Educational Leadership Commons^™

Exploring Distributed Instructional Leadership : Case Studies Of Assistant Principals In An Urban School District., Jimica Claudette Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the role of instructional assistant principals in distributed instructional leadership in three middle schools in a large urban school district. Using the leadership functions in Hallinger’s (2011) framework of instructional leadership, the distribution of instructional leadership functions were examined. Interviews, document analysis, and an observation determined that the assistant principal in only one out of three cases was engaging in distributed instructional leadership. One was named an instructional assistant principal and functioned as an operations manager and the third was called a “lead” assistant principal and also spent most of his time on operational/management functions. Conclusions and …

Analysis Of An Alternative High School's Graduates And Dropouts: A Phenomenological Study, Marina E. Flores

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

In 2013, just over two-thirds of students graduated from high school in the prescribed four years. Some students continued to attend traditional high schools for a fifth year; others entered an alternative high school and earned a high school equivalency certificate, qualifying them as completers. Some joined the workforce or dropped out of school altogether. Other students enrolled in an alternative high school during the prescribed four years and either graduated on time, graduated in their fifth year, or dropped out. In this phenomenological study, deciding factors for school disengagement and reengagement were explored, via self-determination theory, by examining how …

Challenges And Supports During The Transition From High School To College For Students With Traumatic Brain Injuries, Michaela M. Kramer, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Students who have sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may experience a number of consequences, all of which can impede the transition from high school to postsecondary educational settings. This study, which relied on interviews with students who had sustained TBIs and who had persistent problems related to their traumas, helped gain an understanding of their postsecondary transition experiences. Students’ parents were also interviewed to provide a point of comparison. The reports of these students—all of whom were enrolled in college at the time of the study—revealed significant challenges with attention and focus, fatigue, short-term memory, and social situations. Comments from …

Evaluating College Biology Laboratory Accommodations For Students With Blindness And Visual Impairments, Barbara Rae Heard

All Theses And Dissertations

Studies show that active participation in science laboratory activities promotes student learning. However, students with blindness and visual impairments (BVI) often confront obstacles to active participation in the required activities of the college biology laboratory. Legislation requires institutions of higher education to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, yet the institutions must also maintain the academic integrity of their courses and programs. While college biology instructors provide specific accommodations, such as tactile models and audible devices, to enable active participation by students with BVI, they do so without research-supported guidelines for best practices. This mixed methods study sought to evaluate …

An Evaluation Of College Students’ Use Of Social Media In Nutrition Education For Lifestyle Behavior Changes, Cassandra Crawford-Ciglar

All Theses And Dissertations

Behavior change is a process. College students routinely have poor eating habits during a time of life that can negatively impact health outcomes for the adult years. While knowledge of nutrition is essential to promote health and wellness, other components are required to change behavior. Specifically, nutrition education must be paired with behavior change skills or goal setting strategies in order for a change to occur. In a college classroom setting, many examples of such strategies already exist. Literature supports evidence that interventions combining social media and behavior change techniques incorporating online social networks may be effective. The purpose of …

A Correlational Study Of Mid-Level Managers Examining Emotional Intelligence And Coaching Dimensions, Christopher Berg

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative correlational case study was to explore how mid-level managers’ emotional intelligence, as established through the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal (EIA), correlates with their executive coaching dimensions as revealed by the Extraordinary Coach Self-Assessment (ECSA). This study used the Talentsmart Inc. (EIA) tool to evaluate retail telecommunications (telecom) managers’ emotional intelligence competencies and Zenger Folkman’s (ECSA) tool to evaluate retail telecom managers’ coaching dimensions anonymously through the survey instrument. The need for this specific research is evident because of the limited number of quantitative studies regarding the importance of emotional intelligence and its relationship to coaching in …

Community: Collaboration For Leadership And Professional Learning In Rural Northern New England, Leigh Reagan Alley

All Theses And Dissertations

Through instrumental case study, this research sought to better understand a potentially effective model for rural principals’ professional development, illustrated by one bounded case--here a self-convened professional learning community. Research questions included inquiry into the needs or interests that compel these area principals to participate in the PLC; the benefits and challenges of their participation in the professional learning community; how the participating principals would characterize their professional growth associated with participation in the PLC; and the recommendations participants would offer to other rural principals interested in convening a professional learning community. Though the case may or may not be …

Gi Jane Versus Sergeant Jane Doe: How Women’S Images In War Movies Contribute To Conflicting Expectations Of Women In Combat, Sawyer Marie L. Alberi

All Theses And Dissertations

Research on women’s portrayal in media generally suggests that women continue to be sexualized and objectified as war trophies in the classic Hollywood warrior culture film. The age old question of whether life imitates art or vice versa is important to consider when examining the question of how this popular culture medium contributes to the conflicting expectations of today’s women in combat roles. What is the reality of women’s roles in the US Military compared to the roles portrayed by warrior film media? History tells us that women have been on the battlefield in one way or another since there …

Helping Students Achieve Their Goals : The Experience Of Working With Students With Mental Health Concerns In A Residence Hall, Kevin P. Schafer

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Individuals living with a mental health issue and attending college may experience significant opportunities for growth and also personal challenges in their development into young adulthood. Residence hall directors may be instrumental in assisting this population during their college years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of residence hall directors working specifically with students with mental health concerns. Grounded in Relational-Cultural-Theory and Chickering’s Student Developmental Theory this study was a two phase study conducted at universities and colleges in the northeast United States. Utilizing a basic qualitative approach deductive coding was used to examine the …

Paths To Leadership Of Native Hawaiian Women Administrators In Hawaii's Higher Education System: A Qualitative Study, Farrah-Marie Gomes

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

The purpose of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the pathways to leadership for Native Hawaiian women administrators at the University of Hawaii by exploring and describing the experiences along their education and employment journeys. Eight Native Hawaiian women administrators shared the supports and challenges they encountered along their education and employment journeys, provided advice for Native Hawaiian women aspiring to be leaders, and suggested ways that the University can facilitate the development of more Native Hawaiian women leaders.

Using methods consistent with qualitative research, this narrative study utilized semi-structured interviews, field notes from the interviews and …

Exploring Attitude Transformation: A Grounded Theory Study Of Romanian Teachers Of Roma Students, Laura Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to explore the process of change in teacher attitudes toward including Roma (“Gypsy”) students in non-segregated schools in Romania. The theories guiding this study included Mezirow’s (1991, 2000) theory of transformation, Gay’s (2002, 2013) theory of culturally responsive teaching, and Bandura’s (1977, 1997) theory of self-efficacy. These three theories guided this research inquiry into how attitudes change, how teacher attitudes affect beliefs and actions, and how self-efficacy affects teacher attitudes. This study sought to answer the following questions: What is the process of transforming Romanian teacher attitudes toward including Roma students? …

College-Bound Students: A Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity/Spirituality, And Achievement, William Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The achievement gap between private and public school college-bound students has continued to widen each year since 1972. The researcher studied the relationship of Christian school college-bound students’ religiosity/spirituality using a validated survey instrument and their achievement as measured on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The literature implies a relationship, but there is a gap in studying homogeneous religious groups. Therefore, the researcher selected a homogeneous grouping, Texas Christian high school college-bound seniors, as the sample for this study. The researcher obtained permission to use the Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth (RASSY) survey instrument and included demographic and score data …

The Effect Of Classroom Walkthroughs On Middle School Teacher Motivation, Karen Dickenson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this pretest-posttest control group experimental study was to see the effect of classroom walkthroughs on middle school teacher motivation. The independent variable was; classroom walkthroughs and the four dependent variables were teachers’ self-concept of the ability to affect student achievement, teachers’ attitude toward the principal, teachers’ beliefs of the principal’s value and expectations for achievement, and teachers’ belief about future utility of efforts. The instrument used in this study was the Teacher Motivation Diagnostic Questionnaire. Sixty-eight language arts and reading participants from the grades 5-8 at 6 middle schools in Southwest Virginia were used. Six diverse public …

The Effect Of Daily Progress Reports On Parental Academic Support: Paper Versus Electronic Communication, Jonathan Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this age of data based decision making and accountability, parent involvement and data collection are paramount. This study represents a significant contribution to educational research by extending the understanding of home-school communication media with specific regard to daily progress reports. The purpose of this study was to compare communication scores of parents of student using paper daily progress reports with communication scores of parents of student using electronic daily progress reports. This quasi-experimental posttest only control group design research study compared survey results of parents (N = 45) of middle school students currently using a DPR as part of …

The Creative Entrepreneur Leading Innovation, Karina Loera Barcenas

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The Creative Entrepreneur Leading Innovation is a course designed for undergraduate students. Students will learn the entrepreneurial mindset through the creative process triggering innovation and leading transformation to face and adapt in the current constant and fastest changing era. This course also has a skill development component through which students will be able to experience personal transformation towards positive change.

The Case For Explicit, Skills-Based Resilience Building Instruction, Michael B. Maschi

All Theses And Dissertations

The study of resilience in young children has captured the attention of many researchers over the last twenty years. A number of research questions about resilience have focused on the definition and use of the term, conditions under which resilience is likely to develop in children, the characteristics/traits associated with resilience, and how to best teach resilience. While there have been considerable advances in the ways that we think about and teach resilience, there is still much debate about how and when to teach resilience (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012). In addition, the procedures and methods used to provide scholarly explanations …

Dual Enrollment Efficacy On College Readiness As Perceived By High School Dual Enrollment Teachers And Counselors In South Alabama, Shulanda Stallworth Franks

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Dual Enrollment teachers and high school counselors to compare and determine whether there are significant differences between their perceptions of college readiness among DE participants in South Alabama. Data was analyzed and presented based on its relevance to effectiveness. This study is relevant because scholars are unclear about the effects of DE on college readiness.

This research was designed to close some of the gaps in the literature and help education stakeholders to identify effective mechanisms to continue to develop and promote the Dual Enrollment program. This study examined …

Is There A Relationship Between Physical Fitness And Student Academic Achievement?, William Rushton Parker

Dissertations

The study utilized a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between students’ levels of fitness to students’ academic achievement as well as addressing the attitudes of elementary administrators, fifth grade regular education teachers, and elementary physical education teachers towards physical fitness and academic achievement. Instruments used in the study were the Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2^nd Edition (MCT2) and the FITNESSGRAM. The data from the FITNESSGRAM and MCT2 were archival, coming from the 2013-2014 academic school year. The MCT2 provided scores from the areas of language arts, mathematics, and science, and the FITNESSGRAM provided the fitness scores of those students. …

A Comparison Of The Attitudes Of Administrators And Teachers On Cell Phone Use As An Educational Tool, Karen Smith Lockhart

Dissertations

Youth continue to make up the largest share of the cell phone market in the United States. In 2010, 58% of all 12 year olds owned their own cell phone. By 2015, 88% of teenagers owned a cell phone. Today’s teenagers are constantly on cell phones, using them to text, talk, access the internet, and take pictures. Technology is such a part of teenagers’ lives that they have been labeled by Marc Prensky and others as digital natives (2001). They have always had technology and cannot conceive of a world without it.

School systems have faced challenges with the new …

Teacher Perception Of School Safety Between Mississippi Secondary Schools With School Resource Officers And School Safety Officers, David Audet Dit Lapointe

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the perception of school safety by teachers between secondary schools that employ School Resource Officers (SROs), who are armed, and School Safety Officers (SSOs), who are unarmed or a combination of SROs and SSOs. The School Resource Officers and School Climate Teacher Survey, created by Dr. Amy Oaks (2001) was utilized to gather data. The 193 participants of the study included certified teachers at secondary schools in the Jackson Public School District, the Jackson County Public School District, and the Ocean Springs School District.

A …