Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Student Leadership Engagement On Meaning In Life And Work During College, Heather Janel Strine-Patterson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The rising need, cost, and debt for postsecondary education has increased attention and scrutiny on its value, and colleges and universities must underscore outcomes beyond employment of graduates. Psychological well-being is a promising area to expand the value of postsecondary education. Using correlations, multiple regression, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), this study seeks to contribute to an emergent body of empirical knowledge about the impact of postsecondary education on students’ well-being by specifically examining the relationship between participation in cocurricular and extracurricular experiences and students’ well-being defined by their sense of meaning in life and work. To this end, …

Qualitative Exploration Of Principal Behaviors In Elementary Schools Classified With High Climate And High Achievement, Christian Kirby, Christian Aubrey Kirby

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to gain a clear understanding of principal behaviors in high achieving/high climate elementary schools in North Georgia and the impact of these behaviors on future principal professional learning practices. This research study was conducted using a qualitative case study with a phenomenological approach. The particular phenomena studied in this research are the characteristics and behaviors exhibited by principals in elementary schools with high achievement and high climate ratings in one North Georgia School District. Case studies, by nature, involve a small target population.

The study analyzed total instructional programs, reducing the achievement gap, and …

Developing A Partnership In Teacher Preparation Program Between Colleges, Universities And School Districts: A Policy Advocacy Document, Leah Gauthier

Dissertations

Teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Many are unprepared for the rigors of the job, and others become overwhelmed with new initiatives. This problem is due in part to school districts in Illinois not currently being a part of the teacher preparation accreditation process for colleges and universities. This policy advocates for creating that partnership. The findings indicate that doing so will build expertise for the new teachers and help them stay in the classrooms. This, in turn, will help improve student achievement.

Influence Of Leadership Approaches On Intrinsic Motivation Of Career Professionals In Ontario Non-Profit Employment Agencies: An Exploratory Case Study, Mohammad Habib Ullah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This exploratory case study (Yin, 2009) investigated those leadership approaches that are used by mid-level managers of seven non-profit employment agencies in Ontario, Canada, to support the intrinsic motivation of seven career professionals who work with them. Unlike profit-earning organizations, career professionals of non-profit employment agencies in Ontario do not get any additional financial incentives for exceeding their targets of helping job seekers find sustainable employment. The research used a transformative learning theory lens (Mezirow, 1991), and also an Interpretivist framework (Merriam, 1998) to understand the data. This study also sought to find what motivates career professionals to reach and …

The Growth Mindset School Community, Christina A. Hild

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional school models perpetuate limited notions of ability. Established in systems designed to label and sort, educators must examine their beliefs about ability and the ways culture and power structures impact expectations and student achievement. By adopting a growth mindset lens and applying distributed leadership to systems within a school, educational leaders can enhance opportunities for all children. The Growth Mindset School Community describes an organization committed to growth and reflective processes intended to monitor thinking and procedures impacting learning and growth. Teacher expectations, feedback, assessment, and grading practices, behavior management, special education, teacher evaluation, and leadership models are all …

Leadership Strategies For Adapting To Changes In Ontario Colleges: Tensions, Dilemmas, And Opportunities For Continuing Education Deans/Administrative Leaders, Susan C. Cluett

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This exploratory case study explores unique leadership challenges facing Ontario college Continuing Education leaders as they navigate institutional responses to contemporary changes in the higher education landscape. Nine Ontario college deans/administrative leaders participated in semi-structured interviews that were analyzed using a modified version of constant comparative analysis. Adopting the theoretical perspectives of sensemaking and identity from an Interpretive stance, the analysis leads to the presentation of a conceptual model that represents the interpretation of these leaders’ experiences.

The conceptual model that emerged from this study adopts the position that sensemaking resolves identity ambiguities and is triggered by leadership challenges. These …

Culturally Responsive Educational Leadership: A Qualitative Study Of Indigenous Innovations, Bert Klunder

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study of culturally responsive educational leadership (CREL) explores noteworthy cases of system-wide innovation spanning decades through interviews with seven education professionals active within Indigenous movements and organizations driving Native Hawaiian education and the revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture. The research focus includes the Na Honua Mauli Ola Guidelines (and Pathways) for Culturally Healthy and Responsive Learning Environments, along with the preceding Kumu Honua Mauli Ola Philosophy Statement. Interviewees, all with direct connections to these innovations, illuminate their local and global significance through personal accounts of their development and implementation. The study’s uniquely situated methodology yields rich data …

Lead Like A Pirate: Fostering Leadership Development In Kindergarten Through Third Grade Girls, Jennifer Endres

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can a summer day camp foster leadership development in kindergarten through third grade girls? It documents the author’s creation of a two­week summer day camp as an innovative and fun way to begin leadership development in young girls. The “Lead like a Pirate” camp includes a variety of activities to expose young girls to skills that most highly resonate with leadership and overall future success, including: self­esteem and confidence, grit and growth mindset, communication, vulnerability, self­reflection and creativity. The girls will be encouraged to take risks and step out of their …

Educator Reaction To Secondary Students Having Leadership Roles, Noel R. Cronin

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, how do a diverse group of educators react to the idea of assigning secondary students leadership roles in teaching their peers and communicating information in the classroom environment? This capstone used a qualitative research design. An anonymous electronic survey was sent out via Survey Monkey to eighty participants. A total of forty were included in the analyses. The survey gathered information from five groups of educators. These included secondary teachers, military officers, flight instructors, coaches, and corporate trainers. Data analyses calculated the mean, median, and mode for each survey question. The mean …

Literacy Coaching: A Research Based Coaching Guide, Mary E. House

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The question that guided the work of the researcher was: What impact would a research based coaching guide have on a coach’s effectiveness with teachers, understanding that the end goal of coaching is increased student achievement? Research suggested that professional learning via coaching is key to building capacity in teachers. However, the researcher found that the role of the literacy coach in many schools is one with little or no initial training or a core resource from which to anchor a coach’s work with teachers. Research clearly suggested that the instructional coach role lacks effectiveness if the coach does not …

Discovering The Leader Within: An Autoethnophenomenographic Study Of Mindfulness In Educational Leadership, Alyssa Fraser

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study combined autoethnographic and phenomenological methods to examine a researcher-leader’s attempt to cultivate cognitive, relational, and emotional capacities through regular mindfulness practice, and how the cultivation of such capacities aligns with the enactment of leadership. The interrogation of lived experience and self-analysis was entered with the intention to better understand the promise of mindfulness as a resource for the development of educational leaders. This study explored the perceived connections between mindfulness practice and the enactment of educational leadership by examining internal and external perspectives of an individual leader’s practice. Methods of self-observation, including both interval and occurrence recording …

Full Circle: A Portraiture Study Of Three Successful Indigenous Educators And Community Leaders Who Experience Personal Renewal In Their Practice Of Cultural Restoration, Kathrin W. Mccarthy

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry uses the narrative methodology of portraiture to explore how the experiences of three successful Native educators and community leaders can contribute to the adult learning and development literature. In portraiture study the researcher uses diverse methods of gathering data, including interviews, observations of participants, and participant artifacts to co-construct a story of each participant’s life. Participants’ portraits were analyzed using well-established adult learning theories including Erickson’s developmental lifespan concept of generativity, Lave and Wenger’s concept of situated learning and communities of practice; Wlodkowski’s concepts of motivation and culture; Belenky and her colleagues’ conceptions of voice as development; …

Crisis Communication In Higher Education, Andrea L. Northam

Leadership Education Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Of The Relationship Between Professional Learning Communities And Teacher Efficacy, Rebecca Carter

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Traditionally, professional development opportunities to improve teaching and learning have been practiced through isolated events that do not allow learning to happen within the context of the school. Research showed schools are beginning to implement professional learning communities. This descriptive single case study addressed the questions: (a) What are teachers’ perceptions regarding the relationship between a professional learning community and teacher efficacy? and (b) From teachers’ perspectives, in what ways, if any, do professional learning communities impact teacher efficacy? The case study examined the relationship between professional learning communities and teacher efficacy as well as the impact of professional learning …

Teaching And Learning Courageous Followership: An Action Research Study, Karen Walker Schwab

Theses & Dissertations

Followership has been shown to be a developmental stage of leadership. Yet, there is a lack of followership theory in the health-care context. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore how introducing Chaleff’s dimensions of courageous followership influences the undergraduate nursing students’ views of the follower role and informs their nursing practice. Secondary research questions asked how knowledge of these dimensions influences the nursing students’ views while advocating, collaborating, and addressing lateral violence. Using purposeful sampling, 12 participants were recruited for this study. After attending a followership seminar, they completed online reflections and participated in individual …

The Impact Of Female School Principals’ Leadership Traits On Teacher Morale In California Cbee Star Schools, Moira Zacharakis 8178731

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine how teachers with female principals at Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE) Star Schools in Contra Costa County, California (CA) rate their principals’ leadership skills, how they rate their own job satisfaction, and to determine if a relationship exists between the principals’ leadership skills and employee job satisfaction.

Methodology. The study employed a quantitative correlational research design using data from two instruments.

Findings. The sample size for this study was too small to generalize to a larger population; however, statistically significant relationships were found in the data. …

The Leadership Experiences Of Female Special Education Administrators, Kerry E. Weir

Doctoral Dissertations

When Ella Young Flagg, the first female superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, proposed that educational leadership was a woman’s “natural field” she could not have predicted that one hundred years later women would have neither a majority of school leadership positions, nor would they be proportionally represented when compared with female teachers (Grogan & Shakeshaft, 2011). Unlike the school leadership positions of the principal and superintendent that have been traditionally dominated by men, female leaders have achieved greater parity in special education administration (Keefe & Parmley, 2003). Although female special education administrators represent an exception to this phenomenon of …

Teachers’ Descriptions Of The Impact Of False Accusations By Students And Parents, Elizabeth De Leon

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This mixed method study utilized grounded theory analysis through the use of survey and interview to research how teachers describe the impact of false accusations by students and parents. The study focused on survey results as well as interviews of a selection of teachers and administrators from various levels, rural, suburban, urban areas and disciplines of education. The concepts that emerged from the data illustrated the impact of false accusations on teachers with regard to their emotional and physical health, teaching practice, relationship with administrator(s), and relationships with students and parents. The data also indicate the need for increased training …

How Can Human-Centered Design Be Used To Implement A Teacher-Designed, Standards-Based Curriculum?, James P. Magee

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to create a framework, based on the principles of HumanCentered Design, to implement and continue the development of a Standards-Based Curriculum that was designed by the teachers using it. While going through iterations, the curriculum will remain true to the principles of Standards-Based Instruction. Much of the research supporting a Standards-Based Curriculum comes from Robert Marzano. One of the main goals of using Human-Centered Design, in addition to the continued design and implementation of a guaranteed and viable curriculum, is to increase Collective-Teacher Efficacy. Elmore and Hattie both cite extensive data suggesting that high …

Factors Contributing To An Elite High School Football Program, Richard Fryklund

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, what factors contribute to an elite high school football program. The motivating factor for this capstone was one teacher-coach’s desire to understand what differentiates lasting levels of on-the-field success for high school football programs. This capstone was designed to ask high school football coaches their perspectives and methods in their respective high school football program. Previous studies on the definition of elite, organizational culture and support, coaches, and athletes aided the researcher in obtaining background information of successful organizations in various domains. Five high school football coaches, who met the criteria of …

Superintendent Turnover In Guam, Alvin Sanga

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Superintendent turnover has been rampant in the public school district in Guam, an unincorporated United States territory; there have been 18 superintendents since the 1981. This qualitative study aimed to identify and analyze potential factors affecting the superintendency in Guam. Social systems theory proposes a number of factors about the dynamics that define the relationship between an individual and a social system to help us understand the behavior of the individual within an organization. To triangulate the data, this study was comprised of individual interviews with Guam superintendents and content analysis of the Guam Public School Audit of 2009 and …

Strategic Management In Small Business: An Exploratory Study, Nicholas Gary Schlereth Ph.D., Mba

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Small businesses make up approximately 98% of all businesses in the United States, but little is known about how they engage with their communities and engage in strategic management (Small Business Administration, 2016). To understand more about how small businesses engage in these practices, this study seeks to explore these topics through a technology enhanced qualitative study design (Marshall & Rossman, 2015). The study sought to replicate face-to-face interviews through an online survey with open-ended questions designed to learn from small business decision makers regarding their actions and the actions of their organizations. The study had 45 total participants from …

Leadership Rowan: Impact On Student Development Of Self-Authorship, Rebecca Kraft Spinks

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Leadership Rowan on student participants in regards to development of self-authorship. The study examined students who have been involved with Leadership Rowan for at least one year to determine the impact of the program on the student's personal development of self-authorship. A survey was distributed on campus to students who were involved with Leadership Rowan for at least one year at the time of the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and content analysis was used to identify themes in the data. Results of the data revealed …

Navigating The Changing Landscape Of Early Education Within A Preschool Setting, Heather L. Beaudin

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Abstract

Currently, early education in Ontario is rapidly transforming to meet the diverse needs and demands of children, educators and families. With each change that the sector experiences leaders in early childhood education are called to guide their team through the change process. One recent change that leaders have been faced with is the implementation of Full-Day Kindergarten across the province and its impact on child care programs. Considering the wide range of child care programs that have been affected by Full-Day Kindergarten, this Organizational Improvement Plan explores a significant problem of practice: how can key stakeholders within a child …

Understanding The Public Education Gender Gap Amid Secondary And Central Office Administrators, Danielle L. Taylor

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Despite advances in political movements and societal awareness, there is still an obvious gender discrepancy among U.S. public education secondary school and superintendent positions plaguing our nation. Data indicates that most middle and high school classroom teaching positions are filled by women and yet more campuses and districts are led by men. The literature review uncovered two main categories that lead to this gap: external and internal factors. Societal bias, stereotypes, and hiring practices are among the external causations of this margin. Likewise, work life balance and self-desire to combat old organizational structure impact women internally from assuming advanced leadership …

Building The Organizational Leader Brand: Change Agent, Scholar, Thought Leader, Barbara Holmes, Christopher Hahn, Carson Perry

Leadership Education Capstones

Who we are matters. Developing the personal brand communicates to the world the values that fuel daily leadership habits and practices. Exposure to branding is constant in everyday life. People are continuously exposed to various brands, including clothing, vehicles, food selection, recreation, and media. Building the organizational leader brand requires the same processes, strategies, and tactics as branding and promoting traditional products, yet is much more involved. Research supports that millennial audiences connect best with individuals, rather than organizations. Consequently, effective personal branding is essential to building trust and a reputation that supports such viable relationships within organizations. Successful brands …

Wellness Needs For Smith Clinic Health System Community X Employees, Heidi S. Poole

Leadership Education Capstones

No abstract provided.

Core Values Of Sports Teams: What Are They And How Are They Conveyed?, Eric Raisbeck

Leadership Education Capstones

No abstract provided.

Challenges Radiography Students Face In A Small Midwest Technical College, Valarie Bere

Leadership Education Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Physical Activity Plan For The Community Of Winona, Minnesota, Robert Angelo Giaquinto

Leadership Education Capstones

No abstract provided.