Education Commons^™

Examining Social Capital And Its Role In Special Education Leadership, April K. Rist

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to analyze the relationships that existed between the special education leaders and other members of a district leadership team in order to measure their access to social capital. Quantitative data were collected using surveys of one school district’s leadership team and social network analysis (SNA) was used to visually analyze the connections between members of the team. Qualitative data were subsequently collected via semi-structured interviews of each of the 19 members of the leadership team. What types of ties do the special education administrators have to fellow administrators within district leadership teams? What …

Professional Learning Cultures At Work: How Principals Serve As Catalysts For Learning, Christopher J. Tranberg

Doctoral Dissertations

Principals are an influential factor in a child’s academic success (Manna, 2015; Louis et al., 2010; Waters et al., 2003). Although the path of influence is often indirect, principals affect student learning by developing and sustaining strong professional learning cultures (Hattie, 2009; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2012). As a result of the complexities surrounding principalship, a desire to understand the attributes, skills, and leadership actions of successful principals persists as an international focus of educational research. This study examines principalship through the experiences of various stakeholders within a school system utilizing a descriptive single case study ethnographic qualitative approach. This approach …

Prevention And Education: A Case Study Of An Anti-Human Trafficking Nongovernmental Organization In Mumbai, India, Danielle Kraaijvanger

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of community-based NGOs in developing and delivering prevention interventions and nonformal education programs that work to end human trafficking of at-risk women and children. Specifically, the study explored the intersection between human trafficking and education, and the critical role NGOs play in human trafficking prevention. Essential to understanding this phenomenon was giving voice to the experiences of children who are the recipients of such prevention and education interventions.

An international community-based, anti-human trafficking NGO—Prerana—served as the case study setting. Direct observations and participant interviews …

The Impact Of A Value-Added Model On Educational Leadership Practices In Northwest Louisiana, Candice D. Webert

Doctoral Dissertations

This study addressed the impact of VAM, concerns with VAM data, uses and interventions educational leaders provided teachers, and components perceived as necessary for VAM effectiveness as an evaluation tool. The demographics used for this study were position, school size, and experience. Due to the documented need for educational accountability from the 1960s to present, the knowledge gained in this study was valuable. While the initiative was implemented as a response to increased accountability, the perceptions and understanding of such new initiatives can impact their effectiveness; in turn, impacting educational leadership. This study focused on the effectiveness of VAM.

In …

What Is The Association Between The Financial Position Of Public Institutions To Tuition Discount Rates?, Richard Crawford

Doctoral Dissertations

Public higher education institutions have increased the practice of tuition discounting, which is the planned use of institutional provided financial aid to offset a portion of the tuition and fee price that students pay. As the cost of higher education has increased and the competition for students has increased, the use of tuition discounting as an enrollment management tool has also increased. The primary reason for the increase in the cost in public higher education, since the 2008 recession, is the funding cuts from state governments. The cuts in state funding have placed more pressure on public institutions to improve …

Perception Of Administrators: Characteristics Of Effective Teachers In High-Poverty Secondary Schools And The Alignment Of These Characteristics With The Teacher Evaluation System, Toni Baggiano-Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of an effective teacher in a high-poverty school as perceived by high school administrators and the alignment of these characteristics with the teacher evaluation system. School administrators identified the characteristics of an effective teacher in a high-poverty school. The characteristics of an effective teacher in a high-poverty school were compared with the teacher evaluation tool, EDUCATEAlabama. The comparison of the characteristics of effective teachers in high-poverty school with EDUCATEAlabama revealed the attributes of an effective teacher in a high-poverty school did not align with the state evaluation tool, EDUCATEAlabama …

A Quantitative Analysis Of A Critical Pedagogy In Catholic Secondary School Religious Studies Teachers In The San Francisco Bay Area, Alex Porter Macmillan

Doctoral Dissertations

Scholarship has indicated that Catholic, secondary school religion teachers in the United States are often not adequately prepared pedagogically and theologically (Aldana, 2015; Ramey, 2014; Schroeder, 2013; Cook and Hudson, 2006; Cook, 2001, 2000; Lund 1997). Rossiter (2011, 2010, 2007) and Crawford and Rossiter (2006) described aspects of a pedagogy that can be summarized as “Critical Interpretation and Evaluation of Culture” (Rossiter, 2011), where a number of different criteria and examples are described that can serve as a relevant pedagogy for religious education.

In a researcher designed, online, cross-sectional survey, 18 questions from relevant literature using both binary “yes / …

Higher Education Leadership And Communication Apprehension Reduction Efficacy, Shane Puckett

Doctoral Dissertations

Universities use public speaking courses to reduce the communication apprehension among the student population of the institution. Previous research connects lower communication apprehension to higher university retention rate and higher student success rates. However, a gap in current research does not explain if communication apprehension reduction is as significant when a student enrolls in a public speaking course taught online as opposed to a public speaking course taught in a traditional face-to-face manner. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of systematic desensitization as it is used in public speaking courses online. This study set-out to answer …

Implementing The Unified English Braille Code: Perspectives Of Teachers Of Students With Visual Impairments, Laura Leigh Bostick

Doctoral Dissertations

With change process theory as a framework, the researcher used the diagnostic tools of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to investigate both the concerns and behaviors of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) during the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB). Quantitative data from the Stages of Concern Questionnaire and qualitative data from Open-Ended Concerns Statements and Levels of Use interview transcripts were consolidated to address the research questions: (1) What are TVIs' attitudes and beliefs toward the transition to UEB? and (2) To what extent are TVIs currently using UEB?

Participants were limited to TVIs in one southern state. …

Followership And The Development Of Female Leaders In Higher Education Administration, Donna Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Much attention in occupational advancement has been devoted to leadership studies, leadership literature, leadership trainings, leadership styles, and leadership strategies; however, the leadership dynamic is merely one side of the organizational coin. On the less-addressed flipside is the topic of followership. This Grounded Theory (GT) study addresses the perception of the role of followership in the development of female leaders in higher education. The study uses semi-structured interviews with 10 females in higher education administration to gather data concerning the perceived role followership has played in the professional development of the female administrators. Through GT qualitative data analysis procedures, interview …

The Effect Of A District-Wide Literacy Initiative On English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores, Sheri R. Robken

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a District-Wide Literacy initiative that implemented the 18 literacy strategies and Silent Sustained Reading activities incorporated in the 2008 Revised Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum on English/Language Arts standardized test scores. Standardized test scores were obtained for seventh and eighth grade students from a control group (n=204, 2006-2008 tests administrations) and an experimental group (n=185, 2008-2010 test administrations). An Analysis of Variance was used to determine significance (p

Catch The Bus: Investigating The Correlations Between Teacher Collaborative Action-Taking And Self-Efficacy, Tara B. Brandt

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the correlations between particular teacher collaborative actions and teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. Additionally, descriptive analyses provided a snapshot of current collaborative action-taking across US schools, and elucidated teachers’ present sense of self-efficacy. This study utilized existing data from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (sponsored by the OECD), which was completed by 1,926 lower secondary teachers from just over 120 different American schools. Multivariate correlational analysis confirmed that frequency of US teachers’ participation in collaborative actions significantly correlated to higher levels of teacher self-efficacy. Actions with the highest correlations included: taking …

Investigating The Relationship Between A District’S Tier 2 Attendance Intervention Program And Student Attendance Outcomes, Brendan T. Keenan Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

The study will investigate attendance-related outcomes for Fresh Start, a Tier 2 attendance intervention program (AIP) currently being used by the Wingate Public Schools in Massachusetts to collaboratively problem-solve with parents/guardians of elementary school students (Kindergarten through 6^th grade) who demonstrate chronic truancy issues. The Fresh Start program is utilized when the requesting school has been unable to make contact with the parent/guardian of a student in order to address the attendance problem via a school meeting. Membership of the Tier 2 AIP team includes school administrators, faculty, and staff, the parent/guardian, and a representative from a community agency …

Perceptions Of Archdiocese Of San Francisco Principals Regarding The Implementation Of "Partners In Faith: Parish, School And Family" (2000), Eileen Anne Emerson-Boles

Doctoral Dissertations

The Catholic Church consistently affirms the rights and responsibilities that parents, the Church, and its schools have in passing on the faith to children. While Church teaching holds that parents are the primary educators of their children, it also maintains an important role for parishes and schools in nurturing faith formation. The relationship among these three partners provided the focus for this study.

In 2000, the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco published the "Partners in Faith: Parish, School and Family" report to address the relationships among parishes, schools and families in the Archdiocese’s parish schools. In …

Tennessee Teachers' Support For The Curriculum Component Of State Accountability Policies, Shannon Lee Strahan

Doctoral Dissertations

The existing research on accountability policies rarely examines individual components of an accountability policy (i.e., curriculum, assessments, use of assessment results, and stakes). This mixed-methods study investigated the curriculum component of Tennessee’s accountability policies from the perspective of middle-grades, TCAP-tested subjects teacher participants from three East Tennessee districts. The Accountability Policies Supports and Stressors Questionnaire (Berryhill, Linney, & Fromewick, 2009) measured the support for the curriculum component of the state’s accountability policies. Further, interviews with sixth grade science and eighth grade social studies teachers examined how the curriculum component of the policies influenced teachers’ self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), one of three …