Education Commons^™

A Multi-Case Examination Of Leadership Development Programs For Emerging Educational Leaders In K-12 School Districts, Jason Thomsen

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

In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on leadership development programs across a wide array of sectors in an effort to improve organizations. A growing body of research indicates that strong educational leadership practices have the ability to impact virtually all aspects of a school system. What is less evident in the research is how K-12 school districts utilize leadership development programs and make decisions regarding the implementation of those programs in order to cultivate educational leaders. The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine how K-12 school districts utilize leadership development programs and the role that …

Women As Leaders In The Bourbon Industry, Candice Cress

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

This study explored the experiences of women leaders who have made a significant impact in the bourbon industry. Specifically, exploration of the skills and attributes that make them leaders in the bourbon industry are analyzed. Three themes emerged from this study: (a) the influence of mentors on leadership development, (b) navigating a predominantly male dominated field, and (c) experiences of the women that lead to their current roles and achievements in bourbon. The results of this study can support women as they strengthen their leadership skills in preparation for professions that are more difficult for women to make an impact. …

Engagement Is Everything: Principals' Perceptions Of Their Role In Teacher Engagement, Jennifer Hellbusch

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

The effects of student engagement on academic achievement are studied by and large, leaving a lack of emphasis on teacher engagement. In seeking out research and literature on “engagement” and “education,” scholars focus on the importance of student engagement. Numerous studies examine the relationship between student engagement and learning (Carini, et al., 2006). Conversely, exploring teacher engagement and how principals view themselves as responsible for promoting that engagement is a topic that is understudied and will provide recommendations for principals as well as district level leaders.

Defined, teacher engagement not only includes the behavior of teachers, but also encompasses “a …

Authentic Truth At Work: A Case Study Of The Lived Professional Experiences Of A Transgender Educational Leader Through The Lens Of The Synergistic Leadership Theory, Rachel Bruce

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

At the time of this study, very little research existed concerning transgender people and educational leadership. The Synergistic Leadership Theory (SLT) was developed by researchers at Sam Houston State University in 1999. While previous researchers found the SLT to be gender-inclusive, the only studies to date had been conducted with cisgender participants. Thus, this study incorporated a non-cisgender subject to examine the professional experiences of an educational leader who is transgender through the lens of the SLT. By utilizing a qualitative descriptive case study, the researcher sought to answer two questions: (a) What are the lived professional experiences of a …

Key Factors Surrounding The Survival And Thrival Of Rural Schools In Nebraska Through The Eyes Of Superintendents: A Mixed Methods Study, Sadie Coffey

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

Rural school success is crucial for the Nebraska education system. Without rural schools, many students and families would be without access to high quality educational opportunities. Despite the importance of rural education, the number of rural schools in Nebraska continues to decline, and “one thing is clear from academic research on rural schools: closings and consolidations can drastically change the flavor of civic life in a rural community” (McCullum & Merrefield, 2019, p. 1). Identity loss and identity crisis theories may explain why these rural schools in Nebraska continue to survive and thrive. Without the rural school, a community and …

The Complicated Road From Academic Dismissal To Degree Completion: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Student Experience, Annmarie Gottner

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

Graduation rates are a key metric for measuring success, both for the student who attains their degree and the higher education institution that awards the diploma. In a time of increasing social pressure to demonstrate the value of the higher education enterprise, colleges and universities have become increasingly attentive to the graduation rates for their students. Individual students are sensitive to their likelihood of degree completion as costs associated with higher education increase alongside continued perception that employability is positively impacted by a college diploma. Faculty and administrators are keenly committed to supporting students to graduation success, and the economic …

Technology Leadership Qualities In Secondary School Principals In Nebraska Who Support Student-Led Social Media Teams, Jill M. Johnson

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

This study addresses secondary school principals in Nebraska who are dealing with the negative ramifications of their students’ social media interactions. To combat the problem, this study sought to identify the technology leadership qualities possessed by secondary school principals in Nebraska who support student-led social media teams. A purposeful sampling of six secondary school principals in Nebraska, who have all been practicing principals for at least three years, engaged in individual semi-structured interviews via Zoom in January 2021. The primary research question was: What technology leadership qualities are possessed by secondary school principals in Nebraska who support student-led social media …

Deliberate Indifference: An Exploration Of The Student Survivor Activism Group Movement, Shyla Kallhoff

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

#MeToo. It’s On Us. End Rape on Campus. #BeTheSwede. Dear UNL. These phrases have united people all over the world to use their voices and speak out about sexual violence. In higher education, these statements empower students to make their voices heard, and simultaneously invoke fear in campus administrators who do not want to be held accountable for the mishandling/lack of Title IX cases. Student survivor activism groups, the subject of this study, have formed at universities around the country and often use similar statements to advocate for changes they feel need to happen. Finding no previous research, it is …

Predicting Teacher Job Satisfaction And Propensity To Leave In The Bering Strait School District In Rural Alaska Through The Application Of Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Matthew Palmer

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

This study examines the relationship between teacher job satisfaction and teacher indicated propensity to leave their positions in one very unique geographical and cultural educational context - the Bering Strait School District in rural Western Alaska. Data was collected for this quantitative study via a questionnaire survey instrument utilizing Likert scales that was distributed to teachers via email and completed online. The questionnaire items focused on determinants of teacher job satisfaction and teacher indicated propensity to leave as found in a body of research which demonstrates that job satisfaction influences employee propensity to leave, and that employee propensity to leave …

Yātrā: A Phenomenology Of Acculturation And Sojourner Experience Of Indian International Students In The U.S., Pankaj Amrut Desai

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

This dissertation study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to understand the acculturation and sojourner experience of undergraduate Indian international students in the U.S. Midwest. Focusing exclusively on the lived experience of these students, this study engaged Berry’s Fourfold Model of Acculturation (Berry, 1992, 1994) and the ABC Model of Acculturation as presented by Ward et al., (2001) to amplify the voices of three participants to bring forth the meaning they attach to their experiences. This study made use of the concept of Yātrā to signify the multidimensional journey that these international students undertake while migrating from their heritage culture in …

Career Progression And The Imposter Phenomenon: Experiences Of Female Student Affairs Leaders, Molly Belieu

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

This study explored the experiences of women leaders who graduated from a student affairs master’s degree program, and advanced to positions of vertical movement to roles of increasing responsibility, wider influence, and greater accountability. Specifically, exploration of this progression, and the influences on their experience of lateral movement, including the impostor’s syndrome. Three themes emerged from this study: (a) the influence of relationships on career progression, (b) navigating the structures of higher education, and (c) experiences of the Imposter Phenomenon. The results of this study can support student affairs preparation programs as they determine the competencies necessary to prepare professionals …

The Impact Of Elementary School Counseling Programs On Student Behavioral Outcomes In The First Year Of Middle School, Brenda Chaney Leggiadro

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

School counselors are uniquely positioned within the P-12 education system to ensure that all students meet developmental needs in academic, career, and social-emotional areas in order to become successful and contributing members of society. School counselors collaborate with other school staff and parents/caregivers to ensure that students finish high school and are well-equipped for the challenges of the future.

Because students who experience even one suspension as early as seventh grade show an increased likelihood of dropping out of high school, it is important to explore ways that schools can effectively decrease the chance that a student will receive behavior …

Raw And Pure Education In The Society, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

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

What does education mean to individuals in the world today? Education is a way one can attain or improve his or her ability to lead and survive in the society of ours. Without educational training of the mind, it may be impossible to realize the importance of adaptability of living in the environment. Without education, It may also be difficult to embellish the use of both the mental and physical attributes possessed by individual beings.

What really is education? Education is the training of the mind to perform desire functions or to perpetuate the modality of obtaining an end or …

Effects Of Career Courses On Career Self-Efficacy And Outcome Expectations, Celeste Spier

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

The purpose of this study was to examine two required career courses to determine if they produced an increase in career self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and which components of the learning theory from Social Cognitive Career Theory have the strongest influence. Participants were undergraduate business students at a midsized, Midwestern university enrolled in two required career courses and a comparison group of students not yet enrolled in the courses. Students took four measures (i.e., Career Exploration and Decisional Self-Efficacy Scale, Career Search Self-Efficacy Scale, Career Expectations Survey Scale, and Career Exploration and Decision Learning Experiences Scale) at two points in …

Engagement Requires The Institution Too: A Case Study Of A California Community College Using Assessment Data To Improve Student Success Practices, Duane Brooks

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

While the collection of assessment data by educational institutions is important, these activities are not sufficient to create an institution that is fully “engaged” with not only the data, but also in using data to improve decision making and student success practices within the institution. The institution must be ready to use the data for action and improvement. Understanding the process that transforms data into institutionalized knowledge is an important component of what institutional engagement looks like. This qualitative single case study explored the scope and nature of institutional engagement in the case of one California community college by examining …

Implementation Of The Mtss Process In Kearney Public Schools, Chelsea Feusner

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

To support multiple needs, districts have worked to enrich or remediate students through differentiated objectives, programs, and initiatives. The goal of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework is to create a system that supports all students and provides robust interventions and programs at all levels, in multiple areas of education. This cross-sectional study will investigate MTSS implementation through a self-assessment survey of school principals and teachers in Kearney Public Schools (KPS). The information collected and analyzed to support the administrative team’s planning, implementation, and measurement of effectiveness. The research will also be able to support the continued implementation of MTSS …

You’Re Happy And You Know It: Social-Cognitive And Environmental Factors’ Impact On Iraqi Student Satisfaction, Rachel Laribee Gresk

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

Understanding and identifying factors that contribute to student satisfaction is becoming more important in Iraq as competition for student enrollment among universities increases. It also can be extremely useful for educational institutions since it will help them pinpoint their strengths, assess areas for improvement, and ensure they maintain and attract students to their campus. Thus, to understand how to achieve positive student satisfaction, this study sought to identify the social-cognitive factors and institutional environmental influences that relate to student satisfaction in a private institution in Iraq, using social cognitive career theory (SCCT) as a framework.

The study found that the …

Going The Distance: A Case Study Of One Community College's Journey Across The Digital Divide, Michael Robert Jolley

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

Rural communities throughout the nation continue to lag their urban and suburban peers in access to high-speed internet service. This digital divide affects rural populations in a myriad of ways, but access to higher educational opportunities may be most problematic. While the promise of technology to level the field for rural students continues to offer hope, the scarcity of broadband service lingers. This qualitative instrumental case study explores how one exceptional rural community college in the Great Plains developed the capacity to deliver distance education programming. The study relies upon Rogers's theory of diffusion of innovations to validate the extent …

School Autonomy Distributed Leadership And Teachers’ Use Of Innovative Teaching Practices, Cailen O'Shea

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

The primary aim of this research is to understand how school autonomy and distributed leadership supports teachers’ use of innovative teaching practices. Innovative practices such as increasing cognitive activation and enhanced curricular activities have shown to have significant positive effects on student outcomes (Le Donné, Fraser, & Bousquet, 2016). Based on internationally representative samples including 7,436 lower secondary school principals and 117,876 teachers from 34 countries surveyed in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 data, this study analyzed the effect of school autonomy and distributed leadership on teachers’ use of these innovative teaching practices. The findings demonstrate that …

The Influence Of Principal Leadership On Teacher Collaboration: Does Effective Professional Development Mediate This Effect?, David Evertson

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

School leadership has been a topic of empirical, quantitative study for nearly four decades, and in that time a great deal has been discovered about the strategies and mechanisms through which effective leadership acts. In its modern conceptualization, leadership is seen as an organizational construct, not centered on single individuals but rather as leadership activity stretched across leaders, followers and the situation which exists in the organization. Nevertheless, principals continue to play a central role in leadership activity, and their actions, behaviors, and strategies significantly influence school effectiveness and improvement efforts.

Research clearly demonstrates that positive teacher collaboration is an …

Financial Aid Director: Educator, Leader, Or Manager, Jessica Mohon Flogaites

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

The landscape of higher education is ever-evolving, and the financial aid office, in particular, has experienced drastic changes throughout the years in order to become the massive and complex system that is known today. Considering that financial aid can directly influence major institutional benchmarks such as enrollment and graduation rates, and the fact the position of financial aid director is not standardized across institutions of higher education, a further look into the primary role of a financial aid director is important and necessary. This study will allow for a better understanding of what behavioral characteristics are most closely associated with …

The Impact Of Student Perception Data On Teachers: A Multisite Case Study At Midwestern K-12 Catholic Schools, Brandi Y. Bibins-Redburn

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

For as long as there have been teachers, there have been efforts to determine the most constructive way to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Research has shown that traditional administrator evaluations do little to improve struggling teachers and that most teachers nationwide are able to earn satisfactory ratings even when they are not performing in a satisfactory manner. This study aims to determine whether using student perception feedback as part of a comprehensive teacher evaluation process would lead to improved practice and targeted professional development. The following questions were investigated in this research: 1. Does student perception feedback drive teachers to reflect …

Experiences Of Women Department Chairs In Engineering: A Narrative Study, Kayla Person

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

Within higher education, STEM based disciplines need strong and balanced leadership. Leadership which demonstrates equity and diversity because all perspectives are needed to solve complex issues that face our world today. In 2016, women earned 23.2% of engineering Ph.D.’s awarded, which contributes to the low number of women faculty in engineering (Yoder, 2016). Those women who enter the professoriate increasingly need to navigate the labyrinth within their faculty positions and leadership roles within higher education. A key leadership role, department chair, has numerous responsibilities as both a faculty member and an administrator. Little research has been conducted to showcase the …

Building A Positive School Climate: What Principals Have Done To Effect Change, An Ethnographic Case Study, Suzanne C. Showers

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

The importance of school climate has been known for over 100 years. School climate sets the tone for the teaching and learning interactions that take place within the school setting. “School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of students', parents' and school personnel's experience of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures” (National School Climate Center, 2015). Research indicates that positive school climates increase teacher retention, lower dropout rates, decrease school violence, and increase student achievement (Cohen, McCabe, Michelli, & Pickeral, …

Exemplar Advisors Fostering A Sense Of Mattering Within Undergraduate Students In The College Of Agricultural Sciences And Natural Resources, Nicole Michelle Smith

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

The purpose of this study was to identify what CASNR professional advisors are and could be doing to foster a sense of mattering within the undergraduate student population, which ultimately could impact retention and graduation rates. There was a need to understand the variance of advising experiences of undergraduate students and how exemplar professional advisors foster a sense of mattering in undergraduate students of CASNR. The focus of this research was to decipher if and how professional advisors foster a sense of mattering with undergraduate advisees. The problem of practice was that advising can impact retention and graduation rates through …

A Resource-Oriented Investigation Into The Community College Matriculation And Persistence Of U.S.-Educated English Language Learners, Naomi Mardock Uman

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

The purpose of this qualitative single case study with embedded units of analysis was to provide evidence of the personal, institutional, and community resources leveraged by U.S.-educated English language learners (US-ELLs) to matriculate and persist at community colleges and of how their educational experiences were shaped by community college policies and practices. By considering the experiences of multiple students through in-depth interviews and drawing on additional insight provided by interviews with institutional agents, this resource-oriented investigation into US-ELLs’ matriculation and persistence was designed to counter the prevailing deficit orientation that may limit educational opportunity for US-ELLs at community colleges. The …

Promoting And Establishing An Effective Campus-Wide Academic Advising System, Katie Kerr

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

This study explored the role of directors of campus-wide academic advising programs and their contributions to promoting and establishing effective campus-wide academic advising systems. Specifically, directors of campus-wide academic advising addressed how they engaged academic units within a unified campus-wide advising system. This included an exploration of how academic advising organizational structures in higher education institutions and leadership styles of directors of campus-wide advising contributed to the effectiveness of their work. Three themes materialized from this study: (a) emergence of the position of director of campus-wide advising, (b) advising organizational structure and culture, and (c) leadership strategies of directors of …

The Principal Evaluation: Connecting Principals’ Evaluation To The Growth And Development Process: A Case Study, Jackie Nielsen

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

With the evolution of the school principal, having an evaluation process which connects a principal’s growth and development to make a meaningful impact on their instructional leadership is vital to the success of K-12 education. Data were analyzed to determine if the principal evaluation process aided in the growth and development of the principal and assistant principal administrators. Data were collected in this qualitative case study from multiple sources: interviews, artifacts, observations, and evaluation documents. Seven (7) principals and one (1) assistant principal were interviewed about their perception of how the principal evaluation process connected to their growth and development …

Perspectives Of Rural Nebraska Community Leaders On Pre-Kindergarten In Public Schools, Bradley G. Stauffer

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

The investigator in this study explored perspectives of rural Nebraska community leaders on pre-kindergarten in public schools. Thirty rural Nebraska community leaders were interviewed, 10 from each of three different communities ranging in population from around 1,000 to 2,500. For this qualitative study, the investigator asked two primary research questions related to the impact of pre-kindergarten on:

1. Child development
2. Community development

Six main themes were derived from the interviews:

1. Child Development
2. Community Development
3. Changes in the Family and Society
4. Funding
5. Equity
6. Educating the Community

The literature review focused on the efficacy of pre-kindergarten and early childhood education. Three seminal research …

Rural Students’ Sense Of Belonging At A Large Public University, Benjamin P. Heinisch

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

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students from rural areas experience higher education environments and develop a sense of belonging at a large Midwestern public university. This study defined rural considering students’ hometown population size and density as well as each individual participant’s constructed reality of a rural identity (Crockett, Shanahan, & Jackson-Newsom, 2000). The following questions guided this study: (1) How does students’ identification with their rural background influence how they experience their college environment? (2) What do rural students see as key environmental factors affecting their sense of belonging? (3) Is the institution providing supportive environments for …