Education Commons^™

Transition Competencies: Secondary Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Frequency Of Performance, Tonisha L. Johnson Ed. D.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Millions of high school students are receiving special education services from teachers who may be inconsistently performing competencies during transition planning that leads to sustainable, postsecondary success. Secondary special education teachers’ frequency of performance of transition competencies during transition service delivery are essential to fulfilling their duties and responsibilities towards effectively implementing the Individualized Education Program of students with disabilities. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine the correlation among secondary special education teachers’ perceptions of their transition competencies’ frequency of performance, during annual transition services. This study employed a quantitative methods approach involving an adapted version of …

Instructional Technology Integration And Situational Interest In Math, James A. Thompson Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivating students to be engaged in learning, especially in math, has been a perennial challenge for educators. Over the past 20 years, instructional technology has become an increasingly prevalent teaching tool that, according to many educational observers and researchers, can have a transformative effect on teaching and learning because of the way that it engages today’s students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between students’ perceptions of technology integration and situational interest in middle school math so that educational planners will be better informed when making instructional decisions concerning the use of technology in the …

"A Song For You" As Tribute To The Daughters Of The South: Illuminating The Work Of Black Women Principals, Beverly Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Curriculum can be understood as a place of both struggle and possibility, where curriculum workers engage in complicated conversations about self, society, and the purposes of education (Pinar, 2004). Although curriculum theorists have contributed much to discussions of how to improve the current state of education, little attention in the field is given to the role that leadership can play in educational transformation (Ylimaki, 2011). This study contributes to the field of curriculum studies by exploring the ethics of care of Black women public school principals in the South.

By exploring the life experiences of Black female principals from the …

The Relationship Between Mandatory School Uniforms And Attendance, Jessica Mayweather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a relationship exists between the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in an urban public middle school and student attendance rates (as measured by the schools yearly progress report collected by the state Board of Education). Four schools serving students in grades 6-8 in an urban school district in Georgia were included in this study.

Three comparisons were used to determine whether or not and, if so, the extent to which the relationships existed. Some qualitative and quantitative measures were utilized in the design of this mixed method study. These methods …

Elementary Principals' Leadership Practices Towards Response To Intervention (Rti) Implementation: Perceptions Of Teachers In Southeastern Georgia, Oatanisha Renee Dawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principals are responsible for overseeing all of the school’s programs and initiatives. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a federal initiative that is a multi-tiered approach to highquality instruction and ongoing monitoring of students’ academic and behavioral progress. Although RTI models vary across the U.S., it is the principal who is accountable for students’ overall achievement within the building. With teachers as the direct recipients and observers of their leadership practices, principals implement a tiered intervention process under the influence of national and state guidelines although best practices for implementation are limited.

he purpose of this study was to investigate teacher …

Parent Expectations Of Elementary Schools And The Leaders, Teachers, And Staff: An Examination Of Elementary Schools In A Southeastern Georgia School District, Ella B. Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public schools are experiencing major demographic shifts in the school-age population (Hardy, 2004; Hartman, 2002; Olson, 2005; Rodriguez, 2002; Zehr, 2000). As schools attempt to address the challenges that accompany increasing demographic changes in public schools, a key component of their efforts should include determining parental expectations and how those expectations differ and are influenced by demographics such as race and ethnicity, SES, and level of educational attainment of the parents. Elementary schools must respond to parental expectations in a manner that helps to establish a foundation for students to reach their academic potential, thus providing a quality of education …

Perceptions Of Mentoring: Examining The Experiences Of Women Superintendents In Georgia, Scarlett Copeland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The number of women superintendents working in Georgia public schools exceeds the national average, but unfortunately, when compared to the number of men in the same position, women are not as well represented. This gap between female and male superintendents, and the reasons why this disparity exist, has been the subject of many research studies. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is a lack of mentoring for women superintendents.

This descriptive mixed methods study gathered both quantitative and qualitative data on the mentoring experiences of women superintendents in Georgia. The quantitative participants in this study included 39 women superintendent in …

How Georgia Elementary School Principals Manage Difficult Teachers, Tim M. Tilley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of this study is to ascertain how elementary school principals deal with difficult teachers. Two sub-questions were addressed in the study: what the different types of difficult teachers that elementary school principals encounter were and what types of strategies elementary principals found to be effective when dealing with difficult teachers. This study provides information for principals on how to deal with difficult teachers. The researcher found there to be minimal research in this area. A qualitative method in the phenomenological tradition was utilized to explore how elementary school principals deal with difficult teachers. Ten principals from a …

Academic Optimism Of Schools And Student Achievement, Pamela J. Mckinnon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The pressure to perform well on high stakes testing may have caused many educational leaders to shift their focus away from developing a healthy organization that may enhance and possibly even predict student achievement to simply focusing on test scores. Hoy, Tarter and Hoy (2006) suggested that high levels of Academic OptimismAO (including collective teacher efficacy-CTE, faculty trust in parents and students-FT, and academic emphasis-AE), when controlling for SES, is a strong force in predicting academic achievement. This study attempted to support previous research findings and to provide educational administrators with a framework for improving school organizational health for the …

Relationship Of Collaborative School Culture And School Achievement, Karen Durrence Bland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this correlational, quantitative study was to examine the magnitude and direction of the relationship between collaborative school culture and school achievement in rural, economically disadvantaged middle schools utilizing a 6, 7, 8 grade configuration. Survey data was collected from 263 teachers representing 12 rural, economically disadvantaged middle schools in the state of Georgia. Data collection tools included the Learning Community Culture Indicator (LCCI) 4.0 survey developed by Williams, Matthews, Stewart, and Hilton (2007) and the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (GCRCT).

The study generated data from 12 middle schools regarding the overall functionality level of their collaborative …

A Study Of Leadership Dispositions Of Transformational Leaders In Georgia High School, Todd Douglas Veland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Education reform has reached new levels of urgency and accountability over the last decade. The role a principal plays in leading the direction of a school is of vital importance. Leadership theories suggest that transformational leadership is the best way to achieve the goals of schools in the 21st century. Educational leadership programs try to emphasize transformational leadership skill, but these schools need to identify transformational leaders before they enter into school leadership. Dispositions are innate qualities and not necessarily a skill that can be taught by educational leadership programs.

The purpose of this study is to identify dispositions of …

Principals Roles And Responsibilities In Technology Integration In Rural Georgia, Christie Dunham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the elementary school principal’s roles and responsibilities in the use of technology for instructional purposes in Title I rural schools. Three principals, three technology coordinators and 8 teachers in the Southeastern area of Georgia participated in the study. Interview questions for the participants were created after a careful review of the literature on the subject and with input from leadership professors at Georgia Southern University. An analysis was conducted on data provided by the participants from the interview questionnaire and analyzed as separate entities to authenticate results.

Data from principals’ interviews …

Principals And The Professional Victim Syndrome, James G. Pulos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principals today are constantly in the public eye. Every decision made subjects him/her to the scrutiny of staff and faculty, students, central office personnel, parents, community members, and board members. Contemporary principals are asked by their superintendents to lead reform efforts effectively or face the possibility of dismissal. Principals often face the dilemma of balancing politics in an effort to appease board members and the superintendent while simultaneously implementing critical change efforts in their schools. Hess and Kelly (2005) suggested that as principals attempt to lead reform efforts, they often go blindly into these positions unprepared and enter the principalship …