Education Commons^™

Scholars Programs: An Institutional Enigma, Lindsay Davis

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

The race to recruit high-achieving students to attend colleges and universities continues to intensify. Institutions view these high-achieving students as a benefit given the prestige associated with their enrollment, which impacts everything from rankings to reputation to resources. Some institutions use scholars programs as one means by which to attract high- achieving students to their campuses, but little is known about scholars programs, why they are created, how they operate, or the role they may play in helping to meet broader institutional goals.

This exploratory study examines scholars programs through the lens of organizational decision-making literature in the context of …

The Impact Of Principal Preparation On Student Outcomes, Tanya Shelton

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the role of principal preparation on first-year principals' ability to positively impact student outcomes. The study sought to understand key learning experiences that contributed to first-year principals' success upon completion of their preparation program. Using the case study method for this qualitative research study, I interviewed first-year principals to gather data on their perceptions of the learning experiences that led to their success. The research question that guided my qualitative research study was: How does one district-led principal preparation program in a large urban city increase first-year principals' capacity to effectively lead …

The Principal’S Leadership Impact Utilizing Distributed Leadership Practices That Drive School Improvement, Dr. Holly Grubbs

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Educational leadership is a major factor in achieving the goals of state and federal policymakers centered on raising student achievement for all students. Before, the focus was on how the principal is managing the school, and now it is about the process, procedures and structures, and systems in place that drive instructional improvement. With the increase of federal legislation, a principal's instructional leadership is measured by student academic achievement (Van Roekel, 2008). The assumption of the federal, state, and local policies is that instructional leadership is evident on the campus to improve schools. Consequently, there is a problem in American …

Strategic Use Of Innovation In High Research Universities: Mission-Driven Or Mission Drift? A Comparative Review Of The Top 100 International Universities Recognized For Innovation, Kate Montgomery

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

This research supports some of the mounting pressures higher education practitioners face in approaching innovation strategically while recognizing the mission-driven needs of the institution. Two research questions were examined. First, how do highly innovative universities communicate traditional missions and innovation in their mission statements? Second, to what extent do innovation strategies align as stated in their strategic plans with their mission statements? This research was grounded in institutional theory given the breadth of literature linking this theory to institutional rhetoric such as mission statements. In addition, the theory provided relevancy to assessing the debate over legitimizing tendencies, such as symbolism …