Education Commons^™

Evaluating Principal Effectiveness: A Review Of The Literature, Jerry Burkett

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The evaluation of a campus principal can be a challenging process due largely to the complicated factors that exist to capture an accurate assessment of a principal’s leadership effectiveness. Generally, principal evaluations are conducted by district-level officials who often do not have the time or the resources to observe campus principals on a regular basis. Further, principal evaluation systems (PES) are designed to improve the practice of principals (Clifford & Ross, 2012; Davis, Kearney, Sanders, Thomas, & Leon, 2011; Fuller & Hollingworth, 2014a; Fuller et al., 2015), and there has historically been an acknowledgment that these evaluations do not always …

Career And Technical Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Instructional Feedback From Supervisors, Brooke L. Thiel, Justin V. Benna, Breanna Pastir, Nikki Fideldy-Doll

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The purpose of this study was to examine Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers’ perceptions of feedback from supervisors. All CTE teachers in North Dakota were surveyed during early 2023. A series of one-way ANOVAs and t-tests were run to compare the differences in teachers’ perceptions based upon reported professional characteristics. The results of the study indicate that, even though CTE is different from other content areas, CTE teachers still prefer pedagogical feedback over content-specific feedback. Unless, however, the supervising principal was a former CTE teacher, then the feedback related to their lived experience seemed to be valued by …

Educator Experiences In The Reshaping Of Schools During Challenging Times: "The New Normal Or Is It?", Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Pamela Wells

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this photovoice study was to better understand how the recent COVID-19 global health pandemic has professionally and emotionally impacted current school leadership. Educators faced varied challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from in-class to online or hybrid learning and often back and forth between both. The findings identified three overarching themes as major challenges faced by school leaders and professional school counselors during this pandemic: problem solving, emotional brutality, and exhaustion. The findings inform education stakeholders and policymakers about the experiences of educators in times of crisis, specifically during the recent global health pandemic. …

Potential For Shared Vision: What Gt Middle School Teachers Say They Need In Times Of Transition, Michelle L. Leverette

School Leadership Review

"Potential for shared vision: What GT middle school teachers say they need in times of transition" aims to provide relevant data that speaks to current campus needs in a time of pandemic-affected era transitional learning in PK-12 public education. As current educational leaders seek to address the academic and behavioral needs of students, the findings from this research study taken during Covid protocols express three areas of need: (a) a need for open lines of communication between teachers and parents of GT students, (b) a need for clarification of the definition of GT middle school student “success”, and (c) a …

Improving The High School And College Classroom Experience For Learners With Refugee Status: Theory, Practice, And Change., Kayte Thomas, Sara-Jean Lipmen

Journal of Applied Disciplines

Refugee populations are increasing globally, and children make up more than fifty percent of those displaced. Unique experiences that come with forced migration including fragmented education, trauma, family separation, grief, and adverse other effects can impact learning in the classroom for refugee students. Existing data indicates that schools lack sufficient protocols to meet the needs of students with refugee status who consistently face risks associated with ill-prepared learning environments, and therefore must rethink possibilities to address this. By adopting strategic decolonized approaches, educational leaders can create supportive environments which improve instructional methods and learning outcomes for these students as they …

Establishing Connectivity And Trust In High Schools During Covid-19, Lisa De Leon, Matthew D. Wilkens

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Although meta-leadership was originally a framework used to examine healthcare leadership in crisis, it is also a valuable framework for educational leadership. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused school leaders to endure a crucible of fire in every area, such as balancing children’s safety with losses to education quality. The action plans of educators are frequently in flux as the pandemic evolves and unfolds. The continuation of this crisis has led to uncertainty, and at times, chaos.

This study examines how meta-leadership, with emphasis on connectivity, has been applied by educational leadership in American high schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 …

Exploration Of The Relationships Between Principal Preparation Program Admission Requirements And Program Performance, Summer Pannell

School Leadership Review

Admission criteria for principal preparation programs vary from state to state and even amongst universities within the same state. Despite the recommendation nearly two decades ago to connect admission criteria to leadership standards, little research has been done to help develop such criteria. This study examined principal preparation program admissions requirements at one southern university to determine if a relationship existed between admission criteria, academic program performance, and performance on educational leadership licensure assessments. The Pearson product-moment correlation found a statistically significant correlation between, both, the GRE and GRE Writing assessments and the School Leadership Licensure Assessment for educational administrator …

Perceptions Of Leadership Styles In International Special And General Education Schools In The United Arab Emirates, Kaitlin M. Jackson

Journal of Global Education and Research

Given that school leadership styles are linked to educational outcomes, this study attempted to identify perceived leadership styles of school leaders in two types of schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): (a) international special education schools, which serve exclusively students with disabilities and (b) international general education schools, which serve primarily typically developing students. By utilizing primarily quantitative methods with supplementary qualitative analysis, this study also explored the influence of teacher demographic variables on perceptions of leadership styles. Results indicated a difference in perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership by school type based on teacher education level, as well …

Leading The Initial Implementation Phase Of Tandemed In Relationship With The Pittsburgh Public Schools, Brian C B Barnes

Journal of Research Initiatives

TandemEd facilitates Black communities to create campaigns that highlight their positive racial identity and self-defined educational purpose. This article examines leadership of the initial implementation phase of the TandemEd community initiative in relationship with the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) focusing primarily on the interactions with the superintendent and executive director of the superintendent’s office. The results included ongoing support from PPS as TandemEd formed a citywide steering committee of highly community legitimated persons, executed a leadership and campaign academy for thirty-five Pittsburgh youth, and facilitated design and delivery of various cable television commercials on identity and purpose in the Greater …

Educational Leaders’ Attempts At Holding The Fort: A Transformative Endeavor In Lebanon, Layla Y. Itani, Nemr Freiha

School Leadership Review

Despite its small size, Lebanon has had its fair share of nationwide turbulences that further instigated conflict and instability among the Lebanese population. The crises have weighed heavily on the educational system in Lebanon and has impeded its operations on many fronts. However, educational leaders have attempted to adopt transformative practices in addressing the anticipated and unanticipated challenges. Educational leaders in Lebanon have learned to perceive that ‘the only constant is change,’ and have come to realize and acknowledge that their goals of enhancing educational experiences remain the same but the paths to achieve these goals are nonlinear.

Fresh Beginnings: Promoting A Culture Of Teacher Inquiry Through Passion In The Profession, Jonathan Hart, Divonna Stebick

Journal of Practitioner Research

Teachers are required to participate in professional development and seek meaningful opportunities to truly grow in the profession. Teacher inquiry, or teacher research, is one way to accomplish professional development goals. Teacher inquiry is thought of as individualized, personalized, and meaningful professional development (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). Teacher inquiry must go beyond a teacher wondering (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2020) where teachers develop a project from their own practice, collect data, and draw conclusions to continue their professional development. In this study a cohort of certificated professionals engaged in a year-long project that included asking research questions and developing an independent …

Instructional Supervision: Is It Culturally Responsive? A Textbook Analysis, Patricia L. Guerra, A. Minor Baker, Ann Marie Cotman

Journal of Educational Supervision

The purpose of this study was to determine whether and to what degree textbooks are preparing aspiring principals as culturally responsive instructional supervisors. After evaluating multiple textbooks against selection criteria, SuperVision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach, was identified as the study’s unit of analysis. An audit of the subject index was conducted to answer: How are culturally responsive instructional supervision competencies addressed in this leading supervision textbook? Findings revealed content related to cultural responsiveness was concentrated in a chapter at the back of the textbook and the clinical supervision cycle, a powerful means of changing instructional practices (Gordon, …

Personal Reflections On Supervision As Instructional Leadership: From Whence It Came And To Where Shall It Go?, Jeffrey Glanz

Journal of Educational Supervision

The field of supervision has perennially struggled to define itself and, hence, find a niche within the larger field of education and, more narrowly, even within the field of instructional leadership. A sort of an odd, almost contradictory state exists, one in which precludes, in my opinion, the field of supervision from gaining traction as a field, but also, perhaps more importantly, as an influential practice in schools. Books on supervision seem popular, but only in title. In others words, publishers, for instance, prefer the word "supervision" as part of the title of books they publish on the subject, whereas …

Self-Evaluation Of Educational Leadership Practices During Covid-19, Mike Coquyt

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts, and specifically, superintendents, are under increased pressure to lead. Irregularity and ambiguity are now the mantras of those tasked with leading in our schools. Many current research studies aim to evaluate the possible effects of COVID-19 on the system of education (Azorín, 2020; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2020), and advice on how to lead during a crisis (Harris & Jones, 2020; Leithwood et al., 2020, Netolicky, 2020). There are no standards or benchmarks to follow that could potentially aid school leaders as they navigate, lead, and make important decisions that affect how quality instruction …

Towards A Theory Of Critical Consciousness: A New Direction For The Development Of Instructional And Supervisory Leaders, Shannon R. Waite

Journal of Educational Supervision

COVID-19 and the demand for racial justice caused the dark underbelly of white supremacy to be laid bare during 2020. These events call for a reexamination of the ontological and epistemological frameworks in academe and specifically within the field of educational leadership. The legacy of white supremacist ideology prevails as the existing and accepted ontological and epistemological perspectives of history offered in PreK-12 through post-secondary education. The political, economic, and social context highlights the need for instructional and supervisory leaders to be culturally responsive school leaders. This requires that programs preparing these leaders must grapple with and problematize the existing …

The Effect Of School Tasks On Principals' And Assistant Principals’ Leadership Self-Efficacy, Torri Jackson, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Summer Pannell, Richard E. Cleveland, Suzanne B. Miller, Katherine Fallon

School Leadership Review

The pressure to lead schools effectively while fulfilling instructional leadership and school management tasks could impact school administrators’ perceptions of their leadership capabilities. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to identify the relationship between the varied tasks of school administrators as related to their leadership self-efficacy. Data were collected from 73 school administrators to ascertain leadership self-efficacy of principals and assistant principals based upon the completion of instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks. The major findings of the study indicated a positive, linear relationship between leadership self-efficacy and the instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks of …

Leadership Performance Of Dale Carnegie, Nelson Mandela And Lee Kwan Yew: Applications For Educators, Jean-Pierre Bongila

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

A biographical comparison or prosopography of three leaders Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) (Bacila, 2013), Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) (Kendall, 2014), and Lee Kwan Yew (1923-2015) (Kwang et al., 2015) might seem postmodern because of the divergence of times and cultures where they lived and the social statuses from which they performed their leadership. While Dale Carnegie was born to a poor farming family in Maryville, Missouri at the end of the 19th century America, Nelson Mandela’s family had aristocratic origins since his great-grand father was a tribal chief in South Africa (Lodge, 2006), and Lee Kwan Yew was a well to do …

Leading Leaders In Rethinking Grading: A Case Study Of Implementation Of Standards-Based Grading In Educational Leadership, Erin E. Lehmann

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this paper is to share the process of how one university instructor worked toward a shift to standards-based grading (SBG) in a graduate Educational Leadership program. Educational leadership programs use standards to guide coursework and instruction in an accountability era, but grading practices remain as subjective as they were 50 years ago. Educators of future leaders must address this need. In addition, instructors need to effectively communicate essential learning to students to understand their learning progression clearly; standards-based grading is designed to do this. The author shares best practices in grading as well as the challenges of …

Emotionally Agile Leadership Amid Covid-19, Adrianne Wilson

School Leadership Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the job requirements of school leaders and has negatively impacted the academic outcomes for students (Kuhfeld et al., 2020). As a result of the ongoing demands and stress caused by this pandemic, school leaders are at an increased risk for physical and mental health problems (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Brackett et al., 2018; Murphy, 2011; Sorenson, 2007) and, as a result, are less likely to continue in their profession long-term (Brackett et al., 2018; Farrace, 2020).

In an effort to subvert the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as future crises, this …

The Effects Of A Shared Vision Of Teacher Leadership On Classroom Teachers’ Instruction, Tiffany L. Bockelmann

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

Many models of instructional teacher leadership exist in schools with various outcomes for teachers. The aim of this illustrative case study was to understand systemic alignment in a formal teacher leadership system and how this alignment impacted instructional change. This dissertation was framed by three research questions: 1) How do the rationales of teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators regarding teacher leadership in their school align? 2) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to engage with formal teacher leaders? 3) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to …

Teaching Under Crisis: Impact And Implications Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Education In Minnesota, Boyd L. Bradbury, Ximena P. Suarez-Sousa, Mike Coquyt, Tiffany L. Bockelmann, Amy L. Pahl

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

A mixed-methods exploratory study was conducted to explore the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on Minnesota teachers. A convenience sample of 976 teachers were surveyed in mid-April 2020 via the Qualtrics version of the Swaggert Instructional Practice Under Crisis (SIPUC) questionnaire containing 43 questions. The SIPUC data were analyzed following the Leadership in Times of Crisis Framework for Assessment (Boin et al., 2013), that is, an emergency instructional triage to determine which teachers had been mostly impacted and the scope and effect the pandemic had on their instruction and lives. Teachers described the pandemic as an event that disrupted …

Educational Leaders Can Lead The Way For Increased Academic Achievement For Students On The Autism Spectrum, Stephanie C. Holmes, Jennifer Butcher

School Leadership Review

The problem that drove this study was the increasing number of students with autism entering the school system, and the barriers often encountered for both academic and social inclusion for students on the autism spectrum. Autism Spectrum Disorder, as defined by diagnostic criteria, includes deficits in social-relational communication; social-communication deficits can lead to educational impacts and limit opportunities upon transitioning from the public-school system. The purpose of this study was to examine the barriers to inclusion, from the perspectives of key stakeholders to include Local Education Agency (LEA) representatives, general and special education teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, speech-language pathologists …

Creating Stem Momentum: Culturally Relevant Leadership And Hispanic Girls In High School T- Stem Programs In The Southwest Border Region, Antoinette Howard, Pamela Gray, Kristin Kew

School Leadership Review

This qualitative multi-case research study identified culturally relevant leadership practices that influence the outreach, recruitment, and retention of Hispanic girls in Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (T-STEM) programs in a School District in the Southwest Border region. Educators have a social justice responsibility to challenge the inequitable social, cultural, and political constructs in their schools and districts and address the unique needs of students who represent underserved racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Administrators in this study acknowledged the hegemonic structures and barriers they and their students faced and shared some of their strategies and ideologies for school improvement and …

To Empathize, Or Not Empathize In Educational Leadership, Mei Jiang, Shulan Lu

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

In this paper, we discuss transformational leadership and propose that empathy is at the heart of transformational leadership. We review the research on empathy and discuss the implication of these insights in educational leadership. We highlight the multifaceted and interconnected nature of empathy and discuss components of empathy that are most relevant to educational leaders. Recognizing one’s constraints on the empathy scale could protect leaders from burnout and poor decision making.

Losing As And Fs: What Works For Schools Implementing Standards-Based Grading?, Matt Townsley, Tom Buckmiller

Educational Considerations

Learning goals such as the Common Core State Standards are helping educational leaders to better understand the critical role assessment and grading plays in the teaching and learning process. In response to the growing body of empirical research on the topic of accurate grading practices, a number of schools are moving away from letter grades and adopting standards-based grading which separately report learning goals from work habits. The purpose of this essay is to document what works when K-12 schools implement standards-based grading through a deep dive into related literature and to suggest areas for future consideration. With this improvement …

Making Sense Of Georgia School Leader Evaluation: Climate, Engagement And The District Office, Bipul Singh, Matt Townsley

Georgia Educational Researcher

Assessment of principal effectiveness is a complex process due to the multidimensional nature of their job. Historically, a disproportionate significance has been placed on standardized assessment scores when evaluating school leaders, therefore states are beginning to emphasize other factors such as school climate in order to increase employee retention. This study investigated any correlation between leadership effectiveness, the staff perception of school climate, and employee engagement in a suburban Georgia school district’s 139 schools. An improved understanding of these constructs may assist principals and assistant principals modify their leadership practices to better meet the needs of their teachers. Results suggest …

Twenty Years In The Trenches: A Fight For Equitable And Adequate School Funding In Ohio, Connor J. Fewell, Michael E. Hess, Charles L. Lowery

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

This single case study examined the perceptions of William L. “Bill” Phillis, the Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, concerning an unconstitutional funding model, subsequent sociopolitical barriers, and their impact on students and school districts from underprivileged socioeconomic background within the context of the DeRolph v. State of Ohio legal battle. This research adds to the extant literature on the educational implications of the property tax and foundation model of school funding. As well, we discuss William’s insights regarding the politics, nature, and development of the current state of public school financing …

Walking The Talk: Embedding Standards-Based Grading In An Educational Leadership Course, Matt Townsley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for educational leadership faculty who aspire to walk the talk of effective feedback by embedding standards-based grading (SBG) in their courses. Rather than focusing on learning, points are the currency of K-12 classrooms across the country. Over 100 years of grading research suggests typical grading practices are subjective at best. Some schools are responding by implementing SBG, yet few articles describe how higher education embeds this philosophy in educator preparation coursework. In this essay, the author documents how to design assessments, align rubrics, and provide feedback to aspiring school leaders …

A Case Study Of The Development Of A Career Academy: Good Intentions Not Enough?, Victor M. Hernandez-Gantes, Edward C. Fletcher Jr., Sasha Keighobadi

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The purpose of this study was to explore how a career academy featuring an information technology (IT) theme approached the adoption of the model and the particular curricular focus. We used a case study design to explore the experiences of school personnel and community partners associated with the implementation of the career academy. We found that growing enrollment in the local district was a major driver to pursue small school designs as an alternative to the traditional high school comprehensive model. The small school size associated with small learning communities was valued by stakeholders and used to adopt and implement …

In Defense Of Public Schools: A Toolkit From The Midwest, Ferial Pearson, Ann Hunter-Pirtle

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

One of the defining features of public schools is that they operate at the will of the people, with public oversight from elected school boards. In addition to being free and open to all, free from religious affiliation, and promoting civic understanding and participation, much of what makes public schools public happens through the democratic process. We have noticed that many teachers are so overworked and overwhelmed - rightly focused on their own classrooms and their own students’ day to day struggles - that it’s not easy for them to engage and advocate for themselves and their students in the …