Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Community College Registrars In Relation To Student Information Systems Implementation, Sandra Lepley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of implementing Web-enabled technology systems on the functional role of the community college registrar. The focus on systems implementation included in-house, outsourced, consortia, or combination of implementation strategies. A quantitative and qualitative approach included several interviews and a mailed survey questionnaire. The researcher developed the instrument from human resources position description forms, an adapted administrative Q-sort technique, and a role conflict and ambiguity perception questionnaire. The study targeted the members of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The research findings indicated that some aspects of perceived role, role conflict (harmony), and ambiguity …

Faculty Development In Member Institutions Of The Florida Faculty Development Consortium: Strategic Plans, Evaluation Models, Organization, And Funding, Laura Ross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine strategic plans and evaluation models in light of organizational structures and funding to determine if member institutions in the Florida Faculty Development Consortium were investing in faculty development based on strategic and measurable criteria. Data were gathered through a mixed method survey mailed electronically to the individuals responsible for faculty development at 31 member institutions of the Florida Faculty Development Consortium. Even though the Consortium was comprised of public and private four-year institutions and public two-year institutions, faculty development programs in these institutions had similarities. Most programs had strategic plans, centralized faculty …

Leadership Orientations Of Senior Administrators At American Metropolitan Universities, Diane Trees

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Universities in the United States continue to evolve far beyond traditional concepts. While problems of an academic, economic, governmental, and educational nature beset any university, the metropolitan institution must grapple with these issues not as an individual entity but as a partner in a group of many players. Educational leadership for the American metropolitan university necessitates distinct and unique skills. This study sought to explore leadership behaviors of senior administrators at American metropolitan universities as conceptualized by Bolman and Deal's Four-Frame Model of Leadership (1991). Using Bolman and Deal's (1990) Leadership Orientations Survey (Self) instrument with an additional Respondent Information …

Educational Leadership, Aaron J. Stecker

Graduate Research Papers

A leader is someone who can find a way to make it happen. In education, a leader is someone who can motivate a learning community to work together to achieve greatness. A quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes on my folder states, "Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we are moving; We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but sail we must" (Holmes et al, 1858). Educational leadership is a calling that will see its fair share of both good and bad days. Quality educational leaders will be someone who can steer the …

A Study Of The Status Of The Strategic Planning Process As Used By Public School Districts In Six Suburban New York City Counties, Bartholomew Linehan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Over the past two decades, strategic planning has emerged as a management tool to assist administrators in leading public school districts forward. If strategic planning is an important administrative tool in moving a school district toward its vision, how and in what form is it being utilized in suburban New York City school districts? The purpose of this study was to understand the utilization of strategic planning in suburban New York City school districts and to understand the constraints, training and technical needs regarding strategic planning. This study also discusses the relationship existing between strategic planning and the key district …

Portrait Of An Urban Elementary School: Place-Based Education, School Culture, And Leadership, Michael Thomas Duffin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the interaction between place-based education, school culture, and leadership at one elementary school in an inner city section of Boston, MA. The centerpiece is a stand alone research portrait that tells a story about how an external program, a willing and ready school community, and a skillful school leader reinforced each other to achieve a shared vision under challenging conditions. From an under-subscribed school in chaos and lacking focus, the subject school transformed into a vibrant, highly sought school with a pervasive, environmentally-oriented culture and curriculum. Portraiture methods were adapted to a utilization-focused evaluation purpose, drawing on …

Expectations, Challenges, And Frustrations: Faculty And Administrator Perceptions Of Quality And Assessment, Fred A. Koslowski Iii

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The purpose of this study was not to evaluate the means or methods by which outcomes assessment and quality are being enacted in higher education, or take sides in the raging state and federal policy debate on institutional accountability and efficiency, but rather to describe the reactions, feelings, and perceptions of one particular institutions internal stakeholders to the increasingly shrill rhetoric on such topics. The present research sought to provide a voice for current faculty and administrators who will be responsible for implementing these renewed calls for assessing educational quality: specifically, their perceptions of the value, challenges, opportunities, and frustrations …

Ricardo Semler: Creating Organizational Change, Christopher York, Peter A. Maresco

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

A review of "Creating Organizational Change" by Ricardo Semler.

Table Of Contents - Summer 2005

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Academic Leadership Journal Summer 2005 table of contents.

Role Expectations Of The District Superintendent: Implications For Deregulating Preparation And Licensing, Theodore J. Kowalski, Lars G. Björk

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

At this juncture when policymakers are being asked to choose between deregulation and reform, problems affecting the superintendency need to be framed appropriately and policy decisions need to be based on evidence and not raw politics or emotion. Deregulating a profession clearly is a serious matter that is prudent either when the need for the state to protect the public from practitioners is no longer valid or when the underlying knowledge has been found to be fraudulent or irrelevant (Kowalski, 2004). This paper identifies role expectations and position requirements that have evolved for school district superintendents over the past 100 …

Identifying Social, Cultural, And Pedagogical Factors That Contribute To Minority Students' Low Academic Achievement, Deborah C. Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify, evaluate, and develop strategies to eliminate barriers in the educational setting that negatively impact minority students' motivation to achieve academic success. Major aspects of the methodology plan included a self-guided survey with two open-ended questions. The sample size was approximately 106 elementary school students from Oak Valley Elementary School in Deptford, New Jersey. The data analysis method assessed students' and parents' beliefs as to the cause of poor academic motivation and performance in relation to the academic achievement gap. The survey responses revealed several ideas and suggestions that may be instrumental in …

Mentoring Educational Leaders - A Study To Define The Skills Of A Mentor, Janet Boling Larch

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The efficacy of mentoring for educational leaders is of growing concern in the field of principal preparation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to define and describe the skills of an educational mentor. The participants in this study were five mentors and five proteges who had completed the Indiana mentor/protege pilot project, "Mentoring and CoachingDeveloping Educational Leaders." This pilot was launched in October, 2002 and was developed by The Indiana Professional Standards Board in conjunction with the Indiana University Consortium and The National Association of Secondary School Principals. Subjects were tape recorded by the researcher in face-to-face interviews. Coding …

Public School Uniforms: Will School Uniforms Fit The Growing Needs Of A Regional High School?, Jeanette Seeman

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the need for a uniform dress policy at Clearview Regional High School. The subjects included 285 students along with 3 high school administrators and 65 teaching faculty and staff. The students completed a 7-item survey consisting of five structured multiple-choice questions, and two unstructured open-ended response questions. The survey also provided the opportunity for the students to express additional comments. The survey measured the students' grade level while measuring the students' opinions regarding a uniform dress policy at Clearview Regional High School. The administration and faculty completed a 7-item survey consisting of five structured multiple-choice questions, and …

A New Beginning Teacher Induction Program, Thomas P. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a new and effective beginning teacher support network at Paulsboro High School using an action research approach. During the study, a total of ten teachers participated ranging from one to two in years of experience in teaching at Paulsboro High School. The primary data collection techniques used in the study was surveys and one-on-one interviews with all of the teachers. The survey instrument was given to all of the teachers and one-on-one interviews were conducted before school, after school, or during common planning periods. The major finding of the project …

The Preparation Of Special Needs Students For Transition From High School To A Post-Secondary College Setting, Christine M. Saputo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to review the curricula, programs, and supports offered at Washington Township High School for the purpose of determining if the necessary transition skills are being taught to prepare special needs students for a successful transition to college. The participants included teachers, guidance counselors, principals, child study team members, a "504" Officer, and a Supervisor of special education.

Data was collected through a survey that was developed by the intern and approved by the IRB. The intern was also able to gather information through discussions held with the staff at WTHS and a "504" Officer. …

Koinonia, Jennifer Lindholm, Todd C. Ream, Dana Alexander, Skip Trudeau

Koinonia

Conference Spotlight
Spirituality, Religion, and the Undergraduate College Student, Jennifer Lindholm

ACSD 2005 Artist Spotlight: Shaun Groves

Ideas for Our Work
Thinking Theologically: The Moral of a Good Story, Todd C. Ream

Changing Our Name and Identity: Rebranding or Renewal, Dana Alexander

Features
The President's Corner

Editor's Disk

Transformational Classroom Leadership : Developing The Teacher Leadership Notion, James S. Pounder

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

The literature on teacher-leadership suggests that the notion has developed over time and some have argued that this development comprises three stages or ‘waves’ that progressively de-link the idea from the formal organizational hierarchy. The third wave emphasizes that teacher-leadership is a process rather than a positional concept and notes that teacher-leaders tend to possess many of the characteristics of transformational leaders. The literature also suggests that third wave teacher-leaders are excellent classroom instructors. This paper described a Hong Kong study that explored the relationship between the exercise of transformational leadership in the university classroom and student perception of the …

Social Work Values And Hospital Culture: An Examination From A Competing Values Framework, Amanda Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess the perceptions of social workers employed in Florida hospitals in relation to the core values of their profession and the alignment of those values within the culture of their current work setting. The conceptual framework for the study was from organizational behavior theory specific to culture, values, and trust. The Competing Values Framework (Cameron & Quinn, 1999) provided a method to distinguish co-existing competing values within an organization. The research findings indicated that 65% of the professional social workers who participated in the study perceived that the core values of their profession …

An Investigation Of Implementations Of Smaller Learning Communities In Florida High Schools, Todd James Bondurant Sparger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The issue of high school reform has received national attention during the first part of the 21st century. One idea brought forth in this restructuring effort has been the desire to create high schools with smaller student populations. However, in an era of tight budgets, where resources are not always available to build more schools, educators have explored the possibility of dividing existing large high schools into smaller units. This restructuring approach has many titles, but is frequently referred to as a Smaller Learning Community (SLC). Since 2000, the federal government has pledged $245 million to schools willing to create …

Email Utilization By University Employees And Its Relationship To Job Satisfaction, Anthony Recascino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of technology, such as electronic mail and the Internet, is becoming the norm in many workplaces. This is especially true in academic workplaces. The present study examined several issues related to electronic mail use and job satisfaction for employees within a higher education workplace. Results of the study found that administrative level employees both sent and received more email than non-administrative level staff. Job satisfaction was not found to be related to the amount of email sent or received. No difference in job satisfaction was found between employees at the main campus versus regional locations, nor was there …

Relationship Between Supervisor Locus Of Control And Employee Satisfaction In A Residential Care Facility, Patricia Chene Nowotniak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to identify factors that may contribute to employee satisfaction. Review of the literature revealed potential factors influencing employee satisfaction, such as locus of control, difficulty of the work itself, and working conditions. These literature findings guided this research, to establish if a relationship existed between employee satisfaction of caregivers employed in a developmental institution and locus of control. Supervisors and their employees were given a locus of control scale; employees were additionally given a job satisfaction survey. The relationship between the supervisors' locus of control and employee satisfaction was evaluated as well as the …

The Relationship Between School Culture And Student Achievement In Middle Schools, Karen Vislocky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was developed to produce data about the cultures of selected Florida middle schools. The research was intended to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on collaboration, collegiality, and self-determination/efficacy as related to student achievement. The focus for this study was provided through three research questions: (a) to determine to what extent middle schools scoring in the top half and the bottom half on the modified version of Wagner and Masden-Copas' School Culture Triage Survey differed on various demographic elements; (b) to determine what differences, if any, existed between the cultures of the selected Florida middle schools and …

A Survey Of School Principals And Teachers Regarding Teachers' Professional Development Participation, Richard Inge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: First, to gather perspectives of randomly selected administrators and teachers in two central Florida school districts concerning the participation of teachers in professional development (PD), and secondly, to determine if there was a significant differences in the amount of participation of teachers from different academic departments in these activities. Results indicated that a teacher's assignment to a particular academic department has a relationship to the amount of PD involvement. Results also suggested that building principals' perceptions concerning teacher support of and participation in these activities were moderately accurate. Data were collected using two …

Implementation Of The Student Services Center: A Case Study Of The University Of Northern Iowa, Jana Lynne Chmelar

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Every student who attends a college or university will use at least one of the following offices in student service before they graduate: academic advising, admissions, the business office, career services, financial aid, or the office of the registrar. The literature has shown that a number of colleges or universities found through assessment that their services were organized in a way that was cumbersome for the students. A new approach to student services, referred to as an integrated student service center (ISSC), or a "one-stop" shop, is designed to allow students to access answers, solutions, and knowledge from a central …

Benchmarking Succession Planning & Executive Development In Higher Education, Jonathon Clunies

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Higher education has historically been slow to adopt many corporate management processes. Succession planning is an especially difficult concept to apply in academia due to dramatic cultural differences between the boardroom and the campus. College and universities often have complex and sometimes bureaucratic procedures for hiring compared with many business corporations (Rosse & Levin, 2003). In a tightening economic and growing competitive climate, innovative colleges and universities are re-examining whether succession planning, coupled with executive development, could be adapted for more cost effective transitions of power and authority.

Engaged, But Not Heroic, Academic Leadership, John B. Bennett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Over the years, I have explored leadership challenges faced by department chairpersons and school deans. In this essay I reflect on some findings, noting that they also apply to other educational leaders such as faculty senate members and student affairs officers. Most mid-level leaders struggle with the tradition of defining leadership in terms of individualistic values and mythologies of seeing the leader in terms of the individualistic, heroic cowboy of the Western film and novel. Then I examine the position of institutional president. Here too some leaders aim to be heroic figures, like the fabled cowboy. Almost inevitably, their behaviors …

A Study Of The Renaissance Program In A High School, Christopher J. Nowak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and validity of the Renaissance Program in a high school. The study involved the gathering of statistical data and conducting objective interviews. The resulting information provides the administration and the reader with an understanding of the importance of student motivational programs.

The focus of the study was to evaluate the change in performance of specific student indicators: attendance rates, dropout rates, discipline incidences, and motivation connected with grade retention rate, subject failure, and national honor society membership. The study obtained information on these indicators through statistical data from administration pertaining …

The Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of New Writing And Problem-Solving Classes And Their Impact On Fourth Grade New Jersey Assessment Of Skills And Knowledge Test Scores, Susan M. Hubbard

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not two new programs created for Bellmawr Park School would be effective in raising scores in the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) test for fourth grade students. This research provided a pre and posttest for 62 fourth grade students in the 2003-04 academic school year. The tests included a brief open-ended Language Arts writing picture prompt and a Math problem-solving open-ended question. Both tests were scored using rubrics created by the New Jersey Department of Education, and the results were compared based on means, medians and …

Nurturing The Development Of Teacher Change Agents Within A Teacher Education Program, Barbara Ruben

Dissertations and Theses

The American education system has two daunting challenges. First, citizens need to be able to function in an interdependent world. Second, public schools' demographics have changed dramatically. Schools are failing to reach many students, particularly children of color and poverty. Schools must change to meet the needs of 21^st century students. Without teachers' openness to change, effective educational reform win fail. Schools of education must prepare the next generation of teachers to be change agents who will implement school reform to meet the significantly different requirements of 21^st century students.

This study examined how one graduate teacher education …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Method Used To Teach Critical Thinking Skills, Kristen L. May

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teaching critical thinking skills through the infusion method as used by the Cinnaminson School District's Science Department. With the changing demands of society there comes a need for change in the preparation of students for the future that will be theirs. The sample population for this study was the one hundred and seven of the two hundred and forty freshman enrolled in Cinnaminson High School in the 2003-2004 school year who were taking college prep level earth science. Students were evaluated based on their performance on six activities designed …