Digital Commons Network^™

Trauma-Informed Practices And Their Effects On Student Behaviors, Stephanie Haman

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

There is a growing number of educators, schools, and parents that are looking to trauma-informed practices as beneficial to educating the whole child. This literature review aimed to explore if whether implementing these practices is worth the time and money needed to achieve the full benefits of these programs. Database websites were used to gather peer reviewed journal articles for the researched information in this literature review. When creating trauma-informed schools there are significant challenges that come into play such as the cost of implementation and taking away instructional time to implement said practices. However, the current findings of this …

Poetic Justice: A Counter-Narrative Of The First Black Male Principal In A Coastal Community Since The Desegregation Era, Adrian Anthony

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Entering a new school as a new principal, and the first black male administrator in a community since the desegregation era, was fraught with challenges that have a universal cadence. Additionally, the three-year school turnaround initiative I entered had its own unique barriers. My voice quivers, my head sinks low, my eyes averted but this no more, for I uphold the mantle of men of bronze, for I will lead within this challenge and my voice will go on (Anthony, 2020). Using critical race theory as a framework with counter-storytelling I examined leadership and different forms of racial and gender …

Creating Conditions For Collaboration: A Case Study On Design-Based Professional Learning, Leslie A. Lehner

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Design thinking is a process for solving complex problems through creative actions. There are three primary ways design thinking is being used in education today: (a) as a teaching tool, (b) as a strategy for teachers to redesign their students’ learning experiences, and (c) as a tool for school leaders to design school change (Gallagher & Thordarson, 2018). Design thinking includes a strong emphasis on team-based learning regarding the problem and possible solutions (Lindberg et al., 2010). This case study describes one school’s approach to navigating complex challenges, inspiring school change, and developing conditions for meaningful collaboration using a design …

The Impact Of A Professional Learning Community (Plc) On 10 Early Career Teachers Who Seek To Understand The Meaning And Practice Of Teacher Leadership, Laura Alsbrooks Goldzung

Theses and Dissertations

Early career teachers are eager to engage in leadership given supportive cultural conditions, relevant training and development, and school structures encourage all members to contribute to the teaching process. The aim of this action research study was to explore the meaning and practice of teacher leadership with 10 early career teachers through participation in an eight-week professional learning community (PLC) book study. Selected readings informed group discussion topics and reflections in journal entries. Qualitative data analysis revealed three themes that work in concert to create conditions that support teacher leadership at ABC Elementary School (ABCES): communication, professional trust, and a …

The Death Of An Academic Department: Sense-Losing And Sacred Loss, Diane D. Walsh, Kathy D. Richardson, Marie Tylsova, William Guri, Ian Tucker Brown, Kari O'Grady Ph.D.

Journal of Catholic Education

An unexpected academic department closure can be deeply unsettling to many stakeholders. Department closure is typically intended to be a cost-saving measure; however, department closure can be a difficult, time-consuming process with unexpected consequences. This study takes a hermeneutical phenomenological approach to explore the impact of the closure of an academic department. Participants were enrolled in one of the department’s academic programs at the time of the closure announcement and during data collection. Results indicated that participants sanctified the department, a process in which persons instill an object or aspect of their lives with spiritual significance (Pargament, Magyar, Benore, & …

Micropolitical Influences On Teacher Leader Selection & Enactment, Jennifer Lynn Arthur Thomason

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The teacher leader phenomenon is plagued with uncertainty but has potential to be a catalyst for building school capacity and increasing school improvement. Questions remain about defining teacher leadership, roles of teacher leaders, and how they carry out a quasi-leadership role in a traditionally hierarchical system. Research on micropolitics in education, specifically how micropolitical influences within an organization affect teacher leader selection and enactment, is lacking. This phenomenologically informed study explored micropolitical influences on teacher leader selection and enactment through the shared experiences of teacher leaders and administrators. Purposeful, criterion sampling was used to select administrator and teacher leader participants. …

The Lead, July 2021, Lindenwood University

The Lead

The Lead is an electronic newsletter produced by the Lindenwood College of Education & Human Services.

A Study Of The Association Of Teacher Efficacy And Students' Achievement In A North Texas School District, Ruth E. Schackmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The field of education places great importance on measurable student achievement and the role of teaching competencies for maximizing success. Whereas much focus has been given to professional development and improving teachers’ skills, this quantitative study examined whether teachers' self-efficacy and judgment about their skills and capabilities were significantly associated with improving student achievement in third grade reading. This dissertation involved a study of teacher self-efficacy using a sample group of third grade English/Language Arts teachers from one Texas urban school district. Targeted teachers were invited to complete a valid and reliable teacher efficacy survey, the Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy …

Leveraging Centers For Teaching And Learning In Accreditation Review And Quality Assurance Processes, David Sacks, Patty Payette, Donna Ellis, Cassandra Volpe Horii

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Accreditation and quality assurance are high stakes processes that require wide-ranging input through self and peer review, with the goal of ensuring a high-quality education for students. This essay, part of the POD Speaks series, advises senior academic leaders to involve campus-based educational developers due to their unique expertise in working with faculty, assessing and improving curricula, and guiding organizational change.

Covid-19 And Mass Sections In Business Education: Adaptation And Innovation Stemming From The Emergency Online Transition, Marina Sebastijanovic, Olivia Miljanic, Emese Felvegi

Southwestern Business Administration Journal

This paper describes three instructional design cases impacting over 3,500 students annually and taught by midcareer female mass section faculty from one of the largest business schools at a tier-one public research university in the Southern region of the US. The three instructors of mass sections describe how they transitioned their face-to-face or hybrid courses from “Emergency Response Teaching” mode to considered distance learning implementation during the COVID-19 crisis. The cases include discussions of learning management system supplements, improvements to peer-to-peer interactions, course structure changes impacting student success, and remote experiential learning group projects featuring community partners. The challenges and …

Students’ Perceptions Of Factors Contributing To Enrollment In Arabic Courses At A College Level, Qays Q. Majeed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this evaluation was to investigate the factors that contribute to students’ recruitment and retention in the Arabic program at my college. The two questions guiding this evaluation were: (1) what factors influence students to join the Arabic program at my college and (2) what factors influence students to continue to enroll in subsequent higher-level Arabic courses? To accomplish this evaluation, I conducted interviews with six former students --four women and two men--in the Arabic program. Eight themes emerged following analysis of data. The findings show that students joined the Arabic program for a variety of reasons. Several …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session June 24, 2021, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

Acceptance of the Agenda – Chen-Zhang

Approval of the Minutes (April 22, 2021 Meeting) – Chen-Zhang

Remarks by the Chair – Chen-Zhang

Remarks by the President – Montgomery

Comments by the Faculty Senate President – Kritzman

Comments by the Western Student Association President – Morris

Comments by the Graduate Student Association Interim President – Hiremath

Public Comments Regarding Action Items – Schuemann

• Action Items – Chen-Zhang

Trustee Emeritus Recognition for Ron Kitchens – Schuemann

Honorary Degree for Audrey Morean Petersen – Montgomery

Academic Tenure and Promotion – Bott

Sale of Parcel in WMU BTR2 to Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch Authority …

Preparation, Expectations, And External School Contexts: Navigating The Covid-19 School Closures, Samuel F. Fancera, Evan Saperstein

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to examine educators’ perceptions of their preparation and expectations for teaching and learning during the COVID-19 school closures through the lens of context-responsive leadership theory. School enrollment, educational attainment, poverty, and race were the county-level external school contexts we studied. The sample includes 270 participants from 13 New Jersey counties. Findings provide evidence for a positive, moderate relationship between school enrollment and perceptions of preparedness for the COVID-19 school closures. School leaders may improve teaching and learning during school closures when using their external school context literacies in certain situations.

Replicating Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Education, Martinus J. Buijvoets, Bob Walrave, Jukka-Matti Turtiainen, Gregory H. Watson

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

Purpose – This paper describes the intricates and possibilities of replicating a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) education model from a pilot program to other universities—employing ‘replication as strategy’—based on a validated ‘business model.’

Study design/methodology/approach – This work is grounded in a case study on the ESTIEM LSSGB educational method and draws on the replication literature. Specifically: (1) replication as strategy (Winter and Szulanski, 2001) to replicate stimulating learning environments, and (2) replicating sets of teaching practices (Baden-Fuller and Winter, 2007). These theories are practiced using data obtained from various sources: Participant-observer data, interview data, and secondary case …

Emotional Turmoil Or Peaceful Agreements? A Phenomenological Study On Coping With Reforms In Higher Education Institution, Merilyn Meristo

The Qualitative Report

Promoting changes in an organisation is never an easy task. Coping with changes is an individual process and affects our individual physical and psychological well-being. This study attempted to analyse how university reforms were experienced by academic staff. It is framed by Self-Determination Theory, according to which there are three basic psychological needs that affect all people: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I conducted Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith et al., 2009) to gain insight into participants’ experiences during the period of 4 years, 2014-2018. The participants came from two academic staff communities of the same institution. The data collection methods …

Innovative Marketing Strategy In The Development Of The Textile Industry, Nigora Hayitboyeva, Abdullaev Ilyos Sultonovich Dr. Prof

Central Asian Problems of Modern Science and Education

The article analyzes the processes of development of the textile industry and the factors that influence it in Uzbekistan. Also, in the article, scientific proposals and recommendations for the development of the textile industry on the basis of innovative marketing strategies are given.

Diffusion Of Innovation: Investigations Of Technology Advances On A University Campus, Melissa Shaquid Pirie

Dissertations and Theses

This multi paper format dissertation contains three separate but related papers. The three papers focus on the Diffusion of Innovation (Moore, 2014) through investigations of technological advances on a university campus. Each of the three papers highlights the work of faculty and staff who received internal university grant funding aimed at increasing innovation in technology use. The first paper covers a program built to address academic integrity issues through the regular and highly structured use of small group video conferencing as a requirement for all courses. The second paper recounts the process of creating an ePortfolio culture on campus through …

Grounded Roots Applied To Women Presidents In The California Community Colleges System, Penny Shreve

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to identify and describe what exemplary female presidents in California community colleges do to stay grounded and maintain physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual health.

Methodology: This mixed methods study identified and described the perceptions of 16 women presidents in the California Community Colleges system regarding strategies they use to remain grounded in their current positions. Respondents were purposively chosen based on specific criteria. Data were gathered through the Stay Grounded survey from 16 participants and interviews with 5 of the participants. Quantitative data were tabulated to determine mean …

Real-Life Conundrums In The Struggle For Institutional Transformation, Julia Mcquillan, Nestor Hernandez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Intersecting systems of inequality (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before (2000–2007), five during (2008–2013), and seven after (2014–2020) intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths …

Traditional And Nontraditional Leadership In Higher Education: A Qualitative Case Study, Jihna Racquel Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Higher education is experiencing unprecedented challenges in a rapidly changing educational landscape. Leaders are charged with transforming their institutions to demonstrate their formidability by successfully responding to change. It is integral that leaders understand the happenings within the external environment as they guide their institutions. Institutions are adopting business postures and there is an increase in nontraditional leaders in administrative roles. The increase in nontraditional leaders is providing an opportunity for institutions to implement contemporary approaches to leadership. This study identified the predominant changes impacting liberal arts institutions in the Midwest, leadership behaviors contributing to successful change adaptation, and existent …

Social-Emotional Supports For African American Males: An Examination Of Strategies And Practices That Inform Persistence For College And Career Readiness, Kamilah Hampton

Dissertations

African American males are faced with many challenges because of the lack of social-emotional supports and current society. African American males experience trauma as a result of their exposure to violence, mistreatment in most environments, and implicit biases in obtaining an education. Social-emotional programming designed specifically for African American males is proven to positively impact their learning outcomes. This study found that the implementation of programming can have a direct impact on African American male’s ability to achieve at high levels. This must be addressed through continuous professional learning and support to challenge and improve a teacher’s instructional practice with …

An Evaluation Of One School's Reading Program To Support Struggling Readers Through The Use Of Data, Gabrielle Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. …

Leader Development Of The Health Information Management (Him) Professional, Theresa Jones

Dissertations

This study contributes to the body of knowledge in leader development by examining how higher education programs in a female dominated profession assist learners in developing person-related characteristics that support leader development. A ten-part online survey was sent to directors of health information management (HIM) programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM). Results suggest an opportunity for improvement in the curriculum for development of person-related characteristics critical for leadership positions. In the interest of the progression of women these results should be taken into consideration.

Onward And Upward: A Phenomenological Study Of School Leaders As They Prepare To Lead And Manage Change, Amy Elisabeth Love

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of school leaders as they develop their capacity to lead and manage change. The central research question that guided this study is: What are the experiences of school leaders in Virginia as they develop their capacity to lead and manage change? The theoretical framework that guided this study was Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning as it applies to how school leaders incorporate new learning about how to lead and manage change with their own experiences and understandings. The design was a transcendental phenomenological study of school leaders in …

An Organization’S Ability To Improve Outsourcing Outcomes In Information Technology Outsourcing Initiatives By Increasing Organizational Knowledge: A Case Study, John Michael Mello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this study was the literature gap regarding how internal organizational knowledge can be increased effectively within outsourcing projects. The study was a qualitative social constructionist case study composed of senior technology leaders. The purpose this study addressed was to understand the current structure of technical outsourcing contracts and how future contracts could be structured to address the problem of this study. The research incorporated how a reconceptualized absorptive capacity model, sociocognitive theory, and digital leadership mindsets could improve knowledge transfer outcomes between a vendor and client. Research shows that increasing an organization’s knowledge during an outsourcing …

Exploring Educators' Sensemaking Of Statewide Professional Learning For Educational Decision-Making Within An Mtss, Sarah E. Thoman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry explored district-based educators’ sensemaking of an ongoing, statewide professional learning series focused on special education eligibility for students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) using a response-to-intervention (RtI) approach within a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). Specifically, the professional learning series was designed as a community of practice (CoP; Lave & Wenger, 1991) with both face-to-face and virtual activities. The professional learning series was in its second year of implementation and educators in the first two cohorts (Cohort 1 and Cohort 2) of the series were the participants in this study. The theoretical framework of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) …

On Calling In And Becoming: Our Microaggression Story, Ashley N. Gibson, Brooke Blevins

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This paper is a joint account of an experience with a microaggression between a doctoral candidate, Ashley, and her doctoral advisor Dr. Blevins in Baylor’s EdD Learning and Organizational Change program ( EdD LOC). The microaggression took place in a virtual learning setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. This story recounts the moment of the offense, how the harm was repaired, and what each felt and learned from the exchange. Ashley and Dr. Blevins partnered to share their perspectives, and both authors hope this paper will shed light on the topic of microaggressions, by raising awareness, cultivating dialogue on the topics …

Political Styles And Strategies Used By Midsized Elementary School District Superintendents To Work With School Board Members, Christine Sinatra

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to identify the political styles of superintendents and school board members as perceived by superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose to identify and explain the political strategies superintendents use to work with the different political styles of school board members.

Methodology: This study used a mixed methods sequential explanatory research design to collect quantitative data through an electronic survey to identify and describe the political styles of each superintendent and their board members. An in-depth qualitative interview process further explored each superintendents’ lived experience with using different political …

Building Research Capacity Through An Academic Community Of Practice: A Design Case Study, Olga Koz, Anissa Lokey-Vega

Faculty Articles

Purpose – The study’s purpose was to examine the faculty-driven organization’s design and development that supports faculty research needs, track the emergence of the community of practice (CoP) and provide greater insight into continued organizational design iterations.

Design/methodology/approach – In this longitudinal design case study, the authors employed different methods to collect and analyze archival, quantitative, and qualitative data to capture the phenomenon’s complexity.

Findings – The findings challenge the assumption that only formal organizational structures and top-down management approaches stimulate research and build research capacity in universities and propose a new sustainable and agile informal organizational structure and strategies …

The Role And Impact Of The Environment In Shaping The Decisions Of Parents And Alternative Educators In Early Education, Mia Hopkinson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to research parents’ and alternative educators’ perspectives on the role of the educational environment in early education and how this impacts their pedagogical beliefs. The qualitative study explored the following research questions: What do traditional school parents and outdoor alternative parents seek in their child’s early education environment? What shapes parents' decisions on their child’s educational and learning experiences? How do alternative educational leaders and educators understand the role of the alternative environment? How does this impact how they think about education? Interviews were conducted with two traditional parents, two alternative parents and four …