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Educational Leadership Newsletter March 2015, Educational Leadership Department, University Of Southern Maine

Educational Leadership Newsletters

Inside this issue:

• From the Chair
• Pilots Belong on TV and in Labs, not at Schools
• Thinking About Internship?
• EDL New Student Advising Night
• Wanted - Educational Leaders Interested in Becoming School Superintendents in Maine
• Southern Maine Partnership Update
• Fall 2015 Schedule
  
  

Double Demon Finds Commonality In Diversity

DePaul Magazine

No abstract provided.

Student Voices In Teacher Evaluations, Brenda Sue Burr

Theses and Dissertations

In an ever increasingly competitive global marketplace, a concern exists that American students are not being adequately prepared with the skills needed for the 21st century. As a remedy, improving quality of teacher instruction is a current national focus. Stakeholders are questioning current infrequent and inefficient methods of evaluating teacher performance. Many states are looking at using a 360 model of evaluating through multiple perspectives including the students themselves as key stakeholders. One method of accessing student voice and adding another perspective to teacher evaluations would be to include student evaluations in the rating of teacher performance, Student Evaluation of …

In Her Own Words: Make A (Mission) Statement, Diana V. Macri

Publications and Research

Creating a personal mission statement will allow faculty to remain focused on what their core purpose is. Remaining focused on this purpose will facilitate career growth and personal happiness.

Teaching Students To Fish: Creating A Sustainable Student Peer Research Program, Mallory R. Jallas, Meggan D. Smith

All Musselman Library Staff Works

A Peer Research Mentor (PRM) program was developed at Musselman Library, Gettysburg College to augment traditional reference services and expand library outreach. Goals included enhancing these students’ information literacy skills helping them become better researchers, as well as sharing that knowledge with peers. This poster will highlight the initial and on-going training, their involvement at the reference desk, and outreach projects to date.

Measuring The Impact Of A Ninth Grade Academy On Tenth Grade Performance In Academics, Attendance, And Behavior, Dan Snipes

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Ninth Grade Academies were designed to smooth the transition of rising ninth graders academically and behaviorally. Current research has addressed the long-term effects of Ninth Grade Academies on academics, behavior, and graduation rates. This literature has shown the Ninth Grade Academy to be moderately effective in improving graduation rates but have only limited success in retention, disciplinary action rates, and academic performance. To measure the impact a Ninth Grade Academy has on tenth grade performance in academics, behavior, and attendance data was compared from two schools: School A (which has a Ninth Grade Academy) and School B (which has a …

Teaching For Conversion: A History Of The Fundamentals, The Objective, And The Gospel Teaching And Learning Handbook For Seminaries And Institutes Of Religion In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Adam Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to document the history and the contributing factors that led to the formation of the Current Teaching Emphasis (2003), the Objective (2009), and the Gospel Teaching and Learning Handbook (2012) within Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The analysis of this history, contained herein, clearly identifies the principles that have driven the changes in S&I's description of teaching and learning, describes how these adjustments differ from previous approaches, illustrates the significance of this shift, and presents the contemporary issues that influenced the increased clarity and …

Equitable Education Of English Learners In The Common Core Age: Implications For Principal Leadership, David Whitenack

Faculty Publications

This paper highlights the importance of school principals in English Learners’ academic achievement in the age of the Common Core State Standards. Revising the curriculum of administrator preparation programs to include a greater emphasis on curriculum and instruction is one approach to enhancing principal leadership for English Leaners. Another approach is to reculture site-level instructional leadership through professional development to address the academic learning needs of English Learners.

The Relationship Between In-School Suspension And The Academic Achievement Of Middle School African American Males, Michael Eugene Seckinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate the relationship between time assigned to in-school suspension and the math and reading scores on the 2013-2014 Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) for 6th to 8th grade regular education, African American male students. Archival data from school databases were used for this study. Following IRB approval and with permission from each district superintendent, in-school suspension and CRCT score data were collected for 6th to 8th grade regular education, African American male students who had been assigned to 1 or more days of in-school suspension, sampled from 30 middle schools …

"Friending" Students On Social Media, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The use of social media, particularly services such as Facebook and Twitter, has grown exponentially in recent years. Yet to date, relatively little litigation has arisen around the issue of teachers and other educators engaging in questionable or inappropriate use of social media when communicating with students. Even so, parental complaints do arise when teachers share inappropriate communications with students through social media. Consequently, as social networking continues to increase, school business officials and other education leaders should devise policies to help deal with this growing trend.

Given the widespread use of social media, this column examines emerging legal questions …

Principals’ Use Of Classroom Walkthrough Observations To Improve Instruction: A Grounded Theory, Mitchell R. Kubicek

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

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate a theory that explains the process of improving instruction in Nebraska public schools through the use of classroom walkthroughs. Classroom walkthroughs are brief, frequent, and unannounced observations conducted by building principals and other instructional leaders. Five Nebraska public school principals were invited to participate in taped interviews. Snowball and chain sampling was used to select additional teacher participants for interviews. Through these interviews conceptual labels were assigned, a core category (phenomenon) identified, and a theoretical model developed describing: (a) causal conditions that influence the phenomenon, (b) strategies that result from …

The Role Of Nebraska Public Elementary School Principals In The Preparation For State-Wide Testing: A Mixed Methods Study, Carrie L. Kolar

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

Assessment is used to determine whether students are meeting the goals of education. In Nebraska, the goals are measured through statewide testing to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. As the requirements of No Child Left Behind increase, this study described the strategies used by Nebraska public elementary school principals in an effort to improvement student achievement.

The researcher gathered literature in order to identify the role of the principal in the assessment process and found the focus to be on the preparation of the statewide testing but little on the role of the principal. The literature revealed …

2015-02-26 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Faculty Senate. Morehead State University.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for February 26, 2015.

Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda And Minutes, February 23, 2015

Faculty Senate Minutes and Agendas

Agenda and minutes from the Wright State University Faculty Senate Meeting held on, February 23, 2015.

Do Cyberbullies Really Want To Hurt Others?, Danielle Law

Clear Language Summaries

Cyberbullying occurs when computer and mobile technologies are used to intentionally harm others. When communicating online there are two basic motivations for online aggression: whether they are posting mean things with intention to harm, or whether they are engaging in these behaviours to defend themselves. This research found that the majority of teenagers are not intentionally mean; rather, they are navigating a world of miscommunication that lends itself to retaliation that spirals out of control in aggressive ways. A small percentage of teens are deliberately malicious and require special intervention. When educating teens about cyberbullying it is important to understand …

School Culture And The Affective Learning Needs Of Latino Long-Term English Learners, Maureen Ray

Dissertations and Theses

The US Department of Education projects that by the year 2030 the total English Learner (EL) population in US schools will exceed 40 percent. Currently, by the time ELs make it to high school, after 6 or more years in English Language Development (ELD) programs, the majority (59 percent), are Long Term English Learners (LTEL). LTEL students represent a variety of ethnicities and language groups, but the focus of this qualitative study is LTEL students who identify as Latino LTEL. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and explain recently graduated Latino LTEL's perceptions of the impact of …

Adding Fuel To The Fire: Life And Meaning Of Data In A Principal’S World, Donald Angelaccio, Maja Miskovic

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In this paper a former middle school principal and his dissertation chair look back at the research process envisioned and carried out against the neo-positivist grain aggressively put forward by the government and espoused in school districts across the United States. We revisit the meaning of data and show how they emerged from the paradigmatic stance of action research and came to life via collaboration between teachers-research participants and a school principal-researcher. We provide examples of data that was simultaneously collected and interpreted and served as evidence that the process of action research resulted in meaningful learning, genuine change, and …

Professional Development In Urban Schools: What Do The Teachers Say?, Tanya R. Green, Mishaleen E. Allen

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This quantitative causal-comparative study compared perceptions of professional development opportunities between high-achieving and low-achieving elementary-middle school teachers in an urban school district using the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI). A total of 271 teachers participated including 134 (n=134) teachers from high-achieving schools, and 137 (n=137) teachers from low-achieving schools. Teachers in high-achieving schools reported receiving professional development more aligned to the 12 NSDC standards for quality professional development than teachers in low-achieving schools. In addition, teachers in high-achieving schools indicated receiving professional development modeled as Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Findings suggest that high quality professional development designed with elements of professional …

Wsu Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes, February 12-13, 2015

Board of Trustees Minutes

Minutes from the Wright State University Board of Trustees Meeting held on February 12-13, 2015.

Self-Efficacy And Instructional Leadership: Does Mentoring Make A Difference?, Julie Diane Helber

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The responsibility of principals has shifted significantly over the past few decades. During 1960s and 1970s school leaders were expected to be organizers and managers of schools and to serve as buffers to the organization to protect a weak technical core. Standards-based reform, beginning in the 1980s, was in direct conflict with this mindset. Instead of protecting a weak technical core, school leaders had to focus on instruction guided by standards and demonstrate alignment to such standards. Today, there is an increased attention on academic achievement and accountability in schools (Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999). Principals are being held responsible …