Education Commons^™

What Professional And Personal Strategies Do Successful Principals Possess To Cultivate A School Culture That Promotes Academic Success In A Blue Ribbon School, Carlos Lateetha Mckinney

Dissertations

Principals who are presiding over schools that have received a blue ribbon certification have evidently used specific professional and personal strategies, as well as behaviors, to enhance the academic and social culture of their schools. The current study examined Mississippi Gulf Coast Schools that received blue ribbon status in the last six years. A survey of administrators, teachers, and staff members was conducted.

The research confirmed that a correlation exists between personal and professional behaviors of the principals who have presided over Blue Ribbon Certified Schools and teacher morale. These principal behaviors are deemed instrumental in the building of a …

An Examination Of Mature Interpersonal Relationships Among International And American College Students, Bona Aidoo

Dissertations

Educating students to relate harmoniously with people from different backgrounds has become an important agenda for student affairs professional because of the increasingly diverse nature of the American society. The purpose of this study was to assess how American and international college students develop mature interpersonal relationship skills. All the participants were from a mid-sized comprehensive institution in the Southern United States. The two main constructs measured were tolerance and quality of relationships. Attempts were also made to identify other predictors that may influence mature interpersonal relationships: gender, age, educational level, and academic achievement as measured by GPA. Both quantitative …

Seeing The Chemistry Around Me – Helping Students Identify The Relevance Of Chemistry To Everyday Life, Tracy Lynn Moore

Dissertations

The study attempted to determine whether the use of a series of reading and response assignments decreased students’ perceptions of chemistry difficulty and enhanced students’ perceptions of the relevance of chemistry in their everyday lives. Informed consent volunteer students enrolled in General Chemistry II at a community college in the southeastern United States during the Spring 2012 semester participated in this study. Students were assigned to read a series of short articles that connect chemistry to a specific aspect of everyday life and then answer a series of questions for each article. Open-response research instruments (initial questionnaire and final questionnaire) …

Female Academic Department Chairs At A Public, Very High Research Activity University: Exploring Their Career Pathways To Success, Tamara Marcelle St.Marthe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The advancement of women into academic leadership remains a problem facing public, high-research activity universities. While there are more women who are qualified to assume the position of department chair in research institutions today than there were 30 years ago, women still lag behind their male counterparts in holding these academic leadership roles. The purpose of this study was to examine the personal and professional career experiences of women department chairs in a public, very high research activity institution, and to provide advice to women faculty seeking to become a department chair in the future. The department chair is among …

Female Head Athletic Trainers In Ncaa Division I (Ia Football) Athletics: How They Made It To The Top, Joanne Gorant

Dissertations

The profession of athletic training has opened its doors to women, who now slightly outnumber men in the profession (Shingles, 2001; WATC, 1997, 2005). Unfortunately, this representation does not carry over into positions of high rank. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of female head athletic trainers in NCAA Division I (IA football) institutions to focus on the issues of barriers to advancement and their ability to overcome them.

Using Hakim’s “preference theory” as a lens, this interpretive qualitative investigation utilized semi-structured, open-ended interviews to learn how participants advanced in the field of athletic …

Experiences Of Suburban And Rural High School Principals Who Have Attained Longevity In The Position: A Qualitative Study, Peggy A. Mathis

Dissertations

Today’s school leaders face many challenges. There is a renewed need to look at principal’s job satisfaction and longevity given recent trends in burnout, increased accountability, and a shortage of qualified candidates. There are conflicting demands on high school principals’ time and capacity. These leaders still have the traditional responsibilities of ensuring a safe environment, managing a budget, and maintaining discipline. Higher expectations for student success have brought with them an increase in school program expectations (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2003).

The job of the principal has changed throughout the years (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2003; White-Smith & White, 2009). The shift …

From Crisis To Stability: A Case Study Of Presidential Leadership At A Christian College, Jeffrey Gill

Dissertations

Despite healthy growth in past decades, in a time of national and global economic instability small, private Christian colleges now find themselves in a precarious position. Leading effectively in such colleges and universities in a time of external and/or internal crisis is a great challenge.

This research is about a small, Christian college with documented evidence of having survived two significant enrollment and financial crises (early 1990s and 2008-09), and is now stable, all under the leadership of a president who served during the 19 year time period of crisis and stability. The purpose of this study is to investigate …

Professional Learning Communities, Self Efficacy, And Collaborative Learning In The Elementary School, Diana Provancha Sweigart

Dissertations

The United States of America used to have the best high school graduation rate in the world. However, by 2006, the U. S. was ranked 18 out of 26 among industrialized nations (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010) with three out of every ten public school students failing to complete high school with a diploma (DuFour and Marzano, 2011). This urgent, pressing issue warrants continuing research to discover what does and does not work in educating our children. Numerous empirical and scientifically-based research studies continue to show the validity of several teaching methods; one such strategy is cooperative learning, …

Being A (Good) Student: Conceptions Of Identity Of Adult Basic Education Participants Transitioning To College, Mina Reddy

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the perceptions of identity of a category of students that has rarely been studied in the context of higher education. These are adults who have participated in GED preparation or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses in Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs. A college education is increasingly necessary for individual economic success and a higher quality of life, and a college-educated workforce is a major element in national economic competitiveness. Rates of college enrollment and persistence of ABE students, however, are low. The study seeks to determine how ABE students and graduates conceive of their …

Is There A Relationship Between Ninth Grade Transitional Programs And At-Risk Student Achievement?, Susan Marie Stoddard

Dissertations

Transition into the ninth grade has long been a critical juncture for students as they make the move to a larger environment with less personal support and a more rigorous academic challenge. In an effort to help make the move from middle-to-high-school transition as smooth as possible, school districts are using Ninth Grade Academies, or innovative transitional strategies designed to address the key factors contributing to students dropping out: poor academic achievement, disengagement, and poor attendance. The purpose of the study was to determine if a statistically significant relationship existed between the type of ninth grade transitional program and at-risk …

A Phenomenology Of Academic Support In Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Homes Of At-Risk Students, David Barber

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

I examined the home environment and the amount of academic support non-English speaking parents are able to provide for their English Language Learner (ELL) children in the United States school system. In particular, the focus is on the families of children who struggle academically in the state of Georgia, where non-English speaking children are mainstreamed into regular education classrooms with limited support. Although there has been a great deal of research on how ELLs learn and what type of program can be used to best facilitate mastery of academics as they are learning the English language, the focal point of …

Teacher And Administrator Perceptions Of In-School Suspension Programs On Changing Student Behavior And Academic Success In Schools, John Scott Rimes

Dissertations

This study was performed to examine the perception of teachers, in-school suspension (ISS) staff, and administrators on the effectiveness of the in-school suspension program in changing students’ behavior and academic success at various schools with different performance levels according the current Mississippi Accountability Model. The 32 schools included in this study were located in the central region of Mississippi. The survey was administered during the spring semester of 2012. Data from the ISS survey determined that there was no relationship between the school performance level and the perceptions of ISS.

Overall, the researcher found that there was no evidence supporting …

Administrators And Teachers' Perceptions Of Key Components Of The School Improvement Grant, Willis Anthony Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to assess administrators and teachers’ perceptions of key components of the School Improvement Grant (SIG). This study explores whether or not administrators and teachers believe the SIG’s key components have a positive impact on school improvement.

The participants for this study were drawn exclusively from five of the eighteen SIG schools that received the School Improvement Grant in Mississippi. All of the teachers and administrators at each school were invited to participate in the study. A total of 97 educators participated in the study, 22 administrators and 75 teachers.

The findings from this research …

An Examination Of Mississippi Public School Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Their Professional Development Experiences In Raising Student Achievement, Daniel Martin Rushing

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the elements needed to produce a high quality professional development program for teachers. The researcher sought to determine possible factors that had a significant relationship to Mississippi public school teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their professional development experiences in raising student achievement. Furthermore, the researcher wanted to identify possible inequities with professional development opportunities for teachers in Mississippi. It is the hope of the researcher to highlight the characteristics of effective professional learning defined by research that would kindle a desire in classroom teachers to advance their skill levels …

Closing Up Shop: Meditations On The Departmental/Programmatic Elimination Experience, Susan Beth Donoff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Departmental and programmatic eliminations represent a new paradigm in the history of American higher education. Hastened by a national economic recession and competing state funding priorities, public post-secondary institutions have turned to academic attrition as a solution to continuous budgetary shortfalls. As a means of addressing the lived experience of faculty members and department chairs, the following qualitative case study explores perceptions of implementing departmental and/or programmatic eliminations.

Utilizing uncertainty reduction theory as a conceptual framework, interviewed faculty in saved units experienced considerable strategic uncertainty, failing to understand why they had been selected for elimination. Guided by a college-wide strategic …

The Leadership Orientations And Effectiveness Of College And University Career Services Directors, Jacob A. Livengood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Career service directors lead the third most common division within student affairs departments, but the leadership of a collegiate career services office has not been represented in higher education research. Obtaining a "good job" has consistently been noted as a main reason to attend college (Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos & Korn, 2007). The rising costs of higher education have also yielded the question, "What can college do for me?" financially and with future career opportunities (Baum & Payea, 2005; Moretti, 2004; Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos & Korn, 2007; Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2009). The functions of career services …

A Case Study Using Principal-Agent Theory To Explore How A Public, Four Year University Interacts With A System Office, Annie Macias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this research was to examine the funding relationship between a single public institution of higher education and its accompanying system office. Such a study is important in order to obtain insight into the relationship between a System Office and an institution, and thus how institutions carry out their fiscal responsibilities, not directly to the state but to the System Office they serve. The study provides insight into how the System Office communicates and transacts with an institution regarding financial allocations. Also important is whether that institution receives effective communication and whether the institution's perceived expectations are as …

Comparing Division Ia Scholarship And Non-Scholarship Student-Athletes: A Discriminant Analysis Of Academic Performance, Lisa Melanie Rubin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many research studies have examined the academic performance and graduation rates of college student-athletes. The limited focus on scholarship student-athletes has overlooked the majority of NCAA student-athletes, those participating in collegiate athletic programs without athletic scholarships. Therefore, this study contributes to a gap in the literature about non-scholarship student-athletes. The following dissertation examined the academic performance, time-to-degree, and demographic and profile characteristics of Division IA scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes. The theoretical framework for this study was work motivation viewing athletic scholarships as extrinsic rewards. The researcher applied descriptive discriminant analysis utilizing secondary data to compare scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes across …

Exploring The Relationship Between First Year First Generation College Students And Their Parents, Jerica L. Turek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The first year of college is one that is crucial for all students entering higher education due to the major transition issues that must be successfully navigated in order to persist to the sophomore year. Parental support has been shown to have a positive effect during this transition by providing positive coping mechanisms and allowing children to develop higher level of autonomy. The level of parental support is at a high level for members of the Millennial Generation, which is characterized by a close parent-child relationship, as well as a high level of parental involvement in the education process. While …

Do Credit-Based Transfer Programs Have An Impact On Intellectual Development From Secondary Education To Post-Secondary Education?, James Uhlenkamp

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This descriptive, retrospective quantitative study identified the influence that credit-based transfer programs have on the intellectual development positions of college matriculates at a private, residential, church-affiliated master’s degree granting university in the Midwest. This determination presents a better success measure for credit-based transfer programs than the measures used in previous studies: academic momentum, persistence rate, college grade point average, and degree attainment. People transitioning through intellectual development positions gain critical thinking skills and adopt more of the habits of mind and of working that characterize a well-educated person.

An evaluation database developed for the target university’s first-year experience program provided …

Effects Of The Men’S Program On U.S. Army Soldiers’ Intentions To Commit And Willingness To Intervene To Prevent Rape: A Pretest Posttest Study., John D. Foubert, Ryan C. Masin

John D. Foubert

Non-commissioned male officers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany were trained to present a one-hour rape prevention workshop, The Men’s Program, to 237 enlisted male soldiers. A comparison group of 244 male soldiers received a briefing focused on reducing the individual’s risk for experiencing sexual assault, discussion of myths and facts about sexual assault, and how to avoid being accused of sexual assault. Participants in The Men’s Program experienced significant change in the predicted direction for bystander willingness to help, bystander efficacy, rape myth acceptance, likelihood of raping, and likelihood of committing sexual assault with low to medium effect …

Educational Genocide: Examining The Impact Of National Education Policy On African American Communities, Christopher B. Knaus, Rachelle Rogers-Ard

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Abstract This paper clarifies the cumulative impact of the current national education policy on African-American children, which ultimately aims to limit local control of urban schools. The authors argue that urban schools in the United States are increasingly required to rely upon temporary teachers who are trained to implement a curriculum focused on standardized testing. The No Child Left Behind Act and the current Duncan administration’s approach to closing (and re-opening) schools combines to further exclude low-income community involvement in local schools. These efforts to control the development, hiring, and evaluation of local educators further expands educational racism that silences …

Ua35 Dean Of The University Libraries At Wku, Wku Provost, Gordon Emslie

WKU Archives Records

Memo from Provost Gordon Emslie to the faculty regarding the selection of Connie Foster as Dean of the University Libraries.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 88, No. 24, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Implications To The Traditional Higher Education Model In A Time Of New Economic And Demographic Realities, Phillip Imel

Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the world’s developed countries the tendency is to a decreasing or stagnant, aging population. Traditional higher education has occurred early in life with little retraining in adulthood. The current demographic and economic realities demand a change in the role of traditional higher education as it must be more flexible and portable. Higher education must play a central role in the lifelong learning process as new technologies become available. Changes will occur with or without the approval of the established higher education hierarchy as businesses and governments demand quicker, cheaper, and better delivery methods to the current system. Technology is …

Minutes, Arts & Sciences Faculty Meeting, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Arts & Sciences Faculty

The College of Liberal Arts Faculty Minutes

No abstract provided.

Strategic Planning Steering Committee, Agenda And Notes, November 28, 2012, Uno Strategic Planning Steering Committee

Steering Committee

Strategic Planning Steering Committee, Agenda and Notes, November 28, 2012.

Arts And Education: An Investigation Into The Impact Of The Arts Academy On High School Students, Nigel Sangster

Theses and Dissertations

The broad topical area of my research study involved an investigation of the impact of the arts academy on the students of Cooper Ruth Performing and Fine Arts Middle-High School (pseudonym), using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Being a proponent of the arts, one of the premises of my research was to bring about a greater sense of awareness in my school and school district, that the arts were not "frills" in the educational processes of children (Perrin, 1994). Focus was given to various strands of the arts disciplines in my efforts to substantiate the significance of the overarching question …

The Future Of Higher Education Preparation Programs: Implications For Policy And Practice, Sydney Freeman Jr.

Sydney Freeman Jr., PhD, CFD

Half of the sitting university presidents in the United States are over the age of 60 (American Council of Education, 2012a). Thus, they are nearing the age of retirement. This poses a problem and makes the preparation of leaders to replace them of particular importance. Higher education administration programs have been an academic preparation ground for those aspiring to higher education leadership. In prior years, it was most common that higher education program graduates were offered lower- and middle-level management positions in colleges and universities. Similarly some of these graduates developed careers in government agencies dealing with higher education issues …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 88, No. 23, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.