Education Commons^™

A Qualitative Study Focused On Understanding P-12 School Leadership Through The Perceptions Of P-12 Educators And Leaders, Amanda Lorraine Pederson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative study was conducted to understand the perceptions of school leadership through the lens of P-12 educational leaders (superintendents and principals/assistant principals) and P-12 teachers. The focus was on the perceptions of important qualities and characteristics of effective school leaders. The study examined how P-12 educational leaders and P-12 teachers viewed leadership and what they identified as important skills and characteristics for effective educational leadership. The Minnesota Department of Education Teacher Evaluation of Principals was used as a guide to understand the characteristics and skills P-12 school leaders are expected to demonstrate. An email was sent to schools in …

Teacher Retention In Independent Schools, Charles Maddox Jr.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Teachers in public and independent schools have left the field of education at a staggering rate. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand what factors kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers describe as influencing their decisions to remain in independent day schools in Florida. For the purpose of this study, independent education is defined as private schools. Five participants were interviewed for the study. The two themes developed in the study were differences from public schools and school leadership. The subthemes for differences from public schools were flexibility, teacher autonomy, and freedom from government control while subthemes for school …

Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Exploring School Principals’ Stress And Workplace Well-Being, Dl Alex Alexander

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to highlight the importance of studying and promoting well-being to help manage stress and prevent burnout among school principals, examine potential gender disparities, and to consider implications for future practice. Grounded in a positive psychology framework, this study examined the correlations among school principals’ workplace well-being, perceived stress, self-compassion, and intent to remain in their roles using a non-experimental, descriptive survey method. In Washington State, 124 school principals responded to an online survey over a span of 11 weeks. Descriptive, correlation, moderation, independent t-test analyses were performed on quantitative data, and qualitative data was …

A Qualitative Descriptive Study On High School Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding School Safety And Lockdown Drills, Hector Leija

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed teachers’ perceptions of safety and emergency preparedness. The problem that was addressed in this study is that lockdown drills are regularly being conducted at public high schools, but it was not known how teachers perceive their role in safety and emergency preparedness, which is important to teachers’ sense of security. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how lockdown drills negatively or positively affect high school teachers’ perceptions of emergency preparedness to answer the research questions regarding school safety. This study was grounded in the cognitive mediation processes framework of protection motivation theory. Data …

Administrators' Perceptions Of Reducing Exclusionary Discipline In Black Girls In K - 12 Urban Schools: A Qualitative Study, Lorraine Reeves

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

Abstract

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” —Ida B. Wells

The use of exclusionary discipline has an impact on all stakeholders in the educational system. This includes Black girls, teachers, administrators, and parents. The current study provides an in-depth view of the lived experiences of school administrators when implementing exclusionary discipline and their methods to mitigate the use of such discipline practices in urban K-12 schools. While research is available on the experiences of Black girls and Black boys with exclusionary discipline, there is scant literature on the experiences of the school …

Evaluation Of A District’S Leadership Development Pipeline, Alyta T. Harrell

Education Theses and Dissertations

Leading a school campus is an increasingly challenging and critical task that requires effective leadership. It is important to identify the specific leadership skills needed to create a culture conducive to learning, meet the unique needs of a particular campus and community, and enable continuous improvement. The leadership development pipeline aimed to identify, develop, and support potential school leaders, fostering their growth through targeted professional development, mentoring, and support. This mixed methods embedded experimental model study evaluated the effectiveness of a district's leadership development program, focusing on best practices for school leaders. The study employed a combination of quantitative data …

Leading With Equity Through Action: The Theory Of Racial And Gender Equity Advancement In Rural Schools, Anna Gross

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

All students deserve an equitable education. Rampant misinformation has flooded the educational world, and society as a whole, turning the concept of “equity” into something that has become politically charged. However, all students are different, and differences must be acknowledged and celebrated to ensure all students receive the education they need to thrive both academically and socially.

The purpose of this study is to examine equitable practices in rural schools. Using a constructivist paradigm, a grounded theory research approach was utilized through collection of qualitative data to theorize why some rural schools are further advanced than other rural schools of …

None Of Us Are Safe: How Leaders Sustain Culturally Responsive Elementary And Middle School Improvement Planning, Jerry B. Michel

Dissertations

In the spring of 2020, school leaders, school boards, and teachers faced challenges beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, finding themselves under attack for the perceived applications of critical race theory in school curriculum. These conditions made active engagement in equity-focused school improvement planning more challenging. School leaders and leadership teams may benefit from using an established framework to identify strengths and areas for growth around culturally responsive pedagogy for effective school improvement planning. This article explores the use of Hammond’s (2015) Ready for Rigor Framework as a tool for identifying prioritizing which conditions for culturally responsive pedagogy …

Examining Attention To Leadership When Hiring School Administrators In A High Poverty, Ethnically Diverse School District: A Case Study, Veronica A. Tigert

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to understand the hiring practices of a school district when considering a principal and how the school district attends to leadership within those hiring practices. The central premise of the study was leadership matters and is second to teaching in student achievement. However, the historical record paints a picture of less than adequate attention to effective hiring practices and a limited scope when addressing leadership. A small school district in California was selected to participate in the study. The design incorporated mixed methods to analyze the hiring practices through a survey …

A Statewide Network’S Impact On School Leaders’ Self-Efficacy For Transformational School Change, Karen Perry

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Changing educational practice is widely understood to be a challenging endeavor, even for experienced school leaders. Much of the research on school networks focuses on building teacher capacity for improving student performance, but less evidence exists relating to increasing school leaders’ self-efficacy, specifically for the purpose of transformational school change. Building on the body of research of school networks and leaders’ self-efficacy, this mixed methods participatory action research study investigates how a network, facilitated by university faculty, impacts the leadership self-efficacy of high school principals for the purpose of leading transformational school change. Self- efficacy is both malleable and essential …

Examining K-12 School Leadership Through A Complexity Theory Lens, Mandi Lehnherr

Theses and Dissertations

Observing the connection between complexity theory and the K-12 education field, I conducted an extensive literature review to discover much research had already been undertaken. However, given the pervasive, wicked problems that still exist, there may be gaps in the operationalization of the findings. The purpose of this research is to determine how school leaders understand the complexity of their school system and if examining school leadership from a complexity lens may uncover practices that could create more effective school operations in dynamic environments. Ten school principals and leaders were interviewed. Five major themes were derived from the data: a) …

The Power Of Place-Based/Outdoor Education In A Rural District: Effective Leadership To Increase Learning, Engagement, And Belonging Through Place-Based Education, Mary Sewright

WWU Graduate School Collection

The research for this qualitative bounded case study on place-based/outdoor education in Mount Baker School District focused on fourth through sixth grades. The research was done mainly through interviews collecting the voices of 37 students including 16 fourth graders, 11 fifth graders, and 10 sixth graders. Twenty of those students were boys and 17 were girls. A total of nine District staff were interviewed including seven teachers and two administrators. Leaders at each of our Community-Based Organizations from Common Threads Farm, Wild Whatcom, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Camp Saturna, North Cascades Institute, and Whatcom Environmental Education Coalition making up our …

School Leadership That Impacts Student Achievement In Blue Ribbon Schools In The Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Sonya Y. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to determine the leadership actions, behaviors, and practices of effective school leaders in Blue Ribbon Schools in South Texas who resulted in the schools receiving the distinction by the U. S. Department of Education of being a Blue Ribbon School. Data were collected through a series of interviews with principals and teachers from the selected sample of Blue Ribbon Schools in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive coding to determine themes.

Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Impact Of Principal Leadership Style On Teacher Transfers In International Schools In South Korea, Caleb Philip Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study determined the perceptions of international school teachers regarding leadership and how these perceptions influenced their turnover decisions. Research completed largely in the United States shows that principals are a major factor in teachers’ decisions to stay or leave their schools, primarily due to teachers rating their principals highly in communication and support. Over the last 25 years, international schools have experienced a boom in growth, yet research into international schools has lagged. This study sought to build on previous research to find if teacher perceptions in international schools in South Korea mirror those of teachers in previous …

Tech-Savvy School Principals Leveraging Crisis Leadership To Support Teaching And Learning In Their Schools Through Covid-19 Pandemic, Mohsen Alzahrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to learn about the effective practices that recognized tech-savvy principals enacted to support teaching and learning in their schools during the first academic year of the COVID-19 crisis. The study involved semi structured interviews with five recognized tech-savvy school principals. It also involved analyzing supporting materials and documents.

The findings of this study indicated that tech-savvy principals were not stuck in the structural rut that most principals found themselves in during the COVID-19 crisis. Four main themes emerged from the data. The first theme addressed how recognized tech-savvy principals demonstrated decisive decision …

Impact Of Covid-19 On New Teacher Retention And Perceived Supports In A Northern California Public School District, Rebecka Maxkenzie

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined teachers, schools, and district approaches to new teacher retention with a COVID-19 spin. In the changing world of a global pandemic and shifting teaching modalities, including distance or hybrid learning environments, teachers reflected on their experiences of adaptation. Interviews with teachers in their first three years in the profession were conducted to share the stories of new teachers amid COVID-19. New teachers were recruited through a snowball sampling technique from a large school district in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. To answer the research questions, participants were interviewed about the presence or absence …

School Principals’ Awareness Of Their Emotional Intelligence And Connections To Leadership, Lourdes M. Pimentel Soto

Dissertations

Leaders set the tone and mood of the organization through their attitudes and actions. This emotional climate set by the leader has been found to influence employee’s performance, including their sense of job satisfaction and commitment. In other words, what sets great leaders apart from their peers is their ability to drive the emotions of those they lead in the right direction. This ability to understand and manage one’s and other’s emotions is what is known as emotional intelligence (EI).

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of K-12 principals’ awareness of their EI in relation to how they lead, and …

Rural School District Strategies To Increase College, Career, And Military Readiness, Amelia J. Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Preparing students for life after high school is a challenge faced by all K-12 educators. In small, rural school districts, school leaders encounter unique barriers and limitations due to the limited capacity of school counselors, geographic isolation, lack of resources, and other factors. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to explore the district-wide strategies utilized by rural school districts in West Central Texas to increase the career, college and military readiness (CCMR) of all students. Five cases were identified that met the criteria, which included being a rural district defined by TEA, a school administrator responsible for …

Micropolitical Influences On Teacher Leader Selection & Enactment, Jennifer Lynn Arthur Thomason

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The teacher leader phenomenon is plagued with uncertainty but has potential to be a catalyst for building school capacity and increasing school improvement. Questions remain about defining teacher leadership, roles of teacher leaders, and how they carry out a quasi-leadership role in a traditionally hierarchical system. Research on micropolitics in education, specifically how micropolitical influences within an organization affect teacher leader selection and enactment, is lacking. This phenomenologically informed study explored micropolitical influences on teacher leader selection and enactment through the shared experiences of teacher leaders and administrators. Purposeful, criterion sampling was used to select administrator and teacher leader participants. …

The Role Of School Principals In Fostering The Teamwork Success In Al Ain Schools From Teachers’ Percpective, Afra Mohammed Al Shamsi

Theses

The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of principals in fostering teamwork success. This study explained the leadership practices in fostering teamwork as perceived by teachers. Notably, the teamwork and its importance are neglected most of the time. Additionally, very little work was found in context of UAE. A sample of 334 public school teachers from Al Ain completed the online survey about their satisfaction about teamwork rates, their views regarding principals fostering teamwork, as well as recommendations and suggestions that could promote teamwork among school teachers. Descriptive statistics is adopted to analyze the quantitative items …

A Qualitative Study Exploring State School Leaders' Work With Teachers In Argentina, Eliana Belén Camargo

Theses - ALL

Principals' influence on teachers' practices is the second factor, after classroom instruction, that most impact student learning and success. In Argentina state schools serve 70% of the students, therefore, state school leaders play a key role in the K-12 education of the country. The present study explored the experiences of six Argentinian state school administrators (principals and assistant principals) about their role in working with teachers. This qualitative study examined the following question: How do Argentinian state school administrators experience their role in working with and leading teachers? A qualitative, phenomenological research approach and two of the most prominent educational …

A Qualitative Study Exploring State School Leaders' Work With Teachers In Argentina, Eliana Belén Camargo

Theses - ALL

Principals’ influence on teachers’ practices is the second factor, after classroom instruction, that most impact student learning and success. In Argentina state schools serve 70% of the students, therefore, state school leaders play a key role in the K-12 education of the country. The present study explored the experiences of six Argentinian state school administrators (principals and assistant principals) about their role in working with teachers. This qualitative study examined the following question: How do Argentinian state school administrators experience their role in working with and leading teachers? A qualitative, phenomenological research approach and two of the most prominent educational …

Seeking Universal Education: From Singapore’S Educational Success, Gulnar Rzayeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, education is considered a fundamental human right. However, this right is not accessible for every child. Not all education systems are capable of providing quality education. There are various reasons behind this issue. Based on the OECD and PISA records, Singapore has a successful education system with multiple ethnicities and religions. This study intends to discover some characteristics of Singapore's education system and the feasibility of achieving similar success in other practices. In the methodology part, based on a literature review on the education policy and the education system of Singapore, content …

Seeking Universal Education: From Singapore’S Educational Success, Gulnar Rzayeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, education is considered a fundamental human right. However, this right is not accessible for every child. Not all education systems are capable of providing quality education. There are various reasons behind this issue. Based on the OECD and PISA records, Singapore has a successful education system with multiple ethnicities and religions. This study intends to discover some characteristics of Singapore's education system and the feasibility of achieving similar success in other practices. In the methodology part, based on a literature review on the education policy and the education system of Singapore, content …

Telling Principals' Leadership Stories: Administrative Perceptions Of Promoting Teacher Leadership., Adam Whitney Hicks Ed.D.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous definitions, leadership roles, and methods of approaching teacher leadership are discussed in various areas of research; however, no efforts have been made to analyze the administrators who consciously cultivate it in their staff. Using a phenomenological design, this study identified twelve administrators—four elementary, four middle school, and four high school principals—who were found to cultivate teacher leadership, and explored both how these leaders defined teacher leadership, as well as examined how they worked to consciously cultivate it among their staff. Burns’ Transformational Leadership Theory (1978) is the study’s theoretical framework. The findings of the study outline a new definition …

School Improvement Grant: Analysis Of Kentucky Cohort I Schools., Ryan Rodosky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In December of 2009, President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program would expand as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The United States Department of Education (USDOE) awarded an initial allocation of $8,610,752 in SIG funds to the Commonwealth of Kentucky to turnaround their lowest performing schools (United States Department of Education, 2016). In 2010, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) received funding with the goal of moving targeted schools out of PLA status successfully within the three-year window outlined in the SIG application. Ten schools in Cohort …

Which School- And Community- Characteristics Lead To Charter School Success?, Susan Marino, Sarah Ranney

Dissertations

Charter schools have existed in the United States for thirty years, with mixed results. Research has largely focused on charter school failure and an analysis of what led to the demise. This study aimed to understand characteristics predicting charter school success, alongside those predicting failure. Specifically, it focused on a charter school’s first six years to understand how one successfully establishes a strong foundation, with the expectation that early success will lead to long-term success.

To understand characteristics predicting charter school success and failure, a review of existing data determined which charter schools were successful. Then, founding school leaders were …

Korean American Female Educators' Self Concept And Perception Toward School Leadership, Jennifer Hj Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Asian American educators and school leaders’ leading the K-12 educational system have been under researched and under-theorized. Asian American populations is one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, and Asian American educators’ experiences and contributions cannot be ignored in educational policy, teacher education and research. The following study is to contribute to the body of existing research to the voices of Asian American female educators and school leaders through the study of Korean American female educators of long term and short term residents in the U.S.- their self-concept and their experiences that limits or enables them to …

Supporting Ambitious Mathematics Practices In The Face Of School Reform: A Case Study Of High School Leadership, Jacklyn Van Ooyik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School leaders—both administrators and mathematics leaders—play a critical role in the instructional improvement of teachers in schools. However, current research in mathematics education has not provided a complete picture of the network of administrators, mathematics leaders, and teachers and their roles in supporting ambitious mathematics practices. The purpose of this case study is to examine how ambitious mathematics practices are developed, supported, and sustained within a high school facing pressures for test score improvement and graduation competencies and the roles and responsibilities of school leaders that contribute to that support. In order to address this issue, my primary research question …

Trinidad And Tobago Secondary School Principals' Perspectives Of Implementing A Laptop Initiative, Vida Iante Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The eConnect and Learn (eCAL) program was a government-led, one laptop per child initiative launched in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. However, after investing large sums of money in the program, the initiative was abandoned as unsuccessful. Addressing this problem, the study aimed to explore which factors affected the implementation of the eCAL initiative. The conceptual framework for this basic qualitative study was Hall and Hord’s six functions of change facilitators for effective implementation of change. The research question addressed the factors affecting the eCAL initiative from principals’ perspective. Interview data were collected from three secondary school principals via …