Education Commons^™

Agnes Nestor: Labor Leader, Politician, And Social Reformer--A Portrait Of A Leader, Timothy Michael Grivois-Shah

Dissertations

School leadership is about effecting change in education and promoting excellence in teaching and learning. School leaders, however, practice leadership in multiple arenas with diverse stakeholders. Students, local community members, faculty, staff, and each layer of government represent unique and often conflicting interests. Understanding how a leader such as Agnes Nestor resolved conflicts of interests has the potential for helping school leaders access various sources of power to effect change in their milieu.

This study explores the life of Agnes Nestor, a labor leader, politician, and social reformer. Nestor's public life included organizing women workers in Chicago in the early …

Superintendent Leadership And Student Achievement In Suburban High Schools: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Analysis, Steven Reese Kellner

Dissertations

This research study explored the critical nature of the connection between student achievement and superintendent leadership. A great deal of scholarship has addressed either student achievement or leadership and previous evidence has suggested the impact of both parental education and racioethnicity on student achievement, but few studies have investigated the relationship between the superintendent's leadership authority and the achievement of his or her students.

The central research questions of this study are:

1) To what degree does parental education predict high school student achievement in suburban Chicagoland?

2) To what degree does racioethnicity predict high school student achievement in suburban …

Secondary School Science Department Chairs Leading Change, Julie Ann Gaubatz

Dissertations

Secondary school department chairs are content area specialists in their schools and are responsible for providing students with the most appropriate curricula. However, most secondary school department chairs have limited authority to institute change unilaterally (Gmelch, 1993; Hannay & Erb, 1999). To explore how these educational leaders navigate the change process within their departments, this study examined the change stories of six secondary school science department chairs who had led change attempts. In total, these department chairs shared six stories of successful change attempts and four unsuccessful change attempts. The topics of leadership and change were accessed through department chair …

Preparing Students For Careers That Do Not Yet Exist, Glenn W. "Max" Mcgee

Publications & Research

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), as a self-described "teaching and learning laboratory for imagination and inquiry," has a history of pursuing innovations closely aligned with the vision and framework of the National Science Education Standards. Innovations include both methods and materials for inquiry-based student instruction as well as for delivering professional development for pre-service and practicing teachers. Instructional innovations described include yearlong student inquiry and research projects (SIR), self-paced physics instruction, student-driven energy and engineering projects, instruction in innovation and entrepreneurialism, and a host of student-led outreach activities to "ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific minds of students …

Teacher Leaders: Women (Of African Descent) Enacting Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Vonzell Agosto

This chapter is concerned with how educational leadership preparation programs promote a sense of agency among women of African descent (who identify racially as Black) to serve as teacher leaders for social justice.

Leading In Times Of Change: Principals' Perspectives Of Their Role In A New Pay-For-Performance System, Amanda Lela Ortiz-Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore principals' perspectives on how they make sense of their leadership roles in a new pay-for-performance system. The study describes the perceptions of six principals, two each from elementary, middle, and high school levels, regarding leadership in a recently changed system. Principals were asked about their leadership roles in implementing a pay-for-performance system, and responses focused on leadership styles, actions, beliefs, preparation, and experience of leading in a time of change. Four themes emerged from the data as significant aspects of leading change in a pay-for-performance system: (a) supporting a culture of …

Crafting Leaders For Educational Change: Head Teacher’S Perspectives, Sultan Alam

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This research reports a study conducted in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. The purpose of the study is to explore the CELM experiences of a government school head teacher. A qualitative case study method was used to investigate the subject matter. The participant was selected on the basis of pre-determined criteria that s/he has participated in the whole intervention programme, and completed all the mandatory tasks assigned during the whole intervention period. The findings of the study showed that CELM intervention has been instrumental in bringing about a significant effect on the professional approaches of the head teacher. On one hand he …

An Exploratory Study Of The Impact Of College Student Leadership Programs Upon The Construct Of Mindfulness, Richard Lee Horowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Mindfulness is a key skill that produces the greater psychological awareness identified by most leadership scholars as being essential to effective leadership. This study conducted an exploratory assessment of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cocurricular collegiate leadership programs through pre- and post-participation application of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS). The Social Change Model (SCM) of leadership development was used to represent mindfulness-based leadership programs due to an emphasis upon mindfulness and psychological self awareness. This quantitative study made use of a 2 x 2 mixed ANOVA and analyzed change in scores to identify the progress made towards the learning …

An Exploratory Study Of Principals' And Teachers' Perceptions Of School Work Conditions In Sinclair County, Georgia, Veronica Lawrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated principals’ (n = 16) and teachers’ (n = 362) perceptions of five work conditions domains: Professional Development, Facilities and Resources, Leadership, Empowerment, and Use of Time. This quantitative study used two instruments: principal work conditions survey and teacher work conditions survey to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a factorial analysis of variance. Findings revealed observed differences in principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of school work conditions. The factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed statistically significant differences for domain scores of Facilities and Resources, Leadership, and Empowerment by type of school. No significant differences …