Educational Leadership Commons^™

Improving District Targeted Support For Schools With Low Student Achievement By Implementing Assistance Relationships With School Leaders, Mary Ashley Gaskins

Theses and Dissertations

Riverbend School District faced a challenge: the lack of a formalized structure for providing schools with targeted support that meets their unique needs and increases student achievement. This study explored how the district-level instructional team could customize support to improve English Language Arts and Math performance at schools with low student achievement. The theory of improvement posited that district instructional leaders engaging in assistance relationships – through modeling instructional leadership and providing conceptual and practical tools – would enhance school leaders' capacity, ultimately improving teaching and learning. A key action of the improvement team was the creation and implementation of …

Continuous Professional Development: A Case Study Of Foreign English Language Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professional Development In Colleges In Asia, Chance W. Phillips

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

This qualitative case study investigated the experiences of college-level EFL/ESL teachers in Asia. The research sought to identify the gaps in professional development experiences influencing teachers to be better educators, meeting the needs of the English language learners in Asia. Additionally, the research identified how the professional development experiences, or lack thereof, of the college-level EFL/ESL teachers impacted their pedagogical strategies and professional practices. Despite the demand for English language education across Asia, foreign English educators often face limited institutional and administrative support, as well as unequal access to professional learning opportunities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with foreign English language …

2025-10-01 Teacher Education Council Bylaws Revisal, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Professional Education Council., Teacher Education Council.

Faculty Senate Records

The revised Teacher Education Council / Professional Education Council bylaws as submitted to the Faculty Senate on October 1, 2025.

The Influence Of Academic Outcomes On Academic Achievement: A Quantitative Study In Grades 3-12, Kelli R. Helle

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this predictive study was to examine the relationship between social and emotional learning (SEL) subskills and academic performance among students in grades 3–12. Using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, the study sought to identify which specific subskills were most strongly associated with student grade point average (GPA). A quantitative predictive correlational design was employed with a sample of 737 students representing diverse grade levels and backgrounds. Data were collected through the Satchel Pulse SEL assessment platform, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictive value of SEL subskills while …

Teachers' Competence In Teaching Twice- Exceptional Students In The Sultanate Of Oman, Ahmad “Mohammad Jalal” Al-Fawair

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The current study aimed to determine the level of teachers’ competence in teaching twice-exceptional students in the Sultanate of Oman. To achieve this aim, a Teachers’ Competence Scale for Teaching Twice-Exceptional Students was developed. The study sample included (150) teachers who teach twice-exceptional students. Results revealed that the overall level of teachers’ competence in teaching twice-exceptional students in Sultanate of Oman was moderate, as well as in the dimensions of collaboration and teaching strategies, while it was low in the dimensions of interaction and classroom management. Results also indicated that gender had no significant effect on teachers’ competence levels neither …

The Relative Contribution Of Career Sustainability To The Psychological Well-Being Of Teachers In Syrian Refugee Camps In Light Of Some Variables, Ahmad Mohammad Sulieman Bani Khalid, Omar Atallah Ali Al-Adamat

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The study aimed to identify the level of both Career Sustainability and psychological well-being among teachers in Syrian refugee camps, and the relative contribution of Career Sustainability to psychological well-being. The study sample consisted of 282 teachers (138 males, 144 females) from the Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, selected by convenience sampling. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used (Chin et al., 2022) scale of Career Sustainability and (Anyamesem-Poku & Parmar., 2024) scale of teachers’ psychological well-being after ensuring reliability and validity. The results of the study indicated that the overall level of Career Sustainability was (high) …

The Role Of Scientific, Critical, And Creative Thinking Skills In Equipping Students With Problem-Solving Skills: A Field Study Among A Sample Of Sultan Qaboos University Students, Noureddine Chebbi, Wafa Al Mamaria, Suleiman Zakaria

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The ability to think scientifically, critically, and creatively is essential for students to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The current study sought to assess the sources and level of acquisition of scientific, critical, and creative thinking skills by Sultan Qaboos University students, and to determine the impact of these skills on their problem- solving abilities. The study random sample consisted of 384 male and female students selected from all colleges of Sultan Qaboos University. Study data was collected automatically via an electronic platform specifically developed for the study. Descriptive and correlational analyses were used to assess skill …

2025 Campus Master Plan, Morehead State University. Office Of The President.

Faculty Senate Records

The Morehead State University Campus Master Plan Update for 2025.

The Fear Factor: Exploring The Experiences Of Fear Of Secondary School Teachers, Kelly J. Raines

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Fear can be a powerful catalyst for cognitive potential, or a potent agent of havoc. This descriptive (transcendental) phenomenological study aimed to understand the phenomenon of fear experienced by teachers in public and private secondary schools in Central Florida. Semi-structured interviews collected data from the purposive sample, and the data were thoroughly analyzed using Colaizzi's (1978) model. The emergent essence of the lived experience of teachers identified the phenomenon of fear as the inducement of a debilitating sense of powerlessness that diminishes self-confidence and self-efficacy, resulting in emotional, cognitive, and/or physical impairments that directly affect the metacognitive potential of teachers. …

Employing Local Partnerships To Cultivate Student-Centered Business Curriculum, Emily A. Blok

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Students sitting in high school business classes are often distracted, dissatisfied, and bored with the curriculum that teachers are expected to teach. There is a lack of resources and time when it comes to truly engaging students and preparing them for their futures, but research has shown that many students often pursue degrees or some element of business in their post-secondary education, not to mention the skills and capacities developed in business classes make their way into every student’s daily life. This study aims to identify the curriculum that would be best for high school students to engage in, so …

Hire And Hope: An Exploration Of Principal Turnover, Jessica D. True

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is designed to investigate the possible relationships between principal turnover within K-12 public schools in the State of Texas, and demographic characteristics of school location, principal’s ethnicity, principal’s gender, and principal’s level of post-secondary degree. Data for participating schools was gathered from state-reported educator information specifically for the 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024 school years. The longitudinal study reviewed K-12 non-charter public schools in Education Service Center (ESC) 11, which encompasses all public schools in the Fort Worth metroplex of North Texas, allowing this study to analyze a robust and inclusive dataset. The Chi-Square Test of …

October 2025 Bulldog Alumni & Friends News, Kari Jones, Garrett King

Bulldog Alumni & Friends News

October 2

SWOSU Near You: OKC

October 24

SWOSU Homecoming Welcome Back Party

October 25

SWOSU Homecoming Brunch and Tailgate

October 25

SWOSU 50-Year Alumni Recognition

October 25

SWOSU Homecoming

November 7-8

SWOSU Baseball Alumni Weekend

December 12

Fall Commencement

The Degree Of Digital Fluency Availability Among Middle School English Teachers In Bisha City, Sharifah Al-Shahrani, Ahmad Al- Daleel

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The aim of this study was to assess the dimensions of digital fluency (technical, cognitive, social, and security/privacy) among middle school English teachers in Bisha Governorate, Saudi Arabia. The study included 157 teachers selected using a simple random sampling method. The researchers employed a descriptive survey approach and used a questionnaire as the research instrument. The study results showed that the level of availability of the dimensions of digital fluency among middle school English teachers in Bisha Governorate varied: the social dimension ranked first with a mean score of 4.35, indicating a very high level of availability; followed by the …

Big Five Personality Traits: A Comparative Study Of University Students In Six Arab Countries, Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Khalek, Mayssah Ahmed El Nayal, Asma Abdulla Al-Attiyah, Adel Shukri Karim, Atef Masad Al-Sharbini, Shaikha Ahmed Al-Junaid, Slah Eddine Ben Fadheln, Gomaa Said Mohamed Abdelhamid, Kholoud Adeeb Al-Dababneh, Mona Ghazi Sayegh, Mahmoud Mohamed Emam

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

This study aimed to compare the Big Five personality traits among university students of both genders across six Arab countries: Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Oman, and Bahrain (N = 1,729). Participants completed the Arabic version of the Big Five Personality Inventory, enabling a cross-national analysis of personality trait distributions. The results indicated distinct national patterns: Jordanian students scored the highest on Extraversion, Iraqi students on Neuroticism, Bahraini students on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and Qatari students on Openness. In contrast, Tunisian students had the lowest mean scores for Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, while Bahraini students had the lowest mean for Neuroticism, …

Active Learning: Eight Models That Shape Instructional Practice, A.E. Dreyfuss, Ana Fraiman, Karmen T. Yu

Publications and Research

Developed since the mid-20^th century, several instructional models have provided practical means to shift the emphasis in learning from lecture to engagement by students. The snapshots of models presented in this paper include Cooperative Learning, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Supplemental Instruction (SI) (also PALS, PASS), Team-Based Learning (TBL), Emerging Scholars Program (Mathematics Workshop, MathExcel), Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), and Learning Assistants (LA). These models have been well-disseminated, widely adopted, and incorporated in disciplines beyond their origins. For purposes of exploration and consideration of implementation, these “snapshots” provide an overview. Features of each model are …

Using Improvement Science To Study The Influence Of A Self-Regulatory Skills Intervention Program Within The Pre-Referral/Student Study Team Process, Abbie Sian-Stirone

Theses and Dissertations

The Dissertation in Practice (DiP) details a continuous improvement study utilizing Improvement Science and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to refine a school site's pre-referral/Student Study Team (SST) process. The need for this systemic refinement was driven by reported district-level equity concerns regarding the overrepresentation of Latinx students in special education. The study investigated the influence of a targeted Self-Regulatory Learning (SRL) Intervention Program, which leveraged an SRL Reflection Tool to teach explicit metacognitive and self-management strategies to Latinx students identified as at-risk of special education referral. Conducted in an urban public intermediate school, the research employed qualitative and quantitative data to …

Creating Meaningful And Relevant Professional Development Using Improvement Science, Jo R. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice focuses on how to improve professional development. Using improvement science, a team of individuals at the school engaged in problem solving techniques to discover the underlying root causes of the problem. The improvement team was composed of administrators, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders who worked in different areas of the school. Collectively, these individuals felt passionately about growing the staff members through effective professional development. Exploring the professional development sessions teachers were attending on campus, there were visible indicators that teachers were not engaged nor were they participating. Unpacking the issue further, the improvement team uncovered …

Your Consolation Brings Joy: How Private School Employees Support Students Experiencing Trauma, Virginia L. Rose

PhD in Education

Trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences is a growing and pervasive issue. Researchers have found trauma may have physical, emotional, behavioral, academic, and spiritual effects on children. School employees are in a unique position to teach students about resiliency and can mitigate the effects of traumatic stress. Although multiple studies have examined teachers’ definition, perspective, and experiences of trauma, few studies have taken place in faith-based schools. The following qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to discover the lived experiences of faith-based school employees in identifying and supporting students who have experienced trauma. Eleven faith-based school employees participated in a …

Capitalizing On Teacher Retention: The Role Of Human, Social, Structural, And Positive Psychological Capital, Mary A. Hamner

PhD in Education

This study explored the influence of psychological, social, human, and structural capital on teacher retention within a large Florida school district, guided by Mason and Matas’s (2015) four-capital framework. Using a nonexperimental quantitative design, the research examines how demographic variables and perceptions of professional capital relate to educators’ decisions to remain in the profession. Findings revealed that most demographic factors—gender, age, years of service, and degree type—did not significantly affect perceptions of the four capitals, suggesting a relatively equitable distribution of organizational supports. However, educational degree status was associated with higher perceptions of social, human, and structural capital, indicating that …

The Effect Of Self-Efficacy And Commitment On The Retention Of Alternatively Certified Teachers, Lydia V. Leduc

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Teacher attrition has opened the doors for professionals from other fields to enter the teaching field by following an alternative path. Yet, the attrition rate of these alternatively certified teachers (ACTs) is higher than that of traditionally certified teachers (TCTs). The objective of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the effect of self-efficacy and commitment on teacher retention of ACTs in Northwest Florida. The participants in the study worked in several schools in the area. After interviews, responses were evaluated, and categories and codes were compiled. Analysis was then done on the frequency and quality of response data to …