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Educational Leadership Program Newsletter February 2011, Educational Leadership Program, University Of Southern Maine

Educational Leadership Newsletters

Inside this issue:

• Letter from the Program Coordinator
• Alumni Spotlight: April Noble
• Faculty Profile: Lee Goldsberry
• Mike McCarthy Honored
• Summer 2011 Schedule
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Notes of Interest
• Faculty & Staff Program Directory

The Influence Of Performance Accountability Culture On The Work Of High School Principals, Michael Ian Cohen

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Impact Of Pre-K Programs On Student Achievement And Instructional Leadership In Rural Mississippi School Districts, Jeremy Eugene Stinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2011, Mississippi continues to be the only state in the southern region without a single state-funded pre-k program (NIEER, 2007), and all preschool funds in the state are currently allotted to Head Start. Witte and Trowbridge (2004) warned that the combination of pre-k programs could be the reason for highly fragmented systems of state funding, policies, and regulations. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate whether differences exist between preschool groups in three North Mississippi school districts and to determine the degree to which stakeholders in the programs practice instructional leadership. From a quantitative perspective, the …

Teacher Collaboration As Professional Development In A Large, Suburban High School, Marlie L. Williams

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative study explored the impact of teacher collaboration in a professional learning communities (PLC) school on teacher self-efficacy. Through the collection and analysis of personal interview data from 20 teachers in a large, suburban Midwestern high school, the impact of structured teacher collaboration was evaluated for its impact on changes in teachers’ instructional practices, their feelings of responsibility for student learning, positive adult interdependence, and changes in teacher self-efficacy. Experts in educational professional development identify the importance of sustained, collegial learning. This study explored the structure of one high school’s professional collaboration model, the measures in place for goal-setting, …

Educational Leadership Program Newsletter October 2010, Educational Leadership Program, University Of Southern Maine

Educational Leadership Newsletters

Inside the issue:

• Letter from the Program Coordinator
• Alumni Spotlight: Sue Palfrey
• Program Updates
• Faculty Profile: Dr. Lynne Miller
• Course Schedule
• Faculty & Staff Directory
• Notes of Interest

Perceptions Of State-Funded, School District-Based Principal Preparation Programs In Virginia 2004-2006, Kathryn Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods case study described and analyzed the 2004-2006 district-based principal preparation programs in Virginia. This dissertation explored goals stated in proposals for funding as well as program director and program completer perceptions of goals, content, processes, and outcomes for the 10 principal preparation programs that stemmed from the Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership. Data collection employed three phases: Phase I focused on the 10 grant proposals; Phase II involved semistructured interview questions centered on perceptions of nine participating program directors; Phase III investigated perceptions of 75 program completers who responded to a web-based survey. Data …

Getting To Finished: Strategies To Ensure Completion Of The Doctoral Dissertation, Barbara Holmes, Lillian Robinson, Angela D. Seay

Education Doctorate Faculty Works

This paper reports the results of focus group conversations with thirty-four doctoral students enrolled in an educational leadership program. Doctoral students were asked to provide suggestions and strategies used to complete the doctoral dissertation. The results of these conversations reinforce the value of the collaborative cohort and the proactive interdependence students experienced as a result of working together. These findings highlight the need to examine how doctoral students experience the university context particularly as it relates to the dissertation phase of study.

Citation:

Holmes, B., Robinson, L., Seay, A.D. (2010). Getting to Finished: Strategies to Ensure Completion of the Doctoral …

Generous Leadership, Lana Danielson, Saundra Shillingstad

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Dr. Lana Danielson currently serves as my Department Chair in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. We served together as colleagues prior to her becoming my Department Chair seven years ago (2003). The theme of the Bulletin's Summer 2010 issue is "Educators and Changing Times." Over the years I have had the opportunity to observe first-hand the ways in which Dr. Danielson has utilized the knowledge and skills she shares with her students as their educator and how she continuously applies her wealth of experience in the classroom to her role as leader and mentor.

Slogging And Stumbling Toward Social Justice In A Private Elementary School: The Complicated Case Of St. Malachy, Martin Scanlan

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This case study examines St. Malachy, an urban Catholic elementary school primarily serving children traditionally marginalized by race, class, linguistic heritage, and disability. As a private school, St. Malachy serves the public good by recruiting and retaining such traditionally marginalized students. As empirical studies involving Catholic schools frequently juxtapose them with public schools, the author presents this examination from a different tack. Neither vilifying nor glorifying Catholic schooling, this study critically examines the pursuit of social justice in this school context. Data gathered through a 1-year study show that formal and informal leaders in St. Malachy adapted their governance, aggressively …

An Analysis Of Expenditures On Student Affairs / Services And College Student Retention At Four-Year Colleges And Universities In The United States, Jason Umfress

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between expenditures for student affairs / services and college student retention rates. Data reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Set (IPEDS) for the 2007-2008 academic year were used. Public and private-not-for-profit institutions in the United States that completed the IPEDS survey we included in the population and analysis.
A multiple regression analysis was conducted, controlling for institutional size, institutional control, institutional mission, institutional selectivity, and non-student affairs / services expenditures. The study found that expenditures for student affairs / services were a significant predictor of college student retention rates, …

Factors Affecting Reading Outcomes Across Time In Bureau Of Indian Education Reading First Schools, Heather J. Chapman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Regardless of age, background, or socioeconomic status, children must learn to read in order to be successful in school and in their future careers. Reading is an essential skill necessary to be successful in all other academic content areas. Despite the importance of this skill, American Indian children consistently score below the national average on tests of reading ability and reading comprehension. During recent years, many schools in the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) system requested funding through the Reading First initiative. Schools used the funding and support provided by the BIE Reading First grant to attempt system-wide change at …

A Case Study Of The Collaborative Professional Development Activities Between Public School Leas And Catholic Schools In The Diocese Of Richmond., David J. Urban

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of collaboration between public and Catholic school administrators using the involvement in the federal Title II professional development program as the subject area. Volunteer participants were interviewed using a researcher developed and pilot study tested interview guide. Four locations were selected covering eight sites and 11 total participants. Interview transcripts, researcher observations, and researcher notes were used to describe the participant perceptions and develop the study’s emerging themes of communication and attitude.

The Role Of The Principal In The Professional Life Of Male Elementary Classroom Teachers, Brian Gendron Ricca

Dissertations

There are very few men that choose to enter the profession of teaching, especially at the elementary level (U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2008). The men that do make this choice are faced with certain challenges and societal stereotypes that make this career path even more difficult to navigate. Given the small numbers that exist and some of the unique factors that face men at this level, the relationship between a male elementary classroom teacher and his building administrator is one to examine.

Within the context of the research that has been done on the gendered role of elementary …

Principal Instructional Leadership Behavior As Perceived By Teachers And Principals At New York State Recognized And Non-Recognized Middle Schools, Brendan J. Lyons

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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A Journey In Leadership, Robert J. Shoop

Educational Considerations

In 1997, two faculty members at Kansas State University began the process of creating something special and distinctive that never existed before.

Ethical Leadership: Guiding Principles For Educators And Administrators, Mary P. Sullivan

Christian Perspectives in Education

Rooted in Biblical principles, this discussion of eight values associated with ethical leadership will provide educators and administrators with “food for thought” as they adopt their own personal code of ethics or guiding principles on which to base their leadership style.

Perceptions Of Four Principals Of Southeastern Award-Winning Urban Schools On School, Family, And Community Involvement, Eleanor Victoria Stokes

All ETDs from UAB

PERCEPTIONS OF FOUR PRINCIPALS OF SOUTHEASTERN AWARD-WINNING URBAN SCHOOLS ON SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ELEANOR V. STOKES EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain insight through examining the experiences of four urban award-winning schools' principals with regard to school, family, and community involvement, and the perceived effects of such participation on student achievement as reflected in the schools' Adequate Yearly Progress Report. This qualitative study examined the ways in which four elementary and middle school principals perceived family and community involvement in their school. Major themes that emerged from the study were relationships, …

Financial Models In Catholic Education, Richard Kruska

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Catholic education is at a crossroads in the United States, as rising tuition costs present significant challenges to many families’ financial resources. At the very least, affording a Catholic education calls for a reprioritization of expenses. However, in many cases, high tuition costs leave parents with no recourse but to remove their children from Catholic schools. As costs and tuition climb, only those with significant financial resources will be able to attend Catholic schools. Hence, maintaining the foundational mission of Catholic education, namely to provide access to education for the poor and oppressed, threatens to become impossible due to the …

Principals Application Of Knowledge To The Structure And Support Of Special Education Programs In Florida Middle Schools, Lisa Fuehrer Bugden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was developed to determine middle school principals' knowledge about the structure of the special education program in their schools and the support given to the personnel who serve students with disabilities in that program. The principals' knowledge was compared to the application of their knowledge to determine if principals were applying what they knew when making decisions about structuring and supporting the special education program in the school and the teachers and staff who work within the programs. In addition, various personal and school factors were analyzed to determine if any of these variables were significant in explaining …

The Relationship Between Work Motivation And Leadership Practices Among Graduates Of A Master's Degree Program, Marjorie Dowd

All Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between work motivation and leadership practices among graduates of a master's degree program in education administration and supervision. The study was conducted in an effort to produce information relevant to the human resources practices of secondary school administrators and to identify potential professional development topics for school districts and college training programs. Data were collected through a quantitative research methodology. First, the study sought to determine each participant's work motivation as measured by the Work Motivation Inventory and differences among participant scores on that inventory. Secondly, the study sought to determine each participant's leadership practices …

Vision That Needs To Be Technically Managed, Chi Hong Nguyen

Essays in Education

This essay aims to conceptualize the differences and complementariness of leadership and management in the discourses of change management in organizations that can be best applied to educational leadership. The discrepancies and co-existent links between the two are discussed in terms of leaders and managers’ personal traits, their interaction patterns towards power influence, their strategies for dealing with change, the results at workplace, and their followers’ perceptions towards them.

Recognizing Each Others’ Faces In Educational Leadership’S Scholarship And Practice, Thienhuong Hoang

Essays in Education

In an applied field, the persisting tension over the relative importance and influence of theory and practice often creates a crevasse between scholars and practitioners. While conflict can be destructive, this paper explores both the destructive and reconstructive means of bridging the theory-practice divide. The author reflects on her experiences moving back and forth between school leadership practice and academia. The author draws on literature and research expressing the conundrums of educational professional culture and historic caste system among scholars found in the academy. The purpose of this paper is to problematize the divisions between culture norms found among scholars …

Stitched From The Soul: An Auto/Biographical Inquiry Into One Black Woman Administrator's Voice And Vision, Sonya D. Jefferson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: This study is an auto/biographical inquiry into my voice and vision as a Black woman administrator. I explore the lives of four generations of Black women in my family. Each of these women -- Hattie C. Wilcher (my great grandmother), Connie W. Duggan (my mother), Danielle R. Lowe (my daughter), and I -- have studied and/or taught in public schools in the U. S. south. I explore how my family narrative parallels community and historical narratives and contests the meta narrative in existing literature. I explore these narratives through the lenses of Critical Race Theory and Black Feminist …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Job Satisfaction, Organizational Culture, And Perceived Leadership Characteristics, William Omer Dale Amburgey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine if (a) there is a relationship between job satisfaction, organizational culture, and perceived leadership characteristics at a dual-residential private university based on location, gender, level of education, and length of employment and, (b) to measure those relationships if they were present. Understanding how these areas relate may enhance strategic planning and personnel decisions for leaders within organizations. The population of this study was the 1,478 full-time faculty and staff located on the residential campuses of the participating university. Participants in the study were asked to complete three test instruments: an Employee Demographic …

An Examination Of The Theoretical Orientation To Reading Profile (Torp): Results Of Selected Graduate Students In A Literacy Course, Guadalupe Sotelo

Graduate Theses

This survey research study was utilized to explore participants’ views and knowledge of balanced literacy programs before and after a 45-hour graduate level literacy course and to document any changes using the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP; Deford, 1985) questionnaire. The TORP’s main purpose is to designate the philosophical position of individuals on their preferences to teaching reading. The TORP examines orientation to phonics, skills, and whole language. Twenty-seven participants who designated themselves either as established school administrators or graduate students pursuing Master’s degrees in Educational Leadership or Reading were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course …

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between The Perceived Organizational Climate And Professional Burnout In Libraries And Computing Centers In West Virginia Public Higher Education Institutions, Arnold R. Miller

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between the perceived organizational climate and professional burnout in libraries and computing services units in West Virginia higher education. Research questions were defined to investigate the differences between libraries and computing services units in the perceived organizational climate, professional burnout, organizational climate vs. burnout, demographics vs. organizational climate, demographics vs. burnout, and the combined effects of demographics and organizational climate upon burnout. The Work Environment Scale (WES) Form R, third edition, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) HSS, third edition, and a demographic questionnaire measured the organizational climate, burnout, and demographics. …

A Program For Improving Student Achievement In The Geography Related Performance Standards Of The American History Curriculum, Michael C. Richardson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The program involved the development of materials for the instruction and testing of geography related performance standards to the American History curriculum. The program’s aim were twofold: 1) to assist the teacher in that materials were not available and 2) to address the problem of low achievement of the students in their basic geographical knowledge and its application to American History. The problems addressed by this practicum were identified by both teacher questionnaire and student pre-tests. Over nine-week period, students constructed a historical atlas of maps which correlated with the students/ regular history studies. Students also received a study guide …

Increasing The Disadvantaged Preschool Child's Ability To Follow Oral Directions Through Cooking Experiences, Elizabeth A. Karas

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The author developed and implemented a program to increase the preschool disadvantaged child's ability to follow oral directions. The program's aims were to help the child to follow one, two, and three step oral directions given by a teacher which is considered a minimum competency for entrance into the district's kindergarten reading program. The program contained the following basic components: Pretesting of children to ascertain their score on a prereading readiness subtest called "Following Oral Directions”; inservice for parents to encourage their understanding and home cooperation; implementation of cooking activities in the classroom; participation of parents in similar home activities; …

Development And Implementation Of A Program To Improve The Effectiveness Of Substitute Teachers., Connie E. Boutwell

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The author developed a program to aid regular classroom teachers in development of lesson plans for substitute teachers and to assist the substitute teachers in the implementation of those plans. The program's objectives were to improve substitutes' performance, to have substitutes follow teacher's lesson and and leave summaries of their classroom activities for the regular teacher. The strategy was directed to the administrators, the classroom teachers and the substitutes. Substitutes were given information packets giving them directions concerning attendance and other school-wide policies. Teachers were given model lesson plans and suggestions. Administrators assessed evaluations of the substitutes by the teachers …

Making Academic Remediation Programs More A Positive, Image Building Experience For The Adult Learner, Sue Bragg

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The writer built into a vocational school’s remedial program techniques and strategies to develop in disadvantaged adult learners’ positive attitudes and a success oriented mind set in order to improve confident, self-image, and attitude about their personal potential for success in school, on the job, and in life. On entry into the remedial program, students were given an attitude survey to determine how they felt about their past academic success and about themselves in a school setting. They were also given the Barbe modality test at that time to enable the writer to better prescribe appropriate materials to meet their …