Education Commons^™

The Importance Of Administrative Support For Special Education Teachers, Shari E. Lujan

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Since the inception of special education laws in the 1970’s, special education teachers have been given the responsibility of educating children with exceptional needs. Those needs range from children with mild to moderate disabilities to children with moderate to severe disabilities. There are 13 categories that a child can qualify for special education services through an Individual Education Program (IEP). The majority of children with exceptional needs are educated on general education campuses. With high stakes testing and the push for academic excellence, one may wonder how a child with exceptional needs fits into a general education campus. The Education …

Case Study Of Teachers’ Instructional Practices Among Eighth Grade Students With Disabilities, Lashaundon Perkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic achievement of students relies heavily on a student’s reading proficiency. The college-and career-readiness reading test results of 8th grade North Carolina students did not meet expectations during the 2016-2017 school year. The overall reading performance of 8th grade North Carolina students who have shown achievement at or above proficient was 30%, which is below the national average. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the instructional practices of special education teachers in a low performing school in the eastern region of North Carolina. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. Research questions addressed …

Perceptions Of High School Principals About Improving African American Male Academic Outcomes, Andre Lavelle Credit

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this study, the African American male students’ academic achievement gap and the principals’ strategies to overcome this problem were investigated. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to assess the viability of the different strategies that principals have put in place in their respective schools with the aim of improving the academic outcomes of African American male students. The study was guided by the theoretical foundation of culturally responsive teaching, which ensures effective diversity management through the cultural resources of teaching. The research questions addressed 3 major components: the principals’ self-perceived beliefs and attitudes toward enhancing the …

Perceptions Of White Mountain Apache High School Graduates About College, Tyler Rush Bangert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Very few high school graduates from the White Mountain Apache Reservation go on to college, and it is not known what perceptions may contribute to a decision not to attend college. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study is to investigate these perceptions, including cultural values and family obligations. The framework of this study is founded on Tribal Critical Race Theory, also known as TribalCrit, which came out of Critical Race Theory (CRT). TribalCrit posits that colonization (Western European peoples colonizing Native American lands and peoples) is endemic in society. Seventeen White Mountain Apache tribal members who had graduated …

A Class Action Lawsuit For The Right To A Minimum Education In Detroit, Carter G. Phillips

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Teachers’ Use Of And Preferences For Professional Development Regarding Available Technology, Shannon Main-Petelka

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem in a medium-sized school district is the lack of data regarding what currently accessible technology and technology learning activities (TLAs) teachers use, have access to, and for which technology and TLAs they desire professional development (PD). There is a gap in practice in that technology directors lack data-based plans for PD. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to analyze teachers’ ratings of technology access, use, and desire for PD including the correlation between teachers’ use of technology and their previous PD hours as well as between teachers’ desire to use technology and their location in their …

Perceptions Of K-12 School Principals Regarding Instructional Leadership To Support Music Teachers, Erick Cuthbert Willie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

K-12 school principals, as instructional leaders, are critical to supporting music teachers. The problem addressed in this project study was that principals have been inconsistently applying instructional leadership to support music teachers to remain in the teaching profession. The purpose of this basic qualitative research design study was to understand how principals applied instructional leadership practices to support music teachers in order to retain them. The conceptual framework was the instructional leadership model of Hallinger and Murphy, which defines three main dimensions of instructional leadership: (a) the school mission, (b) the instructional program, and (c) the school climate. The research …

Diversity In School Leadership: Re-Conceptualizing The Narrative Of Black Male School Principals And Assistant Principals For Recruitment And Retention, James Avery

Theses and Dissertations

Educational leadership is one of the most vastly explored topics in education. School principals and assistant principals make up a substantial portion of those in leadership positions. Experiences in educational leadership have been chronicled for a number of years; however, the diversity in the recorded lived experiences is lacking. To that end, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature by developing an understanding of and recording the essence of Black males’ experiences working in K-12 school leadership positions.

The intersection of race and gender has been proven to create dynamics which impact the enactment of leadership …

Designing Leadership: Using Design Thinking To Create, Practices, And Implement A Formal Leadership Development Program, Jon Samuel Wedding

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine what happens when design thinking is used to create a leadership development program, increase leadership competencies, and participants perceptions of design thinking. This study uses action research to examine the experiences and design thinking to create a leadership program in a formal hierarchical. This study collected data during a two-cycle action research process. The findings from this study revealed that design thinking can be used to create a formal leadership development program. The ability to use design thinking’s human centered design can also help increase the leadership competencies of trust and collaborations. …

Peer-Reporting Of Academic Dishonesty In Classroom And Online Examinations: Prevalence, Experiences, Perceptions, And Beliefs Of Pharmacy Students, Myo-Kyoung Kim

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate pharmacy students’ experiences, perceptions, and beliefs regarding peer-reporting of academic dishonesty by adopting a cross-sectional anonymous survey to pharmacy students in the United States. In addition, this study identified factors that may affect pharmacy students’ likelihood of reporting peers’ academic dishonesty including the relationship between the cheater and their observer, the severity of the punishment on the reported cheating, and the reporting systems. Fifty-six out of 271 respondents (20.7%) reported their engagement of academic dishonesty. One hundred forty-four respondents (53.1%) reported that they directly observed someone else’s cheating behavior. One hundred eighty-nine …