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Trust In Leadership To Develop Collaborative School Culture And Effective Implementation Of Professional Learning Communities, Kara Mieszanek

Dissertations

DISSERTATION: TRUST IN LEADERSHIP TO DEVELOP COLLABORATIVE SCHOOL CULTURE AND EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES

Kara N. Mieszanek National Louis University

ABSTRACT

In education, we are constantly working toward increasing student achievement. Often, we pursue technical elements such as implementing programs, data analysis, utilizing assessment tools, embedding evaluation systems, etc. However, there is another critical element that may all too often get overlooked—the culture. The purpose of this study was to strip away all the layers required to achieve systemic change by observing what is at the core of it all: trust. Through qualitative and quantitative research, I took …

A Case Study Of The Experiences Of Black Female Faculty At Research-Intensive Schools Of Social Work, Lashawnda N. Fields

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Representation has improved over the past 40 years among Black female faculty members in social work schools; however, low academic rank and distribution of this demographic across institutions is one way in which predominately White institutions (PWI) of higher education perpetuate racial inequalities. Higher education, in general, continues to result in negative experiences and poor outcomes for Black female faculty members such as time to tenure, low academic rank, and feelings of isolation. However, little is known about the experiences of this demographic in schools of social work, particularly those identified as research-intensive (R-1) Carnegie-designated institutions of higher education. This …

Growing A Gritty Culture: A Grounded Theory Study, Andrea Lee Meyer

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This study explores building level administrators’ thoughts on the role grit plays in a school’s culture and how building level administrators can foster a culture of grit. Duckworth’s (2016) text Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance was used as a basis for this study. This is a qualitative study using the grounded theory research method. This inquiry-based research method afforded the researcher the immediate opportunity to explore relationships among the data collected from the participant interviews. The findings are grounded in their responses. Eight building level administrators participated in this grounded theory study. The study found that grit plays …