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Implementation Of Initiatives To Reform The Quality Of Education In Rural Ghanaian Junior High Schools, Agatha Inkoom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite Ghana's record investment in education, in 2008, only 40% of students passed the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the end of junior high school and gained admission into senior high school. Urban schools continue to outperform rural schools and the gap between Ghana‟s best and worst performing schools continues to widen. This study investigated the effectiveness of education policy implementation and how this has impacted on education reform in one rural district of Ghana‟s Upper West Region. The research investigated the status of education in Junior High Schools, the impact of Reform 2007 and the factors that influenced …

Analisis Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Kepuasan Kerja Auditor Dan Hubungannya Dengan Kinerja Dan Keinginan Berpindah Kerja Auditor, Fitriany Fitriany, Lindawati Gani, Sylvia Veronica Siregar, Arywarti Marganingsih, Viska Anggraita

Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia

This research aims to examine the factors that influence auditor’s job satisfaction, the effects of job satisfaction on performance and turnover intentions, and how far the performances moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. The unit of analysis from this study is an auditor who works on a public accounting firm. Results showed that in small accounting firms, only consideration leadership style affects auditor’s satisfaction, while in big accounting firms, leadership style and structure leadership style have affected auditor’s satisfaction. Considerate Leadership style has higher effect than structural leadership style. For auditors in the big accounting firms, the …

Elementary School Teachers Perceptions Of Effective Leadership Practices Of Female Principals., Jennifer Anne Mooney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of this qualitative study is to assess teacher perceptions of the leadership practices of female principals. The focus of this study was at the elementary school level. The data were collected from the teachers about their perceptions regarding the female principals with whom they work. This qualitative study was conducted by interviewing 8 teachers from 3 elementary schools in northeast Tennessee. The teachers were interviewed to understand their perceptions of effective leadership practices exhibited by female principals.

During the data analysis, 7 constructs were identified after examining and coding the data for related themes. These 7 constructs were: …

Common Characteristics Of School Administrators Who Are Perceived As Effective In Meeting The Needs Of Students With Disabilities., Carissa Gail Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted in 3 school systems in East Tennessee by interviewing special education directors, school principals, and teachers. The purpose of this study was to identify administrators who are successful in meeting the needs of special education students and determine characteristics they possess that facilitate success. The grounded theory study employed purposeful sampling and the snowball sampling method. It also included the use of a pilot study to refine the interview protocol. This study includes the characteristics of effective principals as perceived by the special education directors, principals, and teachers. Although some variety of conclusions existed within …

An Assessment Of Principals' Technology Leadership: A Statewide Survey, Jeffrey Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to collect data about engagement and involvement around technology issues by principals in Virginia. Virginia public school administrators were surveyed using the Principals Technology Leadership Assessment (PTLA) instrument and results compared to the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) (ISTE, 2002). This study, though limited in scope, provided meaningful data for research. The study reflects that despite 10 years of having NETS-A in place, Virginia public school administrators are barely meeting minimum standards in five out of the six dimensions. The study correctly looked at the old NETS-A standards but resulted in a …

Leadership Rounding: Improving Frontline Nurse Satisfaction, Erin Bashaw

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The amount of time nurse managers and senior leadership spend with frontline or bedside staff impacts their ability to empower, engage and retain staff. Improving nurse satisfaction in relationship to teamwork, perception of senior leadership and attitude about direct management should be a priority of all organizations. Leaders that recognize the power of an intergenerational and interdisciplinary workforce will be influential for dynamic change and visionary development. Advancing overall teamwork as a nursing department, developing a better rapport with senior leadership and improving the relationship between direct management and front-line nurses is in the best interest of patient care.

Local Government Relations In Knox County Executive Collaboration And Its Impact, J. Ryan Sowell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The recent governmental history of Knoxville and Knox County represents an intriguing case study of interest-group-led referendums, corruption, and reform. Recent structural reforms were a direct response to the unethical behavior displayed by some members of the Knox County Commission, but indirectly the changes attempted to address a number of lingering community issues. When placed in the context of the community’s contemporary political history, the reforms' significance becomes apparent. In the past twenty years the greater Knoxville community experienced intergovernmental court battles, a failed unification referendum, a sheriff with unprecedented political clout, and state legislative intervention. Executive leadership has had …

Leadership In “Confucian Asia”: A Three-Country Study Of Justice, Trust, And Transformational Leadership, Rajnandini Pillai, Jeffrey S. Kohles, Michelle C. Bligh, Melissa K. Carsten, Glen Brodowsky

Organization Management Journal

Increasing globalization and the economic uncertainty inherent in the recent financial crisis have strained the already tenuous commitment of many employees, making followers’ perceptions of justice and trust more critical now than ever before in retaining a loyal workforce. A model of leadership, organizational justice, trust, and work outcomes such as commitment and satisfaction, similar to the one tested in the US, was extended to three countries in the so-called “Confucian Asian Cluster” in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study. Data were collected from executives in: Mainland China (N¼131), Singapore (N¼246), and Taiwan (N¼99). Results indicate that …

Leadership Tactics: Enabling Quality Social Exchange And Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Unnikammu Moideenkutty, Stuart M. Schmidt

Organization Management Journal

We examined the relationship between leaders’ positive and negative influence tactics and their subordinates’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed toward them as well as the quality of the social exchange with them in westernized Middle Eastern organizations. In this study, we used data from 202 supervisor–subordinate dyads in the Sultanate of Oman. Our findings supported the hypothesis that positive leader influence tactics would be positively associated with affirmative social exchange (represented by a combination of leader–member exchange (LMX) and trust) and subordinates’ OCB directed toward supervisors. However, while negative leader influence tactics were related negatively to social exchange, they were …

School Leaders' Effect On Technology, Irene Amos Causey

Dissertations

Because of increasing heavy investments in technology during an era of accountability within K-12 public schools, school leaders are expected to be flexible and innovative in order to produce the most effective and efficient use of technology. School leaders in this research study included principals, assistant principals, and technology coordinators from intercoastal elementary, middle, and high public schools in South Mississippi. This causal comparative study examined whether or not a correlation existed among school leaders’ attitude toward technology use and years of technology training, confidence and comfort using technology and school accreditation level, school leaders’ preparation for technology use and …

The Effects Of Changing From A Traditional Mathematics Curriculum To An Integrated Mathematics Curriculum On Student Mathematics Learning In Georgia, Catherine Lynn Mallanda

Dissertations

In 2005, the state of Georgia adopted a new integrated mathematics curriculum, the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), which included a task-based approach for instruction. The purpose of this study was to determine if the new Georgia Performance Standards for mathematics increased students’ mean mathematics Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores or induced changes in the distribution of students’ scores on the PSAT/NMSQT. In addition, it was determined whether the level of course the student took, the type of implementation of the GPS curriculum or the preparation for implementation affected the PSAT/NMSQT scores. The results of the study indicated …

Making Sense When It Matters Most: Leadership In Extremis, Deirdre Dixon

Student Scholarship

Leading during in extremis situations when lives are in peril remains one of the least addressed areas of leadership research. In particular, although lives may depend on it, little is known about how leaders in in extremis situations make sense of their situation and communicate that sense to others. Because most of the literature on sensemaking and sensegiving in in extremis situations is theoretical, we sought empirical evidence of how it proceeds in actual practice. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with thirty U.S. Army leaders at West Point who …

The Role Of Leadership In Facilitating The Performance Of Dispersed Teamwork, Jaime Beth Newell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A mature body of research on leadership has investigated the impact of a variety of leadership behaviors and styles on team performance. This corpus of work is built on an assumption that team leaders can motivate, direct, and monitor teams by way of sustained, personal contact with team members. However, this assumption is being challenged by recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Use of ICTs has altered traditional team-based structures, enabling organizations to employ teams composed of members who are dispersed across geographic boundaries, while severing the direct, personal ties leaders have to team members. Recent reviews of …

Investments In Leadership And Management Succession Planning At A Department Of Defense Organization In The Southeastern United States: A Review Of Strategic Implications, Richard Allen Jeffries

Dissertations

With the impending aging workforce retirement tidal wave, targeted investments are needed in leadership and management skills for new leader growth. Some organizations currently invest in leadership and management skill development. However, the impacts of the investments remain unknown in the organizations. A Department of Defense Organization in the Southeast United States (DODSE) serves as a scientific knowledge generating organization that supports the Department of Defense. At the DODSE, investments in leadership and management skills training began in 2007 with little understanding of how an increased investment in leadership and management training would be utilized within the organization. To create …

A Critical Analysis Of Job-Embedded Professional Learning Within A Distributed Leadership Framework, Ashley Jimerson Campoli

Dissertations

Leadership style and professional learning have been linked to student achievement. Studies have linked leadership styles such as distributed leadership to job-embedded professional learning. However, research is mixed when these two constructs are related to student achievement.

This study evaluated the relationship between distributed leadership and jobembedded professional learning. This study also evaluated relationships among jobembedded professional learning, distributed leadership, and third-grade achievement scores.

The study involved third grade mathematics teachers and school administrators in 46 elementary schools in the state of Georgia. Pearson’s bivariate correlation test was used to explore the relationship between job-embedded professional learning and distributed leadership. …

Leadership Practices That Promote Increased Student Achievement In Secondary Schools, Billy Ray Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of the following study was to determine the degree to which the perceptions of teachers and school level administrators may differ, and the effects of these perceptions on student achievement as measured at the school level by the school’s accountability score reported in the form of the Quality Distribution Index (QDI). This index ranges from 0 to 300 and is used in the state of Mississippi to assign schools to one of seven accountability labels. Schools may be classified as one of the following depending on their QDI score: star, high performing, successful, academic watch, at risk of …

The Relationship Between Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Principal Leadership Behaviors And The Achievement Of Students With Disabilities, Margaret Elizabeth Constantino

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine special education teacher perceptions of principals’ instructional leadership behaviors and students’ academic achievement on the Georgia Comprehensive Criterion-Referenced Tests. The researcher sought to determine if a relationship between specific instructional leadership practices in the areas of setting direction, influencing others, and redesigning the organization as performed by the principal and as perceived by their teachers is related to the achievement of special education subgroups in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. Special educators from elementary schools, identified by the principals, were surveyed to measure the extent to which they perceived their principal exhibited specific …

Let The Beauty We Love Be What We Do: A Case Study In Communication-Centered Leadership, Jo Carter

Communication ETDs

While leadership research is widespread, much of it represents leadership psychology assumptions that leaders are singular individuals, different from the body that they are leading. This dissertation provides a close reading of a different approach to leadership, one arising from the cultural community around the Diana's Grove retreat center. This philosophy holds cultural norms of the Cornerstones of Community (choice, thinking well of the group, thinking well of one's self, stewardship of self, and sacred wound) as overt rules that are the foundation of sustainable community interactions. It discusses how service to the idea of community is the primary motivating …

Top-Level Communication: Behind The Scenes With Famous French Spin Doctor Jacques Seguela, Christophe Haag, Jean-Francois Coget, Tessa Melkonian

Organization Management Journal

This article explores the practice of spin doctoring through the point of view of a practitioner and possible differences between France and America in that practice. We do so by reporting and analyzing an exclusive interview with famous French spin doctor Jacques Seguela, VP of Havas, one of the world’s largest advertising and communications groups. Seguela was involved in 20 political campaigns in France and abroad, advising, among others, French President Francois Mitterrand in 1981, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack in 1999. He still advises a number of politicians and top-level executives worldwide. In the interview, Seguela talks about …

Climbing The Himalayas: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Female Leadership And Glass Ceiling Effects In Non-Profit Organizations, Chin-Chung Chao

Communication Faculty Publications

Purpose – The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of organizational communication and cross-cultural leadership by examining the relationship between cultural values and expected female leadership styles in non-profit organizations in Taiwan and the US. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 307 Rotarians in Taiwan and the US completed a survey meant to reveal their cultural values and expected female leadership styles. In addition, the method of semi-structured interviews was used to raise the participants’ consciousness of and critical reflections upon social practices regarding female leadership.

Findings – The research results are threefold. First, among the three major leadership styles, …

A Natural Fit: Organizational Storytelling In The Library, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Leader Competencies: A Grounded Theory Study, Pamela G. Schwalb

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to develop a theory of the competencies of a sustainability leader, grounded in research. A sustainability leader is generally described as an individual who creates profit for his/her stakeholders, while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those for whom he/she impacts as a result of his/her leadership. Nearly 60 individuals familiar with sustainability were asked to characterize an effective leader of a sustainability initiative or a sustainability organization.

The study revealed there is more than one way to be a sustainability leader—different paths can result in decisions and actions that …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Managerial Success Factors Inventory: Transportation Version (Msfi: Tv), Michael Robert Durr Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and initially validate the Managerial Success Factors Inventory: Transportation Version (MSFI: TV), a scale generated to more accurately assess managerial competence in transportation than general managerial competence and leadership scales. The literature on managerial competencies, leadership, and the state of transportation management is summarized. Reigning models of general managerial competency were used with focus group and cognitive interview data to develop the scale. The conventional three-phase scale development research design was followed (exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and validation phases) by administering the instrument to a sample of 287 managers from …

Mormon Women In Leadership: The Influence Of Their Religious Worldview, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This paper will focus on the impact of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) worldview on women in leadership. The presentation will focus on four areas: (1) why examine the LDS worldview; (2), the LDS worldview concerning mortal progression, (3) the LDS culture, and (4) leadership development for LDS women.

Retrieving A Reputation: A Story Of An Ed Turnaround, Becky Montesino

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Purpose: The Emergency Department of a large suburban, level 2 hospital has been associated with very long waiting times (an average of 18 hours from presentation to disposition), hallway beds as regular treatment areas and a 13% left without being seen rate. Staff morale was low; turnover was high and all ED functions were dysfunctional. A decision was made to turn the ED around from all facets--administrative, physician and staff. The process started with the appointment of a new ED Director and quickly there were expectations of high standards and an atmosphere of nurse empowerment that could lead to change. …

Aligning Voices, Urban Teachers And Leaders, Jess L. Gregory, Damon Lewis, Lori A. Noto, Ethan Margolis

NERA Conference Proceedings 2011

Through a probabilistic functionalism model, this research sought to identify concordance and dissonance in the voices of urban educators. The educators surveyed were optimistic that changes at the building level can positively impact educational outcomes for students; along with the optimism was a sense of purpose and commitment. The synergy of teacher and leader voices in the data suggest that alignment is possible; while the lens model highlights the importance of empowering educators to improve efficacy, to compel choices that will heighten student success and drive change in societal expectations.

Factors Contributing To Successful Transitions Into The Role Of A New Superintendency In Texas: A Mixed Methods Triangulation Convergence Inquiry, Nancy Jones

Administrative Issues Journal

The study used a mixed methods research design, employing the triangulation convergence model, to investigate the possible factors contributing to successful transitions into the role of a new superintendency. Participating superintendents indicated that the training and education they received had adequately prepared them for the role of a new superintendent. Also, participants indicated that school board relations were important during the entry period and that their interaction with the board played an important part in the entry plan. Analysis of qualitative data resulted in three themes, namely, community, learning, and goals and expectations. In accordance with the convergence model, the …

Diversity Week 2011 - The Lgbt Community In The Workplace: Status Of Legal And Organizational Policies, Joseph A. Santiago, Multicultural Center

Multicultural Student Services Center

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community in the Workplace: The Current Status of Legal and Organizational Policies. Atty. Martha Holt, Privacy and Security Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Bryan Schneidmuller, Manager, Human Resources, Raytheon; and Joe Santiago, Coordinator, LGBT Programs and Services. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) face many challenges in having their sexual orientation respected in the workplace. Although President Bill Clinton, in 1998, issued Executive Order 13087, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation for most civilian workers in the federal legislation, protecting LGBT workers has not been successfully enacted by the U.S. Congress. The …

Developing A Leadership Consortium, Jan Lloyd, Sherry L. Early Phd

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

Although the term “leadership” did not appear until approximately the 1850s, leadership can be viewed as an ancient art (Bass, 1990). However, it was not until 1976 that the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Commission IV developed a leadership task force to investigate leadership programs in higher education and clearly defined the differences between leadership development, leadership training, and leadership education (Roberts & Ullom, 1990). The field of leadership progressed over the years by examining various components such as trait theory, behavioral theories, situational theories, and, most recently, leadership identity development theories. Since then, information regarding definitions of leadership, descriptions …

2011 Fall Farquhar Forum, Farquhar College Of Arts And Sciences

The Farquhar Forum College Magazine

No abstract provided.