Educational Leadership Commons^™

Ideological And Legal Determinants Of U.S. Supreme Court Justices' Voting In Establishment Clause Cases In K-12 Education: 1947-2014, Chad Riley

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This study investigated the influence of: (1) justices' political ideology; (2) justices' religious affiliation; (3) justices' qualifications; and (4) legal precedent on voting at the United States Supreme Court in Establishment Clause decisions and other such decisions impacting K-12 education rendered between 1947 and 2014, using binary logistic regression as its main statistical tool. The principal findings for this group of K-12 decisions are:(1) Ideology as measured by party-of- the-appointing president and Segal-Cover scale measures were significant predictors of conservative voting in the Establishment Clause decisions examined;(2) Higher Segal-Cover qualification scores, indicating higher levels of qualifications, were correlated to less …

Creating Leaders: An Examination Of Academic And Research Library Leadership Institutes, Irene Herold

All Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Case Studies 2015 : A Compendium Of Cases & Voices From The Field, Mola Dad Shafa, Khadija Khan

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

No abstract provided.

The Schooling Of African American Students In Junior High: Exploring The Preparation And Pedagogy Of Effective Teachers, Asha Gibson-Bell

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

Today, ethnically diverse learners represent the majority student population enrolled in the U.S. public school system. However, the teacher workforce remains predominately middle-class, female, and White. As ethnically diverse learners, particularly African American students continue to endure gaps in academic achievement, the gaze has shifted to teacher education's abilities to produce effective teachers of this population. While the achievement gap is widely known, the literature concurrently documents a racial discipline gap, as African American students are suspended and expelled more than any other racial ethnicity. Though disparities in achievement and discipline significantly converge in the middle grades (6th-8th), gaps in …

Redefining The No Child Left Behind Act's Highly Qualified Teacher, Jacqueline S. Gill

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This study shares the perspectives of eight, current Highly Qualified Teachers (HQT) and provides some insight into the points of view of these teachers who are directly affected by the decisions and policies handed down from lawmakers. There is value in deeply understanding the impact of the requirements set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001's (NCLB) definition of the Highly Qualified Teacher as it can help shape future policies to better serve the students it is intended to assist. For this study, participants engaged in an in-depth semi-structured interview and provided demographic data and classroom artifacts. …

Spirituality And Religion Among Black Men In College: A Potential Mechanism For Achieving Student Success, Brian L. English

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

As Black men continually face challenges while seeking to graduate from college, researchers and educational leaders have continuously sought ways to understand and remedy the issues. Spirituality and religion have been found to have positive influences on Black students' success in college. This study was designed to explore the role of spirituality and religion in the lives of Black men at a large and research-oriented Predominately White Hispanic Serving Institution in Texas. A general qualitative approach was used to examine how spirituality and religion among Black undergraduate men influenced their ability to persist and graduate. Interviews were conducted with 10 …

Experiencing Technology Integration In The Collegiate Classroom: From The Perspectives Of Itinerant Adjunct Language Instructors, Emmanuel Garcia

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

In the last 40 years, the adjunct instructor population has become the largest group in higher education. Despite their numbers, they continue to be largely ignored and, most importantly, untrained. Their itinerancy forces them to constantly adapt to different levels of classroom technology. Through the lens of social constructivism (Creswell, 2009), the purpose of this case study was to describe the experiences and adaptive methods that one foreign language adjunct faculty used to manage technology-related issues on its campus. The study focuses on exploring the variables of reality, knowledge, and learning in ten instructors who work through this challenge on …

Success Is Required: The Experiences Of High-Achieving Black Male Football Players At Predominantly White Division 1 Institutions In The South, Brandon William Jones

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of high-achieving Black male football players at predominantly White Division I institutions in the South. A qualitative research design was utilized. Participants were five Black male football players who were starters or important reserve players, had a 3.0 or higher GPA, and were at their respective institutions for at least a year prior to interviewing. Data were obtained through five individual, semi-structured, and face-to-face interviews at two sites-Eastern Valley State University (EVSU) and Coastal Plains University (CPU). Transcripts were then professionally transcribed, read through (line by line) for a …

A Multigenerational Approach: Critical Accounts Of The Postsecondary Experiences And Success Of African American Men, Michelle B. Amrine

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This phenomenological study examined significant factors that influenced the degree completion rates (i.e. graduation) of ten African American men who graduated from U.S. accredited 4-year Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) between the 1960s and 2000s. Critical Race Theory in Education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) was the theoretical framework used for this study. The primary means of data collection was two semi-structured interviews to learn about the participants' personal, precollege, college and post college experiences, as well as their recommendations for improving postsecondary access and success for African American males. Themes that emerged from the …

A Grounded Theory Of Women's Leadership Experiences In Higher Education: Navigating From The Director Level, Laura Ann Maki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In higher education leadership, the proportion of women in senior-level positions has grown very modestly. This stagnation is present in representation in leadership as well as in wage equality. Although institutions and organizations have policies and practices aimed at improving diversity and equity, ongoing underrepresentation indicates that barriers, lack of interest, or other unidentified factors influence women's opportunities for achieving senior-level leadership positions. To help address the ongoing underrepresentation of women in senior-level leadership in higher education, I have focused this dissertation on women's experiences in mid-level leadership positions. In this study, I use grounded theory to examine women's leadership …

School Leaders’ Engagement In Curriculum Planning And Decision Making, Riaz Hussain

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Outdoor Education Integrated Curriculum Program Impact On Adolescent Self-Authorship, Amanda Lee Mcgowan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

One of the challenges currently faced by secondary schools is to teach 21st century skills, such as self-authorship. Self-authorship is the command of one’s life, or the capacity to invent one’s beliefs, identity, and relationships with others. This study investigated the impact a one-semester outdoor education program has on adolescents’ perceived self-authorship development, as measured by the 27-item self-report Self-Authorship Questionnaire (SAQ). The sample population (n=26) for this study was made up of 10th and 12th grade students from two classes of one-semester outdoor education programs at a public secondary school in Ontario, Canada. Analysis of paired t-tests of the …

A Study Of Parent Satisfaction Of The Transition From Junior High To Senior High School For Students With Special Education Needs, Colleen M. Feldman

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the parental perspective and satisfaction with the transition process as their child, who is a student with special education needs, moves from the junior high to the high school setting. For students with disabilities, transitions within the education system can be more challenging and difficult (Hay & Winn, 2005; Hill, 2010; Kinney, 2006;) than for students without unique learning needs. Many parents of special education students find the transition from junior high to senior high school to be particularly intense. If school professionals are in the position to support educational transitions, understanding …

Graduate Preparation Of School Psychologists In Serving English Language Learners, Morgan J. Aldridge, Elana R. Bernstein, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the training practices of NASP accredited graduate programs in school psychology with regard to best practices in working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Training directors of school psychology programs were surveyed regarding the amount of time and the extent of instruction they provided their school psychology graduate students on the topic of ELLs. School psychology interns were also surveyed regarding both their current knowledge about serving ELLs and their perceived preparedness to serve ELLs. Results indicated that school psychology programs are not adequately preparing graduate students to serve the growing population of …

Managing Conflict By School Leadership : A Case Study Of A School From Gilgit-Biltistan, Darvesh Karim

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

Managing conflict at school has been an age-old challenge for educators. Conflicts are a natural part of life and therefore a natural part of school life. Learning to deal constructively with conflict is a life-skill need for educational leaders. This paper reports a case study of a private English medium school of Gilgit-Baltistan about exploration of the conflict management which advocates two approaches to manage conflicts at school level i.e. to follow strict rules and regulations and penalizing on violation and secondly, empowering the stakeholders to resolve their own problems by their-selves.These approaches have proved that competence in conflict resolution …

The School Choice Journey: Parents Experiencing More Than Improved Test Scores, Thomas Stewart, Patrick Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Studies indicate that low-income parents participating in the District of Columbia’s private-school choice program prioritize—at least initially—the safety of schools over schools’ academic quality as they transition from public schools. Furthermore, when evaluating their child’s academic progress, parents do not view standardized test scores as a key metric of success.  Most interestingly, these urban parents report that they want to be respected as advocates of their child’s education and will fight hard to keep their child’s privateschool choice program if that program’s future is threatened.  These lessons should be considered when designing and implementing publicly funded, means-tested programs …

Views From Private Schools: Attitudes About School Choice Programs In Three States, Brian Kisida, Patrick Wolf, Evan Rhinesmith

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

As school choice programs expand in the United States, it is crucial to consider how the design of these programs shapes the supply and demand of parents’ educational offerings. To better understand the school choice landscape from the viewpoint of current and would-be participants in choice programs, we administered an extensive survey in Spring 2014 to leaders of private schools in Florida, Indiana, and Louisiana. From Florida’s relatively longstanding and lightly regulated tax-credit scholarship program to Indiana and Louisiana’s younger and more heavily regulated state-funded voucher programs, these programs share some qualities while differing considerably on others. In total, 954 …

Nurturing Environmental Literacy At Colby College: Higher Education And The Environmental Crisis, Molly Nash

Honors Theses

The environmental crisis will affect all people, career paths, and academic disciplines. Acknowledging this, does higher education have an obligation to educate all students for environmental literacy (EL)? This study reviews literature on how to effectively assess and implement EL initiatives and highlights how other colleges successfully nurture EL in all students. This study also uses quantitative and qualitative survey measures to understand student levels of EL at Colby College and to highlight specific programming or curriculum that leads to high EL levels in students. Findings include significantly different EL scores between environmental studies student respondents and respondents in all …

An Examination Of What Principals Do To Create A Positive School Climate For Teachers In Elementary Schools And How Teachers Perceive Those Efforts, Carol Anne H. Ziolkowski

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

AN EXAMINATION OF WHAT PRINCIPALS DO TO CREATE A POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE FOR TEACHERS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND HOW TEACHERS PERCEIVE THOSE EFFORTS

By Carol Anne H. Ziolkowski, Ph.D.

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

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015

Director: Whitney Sherman Newcomb, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Educational Leadership

School of Education

This qualitative study of elementary school climate explored the actions principals take to create or maintain a positive school climate for their teachers and teachers’ perceptions of those efforts. The study included individual …

“Contagious Co-Motion”: Student Voices On Being Change Agents, Vicki L. Reitenauer, Tetiana Korzun, Kimberly Lane, Melinda Joy Roberts

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Designed in response to students’ requests for a capstone where they could form their own individual partnerships in the communities of their choosing, Effective Change Agent offers a structure for community-based learning that allows for high levels of student choice-making and agency. In this article, the authors describe the course; connect it to literature on grassroots change-making, integrative learning, and service-learning; and, through the inclusion of student authors, allow the sharing of insights in the students’ own voices.