Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of The Trauma Informed System Change Instrument: Evaluation Of Factorial Validity And Implications For Use, Margaret M. Richardson

Dissertations

This paper outlines the process of developing and evaluating an instrument measuring the extent to which a complex community system has changed as a result of a community initiative, and for purposes of this research, doing this within the content area of developing local trauma informed child welfare systems in specific communities in Michigan. The instrument was designed for the Southwest Michigan Children's Trauma Assessment Center's (CTAC) SAMHSA-funded initiative to bring a trauma informed perspective to professionals working with children in child welfare. Because there is not a standard set to define what constitutes trauma informed treatment of children in …

Paths To Upper Level Positions In Public Relations, Patrick J. Bishop

Dissertations

Preparation for a career in the field of public relations (PR) is based on a set of unique core competencies typically found in liberal arts. Though PR professionals rarely gain business degrees, they acquire knowledge, skills, perspectives, and strategies wellsuited to executive-level positions in business. Additionally, managerial positions in PR offer greater potential for influence than task-oriented roles with limited strategic opportunity.

This study examines the advancement of PR practitioners into upper-level management positions in business. The purpose of this research is to identify factors and behaviors that contribute to, or hinder, PR professional’s attainment of top-management positions. This study …

School Principals: Illuminating The Behaviors And Practices Of Effective School Principals In Challenging Public School Contexts, Sophia Deborah Marsh Masewicz

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Change Capacity As A Determinant Of Sustainable Roi Implementation In Human Resource Development Practice, Hollis Jo Ann Burkett

Dissertations

The demand for accountability through measurement continues to heighten application and use of the ROI (return-on-investment) Methodology™ as an essential part of human resource development (HRD) and program evaluation in both private and public sector organizations. Although progress has been made towards identifying best practices in ROI process implementation, sustainability of the process is an aspect of implementation that is often overlooked and under-estimated.

This research identifies characteristics of sustainable ROI process implementation in HRD practice and offers a framework for ROI process maturity, along with practical guidelines to enhance evaluation process and practice maturity. The target population was drawn …

Community College Succession Planning: Preparing The Next Generation Of Women For Leadership Roles, Angela Kaysen Luzbetak

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore strategies to enable community colleges to develop and cultivate women for leadership roles through succession planning. According to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the pace of administrative and other key staff retirements exceeds the pace at which these positions are being re-staffed (Shults, 2001). One might question why the purposeful development of future community college leaders is critical. Community colleges currently face a crucial leadership crisis in the United States. Pending retirements and the lack of succession planning to fill upcoming vacancies is reaching a critical turning point. The Chronicle …

Deans Of Career And Technical Education: Charting The Course To Senior Administration, Shelley Zarovsky Levin

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the essential leadership practices, abilities, and experiences of Deans of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and to consider how these Deans of CTE fit into the succession process of the community college. A qualitative case study was conducted with three dyads of career Deans and their supervising senior administrators, using the comparative case method to analyze the data collected from the participants.

The data were collected from in-person participant interviews on their respective campuses. One Dean of CTE and the supervising senior administrator were at a rural college; one dyad was at …

Strategic Information Systems Alignment: A Longitudinal Investigation, Chowa Kachaka Charles

Dissertations

The alignment between business and information systems’ strategies (strategic IS alignment) has occupied researchers’ and practitioners’ interest over the past two decades. This is due to the belief that strategic IS alignment positively affects business performance. However, despite the concerted effort in seeking to understand the alignment phenomenon, executives in organizations continue to complain of the difficulty in achieving and sustaining alignment. This may be due to a lack of a comprehensive model of alignment that takes into account its dynamic nature and the factors that affect it over time. Therefore, this study seeks to add to our accumulated knowledge …

A Summer Literacy Intervention For Struggling Readers At The Middle School Level Using Strategies In Comprehension, Fluency, Vocabulary, And Positive School Climate To Improve Reading Comprehension: An Evaluation Study, Jeffrey Joseph Haug

Dissertations

A middle school created an intervention called the Summer Literacy Program to increase reading comprehension levels. The middle school believed that by exposing students to fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies in a positive school culture, reading comprehension levels would improve. The program was created due to a high number of students reading below grade level. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the four-week Summer Literacy Program designed to provide extra interventions for struggling readers. The study is significant because it demonstrated that a four-week summer program can improve reading comprehension levels. The statistical analysis for …

Identifying Practices That Facilitate Effective Implementation And Sustainability Of Research-Based Professional Development Strategies, Emily Victoria Bryan Kibodeaux

Dissertations

This study was designed to determine whether significant differences existed in the level of implementation of a professional development strategy, the attitude of teachers toward this professional development strategy, and the knowledge of teachers regarding this professional development strategy. After teachers were trained on the professional development strategy, three treatments were utilized in the project: administrative observations and feedback, participation in a professional learning community (PLC), or training follow-up. Twenty-four teachers from four different schools in a school district in South Mississippi participated in the project over an 8 week time period. This quasi-experimental study collected pre- and post-treatment data …

Revitalization, Reinvigoration And Motivation Of Survivors In Changed, Restructured And Downsized Organizations: A Study Of Leadership Challenges In Local Government, Ronald L. Baza Edd

Dissertations

Over the past two-plus decades, corporate mergers, government consolidations, workforce downsizings and plant closures have increased dramatically; as a consequence, millions of workers around the nation have lost their jobs. Not surprisingly, researchers have begun to focus considerable attention on downsizing, restructuring and revitalization efforts as a means for understanding organizations undergoing major transformation. Although the studies that have been conducted have dealt with a wide range of issues associated with organizational downsizing and restructuring, there is an absence of research examining mid and upper level managers' perceptions of the efficacy of their efforts to revitalize their downsized organizations and, …

Strategic Planning: Contextual Factors That Facilitated And/Or Challenged The Implementation Of Strategic Planning In Two Nonprofit Organizations, Devadhasan Masilamony Phd

Dissertations

As the nonprofit sector continues to grow in size and importance in American society, successful organizations proactively initiate strategic planning so they can be more responsive to changing circumstances, underlying trends, and shifting demands. At times, however, organizations develop elaborate plans that are never implemented. Unfortunately, there is less systematic research about strategic planning in the nonprofit sector than in the for-profit sector and even less research documenting whether or not the plans that get developed in nonprofit organizations actually get implemented. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how strategic planning improves the effectiveness of two nonprofit …

The Role Of Higher Education In Advancing Nurse Practitioners: A Look At The Institutional Decision Calculus Of A Health Sciences University, Debra Jo Johnson Phd

Dissertations

In 2004, professional nursing joined the ranks of other health professions by altering accreditation standards for nurse practitioners, which now mandate that their terminal degree advance beyond the master's degree currently required for the doctor of nursing practice (DNP). This research examines the decision-making process involved in implementing a web-based DNP program in 2008 at a college of graduate nursing embedded in a health sciences university. Findings from two case studies, one of faculty and one of administrators, provide a narrative description of the institution, the decision process, and then describe how institutional and external factors influenced the process. Institutional …

Teacher Perception Of The Alignment Of Enhancing Missouri’S Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (Emints) With The National Staff Development Council (Nsdc) Standards, Diana L. Stanfill

Dissertations

This study used the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) standards for staff development as a framework for measuring specific aspects of the enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS) educational technology professional development program, as perceived by eMINTS teachers. The Technology Integration Cycle supported the research design. The three-part cycle assumed a relationship existed between standards-based professional development, technology-rich classrooms, and students’ acquisition of technology skills. This study’s hypothesis, research questions, and sub-questions were designed to examine the underlying premise of standards-based, high-quality professional development. These questions sought to examine eMINTS teacher perceptions as they related to the degree in …

Evaluation Of 6 + 1 Trait Writing And The Professional Development Training Used To Implement The Program, Bruce E. Werkmeister

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing program on student achievement and to explore the teacher perceived effectiveness of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing program on student achievement. This study concentrated on student achievement, as determined by the Missouri Assessment Program test, and the teachers’ perception of the impact 6 + 1 Trait Writing had on the curriculum. The study also focused on the perceived effectiveness of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing professional development opportunities provided to teachers as determined by surveys and roundtable discussions. The 2007, …

An Historical Analysis Of The Chicago Public Schools Policy On The Requirements For The Selection Of Principals, 1983-2008, Siobhan Marie Cafferty

Dissertations

This historical analysis provided an opportunity to appreciate Chicago's course in

the national school reform landscape. This study helped to understand the effects school

reform efforts had on school leadership policy in Chicago. It verified a roster of

superintendents in Chicago during 1983-2008, established a chronology of school reform

events and assembled an inventory of reform policies, theories and directives that

potentially may create the capacity to instruct and inform future initiatives, perspective

and debate on the issue of principal preparation at the local level. The analysis of change

in local policy echoed and identified national educational trends in this …

Evaluation Of The Formal And Informal Curricula Of The North American Division Evangelism Institute, Calvin Novaraj Joshua

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to conduct a formal program evaluation of the North American Division Evangelism Institute (NADEI). The goal of NADEI is to equip pastors and laity for ministry. It developed over 30 years, and has presented formal and informal educational programs during that time. This helped it emerge as an indispensable unit in the North American Division (NAD), Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (SDATS), and Andrews University (AU). However, the programs of NADEI had not been evaluated.

Method. This study followed an Evaluative Case Study Design to evaluate the formal and informal programs of NADEI. Formal …

Identifying Factors That Enhance Or Hinder The Utilization Of Strengths By Healthcare Managers, Gene C. Milton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of strengths-use at Hackettstown Regional Medical Center (HRMC), and common factors and conditions that enhanced and hindered strengths-utilization among middle managers at HRMC, a 111-bed acute care facility in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The study identified factors and conditions that can be expanded and improved upon to promote strengths-use at HRMC in the future. The population for this explorative study was selected from approximately 200 full-time executives, managers, and staff at HRMC who took the StrengthsFinder Profile from January 2007 through June 2009. The vehicle used for data collection was 5 focus …

Correlation Between The Leadership Practices Of Lead Ministers And The Workplace Spirituality Of Their Churches As Reported By Church Members, Richard A. Devost

Dissertations

Purpose. People seek for meaning in their work and lives. Researchers have recently conceptualized the experience of meaning at work under the construct workplace spirituality, which describes people's experience of both their work and their workplaces from a spiritual perspective. Recent research in organizations has found a relationship between the spirituality of the leaders and the workplace spirituality of the work units.

Christians often expect their churches to be spiritual workplaces where work will bring a sense of deep spiritual well-being and meaning. Pastors are spiritual leaders in their congregations. However, it is unclear if the practices associated with positive …

Building Level Principals As Change Agents In A Response To Intervention Reform Initiative, Kristen Elizabeth Ninni

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the principal in a systems change effort. Utilizing Response to Intervention (RtI) as a means of studying principals as change agents, this researcher examined the principals' ability to implement and sustain a reform effort such as RtI as perceived by the principal, problem solving team, and teachers. This study examined how the perceptions influenced the change process and the extent to which the principal demonstrated characteristics of change such as knowledge of change, self-efficacy or their belief in their ability to make changes, and skills of change as supported …

The Transformational Learning Associated With Training For And Completing A Marathon, Timothy John Gillum

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to determine if transformational learning is an outcome of the experiences of training for and completing a marathon. Transformational learning has gained visibility and greater acceptance in the learning community in recent years due in large part to the efforts of Jack Mezirow and associates. This visibility and acceptance has catalyzed research studies to better understand the theory and its application, but none have linked the use of endurance racing to transformational learning. The design of this study was a phenomenological case study. The research included four participants who had previously completed marathons, …

Population Level Conditions As Signals Of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: A Cognitve Synthesis Of The Entrepreneurial Traits And Population Rates Perspectives, Matthew S. Wood

Dissertations

The ecology based environmental perspective implicitly suggests that population level founding rates, dissolution rates, and density levels influence the likelihood that entrepreneurs will launch new ventures within a given population domain. The central idea is that population rates and densities may act as signals to entrepreneurs regarding the viability of a new venture within a given population. Interestingly, whether or not population level factors actually influence the new venture creation process remains an open question. As such, the central purpose of this research is to utilize a cognitive approach to better understand how population level conditions and the individual differences …

A Pilot Study Of Organizational Performance, Performance Barriers And Faculty Engagement In The Nursing Education Unit, Yolanda Chapman Turner

Dissertations

This pilot study was driven by the problem of market disequilibrium and the subsequent overarching desire to identify and describe principles and processes taken by nursing education units to optimize market equilibrium for nursing service in response to cyclical market demands. Given the complexities of market responsiveness in conjunction with changes in healthcare delivery, health economics, population demographics, higher education and other contextual factors, it is essential for nursing education as a whole to be in a position to respond to demand. The purpose of this study was to investigate organizational performance, performance barriers and faculty engagement in the nursing …

The Impact Of A Simulation Based Leader Development Training Program On Transformational And Transactional Leadership Behavior, Robin Louise Mccoy Phd

Dissertations

Organizations devote considerable resources developing employees' capacity for leadership because they believe that "leaders" are essential in the operations of their organizations. Unfortunately, organizations do not have the time or resources to send their employees off for lengthy leader development training programs. This has contributed to the growing popularity of short-term training programs which are relatively inexpensive to conduct. However, researchers are increasingly requesting more empirical studies that examine the impact of these programs, yet these requests have remained largely disregarded. Additionally, there is a lack for developing methodologies to determine whether or not involvement in a short-term program facilitates …

Leading Cultural Change In A School District Through A Budget Building Collaboration, Ricky Warren Radford

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess, plan, and implement a budget building process through collaboration with the stakeholders of a targeted school district. The research question of this study was, “Will allowing the stakeholders more input, autonomy, and collaboration during a budget building process build a team environment and ultimately ownership in managing their perspective budgets?” The culture and attitudes of stakeholders were pessimistic towards the senior administration. There seemed to be a feeling of mistrust concerning the budget and allocations. Action research methodology was conducted, while applying Andragogical principles with the members of the district. This process …

Restoring Confidence: A Qualitative Study Of The Experience Of Interim Commanding Officers In U.S. Navy Operational Units, Shoshana S. Chatfield Edd

Dissertations

Commanding officers in the United States Navy are entrusted by law with absolute authority, responsibility, and accountability. Despite a rigorous selection process, some commanding officers are relieved of command every year. In many cases, these commanding officers are replaced by interim commanding officers, leaders selected to fill the job for short periods of time. There is a gap in leadership literature about the phenomenon of interim command leadership in the Navy. This study investigated interim commanding officers' experiences of taking command following the deliberate removal of the unit's previous commanding officer. A review of current literature on the subjects of …

African American Student Retention: A Study Of The Effects Of An Intrusive Advising Intervention At A Career College, Deanna R. Burt

Dissertations

This casestudy integrates mixed methodologies to examine the retention effects of an "intrusive advising" intervention using two groups of at-risk, first-time, first-year, African American students enrolled in a predominantly-White, career ("proprietary") college. By design, the study uses data from mixed sources to respond to the overarching research question, "How does intrusive advising influence the retention of African American students who are at risk of attrition?"

Quantitative data was collected and analyzed using a quasi-experimental research design methodology. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed from focus groups, personal interviews, and field notes as a means to provide deeper understanding of the …

Enterprise Information Technology Organizational Flexibility : Managing Uncertainty And Change, Karen Prast Patten

Dissertations

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) lead enterprise information technology organizations (EITOs) in today's dynamic competitive business environment. CIOs deal with external and internal environmental changes, changing internal customer needs, and rapidly changing technology. New models for the organization include flexibility and suggest that CIOs should create and manage an enterprise IT organization that is more flexible in order to manage change and prepare for uncertainty, but they do not define what is meant by flexibility.

The first objective of this exploratory and ethnographic research study was to understand how uncertainty and unexpected change are currently managed by CIOs. The second was …

Understanding The Change Styles Of Teachers To Improve Student Achievement, Arlene May Green Bigby

Dissertations

The topic of this dissertation is the understanding of teacher change styles to improve student achievement. Teachers from public schools in a state located in the northern plains were surveyed regarding their Change Styles (preferred approaches to change) and flexibility scores. The results were statistically analyzed to determine if there were differences in change styles and flexibility scores when compared for level of certification, gender, length of teaching career, subject area taught, and size of school in which the educator was working. The results were also analyzed for any differences in the Change Styles and flexibility scores between teachers working …

The Transition To High School: Freshmen Transition Practices, Teresa J. Mckenzie

Dissertations

The transition to high school is a pivotal time for freshmen. Recognition of the importance of the ninth grade year and establishing freshmen transition programs are critical in addressing the nation’s declining graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices, programs, or interventions used in Missouri to assist freshmen in making a successful transition to high school. For this research, all high school principals across the state were given the opportunity to contribute to the study. There were 183 schools, both public and nonpublic, that responded to the survey. From the data, 60.1% of Missouri high …

A Postmodern Story Of Meaning Making In A Residence Life Organization: A Transformational Change Process, Pamela Graglia

Dissertations

Current research on change and transformation in higher education frequently relies on models which “clean up” the messy process of creating change into easily consumed lists of strategies. However these reductive strategies may be incomplete and alternatives which provide a more complex picture of the process of change have been suggested. Additionally, while sensemaking has been identified as critical to transformation, little research exists on meaning making during change processes in higher education settings.

Using social constructivist epistemology and a postmodern theoretical framework, the purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to explore how individuals in a higher education organization make …