Educational Leadership Commons^™

Collective Leadership Practices That Assure High Levels Of Student Learning For All: High School Implementation Of Response To Intervention, Melissa E. Wainwright

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Twenty-first century schools are complex organizations that serve individual students’ needs while meeting accountability and assessment demands. Effective leadership balances these diverse responsibilities through collective work of the shareholders in order to assure high levels of learning for all.

This qualitative study examined Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation in two high performing high schools in Kentucky. Both schools were classified as distinguished on the 2014-15 Kentucky School Report Card. One school has a long-standing tradition of high performance. The other school’s journey to high performance involved moving from a Needs Improvement School to a School of Distinction.

The 4-D Appreciative …

A Meta-Analysis Of Research-Based Reading Interventions With English Language Learners, Maritza Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Response to Intervention (RTI) model, introduced as part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004, is a proactive process of early interventions and evidence-based instruction for all students. RTI has additional intensive and individualized interventions to prevent student underachievement, including students at risk for academic failure and culturally and linguistically diverse students (Vellutino et al., 1996; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006; Vellutino, Scanlon, Small, & Fanuele, 2006; Al Otaiba et al., 2009). Klingner and Edwards (2006) suggest that the needs of culturally and linguistically …

An Investigation Into The Accessibility Of Ap Calculus, Brian Austin Dodge

Capstones, Research Projects, and Curricula

This is a mixed methods ethnographic study conducted to determine what obstacles students face when approaching AP Calculus. I focused my study on home economics, peer pressure, ELL status and home support. Overall, I found that being a student who is ELL (hereafter defined as a student who was or currently is required to take ACCESS testing) had the most negative effect of the previously listed factors. Home economics and peer pressure were inconclusive or often had no effect. Finally, having a supportive home life in the form of parents who value education, encourage goal-setting, and set high expectations had …

Organizing For Change: A Case Study Of Grassroots Leadership At A Kentucky Community College, Andrea Rae Borregard

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Community colleges constitute a special type of higher education organization: their complex mission, dynamics, personnel structures, and values require a distinct set of understandings and skills to lead and manage them well. Most of the research on leadership in community colleges focuses on leaders in positions of power (presidents, provosts, etc.) and not on grassroots or bottom-up leadership. Bottom-up leaders are individuals who perpetuate change without having the backing of a formal position of authority to do so. Recent leadership research validates the importance of having change agents at all levels of an organization in order to further the mission …

The Sensemaking Experience Of Newly Appointed District Teacher Leader Coordinators: A Case Study, Jill L. Janes

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

In an effort to address diverse needs in K-12 education, policymakers have proposed initiatives to increase the leadership opportunities for classroom teachers. Although teachers have undertaken leadership roles in schools throughout history, the notion of teacher leadership spurred by policy is in the emergent stages. As educators and leaders in various roles implement teacher leadership policy, learning must ensue at both an individual and collective level to adapt schools to a new model of leadership.

This study examined how district-level teacher leader coordinators in one Iowa region came to understand their role as leaders. A case study approach illuminated the …

Implementing Kentucky’S College Readiness Agenda: An Organizational Perspective Of Policy Implementation, Todd Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Nearly two-thirds of undergraduate college students within the United States fail to graduate within six years because they are unprepared for postsecondary education. Thus, many states have embarked on policy reform movements centered on college and career readiness for all high school graduates. This study focused on Kentucky’s efforts to implement four key initiatives—accelerated learning, secondary interventions, college and career readiness advising, and persistence to graduation—resulting from sweeping reform policies enacted in 2009 by the Kentucky General Assembly. The study considers policy implementation from an organizational perspective and explores the structural characteristics associated with effective policy implementation at the school …

Fostering A School Culture And Climate Where Creativity Can Thrive: A Case Study Of An International School Principal, Rachel Allen

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The topic of creativity in schools is increasing in popularity with many recent initiatives taking place emphasizing 21^st century skills or the arts. Business literature has indicated the work environment influences worker creativity as well as identified managers as having influence over the work environment. While educational research supports the influence of the principal over the school environment, little research has specifically examined the role of the principal concerning creativity in schools.

The aim of the study was to illuminate the role of the principal in fostering creativity by examining the attributes and actions as self-reported by the principal …

Experienced Kentucky Female Superintendents' Perceptions Of Political Leadership, Karen Thomas Mcnay

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Women historically hit a glass ceiling when trying to reach for a school district’s highest position. While nationally an overwhelming majority of educators are female, approximately only a quarter of all superintendents are women. In Kentucky, 19% of public school superintendents are female. Female superintendent research has focused on the barriers that inhibit women from obtaining the superintendency; however, recently a shift to focus on how women lead has occurred.

The superintendency encompasses five roles: instructional leader, manager, political leader, communicator and applied social scientist. Although female superintendents’ strength is often instructional leadership, the role of political leader is met …

Higher Education System Governance: An Exploratory Study Of Presidential Decision Making In The Kentucky Community And Technical College System, Sarah Jill Page

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

There are more than 40 higher education systems across the United States enrolling more than 5.6 million students. Literature on higher education systems is well-documented; however, variations in system structures and governance are apparent. The limited research on governance in community college systems merits examination. This study explored presidential decision making in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System using quantitative and qualitative procedures. As a two-phase, sequential exploratory study using surveys, interviews, and documents, this study considers decision making from an organizational and environmental perspective to understand how presidents share academic, administrative, and personnel decision making. This study extends …

Service-Learning And The Hungry And Homeless: Tangible Sensibilities Of Care Among Young Urban Adolescents, Dilafruz R. Williams

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

For over 20 years, Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland, Oregon has adopted service-learning as an instructional approach to engage young people with local communities. This report explores the voices of sixth through eighth graders illustrated by their Reflection Journals as they interacted with hungry and homeless individuals in the community. The human-scale connections resulted in tangible sensibilities of care evident in students’ reflections: dispelling stereotypes as students became open-minded, making a noticeable difference however small, developing compassion through new understandings, and taking action to correct social injustices in the communities where they live.

The Relationship Between Nursing Students' Perceptions Of Staff Nurses' Attitudes Towards Them And Self-Efficacy In Sophomore- And Senior- Level Nursing Students, Sarah A. Mueller, Raechel M. Naragon, Rachael R. Smith

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Clinical teaching gives nursing students practical experience, allowing them to practice skills and to apply theories of nursing alongside a staff nurse. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between nursing students’ perceptions of staff nurses’ attitudes towards them and self-efficacy in sophomore- and senior-level nursing students. According to scientist Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, self-efficacy is defined as a person’s belief in his or her own abilities. Using non-experimental comparative design, convenience sampling, and Likert scale questionnaires, sophomore- and senior- level baccalaureate nursing students were asked to complete the survey using the Nursing Clinical Self-Efficacy …

Experiences Of The Millennial Generation With Politics & Power In Higher Education, Lauren Elizabeth Ouwerkerk

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The millennial generation is continuing to replace previous work generations within higher education. The way that the millennial generation navigates issues of politics and power is not easily understood by institutions. This qualitative study of millennial professionals investigates how they handle issues of power and politics, their experiences with top-down structure, how they work around issues of power and politics and how their identity plays a role. Individual interviews and a demographic questionnaire were used to obtain data in this study. Participants invited to participate were millennial professionals who had worked at the institution from 1-5 years. Eight participants were …

Latina Principals In Southern California: A Phenomenological Look Into Their Journey Towards Leadership, Fabiola Bagula

Dissertations

California is home to almost 15 million Latinos, however, according to the 2015 State of Higher Education Report for California, only 12% of the Latino population between the ages of 25 and 64 has a baccalaureate degree or higher, compared with 42% of the White population. Latina students have some of the lowest levels of educational attainment at every point in their K-12 journey and in general, very low occupational attainment. Given these troubling findings, this research sought to understand and tell the stories of Latinas in k-12 leadership positions in Southern California. In this study, Latinas describe how they …

Curricular Instruction Of Global Leadership At Colleges And Universities In The United States, Tara L. Edberg

Dissertations

Colleges and universities in the United States have made leadership education a priority as they prepare students to confront adaptive challenges in the 21st century; “wicked problems” such as poverty, uneven opportunities for education, homelessness, and illnesses worldwide. In addition, with the increased globalization of our world, the need to teach students how to lead in a complicated, multicultural context intensifies. Global leadership is an emergent concept in the leadership field combining leadership practices with those of global cultural competency while highlighting the significance of a dynamic and complex context in the leadership process.

While there has been a significant …

A Pilot Study Of High-Stakes Decision-Making For Crisis Leadership, Terry Lynn Oroszi

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

High-stakes decision-making represents a critical component of crisis leadership. This study examined the decision-making processes practiced by global, national, and local crisis leaders to identify common decision-making process traits and propose a useful model to guide crisis leaders high-stakes decision-making. This research suggested the hypothesis is correct and inexperienced crisis leaders may benefit from a potential new decision-making model better aligned with the experiences of a panel of national and global crisis decision-making experts. Crises have distinct factors: they are time sensitive, pose significant risks, and require consequential decisions. A sample group of fifteen national and international expert crisis leaders …

Leadership Education: A Pilot Study Investigating Employer And Student Perceptions Of Value, Jason Scott Farkas

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study examined employer and student perceptions of leadership education, specifically as these perceptions relate to value, or usefulness. As post-baccalaureate leadership certification programs are increasingly added to college and university curricula, it is important to understand if these programs are imparting knowledge and skills that are observable and valuable in the workplace. Employer and student perceptions were collected through pilot focus groups and qualitatively evaluated against Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, a framework that is both teachable and measurable. Suggestions for future graduate-level leadership certification programs will be discussed.

The Impact Of Parental Housing Structure On The Autonomy Development Of Sophomore College Students At Four-Year Public Institutions, Colton G. Metzger

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Sophomore college student retention rates are steadily decreasing across the United States. Sophomore students often experience a phenomenon entitled the sophomore slump where the lack of support they receive from their institutions impact their overall mental health, GPA, and retention. This study is a quantitative analysis investigating the impact of parental housing structure on the emotional independence and physical independence of college sophomore students at four-year public institutions. A fifteen question survey was used to measure parental housing structure, physical independence, and emotional independence. Participants were traditional sophomore college students who had completed between 30 and 59 credit hours, had …

Faculty/Student Perceptions Of Their Relationship In A Cross-Cultural Academic Mentoring Dyad, Amber J.S. Daniel

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Diversity and mentoring are becoming important areas of study in leadership and educational disciplines. While some steps have been taken to conceptualize or delineate how these disparate elements function in higher education, there has been little research into how and where they intersect, namely, when mentoring dyads are comprised of individuals from diverse cultures. In this paper, the researcher shares her discoveries on how a cross-cultural academic dyad works in contemporary settings. She discusses the role of perceptions, expectations and actions-some of the essential ingredients of effective cross-cultural mentoring- which could be utilized as a guide for further study and/or …

A Structural Model Of Elementary Teachers' Knowledge, Beliefs, And Practices For Next Generation Science Teaching, Katahdin Abigail Cook Whitt

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The publication of the National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) marked a turning point in science education characterized by a shift away from the idea that students should learn about a set of science facts and toward the idea that students should figure out core science ideas by solving problems and making sense of phenomena. To successfully realize the vision for science education that was articulated in the reform documents, teachers' science classroom practices will need to change, particularly at the elementary level. Science education research has …

The Care Factor: The Importance Of Using Domain Identification Measures To Identify Stereotype Threat Vulnerability In High School Females, Kimberly Y. Randolph

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

THE CARE FACTOR: THE IMPORTANCE OF USING DOMAIN IDENTIFICATION MEASURES TO IDENTIFY STEREOTYPE THREAT VULNERABILITY IN HIGH SCHOOL FEMALES.

By Kimberly Y. Randolph, PhD

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016.

Major Director: Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, PhD. Professor Department of Educational Leadership

There is a gap that persists in math achievement between high school males and females. Although the NAEP 2015 longitudinal report shows a narrowing in math achievement between males and females there still remains a gap. More importantly, females are …