Educational Leadership Commons^™

Important Factors Impacting Grade Placement Committee Decisions: Perceptions Of Administrators And Teachers, David Trimble

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The Student Success Initiative was designed and implemented to make sure students in the state of Texas were academically prepared before moving to the next grade. If a student in the state of Texas does not pass the reading and or mathematics portion of the STAAR test in the fifth and eighth grade, that student is automatically retained. Parents have the right to appeal this retention and that appeal is conducted through a Grade Placement Committee. Grade Placement Committees are made up of school administrators, teachers, and parents. The decision of the Grade Placement Committee must be unanimous or the …

Beyond The Content And Pedagogy : A Step Forward Towards Value Based Teacher’S Professional Development, Sharifullah Baig

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This paper reviews the contemporary literature of human values and valuation processes, and proposes a re-conceptualized model of a teacher’s professional development. This paper suggests a thorough analysis of the teacher’s personality and devises alternative, well thought-out strategies and approaches to alter self-knowledge, values, valuation processes, and beliefs to imbed the desired impact on their teaching practices. This paper supports the use of deliberate attempts to alter the basic motivation level of teachers and to deliberately expose them to available knowledge to modify their values, attitudes, and actions in their respective professions, organizations, and formal associations. Hence, such professional development …

Reaching An Invisible Minority: A Survey Of Admissions Department Leaders' Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Student Outreach Efforts And Campus Climate In The Upper Midwest, Pollard David Sorquist

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students face challenges and barriers to higher education that heterosexual students do not. Many of these challenges are rooted in negative high school experiences of LGB youth, such as social stigmatization and family rejection. Additionally, LGB students have historically been excluded from admissions office outreach considerations. This has resulted in structural and symbolic barriers in secondary and post-secondary institutions. These barriers limit LBG student access and also limit available resources to support the successful transition to higher education institutions. Higher education admissions leaders have a unique opportunity to reach out to and actively support LGB …

Nuestra Realidad: Illumnating The Lived Experiences Of Middle-Class Hispanic Parents In Predominanty White Texas Public Schools, Olga Martinez Hickman

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

As the student population across the nation becomes increasingly diverse, educators are constantly met with challenges that go beyond teaching. While the Latino population continues to grow, and the projection of the U.S. becoming a majority-minority nation is fulfilled, it is important to pay close attention to the educational inequities and challenges that continue to exist for students of color. Parents of color , which is defined in this study as Hispanic parents of Mexican origin, have been urged to actively participate in schools in an effort to increase student achievement. However, the literature seldom distinguishes between the experiences of …

The North Texas Aerospace Manufacturing And Aviation Industries: An Explanatory Case Study Of School-To-Work Collaborative Networks, Cynthia Ann Miller

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The purpose of this study is to explore how educators, business partners and facilitators developed ties or networks to initiate a school-to-work collaboration to prepare students for jobs and careers in the aerospace manufacturing and aviation industries. There is growing concern about preparing a future workforce supply in these industries in North Texas. Workforce projections call for 8000 additional jobs between 2010 and 2020 (North Central Texas Council of Governments, 2013). Collaboration is recognized as a valuable asset to connect disjointed segments within the K-16 trajectory. This study explores the contradiction between the stated need for collaborative strategies and the …

Exit Exam Requirements And High School Graduation: A Texas Perspective, Kelvin Stroy Sr.

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The movement towards exit exams requirements prior to a student graduating from high school is one of the most prominent developments on the education policy landscape nationwide. Previous research on the impact of exit exams on students' graduation status has presented conflicting results. Some research finds that exit exams have no significant impact on a state's graduation rate, increase the likelihood of high school graduation and that teachers and students have risen to the challenge of higher accountability. But much of the existing literature found evidence that exit exams were associated with increased dropout rates, decreased completion rates, increase enrollment …

Perceived Educator Knowledge Of Response To Intervention (Rti), Lilly Moreno

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This study examined the perceived knowledge level of the Response to Intervention (RTI) practices among general education teachers, special education teachers, and principals in three school districts located in Northeast Texas. An on-line survey assessed the participants' perceived knowledge of the four major components needed to implement RTI. Additionally, this study allowed respondents to determine if there was a need for additional RTI staff development opportunities for effective RTI implementation. Furthermore, this study allowed respondents to determine if there was a need to incorporate at least one RTI course in higher education institutions. A total of 98 respondents participated in …

Predicting High School Student Success From Extracurricular Activity Participation: A Logistic Regression Analysis, Jennifer Mason Klaerner

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

There is a large number of students who do not finish high school, and there is an even larger number of students who do not go on to college (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, Kewal Ramani, 2011). School officials are challenged with the task of implementing programs to help at risk students stay in school. Although there are many factors that are out of our control, school districts play a role in creating a supportive environment that promotes successful high school completion and college readiness. It is imperative that school officials make meaningful changes to current systems in order to better meet …

An Exploration Of Communication Perceptions Between Elementary School Staff And The Parents Of The Children They Serve, Cynthia Gardner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to explore the perceived school communication between elementary school staff and the parents of the children they serve. Staff members and parents, from a central Florida public school district, in both Title I and Non-Title I schools completed an online survey regarding (1) timely school communication, (2) school's website being informative and easy to use, and (3) staff members knowing what is going on in schools. Researchers have long explored the importance of family involvement in children's academic success, communication between home and school is an important link in the process. The …

Fostering Organizational Learning: Superintendent And Principal Relationships, Ryan P. Clark

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Schools have a responsibility to prepare students for the 21^st century because the global economy demands a workforce that can adapt to a constantly changing and increasingly complex environment. High-stakes accountability for student learning is the United States’ strategy to ensure that schools adequately prepare students. This high-stakes environment requires school leaders to make curricular and instructional decisions intended to simply prepare students for tests. Yielding to the pressure to perform on tests often neglects students’ opportunities to think critically or engage in complex problem solving, which are both important skills for today’s workplace.

Some school and district leaders …

Student Assessment Of Professor Effectiveness, Roger Emil Knutson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite progressive changes, subtle sexism is still present in modern society. The present study used role congruity theory to explain how subtle sexism influences the ratings students provide for professors. Participants were presented with fictional scenarios where professor gender was manipulated and source of a mistake (student versus professor) was manipulated. For each scenario, students provided ratings of competence, likability, and likelihood to take another class with the professor. Multiple t-tests revealed no difference in student ratings between female professors and male professors who made mistakes and between female professors and male professors overall, although there was a significant difference …

Beneath The Glass Ceiling : What Causes Some Qualified Female Educators To Remain In The Classroom While Others Obtain Leadership Roles?, Allison J. Jordan

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

There is a dispoportionate number of female administrators in relation to the number of female-helmed classrooms in the United States. Jordan tackles the issue of gender in educational leadership. While the removal of legal and social barriers to administrative leadership in the twentieth century may have seemed to point the way toward a female-dominated leadership structure, she finds that female educational leaders are underrepresented at all levels. The study focused on Central Virginia. Jordan tried to uncover the common themes among female educators, including what differences existed between qualified classroom teachers and women who held positions of educational leadership.

Student Behavior Management : School Leader’S Role In The Eyes Of The Teachers And Students, Shirin Nooruddin, Sharifullah Baig

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This study explored the perspectives and viewpoints of the teachers and students in relation to the influence of the head teacher and senior leadership team on students’ behavior management in the form of policies, procedures and support mechanisms in a secondary school in Karachi Pakistan. Two surveys were developed and employed, one for the entire teaching staff (N=43) and one for a sample of students (n=120). The majority of teachers (97%) and students (83%) reported that school leadership influences students’ behavior management through policies and procedures. A large number of the teachers are of the view that sharing of personal …

Working With Traumatic Brain Injury In Schools: Transition, Assessment, And Intervention, Paul B. Jantz, Susan C. Davies, Erin D. Bigler

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Every day, children and adolescents worldwide return to the educational setting having sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The possible negative consequences of TBI range from mild to severe and include neurological, cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral difficulties. Within the school setting, the negative effects of TBI tend to persist or worsen over time, often resulting in academic and social difficulties that require formal and informal educational assistance and support. School psychologists and other educational professionals are well-positioned to help ensure students with TBI receive this assistance and support.

International Perspectives On Education, Religion And Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

From publisher: This volume examines the legal status of religion in education, both public and non-public, in the United States and seven other nations. It will stimulate further interest, research, and debate on comparative analyses on the role of religion in schools at a time when the place of religion is of vital interest in most parts of the world. This interdisciplinary volume includes chapters by leading academicians and is designed to serve as a resource for researchers and educational practitioners, providing readers with an enhanced awareness of strategies for addressing the role of religion in rapidly diversifying educational settings. …

Determining Effective/Ineffective: The Barriers Facing Minnesota Teacher Remediation, Matthew John Hillmann

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigated the attributes of effective and ineffective teachers, the conditions that would prompt Minnesota principals to recommend an ineffective teacher for remediation, and barriers that prevent Minnesota principals from remediating ineffective teaching. The mixed methods study used the iterative Delphi technique to gain consensus of an expert panel of 16 Minnesota principals on these topics. Three surveys were administered with participants able to review raw survey data prior to the second and third round surveys. The study aligned with previous research about the barriers principals face when attempting to remediate an ineffective teacher, which has stated that time …

Leadership Curricula Of Professional Athletic Training Programs, Elizabeth Drake

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Nationally-recognized athletic training organizations have identified leadership knowledge, skills, and competencies as essential for athletic trainers to be successful in the current healthcare environment and to help advance the profession of athletic training. However, little is currently known regarding the methods and the extent of leadership development in athletic training professional preparation programs. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine student and faculty perspectives of the extent and ways that athletic training professional preparation programs address leadership in their curricula.

Data were obtained via surveys completed by 71 students and 83 athletic training professional level program directors. Overall, …

The Identification Of Successes And Barriers In Establishing Professional Learning Communities From Principals' Perspectives, Katie Carol Clarke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify the successes and challenges in establishing professional learning communities (PLC) within 25 school districts in southwest Minnesota. Data was generated by school principals completing a closed-ended online survey that revealed degrees of implementation of PLCs. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and provided a foundation for the development of semi-structured focus group questions. This was a sequential mixed methods study, as the quantitative data was first collected followed by obtaining qualitative focus group data. Themes were generated during data analysis of the focus group questions and findings revealed successes and …

Growth No. 13 (2014) - Full Issue

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

The full issue of the thirteenth edition of Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development.

Building A Culture Of Faith: University-Wide Partnerships For Spiritual Formation, Brenda K. Bender, J. Scott Self

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

No abstract provided.