Education Commons^™

A Grounded Theory Study Of Navigating The Cycle Of Decline In Public School Teaching, Jenny Sanders

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Excessive teacher turnover has considerable financial, logistical, and academic implications for public education. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory (GT) that conceptualized the experiences of former Georgia public school teachers in order to better understand voluntary teacher attrition. Informed by Ryan and Deci's self-determination theory, this GT study provided insight into the process by which teachers arrive at the decision to leave public schools. Interviews with 12 former Georgia public school teachers were conducted. A constant comparative analysis was used to develop the theory of navigating the cycle of decline, which accounts for the general …

Perceptions Of Discipline Policy, Practices, And Student Incivilities Related To Senge's Five Disciplines, Nkoh Lovonne Gaston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High occurrences of student incivilities are a growing concern in the K-12 education system. This problem may be directly impacted by systems thinking and inconsistent school policy enforcement. At a local high school, this problem affected student learning outcomes and teacher-student interpersonal relationships. The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers and administrators regarding consistency in discipline policies and practices, as well as student incivilities as they related to Senge's 5 disciplines. The conceptual framework for this study was Senge's 5 disciplines of organizational learning: systems thinking, mental models, team learning, shared vision, and personal …

Exploring The Experiences And Relationships Of First-Year Teachers And Mentors, Melanie Jane Strey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators have a moral imperative and job-embedded expectation to effectively teach all students, which requires a commitment to continued personal growth. The purpose of this instrumental project study was to explore the lived experiences of first-year teachers and their mentors who teach in a culturally-diverse school district. The conceptual framework was based on supporting adult learning methods through the theories of critical thinking, constructivist perspective, the theory of mentoring, and culturally-instructional teaching. The guiding research questions addressed the perceptions of 5 first-year teachers and 5 mentors regarding individual and shared learning as a result of mentor-mentee relationship. A constant comparison …

The Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Professional Development Program, Ellen Riina Hirsch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective professional development is a longstanding problem in education. Locally, the school district in the study lacked a comprehensive system for evaluating their secondary level professional development programs. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the district's professional development program, specifically examining its perceived strengths and weaknesses. The conceptual framework of the study was systems theory and the adaptive schools reform model. The research questions examined the perceptions of various school personnel on their experiences with the current professional development program at the study district's high school. Individual interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 3 teachers, …

Parents' Perceptions Of Academic Progress Information Access And Dual Enrollment Student Success, Terrill L. Nickerson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

To comply with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, parents of high school students taking college classes as part of a dual enrollment program have to employ alternative monitoring practices to remain informed about their students' academic progress. This quantitative research study explored how parents' perceptions of access to student academic progress information correlated with their students' academic performance based on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college classes. Credit-based transition programs (CBTP) and parent monitoring theory provided the framework. All 867 parents of students under age 18 enrolled in the dual enrollment program at an urban …

Creating Professional Learning Programs That Recognize Teachers As Adult Learners, Nicole Marie Lowe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent research, approximately 40-50% of teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years, creating a constant need for teachers. There is evidence that creating a supportive working environment through effective professional learning, drawing on adult learning theory, may reduce teacher turnover and increase student performance. This study explored teachers' perceptions about the professional development offerings available to them, how these perceptions influence their decisions to remain at the school, and what types of professional learning experiences teachers want to experience. Fourteen high school teachers participated in individual interviews and 2 focus groups, which were analyzed inductively for …

Social Inequality: Cultural Racism As A Predictor Of Collegiate Academic Success, Natasha L. Ball

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The economic sustainability of an area is largely dependent on the education level of its population, yet little is known about the role cultural racism may play in academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate the theory of cultural racism, defined as, the establishment of cultural institutions by whites/Europeans to the detriment of non-white people, as it relates to academic success at the college level. Data were collected from 100 participants from 3 predominately African American high schools in the Atlanta, Georgia area to explore whether the presence of cultural racism existed from the perspective of …

Impact Of Voices, Ideas, Vision, Action Exchange For Teachers In Educational Policies Of Iowa, Tammy Elaine Wawro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low teacher morale and high attrition rates can be attributed in part to educational policy changes and instructional decisions made by individuals who are not connected to the classroom. Time constraints, logistical struggles of getting a critical mass of teachers together, and the geography of rural Iowa schools all play a role in teachers' inability to form a unified voice. The Voices Ideas Vision Action (VIVA) Idea Exchange-?¢ is an online process that combines crowd-sourcing methods with individual engagement strategies over a 6- to 8-week period. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact the VIVA program has …

Beginning Teachers' Experiences And Use Of Time, Laura Marie Ahles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New teachers in a southeast Texas school district are having difficulty using their time effectively for instruction while balancing a multitude of tasks. New work responsibilities for teachers are contributing to teacher burnout and early attrition. The purpose of this study was to examine new teachers and administrators perceptions of novice teacher practices and their daily use of time. Apple s theory of intensification was used as the conceptual framework for this study. A case study design was employed to answer research questions regarding how procedures and policies affect teachers time, teacher perceptions about prior experiences with managing multiple responsibilities, …

The Role Of Teacher Perceptions In Parental Involvement, Crecenra Boyd

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the changing field of education, there is awareness of the benefits of parental involvement on student achievement and the impact teachers have on the success of parental involvement programs. However, teachers may rely significantly on their personal experiences as a source of reference for parental involvement and subsequently impact student achievement. There is a gap in the research about the lived experiences of teachers regarding their perspectives and support of parental involvement in the classroom. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore teachers' lived experiences and attitudes concerning parental involvement and student achievement. The conceptual framework for …

Clarifying Assessment Outcomes For A University-Based Technology Park, Joaquin Guerra Achem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A private, nonprofit university in Mexico invested millions of U.S. dollars in a strategic initiative to build and operate technology-knowledge transfer parks (TKTP) with the mission of supporting the development of Mexican society's entrepreneurial capabilities. The university, however, lacked an assessment policy for gauging the effectiveness of the TKTP initiative. The purpose of this study was to explore stakeholder values about TKTP effectiveness in order to inform future assessment of TKTPs. The triple helix conceptual framework of collaboration between universities, business and industry, and government informed the design of this study. The central question for this study sought to clarify …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Response To Intervention And Classroom Instruction, Lora Coonce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Response to intervention (RTI) is a federal program created to improve student learning and reduce the number of students misidentified as needing special education services. Differing interpretations of how best to implement RTI between campuses and districts have resulted in teachers' confusion and misperceptions of the program. The purpose of this study was to understand how elementary classroom teachers' perceptions of RTI affect classroom instruction. Based on Gagne's instructional theory and Bruner's theory of constructivism, the study examined the perceptions of 10 classroom teachers in 2 low socio-economic elementary schools. The study examined how RTI forms and protocols, administrative leadership, …

School-Wide Factors In New York State High School Counseling Program Readiness, Dianah Cantres

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While current accountability regimes in U.S. public education focus on the job performance of individual school professionals, research in industrial/organizational psychology has established the importance of system-wide factors for organizational outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify school-wide factors that predict guidance program readiness in New York State high schools. This nonexperimental, quantitative study was based on a survey sample of 97 guidance counselors in New York State. Multivariariate analyses of variance showed that two school-wide independent variables-urbanization of school location and counselor-student ratio-predict scores on guidance program readiness, measured using the American School Counselor Association Readiness Survey. …

The Influence Of School Leadership Practices On Classroom Management, School Environment, And Academic Underperformance, Lorna Novlette Wilson Morgan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Influence of School Leadership Practices on Classroom Management, School Environment, and Academic Underperformance

by

Lorna Novlette Wilson Morgan

MSc, Florida International University, 2006

BSc, University of Technology, 2000

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Walden University

April 2015

School leadership requires the collaborative efforts of principals, teachers, parents, students, and other community members to achieve academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance in Jamaica. The research was based upon distributive leadership theory. …

An Evaluation Of Math Assessment Policy Process In A Southwestern School District, Alicia O'Brien

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An Evaluation of Math Assessment Policy Process in a Southwestern School District

by

Alicia Taber O'Brien

EdS, Walden University, 2011

MA, Western Governors University, 2004

BS, New Mexico State University, 1994

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Teacher Leadership

Walden University

September 2015

This project study addressed the lack of evaluation of a math assessment policy in a rural elementary school district in the southwestern United States. This district implemented a math assessment policy in the spring of 2005, yet no evaluation had been conducted to determine whether the policy …

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …