Education Commons^™

Leadership-Influenced Practices That Impact Classroom Instruction Related To Writing: A Case Study Of A Successful Elementary School, Barb Johnson

Dissertations

This research studied the practices of educators at an ethnically diverse suburban elementary school which had demonstrated success in the area of student writing, even among at-risk students. The overall research goal was to examine to what extent and how leadership-related practices impacted classroom instruction in a manner that helped produce successful writing scores. A case study approach was used to explore four key leadership-related practices (supervision, curriculum, professional development, and knowledgeable leaders) and their impact on classroom literacy-based instructional strategies.

The study participants included two leaders and fourteen teachers from a single elementary school located in a metropolitan Michigan …

Experiences Of Michigan Elementary National Board Certification Candidates, Kristen L. Dewitt

Dissertations

Since 1987, over 55,000 teachers have achieved National Board Certification (NBC), which is claimed to be the highest symbol of teaching excellence and an identifier of accomplished teaching. To become certified, teachers must demonstrate a clear understanding of rigorous standards as defined by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

This phenomenological study examined ten Michigan elementary National Board Certified Teachers and candidates in hopes of better understanding the roles that motivation, support and pressure played in their decisions to seek NBC, and the influence the process had on their teaching. Four critical findings were identified.

The first critical finding …

A Study Of Career Preparation Activities Used In Michigan’S Public High Schools, Brian L. Pyles

Dissertations

This study assessed the status of Michigan's Career Pathway high schools 2 years after state Career Preparation funding was terminated early, in order to determine the institutionalization of Career Pathway activities. In particular, this study examined the use of Career Pathway curriculum guides, Educational Development Plans (EDPs), student Career Pathway designations, student career assessments, work-based learning activities, alternative scheduling, college credits earned in high school, instructional strategies, teacher professional development, and Career Pathway high school planning committees. This study also ascertained the perceived helpfulness of having students declare a Career Pathway and using EDPs as a guide in the selection …

The Association Between School Choice And School Climate: Comparing School Climate In Private Relgious, Charter, And Public Schools, Mark Krommendyk

Dissertations

The association between school climate and school choice was examined by conducting discriminant function analyses on data gathered from the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey. This study asked the question, "Does school climate in private religious, charter, and public schools differ?" Teacher and principal responses to survey questions were grouped to measure six characteristics of school climate. The school climate characteristics measured were: (1) supportive principal leadership, (2) teacher collegiality, (3) teacher-principal relationships, (4) teacher satisfaction, (5) student behavior, and (6) teacher empowerment. The study found that the school climate in private religious schools could be statistically distinguished from the …

Principals’ Leadership And Its Association With Whether Or Not Their Schools Meet District/State Peformance Goals, John Mark Rainey

Dissertations

The study focuses on the principals’ leadership and empowerment as a curriculum leader in meeting district and state mandated performance goals. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 represents a key increase in the role of the federal government in public education.

The research questions in the study addressed the levels of principals’ instructional leadership and empowerment as associated with number of years as teacher, number of years as principal, participation in an aspiring principal program, school size, school locale, and whether their school passed district or state accountability test.

As to principals’ leadership, principals reported that they …

Organizational Orientations Of K-12 School Leaders In The Columbia Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Rose Tooley Gamblin

Dissertations

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational orientations--structure ,human resource, political, and symbolic --of the K-12 school leaders in the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and the relationship, if any, to their personal variables of age, gender, experience, and their professional variables of grade levels served, educational attainment, enrollment, support, feelings of success, and job satisfaction.

Method

A self-administered Organizational Orientations survey instrument, based on the multiple orientation framework of Bolman and Deal, was used to gather information about the school leaders. The population surveyed provided 56 usable responses, which were analyzed …

Institutional Effectiveness : The Integration Of Program Review, Strategic Planning, And Budgeting Processes In Two California Community Colleges, Eileen Knight White

Dissertations

Problem. Effective institutional planning is vital to the ability of community colleges to deliberately respond to external and internal pressures to increase accountability and demonstrate institutional effectiveness. A significant indicator for assessing the effectiveness of a program review process is the use of the outcomes for other institutional purposes such as research, planning, and resource allocation—in other words, informed decision making. In the past, program review, planning, and budgeting processes for the most part have been independent functions or limited in their integration within an institution. The literature provides theories of integration, but little has been written about how …