Education Commons^™

Chapter 14: Strategies For Mitigating Bias In Training And Development, Quinton L. Marks, Bilal El-Amin, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D.

Management Faculty Publications

This chapter will examine the importance of mitigating bias in training and development, which provides internal and external scanning, thus mitigating bias in selection, promotion, compensation, information sharing, and implicit biases. Further, bias in training and development arises when training participants are intentionally or unintentionally targeted because of individual aspects of the “Big 8,” consisting of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, religion/spirituality, nationality, and socioeconomic status. Akin to research, information bias results from misleading training participants by providing incomplete information or showing imaging that is not representative of a diverse group of people. Additionally, DEIB training and development …

Chapter 13: Reconceptualizing Diversity Training Predictors Of Training Success, Shakoor Ward, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D.

Management Faculty Publications

The results of in-depth meta-analyses of diversity training outcomes reveal that cognitive learning is the strongest effect from diversity training, while smaller effects were behavioral and attitudinal change. Further results of the analysis suggest that successful diversity training occurs when learning is the goal, not impact from behavior or attitude changes. An adapted version of The Kirkpatrick Training and Evaluation Model is highlighted to demonstrate how to design an evaluation that measures actual learning, rather than perceived learning. In addition, the Plus/Delta feedback tool is introduced as an effective evaluation tool to identify what is going well and what needs …

Preface: Implementing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Belonging In Educational Management Practices, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D.

Management Faculty Publications

The social and political changes of this era have created a fundamental shift in how businesses view the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace. Successful businesses are now achieved by incorporating DEIB initiatives and managing inclusive workforces. Thus, it is imperative to understand how leaders implement DEIB educational change initiatives as well as how they make significant, sustainable changes by utilizing communication abilities, conflict management skills, and servant leadership. Simultaneously, educational stakeholders must vet essential change management processes and principles.

Central Office Leadership: The Importance Of Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Belonging In The Ivory Tower, Natasha N. Johnson Edd

CJC Publications

As a consequence of their multiple identities, underrepresented leaders often navigate both racialized and gendered pathways to leadership in the U.S. education industry. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the impact of their intersecting identities and the structural barriers in this sector. To deepen our collective understanding of this phenomenon, the author reviews existing theories and research related to the intersection of race and gender within the educational leadership sphere. More specifically, the author highlights the individual and compounding effects of gender and race on the professional realities of current and aspiring leaders in education at the Central Office (i.e., …

Leading For Excellence, Erin Riley

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study is to determine the degree of importance for the 12 step principles of leadership proposed by Harvey, Drolet, and DeVore (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public middle school principals. A secondary purpose is to explore and describe the leadership strategies for implementing the 12 step principles of leadership proposed by Harvey, Drolet, and DeVore (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public middle school principals.

Methodology: This explanatory mixed-methods study was completed to examine …

Culturally Relevant Practices And Community: Increasing Minority Leadership In School Administration To Improve School Climate, Cassandra Suggs, Joy N. Rogers

Dissertations

This dissertation and research looks into the area of Culturally Relevant Practices and Leadership in K-12 schools and the potential effect on all students in having minority leadership present. The research dives into interviews of teachers, hiring leaders, district leaders and building leaders. It also uses survey results from over 700 students, with the central theme of the questions around school safety, climate, culture, support, academics and a sense of belonging. The research purpose was to look into the potential positive effect on students and staff, if Culturally Relevant Practices and hiring of minority leadership was in place within school …

Female African American Deans’ Rise To Success: Navigating And Conquering Self-Sabotaging Behaviors By Taking Back Their Power, Davina Bailey

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed-method study was to identify and describe self-sabotaging behaviors experienced by female African American Deans in higher education and to explore the impact these behaviors had on their career development. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify strategies employed by female African American Deans in higher education to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors.

Methodology: This sequential explanatory mixed-method study explored the lived experiences of nine female African American deans who acknowledged they had experienced self-sabotaging behaviors throughout their careers. The researcher distributed an electronic Likert scale survey to the participants to identify the most …

Case Study: Exploration Into Principal's Educational Leadership Training And Their Preparation To Lead Special Education Programs In Schools, Tyriq D'Shon Simmons

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explore the educational leadership training experiences in special education for school principals of public charter schools in Washington D.C. Guiding this study, is the theory of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), contributed by Shulman (1986), and the social constructivist theory contributed by Lev Vygotsky (1978). These theories seek to explain the relationship between what principals are expected to know and do based on leadership content knowledge and practical application, specifically in terms of leading special education programs in schools. The central question of this study is: What are the experiences of school principals …

The Effects Of Nomophobia On Employee Engagement, Amber Joy Shirlyn Daniel

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The study outlines the path that the researcher took to investigate the phenomenon of nomophobia as it relates to employee engagement. In the first two chapters, the researcher outlines a synopsis of the problem, presents gleanings from a review of pertinent literature on employee engagement and nomophobia, and articulates a basic conceptual framework for the study. The researcher also shares how the data was collected and analyzed in the third chapter of this document. In the fourth chapter, the method is articulated and finally, results and recommendations are shared in the last chapter.

A Principal's Plc: Supporting The Development Of Professional Learning Communities Through The Lens Of A School Leader, Allison Beth Stein

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: Supportive principals are essential to the successful development of professional learning communities in schools, and student achievement is also significantly impacted by school leadership. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine principals’ actions, beliefs, and perspectives related to the development of professional learning communities in a suburban school district north of Chicago.Methods: Research participants included nine building principals from the target school district. Each principal was interviewed individually for approximately eighty minutes. An open coding method was used to flexibly identify common themes or concepts. Multiple coding cycles were used to further refine patterns and improve …

Building A School Culture Of Success For Multilingual Learners: A Multiple Case Study Of Perspectives From Secondary School Leaders, John P. Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

The present study seeks to address achievement and opportunity gaps for Multilingual Learners (MLs) by studying secondary schools who have established a school culture that prioritizes ML support and success. It draws on existing literature in the fields of ML best practices, educational leadership, and school culture research to study case schools in order to distill from their lived experiences recommendation for practitioners. The author used a multiple case study methodology to delve into four case schools identified as exemplars of cultures for ML success. The author used in-depth qualitative interviews to find out if leaders in any secondary schools …

Educational Transformational Leadership And Teacher Organizational Citizenship Behavior Motives, Jeremy T. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A principal’s leadership is a key part to the success of a school as their leadership guides both instructional and organizational leadership. Teachers often work beyond their formal duties to see that all of their students have their needs met including academic, social, and physical. The performance of such behaviors is referred to as Organizational Citizenship Behavior, which is when followers display behaviors that benefit the organization or its members beyond their current job requirements. This study investigated the relationship between principal’s transformational leadership and teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and related motivating factors. Participants from a single suburban school district …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Impact Of University Field Supervision On Administrative Mindsets: Considerations For Redesign, Neil Faulk, Thomas Harvey, Brett Welch, Gary E. Martin

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to evaluate perceptions of principal preparation program candidates regarding the impact professional coaching and field supervision had on the development of their administrative mindsets. A secondary purpose was to determine if there was a significant difference in perceptions regarding the impact that professional coaching and field supervision had on administrative mindsets when comparing students who received face-to-face field supervision and coaching activities to those involved in online field supervision and coaching activities. Forty percent of the 150 principal candidates contacted in this study responded to a survey regarding their practicum field experiences. Candidates noted …

Exemplary Leadership During Turbulent Times: A Study Of Wartime Navy Submarine Commanders From 2001 To 2009, Rodney Lee Perryman

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe behaviors that exemplary Navy submarine commanders practice to lead their command through turbulent times using the leadership attributes of personal temperament, concern for the collective interest, resilience, and moral purpose.

Methodology: This phenomenological study explored the specific leadership behaviors of personal temperament, concern for the collective interest, resilience, and moral purpose that occur during turbulent times by analyzing in-depth interviews with exemplary United States Navy Submarine Commanding Officers. The study sample for this research is ten Groton, Connecticut area United States Navy submarine commanding officers who have at least fifteen …

Factors Influencing Stakeholder Support Of A Bond Referendum In A Rural Kansas School District, Joshua M. Woodward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence stakeholder support of bond elections targeted for capital improvements in a rural school district in Kansas. The study uses existing research to identify factors that influence school bond referendum success. To better understand the factors identified in the research literature that influence stakeholder support in the focus district, data were gathered from stakeholders within the school district of focus through a perceptual survey and focus group interviews.

The availability of research on school bond referendum success and failure is plentiful. However, specific research on factors that influence rural school …

A Phenomenological Study On Teacher Perceptions Of The Influence Of Governance On Teacher Retention In Ugandan Private Primary Christian Schools, Jomo Zizwe Morani Thomas Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to answer the following central research question, “what are teachers’ perceptions of the effects of governance on teacher retention in private primary Christian schools in Uganda?” The theoretical model that guided this study was an integrated model comprising distributed leadership and transformational leadership and its relationship to governance influences on teacher retention. The study utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology for data analysis. The selected participants were comprised of 13 teachers from four approved Christian primary school sites located in the Wakiso district of Uganda. The primary data collection methods were individual questionnaires, …

Elementary Principal And Special Education Teacher Perspectives Of Instructional Leadership For Special Education, Jennifer Norton

Education Dissertations

Focus on instructional leadership for school principals continues to be prominent in educational research and reform, as accountability for student achievement increases. The relationship between instructional leadership and special education needs more representation in research and literature. In this study, a review of relevant historical and current research regarding principal instructional leadership is presented with a contemporary conceptual framework of instructional leadership. Using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS), perceptions of principal engagement in instructional leadership behaviors were examined through the viewpoints of elementary principals and special education teachers in the State of Washington. Data generated by the PIMRS …

Flatten The Hierarchy To Elevate The Profession: The Need For Teacher Leadership To Reinstate Educators As Professionals, Sarah Wasser

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to discover how flattening the educational hierarchy by creating career ladders for teachers as teacher leaders can help elevate teachers to a professional status and elevate their professional self-perceptions. A historical look at education yields a field that has been embattled by politicians, philanthropists, intellectuals, business leaders, social scientists, media outlets, activists, and the public (Goldstein, 2015; Mehta, 2013b, 2013a). Isolation is an ingrained factor that is inherent in the profession itself. There is very little emphasis on sustained learning and growth. Teaching, like nursing, social work, and other highly feminized fields, does not …

The Middle To High School Transition: An Applied Research Study To Improve And Support High School Readiness In High-Poverty Schools, Robert Davis Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The applied research study aimed to improve high school readiness for eighth-grade students transitioning to ninth-grade in high-poverty schools. Middle school educators are struggling to prepare students for ninth-grade without the proper transition support programs. This applied research study's framework was based on improving student performance, preventing academic achievement loss, addressing social-emotional learning, and informing students of operational procedures to prepare them for the high school environment. An action plan was developed and implemented in three phases to address each element of concern intentionally. Phase one consisted of Saturday Academy tutoring to improve student performance in reading and math. Implementation …

Social Justice Leadership In Catholic Secondary Schools: A Critical Examination Of Social Justice Orientation And Praxis, Linda Nguyễn

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand the impact of a leader’s social justice orientation on their praxis of social justice. The study also sought to discover the successes and challenges associated with enacting social justice. Nine Catholic secondary school leaders in the California Archdiocese participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to understand how social justice orientation affects social justice praxis. The data analysis indicates that the social justice outcomes of a school site are greatly impacted by the school leader’s justice-orientation. Findings revealed that justice-orientation is dependent on two factors: the self-efficacy of the leader and …

A Phenomenological Study On The Impact Of Servant Leadership For Establishing A Culture Of High Performance As Perceived By High School Principals, Darrick Rice

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the perceived impact of Patterson’s (2003) 7 servant leadership constructs on high school principals in establishing a culture of high performance.

Methodology: The qualitative phenomenological study described the lived experiences of high school principals who lead schools that have implemented Patterson's (2003) 7 servant leadership constructs for establishing a culture of high performance in Los Angeles County, California. The researcher was a part of 8 peer researchers and 2 faculty advisors. The data collection included virtual face-to-face semi structured interviews using a protocol developed by the thematic team. …

Pandemic Policy Preparedness: Unintentional Student Discrimination In The Wake Of Covid-19, Jerry Burkett, Danielle Reynolds

School Leadership Review

Educational leadership requires a set of skills and practices that are shaped by professional ethics. Professional ethics are the dynamics of both personal and professional ethics and requires educational leaders to understand how these ethical codes drive interactions and decisions especially in difficult situations (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). Anderson (2014) argues that educational leaders may not have the deeper understanding of social justice necessary to “better scholarship, but also to better practice” (pp. x) due to the current expectations of leaders including increasing test scores and accountability ratings and addressing social and emotional learning.

Adding to the current expectations of …

Mixed Methods Study Of Special Education Training In Educational Leadership Preparation Programs In Rural Georgia, Robert Lewis-Vice

Theses and Dissertations

This research study addressed the problem that school leaders may not be adequately prepared to address the needs of an increasing population of students with special needs. The purpose of the study was to examine the difference between beliefs and perceptions of middle and high school leaders and special education teachers about the knowledge and skills necessary to implement special education programs effectively. The conceptual framework of this study focused on the preparation of principals and assistant principals at the university level through certification programs and district level programs. For this causal-comparative research design study, the quantitative and qualitative data …

Multi-Touch Books In Higher Education: A Study Of Educational Leadership And Policy For Schools Of Education, Jason M. Cascio

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Technology points to gaps in higher education adoption of learning technologies where decisions are based on a digital tool’s efficacy and unique capabilities, rather than the role they play in effective teaching and learning (Grush, 2019). Higher Education institutions and their faculty postpone technical decision-making. This results in an educational system ill-equipped to meet the needs of students, faculty, and sufficient digital fluency of graduates and the workforce. By integrating current, interactive tools into teaching materials, such as multi-touch books, or iBooks, faculty can meet their students’ learning needs, thereby improving competencies and ability to track their assessment and engagement …

Title I Schools And Strategies That Work, Michelle Manriquez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the strategies principals of Title I schools perceived as most effective in improving English language arts (ELA) scores by at least 10 points, through the lens of WestEd’s Four Domains of Rapid School Improvement.

Methodology: This study utilized a qualitative methodology to gather data via the California Dashboard and semi-structured interviews of 11 principals from 11 different sites in northern California that showed at least 10-point growth on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test. The interview questions were based on the Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: …

Difference Between Principals’ Attitudes And Beliefs Of Their Preparedness To Support Students With Disabilities In The General Education Setting, Debra Delaine

Theses and Dissertations

The transformative role of the school principal has been the topic among several states for almost 40 years. Researchers have documented the disconnect between educational leadership programs and real-world experiences for principals. The push continues for principals to move away from solely focusing on the managerial aspects of the job to becoming the instructional leaders of their building with an emphasis on student outcomes, which has caused a sense of urgency among principals and educational leadership preparation programs. Students with disabilities were typically the responsibility of the special education director, until the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. …

Stranger In A Strange Land: Old Chair, New University, Juliet V. Spencer, Vagner M. Whitehead, George A. King

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

There are opportunities and challenges associated with appointing a chair from within and from outside the organization. This discussion will consider multiple aspects and focus on considerations for changing institutions to assume the chair position.

Teacher Perception Of Administrators' Leadership Qualities Based On The Administrator's Biological Sex, Jennifer Derickson Washington

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Determining the criteria necessary for an educational leader or principal to be effective by including employees, such as teachers in evaluating their principals, may aid in strengthening educational leadership overall. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine if there is a difference between teacher perception of their administrator’s leadership qualities of inspiring a shared vision, modeling the way, and enabling others to act based on the biological sex of their administrator. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Observer form was used to measure the leadership quality of educational administrators as perceived by their teachers. The population for the …

The Perceptions Of Public High School Administrators Regarding The Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities In The General Education Classroom: A Phenomenological Study By Jennifer A. Thomasian, Jennifer Thomasian

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the perceptions of high school administrators in Southern California regarding how they interpret and implement specific federal and state policies concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom and to identify additional factors high school administrators perceive affect implementation. It was also the purpose of this study to describe how high school administrators perceive that their prior experiences with students with disabilities impact their interpretation and implementation of policies concerning inclusion.

Methodology: A sample of participants was selected from the target population of administrators serving at …

Leading For Excellence: Leadership Behaviors That Support A High-Achieving School Environment, Amy Parangan

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the degree of importance for the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey, Drolet, and DeVore (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public school elementary principals in Northern California. A secondary purpose was to explore and describe the leadership strategies for implementing the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey et al. (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public school elementary principals in Northern California.

Methodology: The researcher used sequential explanatory mixed methods for this …