculty motivation in online learning. Additionally, the study will investigate the relationship between faculty perceptions of online learning and overall online teaching and learning and the relationships that exist between perceptions of administrative support and self-efficacy for online learning. The study's findings will provide insight into how institutions can support faculty teaching in the growing online modality. The overarching method for this study is a nonexperimental quantitative study. This method will collect numerical data that can be used to measure various aspects of behavior, including attitudes (Drew et al., 2014). The study's participants …

Exploring Educator Burnout: Experiences And Perceptions Of Teachers And Principals In Canadian K-12 Seventh-Day Adventist Schools, David Anthony Elias

Dissertations

Problem

Burnout among educators is a growing concern, particularly within faith-based school systems where teachers often balance high professional expectations with spiritual commitments. In K-12 Canadian Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) schools, limited research has explored how burnout manifests, the factors contributing to it, and its impact on teacher retention. This study aimed to examine the levels and causes of burnout among SDA educators, as well as the systemic factors influencing their experiences.

Method

This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Quantitative data were collected using the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES) to measure emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced …

Parents In Action For Change, Faisuly Correa Rojas

Education | Graduate Culminating Projects

This handbook offers a structured framework for parents in Marin County’s advocacy group, aimed at informing them about special education and bullying prevention practices to better advocate for their children's education.

How Do School Counselors And School Social Workers Support High School Bullying Victims: A Qualitative Exploratory Case Study, Dalentina N. Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying and student aggression are increasing in public high schools. Bullying and cyberbullying are a safety concern, and victims of bullying have shown a decline academically and emotionally. Additionally, high schools need increased support with bullying behaviors. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore school counselors’ and school social workers’ insights and perspectives regarding the support they provided to bullying victims in two school districts in rural Georgia. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory was the framework used to focus research on understanding how environmental systems influence an individual’s development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from a purposeful sample of …

Cultivating Mindsets And Transformative Practices Of Beginning Alternative Certified Teachers: A Teacher Perception Study, Rodney Keith Wilkerson

Theses and Dissertations

The shortage of qualified teachers in the United States has been a persistent issue for decades. The number of qualified candidates to fill teaching vacancies has fallen short as the number of teachers needed to educate today continues to increase (Carothers et al., 2019). Traditionally, teacher preparation programs were the primary source of certified teachers. However, these programs have been decimated by declining student enrollment and by criticisms that they do not meet the needs of prospective teaching candidates today (Darling-Hammond, 2020). In recent years, the shortage has become even more acute, with some regions facing severe teacher shortages (Carothers …

Ground Testing Of A Magnetic-Electrostatic Separation System For Lunar Regolith Beneficiation, Peter Bachle, Charles Wood, Jeffrey Smith, Fateme Rezaei, David Bayless, William Schonberg, Daoru Han

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The separation of lunar regolith by mineral composition and size category is useful forin-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The research presented herein discusses the designing and development of equipment that has the potential to separate lunar regolith into aluminum, iron-titanium, and magnesium-iron ores. Along with the metal ore separation, this equipment shows the potential to separate regolith by size categories. The combined effect of these separation methods generates output that is valuable to subsequent use in metal and oxygen extraction, additive manufacturing, and regolith sintering processes. The designed equipment uses a dual-strength magnet system with N42 and N52 neodymium magnets for …

Leadership Communication And Symbolic Language In Organizational Change: A Study In Higher Education, Christine Fischer

Dissertations

Higher education institutions face growing pressures related to affordability, accessibility, and trust. In this environment, leadership communication, especially symbolic language that frames transformation as mission-aligned, plays a central role in shaping organizational change. This qualitative single-case study examined how leaders at a private Christian liberal arts college used metaphors, narratives, and values-based discourse to communicate an innovative tuition model and how this language influenced stakeholder perceptions, engagement, and resistance. Data included 26 leadership communication documents, a metaphor-based faculty and staff survey, and eight semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis and metaphorical analysis were used to interpret symbolic language, meaning-making processes, and …

The Successes Of African American Female Community College Chancellors, Erika Miller-Tate

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how the lived experiences of African American women community college chancellors contributed to their success as leaders. Three African American female community college chancellors participated in the study. Four themes emerged from the thick, rich descriptions provided through participant responses in semi-structured interviews. The four themes were encouragement, success, problem solver/leadership, and race/gender. The conclusions of this study point to the themes which influenced the successes of African American community college chancellors. The lived experiences shared by these women offered greater insight into the professional role of an African American female …

The Effect Of Administrative Leadership On Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Secondary Education, Marianne Gomis

Theses and Dissertations

As the student population in American schools has become more racially and ethnically diverse, there is an urgent need to develop vital tools to accommodate the children of many cultures. By 2027, 44.7% of public-school students will be White, 15.2% Black, 29.2% Hispanic, 6.3% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.9% American Indian/Pacific Islander, and 3.8% two or more races, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. (Digest of Education Statistics 2017, Snyder et al., 2019).

This study examines how administrators define and implement culturally responsive teaching (CRT), their roles in developing a positive perspective on CRT in classroom practices, and the leadership …

Exploring The Perception And Experiences Of California Female Superintendents, Stacey Ridgeway

Theses and Dissertations

When examining the modern-day gender distribution of the American K-12 public school district superintendent role, women remain underrepresented at 26.7% (Tienken, 2021). Based on the model of superintendents ascending from the teacher and principal workforce, the educational pipeline is robust, with 77% female teachers and 56% female principals (Irwin et al., 2023; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Factors preventing a higher percentage of female teachers from attaining the superintendency are unknown, and there is a need for a better understanding of the barriers female educators face as aspiring superintendents. California is second in the U.S. for female superintendent representation, …

Minding The Gap: How Do New Lcap Requirements Address Equity For English Learners?, Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Raquel Gonzalez, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D., Gisela O'Brien, Ph.D., Hannah Catron, M.A., Jeimee Estrada-Miller, Ph.D., M.P.P.

Reports

California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), signed into law in 2013, centers equity as a key to increased and improved services for three targeted student subgroups, including English Learners (ELs), low-income students, and foster youth. As a component of LCFF, districts develop Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) to specify their goals and strategies for using LCFF funds for equity and continuous improvement purposes. In this report, Lavadenz and colleagues use a sample of 26 California public school districts with high numbers/percentages of ELs, finding that although some progress has been made, public schools continue to miss the mark in …

Transforming Numbers And Narratives Into Impact At The Richmond Ed Fund, Jasmine C. Brown, Rochelle Clarke, Truc-Mai Nguyen

Doctor of Education Capstones

The Richmond Ed Fund (REF) has been a nonprofit partner to Richmond Public Schools (RPS) for over two decades. During this time, they provided valuable support through enrichment programs, scholarships, and teacher development to the RPS community. In 2019, the organization shifted its focus from direct program operation to major gifts fundraising to align with the RPS strategic plan’s five priorities. To better reflect its renewed mission and enhance its visibility within the community, in 2024 REF underwent a major rebranding focused on expanding impact, increasing collaboration, and fostering innovation. The Executive Director of REF submitted a Request for Partnership …