Education Commons^™

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study, William E. Scheuer Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. …

A Study Of The Perceptions Of School Administrators On Fostering Relational Trust With Teachers In Texas Urban Charter Schools, Meesha-Gay Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accountability has placed immense pressure on principals leading K-12 public charter schools to increase standards for success. Overwhelmingly, principals accept the charge to produce promising results every day, despite the public scrutiny principals may ensue for not meeting the state’s standard of excellence. Principals are expected to drive high academic standards, initiate instructional vision, interact with parents, oversee policy mandates, address students’ needs, and foster relationships with teachers. The daily demands requiring principals’ attention stimulate stress and may cause principals to wrestle with prioritizing trusted relationships. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how principals foster relational …

Educator Perceptions Of The Working Environment In Tennessee Elementary Schools That Actively Employ Positive Behavior Supports And Restorative Practices, Scott Thomas Lamie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study captured the experiences of elementary educators with the purpose of gathering their perceptions of the use of restorative practices and positive behavior supports in their schools with a particular focus on how these programs influenced school climate, their professional efficacy, and their job satisfaction. Results of interviews lead to the emergence of seven major themes, which were the importance of understanding the underlying causes of student behavior, change, common practices of positive behavior supports and restorative practices, benefits for students, benefits for educators, struggles with implementation, and suggestions for implementation. These findings led to the identification of …

Student Achievement And Teacher Perceptions Of School Climate In Title 1 And Non-Title 1 Schools, Jennifer E. Pangle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between student achievement and teacher perceptions of school climate. An additional purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in teacher perceptions between Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. The final purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in teacher perceptions of school climate among the schools according to overall student achievement. A series of Spearman’s Correlation analyses were used to analyze data to determine if there was a significant relationship between TVAAS composite …

Schooling Black Males: Hegemonic Discourses, Structural Barriers, And Strategic Resistance, Cleo Wadley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black males have scored at the lowest levels of academic achievement compared to other racial groups in many Texas school districts. The achievement gap for this population of students has been explained by both material constraints and oppressive hegemonic discourses. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to understand how such barriers and discourses affected these students and how the students negotiated their experiences in school. This study was designed to describe the problem, its background and to discuss a relevant theoretical framework. This study examined the academic achievement data for Black males and the current literature on adverse …

Creating Safe Schools: An Exploratory Study Of Educator Perspective On Student Behavior And Restorative Practices In Schools Implementation, Rachel Danielle Vargas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Restorative practices in schools (RPS) is an Integrated Student Support process that many U.S. K-12 schools utilize to combat student behavior and racial disparities against students. Initial research suggests that RPS is a successful tool to drop suspension rates, create safe school environments, and help students stay engaged in school. However, there is not sufficient empirical evidence to support a successful implementation model, leading to mixed results and opinions about the effectiveness of RPS. The purpose of this study was to explore the program processes of RPS and determine effective implementation strategies that lead to successful student outcomes. Data were …

The Value Of Peer Supervisory Practices, Josh Tripp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the country schools have continuously looked to find ways to increase student achievement. In response to state and federal policy, school districts have used evaluative processes and accountability measures to increase teacher effectiveness. Despite a significant body of research that supports the effect of supervisory practices on teacher effectiveness, this focus on formal evaluation has detracted from the time and resources allocated to instructional supervision. Due to COVID-19, schools across the nation have been forced to provide remote learning opportunities to students. Essentially, this new style of teaching has turned all educators, regardless of experience, into first-year teachers. The …

Beginning Teachers' Perceptions Of Administrator Involvement In The Beginning Teacher Induction Process: A Phenomenological Study, Rachel Shepherd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how the involvement of the principal and assistant principal in the beginning teacher (BT) induction process influences both self-efficacy and retention from the perspective of beginning teachers in a rural district in northwestern North Carolina. While research exists that highlights the importance of an induction process for beginning teachers in their first year of teaching and the need for fostering self-efficacy among beginning teachers, little analysis has been conducted specifically on the role of the principal or assistant principal in building beginning teachers’ self-efficacy during that process. The underlying framework of this …

Examining How Black Administrator Employment Decisions Are Impacted By The Behaviors Of Supervisors, Annie Wilson Whitaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how Black, public school administrator employment decisions are impacted by the behaviors of supervisors in Virginia. Commonalities among the lived experiences of Black, public school administrators were examined in order to identify specific behaviors which impact employment decisions.

Transcendental phenomenological qualitative research design was utilized. Participants were identified through gatekeeper introductions and then narrowed through snow-ball sampling. Data was collected through open-ended face-to-face interviews with 12 Black, public school administrators in Virginia via a secure online platform. The data was analyzed in order to identify emergent themes which represent the lived …

Is There More Than One Way? Examining Alternative Pathway Teacher Effectiveness Through The Experiences And Perceptions Of Principals In Urban, Low-Socioeconomic Schools In Oklahoma, Julianne Hennessy Denton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher quality continues to be recognized as one of the strongest predictors of student success and school improvement. The quality of an educator is also critical to being able to address the growing achievement and opportunity gap in schools and communities that are marked by concentrated poverty. Therefore, principals are under significant pressure to recruit, train, support, and retain highly qualified teachers, so all students have access to quality education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to generate knowledge of alternative pathway teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom from an administrative point of view, specifically in urban, low socioeconomic, …

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 …

Dismantling The Education-Survival Complex: A Qualitative Case Study Of How High School Youth Resist Whitestream School Policies And Foster School Change Through A Youth-Development Organization, Tracie Trinidad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to critically examine how youth resist whitestream school policies and foster educational change through community sociopolitical youth-development organizations. The methodology for this study is a qualitative case study (Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990; Merriam, 1988), as I am focused on participant perceptions and experiences, and how they make sense of their resistance experience through participation in sociopolitical youth development organizations like Youth for Social and Political Activism (YSPA). In total, eight participants spoke about their racial identity through their lived experiences in public school and YSPA programming.

The data and analysis are presented in the …