Education Commons^™

How Principals Influence, Facilitate, And Support Instructional Coaching Programs, Nadine Y. Norris

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative, multicase study examined how principals perceived the role of instructional coaches and how they facilitated, influenced, and supported teachers’ professional learning through the instructional coaching program. Including the researcher as a participant, 16 participants from three suburban school districts—including district-level administrators, principals, instructional coaches, and teachers—engaged in semistructured interviews. This study was framed by Desimone’s core conceptual framework for professional development and Spillane’s distributed leadership model. Data analysis revealed principals viewed instructional coaches as their partners in instructional leadership and professional learning facilitators. Principals facilitated and influenced the instructional coaching program by empowering teachers, promoting collaboration, and establishing …

Principals' Perceptions Of Professional Development And Caring Communities For English Learners, Sunny Sue Chang Jonas

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

A growing population of English Learners (ELs) have unique challenges when navigating the American educational system. In fact, there is an achievement gap such that EL students lag behind their native English peers in school outcomes. Accordingly, there is increased demand for professional development (PD) lead by principals to address the needs of the changing population of ELs. To support effective PD aimed at improved achievement for ELs, principals need embrace transformative thinking in their work. Although PD has the potential to be the driving force of change, traditional approaches to PD have limited impact on academic success of ELs. …

An Investigation Into The Influences Leading To Special Educator Attrition; A Professional Development Approach, Kimberly Miller

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examined the differences within special education preparation and professional development support and the association with special educator feelings of self-efficacy and burn-out. The dissertation is organized into three separate papers. Paper 1 is a review of the research literature on the causes of special educator attrition. Paper 2 utilized the causes of attrition identified in Paper 1 and outlined research to further identify potential causes, and potential solutions. Paper 3 provides an outline of proactive solutions for districts to implement, in order to support special educators through meaningful professional development.

The literature review identified specific factors impacting special …

Literacy Coaching For Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: An Exploration Of A Partnership At The Secondary Level, Kathy Jo Smith

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This case study sought to explore how literacy coaching at the secondary level can be used to assist teachers in the implementation of disciplinary literacy instruction, specifically in the high school history classroom. Based on the new Common Core State Standards, all teachers are required to teach reading, writing, and communicating as it pertains to each academic subject. In addition, standardized test scores continue to show little to no progress at the secondary level when it comes to reading and mathematics. Researchers have called for more rigorous disciplinary-literacy instruction at the high school level to address below-average standardized test scores. …