Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Restructuring Teacher Education: The Mis-Education Of Demography In The Public School System, Michelle Richards, Ingrad Smith

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The crisis of confidence in corporations has stimulated much debate among scholars and practitioners regarding leadership morality (Bartunek, 2002; Lefkowitz, Ilgen, Lee, Locke, Lowman & Schneider, 2003). Similarly, leadership scholars have acknowledged that leadership ethics rests upon the moral character of leaders and their choices of values (Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999). They argued that, compared to others, some leaders possess values and characteristics that make them more resilient to social pressures to engage in unethical behaviors (Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999; O’Connor, Mumford, Clifton, & Connelly, 1995)

Power Motives And Core Self Evaluation As Correlates Of Managerial Morality, Aline Masuda

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

More than ever before, educators are seeking innovative ways to improve students’ achievement, promote quality teaching, reduce cost and motivate students. Educational leaders, from heads to directors, are all working harder than ever to become more effective at managing change and innovation in the “Digital Age”. Today, the large collection of media-rich teaching and everything from educational broadcasting is a good recipe for quality education.

Linking Transformational Leadership To Student Teachers’ Efficacy: Contributions Of Mentor Teachers’ Leadership Behaviors, Tao Gong, Ron Siers

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

A literature review of student interns’ (often referred to as student teachers or pre-service teachers) efficacy beliefs revealed that most studies have focused on the effects of teacher efficacy on teacher effectiveness and student achievement. However, the role that mentor teachers (often referred to as cooperating teachers or collaborating teachers) play in the growth of efficacy beliefs of student interns has received little attention, and the empirical evidence is insufficient. A teacher’s sense of efficacy has been defined as “the teacher’s belief in his or her capability to organize and execute courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific …

The Impact Of National Cultures On Corporate Cultures In Organisations, Kwasi Dartey-Baah

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The school’s main core business is teaching and learning. A quality curriculum and effective instruction are key elements to ensure successful teaching and learning in schools (Grigsby et. al. 2010). Thus, various activities and resources established in the schools should be optimized to ensure that teaching and learning are implemented effectively. From the human resource perspective, the main drivers of successful teaching and learning are teachers. Hence, quality teachers who can perform their responsibilities with commitment are prerequisites for successful and excellent education.

The Relationship Between Vocabulary Knowledge, Linguistic Intelligence And Morphological Awareness Among Efl Learners, Keivan Zahedi, Nasser Fallah

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

This article will share numerous interesting insights that are important for business development, marketing and sales growth.

The Similarities Between Business Organizations And Psychology, Michael Marshall

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

In the 1980s, the system of relatively uniform centralised budget resource allocation to schools was judged by many to have impaired the achievement of equality, efficiency, liberty and choice. Thus, school-based management was suggested, with lump sum budgets allocated to schools, together with a high degree of community involvement in school decision making and the fostering of diversity within schools to ensure choice (Caldwell and Spinks, 1988). School-based management (SBM) was intended to encourage positive participation from teacher, principal and parent representatives on the school board committee (Yadollah, 2006; Cheung and Kan, 2009). This attracted groups of people with different …

Spirituality And 21st Century School Leadership, Kathleen Fite, Robert Reardon, Mike Boone

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The current status of educational reform issues related to general education and special education provides the opportunity for the creation of a system that encompasses the goals of both groups in a cohesive manner. Previously, these issues have been addressed separately; however, recent research identifies a progression of change in the focus of ideas in both general education and special education. The first two phases of school reform focused initially on raising standards and then on teacher empowerment and site-based management. The current phase of school reform focuses on the instructional needs of the individual student and rejects the premise …

United States Organization Working To Strengthen School Leadership Preparation, Jenny Tripses, John Hunt, Sandra Watkins

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

We have come into a time where there is of scarcity of resources, where colleges and universities are being pulled in different directions by many of its constituents, and state politicians are jockeying for which policies that they want to implement with limited or no resources to support them, which makes the support for higher education even more scant. If there was not a more urgent time to have a different mindset to transform a college or university this decade, then there likely will not be one. Knowing the obstacles in which higher education institutions need to overcome, the leadership …

The Role Of Staff Development In School-Based Management, Hon Yau, Alison Cheng

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Today’s frontier is knowledge. Brain has taken precedence over brawn; our physical struggle for existence has been replaced by intellectual struggle, and knowledge of words has become the most valuable tool for this struggle. Words are the very cornerstone of any language. With a good vocabulary, which indicates scope of knowledge, we can grasp the thoughts of others and be able to communicate our own thoughts to them. As Stahl (1999) argued, discussion of words is discussion of knowledge of the world, and knowledge of the world is knowledge of who we are and where we stand in the world. …

Leadership Differences Between African-American And White Superintendents In South Carolina, Edward Cox, Carlotta Redish

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Superintendents are responsible for implementing the policies established by their boards of education. They are charged with managing and leading their organizations to secure and promote the sustained advancement of student achievement. Nationwide, whites are employed in a majority of superintendent positions (Glass, 2006). According to Bjork (2000), blacks represent 5% of the superintendents in America. The remaining 95% are white. Previous studies of the superintendency have researched career paths, school board/superintendent relationships, minority superintendents, gender, leadership styles, and professional preparation (Glass, 2006; Clisbee, 2004; Revere, 2003 Lunenburg, 2003; Tallerico, 2000; Shakeshaft, 1999; Moody, 1970). None, however, have compared possible …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Five Strategies To Support All Teachers: Suggestions To Get Off The Slippery Slope Of "Cookbook" Science Teaching, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Many teachers shudder at the thought of implementing an inquiry curriculum. Perhaps they envision a rowdy classroom with little learning. Maybe they wonder, "How will this connect to all the standards?" Fortunately, these legitimate concerns can be addressed, and all students can engage in thoughtfully constructed inquiry science experiences. In this article, we outline five strategies that we have used with elementary school teachers as they moved from a "cookbook" approach in science to an approach that is inquiry-based. Having presented these five strategies in a linear format, we know that on the surface this may seem close to the …

Have A Kids Inquiry Conference: Putting A Twist On The Typical Science Fair, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

In school, the traditional format for the formal sharing of science experiences has been the science fair. Although the format of science fairs may vary, the usual components consist of a step-by-step experimental process that students follow as they test different variables, construct a hypothesis, and collect data to support or disprove their hypothesis. Usually the science fair is conducted as a competitive event at which prizes are awarded for the "best" examples. Unfortunately, this type of science event has little connection to the real sharing that scientists do regularly.

The National Science Education Standards (NSES) call for an approach …

Teachers And Their Struggle With Personal Satisfaction As Young Mothers, Katherine Homer

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore how the day-to-day experiences of teachers who are working mothers of young children shape their level of comfort and satisfaction with the dual role they live. This investigation also explored the dynamics of teacher retention by understanding the dilemmas female teachers with young families encounter. There is limited literature on working mothers who are high school teachers. There are many different issues this study examined to gain a better understanding of the complexities of the lives of women who are high school teachers while raising young children.

This study consisted of six …

African American Male Teachers In K-12 Education: A Limited Quantity, Kelley A. Peatross

Dissertations

This study examined the underrepresentation of African American (A/A) male teachers in three Midwestern school districts. The study sought to determine: (1) the perception of A/A teachers concerning their K-12 teaching experiences when disaggregated by the number of years of teaching, (2) their perception of why they went into teaching when disaggregated by the number of years of teaching, (3) their perception of the need for A/A male teachers, and (4) their perception of value and accomplishments as A/A male teachers in the classroom.

This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological design and was based upon Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of needs …

Team Collaboration Between Groups In The Marshall University Summer Enrichment Program, Jason B. Conaway

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study investigates the collaborative process of grade level teams as they progress through the 4 stages of a group collaboration model during a summer enrichment program at Marshall University. This study used a curriculum-based questionnaire that was filled out by each of the 47 graduate students who participated in collaboration training and continued to serve as members of a grade level team. The questionnaires were evaluated using a correlations between all questions and the temperature rating scale with a criterion correlation defined of n=.50. The results indicated that 5 questions on the questionnaire correlated with each other above the …

Objective Physical Activity And Sleep Characteristic Measurements Using A Triaxial Accelerometer In Eight Year Olds, Susan Ann Harrington

Wayne State University Dissertations

Background: Secular trends demonstrate that young children are less active and sleep less. Inequity in an individual's energy balance is known to have poor health outcomes. Academic achievement, academic behavior, and weight status are proxy indicators for health and psychosocial outcomes in this study. Current guidelines in place for sleep and physical activity in childhood are the result of data collected in the form of self-reports. Quantification and qualification of physical activity dimensions and sleep characteristics are essential not only for the purpose of clearly establishing parameters but also for the intent of verifying optimal health outcomes and evaluating interventions …

John Clare And The Art Of Politics, Jason N. Goldsmith

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Jason Goldsmith's contribution to Volume 30 of the John Clare Society Journal. Article focuses on Clares poem, 'Don Juan' and its place in the University classroom.

Perspectives On Deepening Teachers’ Mathematics Content Knowledge: The Case Of The Oregon Mathematics Leadership Institute, Libby Knott, Martha Vancleave

Faculty Publications

The Oregon Mathematics Leadership Institute (OMLI) project served 180 Oregon teachers, and 90 administrators, across the K-12 grades from ten partner districts. OMLI offered a residential, three-week summer institute. Over the course of three consecutive summers, teachers were immersed in a total of six mathematics content classes– Algebra, Data & Chance, Discrete Mathematics, Geometry, Measurement & Change, and Number & Operations—along with an annual collegial leadership course. Each content class was designed and taught by a team of expert faculty from universities, community colleges, and K-12 districts. Each team chose a few “big ideas” on which to focus the course. …

Reading Comprehension In The Secondary Classroom, Kathryn Grace Rowe Novotny

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Reading is important for the mind and the success of students' academic career (Cunningham, 1998). To read, one must comprehend what has been read; otherwise, there would be no purpose in reading. Comprehension is one of the most important reading skills adolescent students need to possess (Underwood, 1994). Students who have excellent reading comprehension are able to master academic content, read for pleasure, and are more likely to succeed in post-secondary goals. Unfortunately, comprehension strategy skills are not natural skills of students, but rather must be self-taught or taught by someone else. In view of the impact that reading comprehension …