Education Commons^™

The Differences In Teacher Self- Efficacy Beliefs Among Elementary School Teachers, Christopher Litz

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct a study that explores the differences in self-efficacy beliefs among specific teacher subgroups within the elementary school environment. This quantitative study searches for the differences in self-efficacy beliefs among teachers who instruct mandated state assessment subjects and those who do not. In addition, this study also attempts to search for differences in self-efficacy beliefs among elementary general education teachers and elementary specialists. This study utilizes Anita Hoy’s Teacher Sense of Self- Efficacy Scale (TSES) to find the self-efficacy differences in three particular domains: classroom management, student engagement, and instructional strategies.

This study …

An Analysis Of The Peninsula One-Stop Career Center In Virginia: Employment Placement And Retention For Dislocated Workers, Caroline Arielle Knight

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study includes an analysis of the Peninsula One-Stop Career Center dislocated worker assistance. Specifically, perceptions of employment placement and employment retention were examined by a qualitative analysis of interview data with dislocated workers and staff members and partners of the Peninsula One-Stop Career Center. This study also focused on these workers’ experiences with One-Stop Career Center partners in securing employment opportunities. The study provides additional literature to explain which service and programs effectively serve dislocated workers.

The findings revealed several themes that contributed to employment placement and retention for dislocated workers. It was found that résumé development, job search …

Presidents' Perceptions Of Entrepreneurial Strategies In Community Colleges: A Disruptive Innovation, James Tyler Hart

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by a shifting business model and changes in funding. The purpose of this mixed methods, sequential study was to examine community college presidents’ perceptions of entrepreneurial strategies in the higher education industry. The shifting business model requires presidents to look for alternative ways to innovate and adapt as community college funding models change. Community college leaders have also been proactively seeking out alternative revenue streams in order to help offset decreased state funding. Findings of this study show that community college presidents perceive that they must be entrepreneurial …

Self-Determination Theory And The Educational Motivations Of The Recently Incarcerated, Jason Edward Barr

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The primary research objective of this qualitative study is to determine if self-determination theory is applicable to the population of the recently incarcerated. If it is applicable, self-determination theory may be a new method of examining the educational motivations of prisoners and the recently incarcerated. Twelve subjects from the western region of Virginia were interviewed. Each had been in prison for more than six months within the past five years; each also held a general education diploma or equivalent. Subject responses were coded via the three major tenets of self-determination theory: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Additionally, the researcher coded language …

A Predictor For Ple Management: Impacts Of Self-Regulated Online Learning On Student's Learning Skills, Cherng-Jyh Yen, Chih-Hsiung Tu, Laura Sujo-Montes, Karen Sealander

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Web 2.0 integration requires a high level of learner-centered skills to create a personal learning environment (PLE). The pedagogical capability of Web 2.0 could support and promote self-regulated learning (SRL) by enabling the constructions of PLEs. This study investigated how will each of the six aspects of self-regulated online learning (i.e., environment structuring, goal setting, time management, task strategies, help seeking, & self-evaluation) respectively predict the level of initiative, the sense of control, and the level of self-reflection in personal learning environment (PLE) management. The study concluded that all six aspects of SRL could predict three types of PLE management …

Teachers', Educational Specialists' And School Leaders' Perceptions Of The Cumulative Impact Of Education Reform Mandates, Lucy Nevins Litchmore

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Throughout the history of education, there have been changes in funding, organization, governance, and curriculum. As a result of these changes, education reform and mandates have become cyclical in nature. However, with so many structural changes, the purpose of reform mandates often fall short of the intended purpose; closing achievement gaps and allowing equal access for all students.

The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which teachers’, educational specialists’, and school leaders perceive the cumulative impact of education reform efforts that will be bounded by subject of mathematics. In a qualitative case study, a combination of …

Ethical Leadership In Today's Community Colleges: Presidents Respond To The Completion Agenda, Monica Parish Trent

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The role of ethical leadership for community college presidents is of concern (Anderson, Harbour, & Davies; Wood & Nevarez, 2014), especially given the added pressure on community colleges to increase completion rates for student populations that have historically underperformed academically. In these times of increased scrutiny to produce more college-educated people ready to enter the workforce, college CEO’s are facing a completion agenda climate that is rampant with financial constraints, greater demands from stakeholders, and governmental mandates. The purpose of this descriptive, multiple case study was to examine how community college presidents execute ethical leadership in responding to institutional policy …

Online Learning And Effective Leadership: The Importance Of Relationship Building And Culture, Nadine K. Rupp

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Online and blended learning are becoming more important in k-12 public schools because of their flexibility and increased opportunity for students in urban as well as rural environments. Implementing and sustaining technology-based learning is a complex process that requires educational leaders to have a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills which are critical to the success of online programs. This case study research used in-depth interviews to gather data on how one district was able to provide a successful program using effective leadership skills. Three areas critical to success were identified in the data: clear vision and achievable goals, appropriate …

The Principal's Role; Distributed Leadership, Kathryn R. Hermann

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The role of the principal role has become very complex with the increased focus on accountability and student achievement. Principals can no longer do their jobs alone. Distributed leadership has been the subject of considerable educational research and discourse in recent years. This study explores how principals employ or do not employ distributed leadership with their staffs. The study found that the school principal plays a key role in supporting the school by communicating a common purpose, that distributed leadership is developed within a school climate built upon collaboration, the principal models leadership using tools and routines, and situational decision …

The Role Of The School Leader In Collaboration Between Regular And Special Education Teachers, Jospeh Raymond Sciullo

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In 2004, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) aligned to language found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA 2004). This reauthorization required students with disabilities to have access to the same curriculum as their non-disabled peers. This languages means that practices in instruction and assessment for students with disabilities must be aligned to the academic content standards established in each state (Parrish & Stodden, 2009). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of school leadership within the context of teacher collaboration and the factors that contribute to their level of …

The Experiences Of Stakeholders In District-University Administrator Preparation Partnerships, Jacob Mckinley Wilson Iii

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Collaborative partnerships between school districts and universities focused on school leadership development are a part of a recent effort to provide the field of public education with leadership for the 21st century. The research clearly indicates that the demand for educational administrators far outweighs the number of available qualified candidates. This qualitative research proposal, influenced by the research tradition of phenomenology, was designed to examine an important but often overlooked component of the school district–university partnership process. The stakeholders, representatives from both the school district and the university involved in the partnership, are key to the successful development and implementation …

Navigating The Pre-Tenure Review Process: Experiences Of A Self-Study Researcher, Brandon Butler

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Four years after the first Castle Conference, Cole and Knowles (1998) wrote of teacher educator concerns in conducting self-study research: "Concerns about institutional responses to self-study mainly are rooted in issues associated with tenure and promotion ... " (p. 225). The publication of Studying Teacher Education and increased acceptance of self-study research in teacher education journals provide an avenue for self-study researchers to publish in respected, refereed journals. Questions of self-study's validity, rigor, and trustworthiness have a long history (e.g., Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). However, questions remain around the acceptance of self-study research among tenure and promotion committees. Institutional context …

Developing Critical Collaboration Skills In Engineering Students: Results From An Empirical Study, Pilar Pazos, Nina Magpili, Zikai Zhou, Luis J. Rodriguez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In highly technical organizations, work is becoming increasingly distributed; requiring practicing engineers to master virtual collaboration skills while acquiring expertise in a range of collaboration technologies. Although there has been great emphasis on developing collaboration competencies in the engineering curriculum, empirical evidence of successful strategies for distributed team settings is scarce. As an attempt to fill this gap this study investigates the impact of a scalable intervention in developing virtual collaboration skills. The intervention, based on instructional scaffolds embedded with collaboration technologies, is aimed at supporting specific processes including planning, goal setting, clarifying goals and expectations, communication, coordination and progress …

Disaster Prevention Literacy Among School Administrators And Teachers: A Study On The Plan For Disaster Prevention And Campus Network Deployment And Experiment In Taiwan, Sung-Chin Chung, Cherng-Jyh Yen

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Taiwan is located at the high-risk region of natural disasters with the frequently occurred earthquakes. The importance of the disaster prevention education on campus is made even more obvious by the fact that natural disasters often occur during the school days. Given the leading roles the school administrators and teachers playing in the disaster prevention education of their pupils, this study purposed to investigate how disaster prevention literacy was among them and how disaster prevention literacy differed across various background variables of them. Furthermore, the current study also examined if disaster prevention literacy changed by participation in the disaster prevention …

Making Cell Phones Work For You And Your Students, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Stakeholder Experiences In District University Administrator Preparation Partnerships, Karen L. Sanzo, Jacob Mckinley Wilson Iii

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Our qualitative study explores the lived experiences of district stakeholders in university-district leadership preparation programs. Collaborative partnerships between school districts and universities focused on developing quality school leader are a part of recent efforts to provide the field of public education with exemplary leadership. The stakeholder experience in these partnerships is a little understood phenomenon lacking research. Thirteen district stakeholders in grant funded leadership development partnerships participated in the phenomenology informed study. Findings show that prior experiences, trust, issues of time, sustainability, and the power to build bridges were critical components of the district stakeholder experience in partnerships.

Critical Reflection And Professional Accountability: One Team's Experiences At The Teach To Lead Summit, Jori S. Beck

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"How It's Done": The Role Of Mentoring And Advice In Preparing The Next Generation Of Historically Black College And University Presidents, Felicia Commodore, Sydney Freeman Jr., Marybeth Gasman, Courtney M. Carter

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

The college and university presidency is one of the most coveted positions in academe. Due to the projected retirements of current Historically Black College and University (HBCU) presidents, the researchers interviewed 21 current presidents, institutional board members, and presidential search firm personnel to explore what current HBCU leadership identifies as important mentoring/mentee practices, mentoring/mentee opportunities, and professional advice for HBCU presidential aspirants to consider. The findings, based on the coding and analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews, revealed that self-awareness, focusing on the essential aspects of the job and not merely the perks, openness to being mentored and willingness to shadow …

Examining The Potential Of Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs) At Historically Black Colleges And Universities (Hbcus), Andrés Castro Samayoa, Thai-Huy Nguyen, Marybeth Gasman, Felicia Commodore, Ufuoma Abiola

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

This article reviews the extant literature on distance learning technologies and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In the context of increased attention to massive open online courses (MOOCs), this article argues that HBCUs’ challenges with respect to their technological infrastructure suggests that they may be better suited to serve as advocates for bridging the persistent digital divide in the nation rather than adopters of MOOCs as a new instructional platform. The authors offer some suggestions for further research to ensure that HBCUS leaders can address larger systemic issues affecting the quality of education on their campuses.