Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Spirituality And Sense Of Coherence In Muslim Students : A Mixed Methods Study, Mohamed A. Ali, Franco Zengaro, Sally A. Zengaro

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this mixed methods research was to measure sense of coherence of convenient sample of college Muslim students in Tennessee and to investigate from their perspective, meaning attached to faith as a source of strength, motivation and courage. This research was framed in salutogenic model (sense of coherence). Two questions guided the research,1) to what degree do Muslim students indicate, through their education, age groups, place of birth, gender and marital status a sense of coherence? 2) Why and how is their faith important to them-when dealing with stressors- as sources of strength, meaning and courage to cope …

Technology Competency Within The Non-Traditional Preservice Teacher Candidate Population: Survey Results, Marilyn Lanier, Cynthia B. Wooten, Noran L. Moffett, Tanya M. Hudson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study utilized action research with quantitative data analysis to investigate the personal technological skills and use of web-based applications of nontraditional teacher candidates enrolled in elementary education courses at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in the southeastern section of the USA. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the technological challenges encountered by non-traditional candidates and to determine how technology can inform instructional delivery of curriculum to improve this population’s representation, expression, and engagement of learning outcomes. Data were collected through an anonymous electronic survey distributed to each student enrolled in the elementary education courses. A total …

A Narrative Study On High School Transition Programs And Student Attendance In Rural North Carolina, Terrie Bethea-Hampton, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

The move from eighth to ninth grade can be an emotional time. Students experience feelings of isolation and the fear of the unknown. In the transition, grade nine students experience a number of first times that challenge their abilities to manage their time wisely and stay focus. These first times include: (a) taking a class that counts towards graduation, (b) choosing their own classes, (c) less parental supervision, (d) increased peer influence, and (e) other freedoms that high school students enjoy (McCallumore & Sparapani, 2010).

To combat the “freshman problem” districts across the United States work in an effort to …

District-Wide Instructional Initiative Framework, Jessica Charles, Tracy Fray Oliver, Doug Knecht, Emily Sharrock

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Describes the Bank Street Education Center's District-wide Instructional Initiative Framework, a tool that guides the Center's partnership work with school districts who are engaged in a process of instructional improvement. The Framework was developed out of research on district improvement, organizational development, school leadership, and professional learning, as well as the Center's own experience implementing large-scale district reform in the largest school district in the nation: New York City.

A Phenomenological Study Of Educators' Perspectives Of School Climate In Secondary Schools Implementing Positive Behavior Intervention And Support, Tory Lawrence

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) is a school-wide initiative implemented in many schools across the United States as an approach for addressing discipline concerns and promoting a positive school climate. This study used a phenomenological design to examine the school climate perceptions of 13 staff member from three secondary schools from two school districts in the southeastern region of North Carolina that were implementing PBIS with fidelity. The transformative learning theory, which explains how knowledge may be obtained from lived experiences of individuals, guided the research study in examining three research questions: (a) How do select secondary school staff …

Vignettes In Qualitative Educational Research: Investigating Greek School Principals’ Values, Pelagia A. Stravakou, Evangelia Ch. Lozgka

The Qualitative Report

Vignettes are hypothetical scenarios of many forms that are presented to interviewees in qualitative studies to elicit participants’ answers on diverse topics. Although there are few scholars having discussed the application of vignettes in qualitative studies, there is no article assessing the implementation of vignettes in the field of educational administration. Therefore, our article discusses the vignette technique as a data collection tool within the qualitative methodological paradigm with a focus on the aforementioned field. More specifically, in the first section we outline the design of hypothetical scenarios and their advantages and disadvantages as a data gathering tool, according to …

Self–Assessment In Efl Grammar Classroom: A Study Of Efl Learners At The Centre For Languages And Translation, Ibb University, Marwan Saeed Saif Moqbel

International Journal for Research in Education

The present study investigated the implementation of self-assessment in EFL grammar classroom to identify the attitudes of EFL learners at the Centre for Languages and Translation, Ibb University towards self-assessment, their perceptions of the advantages of self-assessment, and the problems or difficulties that EFL learners may face while carrying out self-assessment activities. To collect data, the researcher used three instruments: a questionnaire, a structured interview, and a focus group discussion. The questionnaire was administered to (85) EFL learners. Using the stratified sampling technique, the researcher selected randomly (14) learners for the interviews and (21) learners to participate in the focus …

Exploring The Relationship Between Thinking Skills And School Leaders’ Performance, Salah S. Meemar

International Journal for Research in Education

Abstract:

In today’s world of education, the importance of teaching has increased, and it is considered that teachers and school leaders should think effectively to help students perform well. In this context, this research study focused on discussing the relationship between thinking skills and school leaders’ performance. For this purpose, different kinds of literature were investigated to gather the appropriate data. Further, the questionnaire survey method was used to collect data from a sample size of 50 respondents. The research participants include principals, teachers, and assents principals from different schools. The questionnaire was structured to include predictors, such as prior …

Educational Values Practiced By Almujamah University Students In Saudi Arabia, Musaad D. Alharbi

International Journal for Research in Education

Abstract:
This study aimed at identifying the values practiced by Almujamah University students in Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve this objective, the researcher designed a study tool which is a questionnaire consisting of (50) items distributed to the four areas. Then the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were validated. It was distributed to subjects of the study (645) male and female students at the University of Almjmah. The study found that the degree of the educational values practiced by Almjmah University students was high and there is no statistically significant differences due to variables of jeandar and students’ …

How Well-Aware Are Families Of Children With Special Needs, Sara Alosaimi

International Journal for Research in Education

The study aims to increase the knowledge towards the genetic counseling services .at parents with special educational needs children. The study sample targeted (104) families. Each family has one or more children of special educational needs. The families were classified according to the cases they represent such as: special needs, mobility disabilities and mental disability. The researcher has applied a questionnaire of the genetic counseling services (the questionnaire was prepared by the researcher herself) and has felicitated evidence signs and constancy for the study. The results of the study have shown that the level of parents' knowledge about the genetic …

Self-Determination And Its Relationship With Intrinsic Motivation Among Tenth-Grade Students In Karak, Jordan, Wejdan Abd Al-Aziz Karki

International Journal for Research in Education

Abstract:

This study attempts to identify self-determination and intrinsic motivation amongst tenth-grade students in Karak. The study sample consisted of 724 students selected according to the stratified random sampling. In order to achieve the study objectives, the author used Self-Determination Scale (SDS) and the Intrinsic Motivation Scale (IMS) after verifying their validity and reliability. The results showed that the level of self-determination among tenth-grade students in Karak was medium with a mean of 3.33 and standard deviation of 0.71. The level of intrinsic academic motivation among tenth-grade students in Karak was medium with a mean of 3.66 and standard deviation …

The Human Dynamics Needed In The Change Process For Transformational Implementation Of Educational Reform: Common Core State Standards, Daisy Morales

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the changes made in mindset, behaviors, culture, and systems as perceived by K-12 school district directors and principals in California in the implementation of the California Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Methods: This study was descriptive and qualitative, conducted by interviewing 8 principals and 8 directors who have been in their positions for 3 or more years, had first-hand experience with the implementation of the California Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and were familiar with the shifts needed in CCSS. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for …

The Impact Of Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, And Classroom Management On Self-Efficacy Of Christian Private School Teachers, Monica Cason

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to investigate variables that best predict Christian private school teachers’ efficacy. Specifically, the study addresses the question of how the predictor variables of gender, age, ethnicity, professional qualification, and school status relate to efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The present study contributes to the limited resources for research concerning efficacy of a teacher. Approximately 138 teachers from northeast Florida Christian private schools completed the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form. The instrument developed for assessing efficacy also targeted instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. A target sample was …

An Intrinsic Case Study Examining Adaptive Recreation Instructors Who Address The Needs Of Athletes With Disabilities In Northwestern Colorado, Jenna Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to understand the experience and pathway to becoming an adaptive recreation instructor at Oscar’s School Center for Adaptive Recreation (pseudonym). Knowledge is often missing in the preparation and training of instructors via non-traditional certification programs, on-the-job training, and background education and experience of persons working in adaptive recreation, adaptive physical education, and adaptive health education. I used an intrinsic case study to examine the perspectives of 17 participants including the executive director, program director, marketing director, and adaptive recreation instructors at Oscar’s School Center for Adaptive Recreation in Colorado, to obtain the …

A Phenomenological Study On Teacher Perception Of Change In School Culture As A Result Of The Implementation Of Mindfulness, Justin Penley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore the phenomenon of teacher perception of change in school culture as a result of the implementation of mindfulness. This study used a phenomenological methodology, enabling the researcher to gather information by focusing on and describing the impact of mindfulness on school culture in a deep comprehensive manner.

The investigator was able to extract meaning and code data, leading to the emergence of themes that supported and aligned with the study’s research questions and thus led into a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. This was accomplished through data analysis of rich, in-depth interviews, onsite …

Anger Management Strategies’ Used By Gifted Students., Khalid Abdullah Alhammouri, Sara Abdulaziz Alenzi

International Journal for Research in Education

The primary goal of this study was to point out the ‘Anger Management Strategies’ used by gifted students. The sample of the study consisted of 407 secondary school students selected randomly from Jordan and Kuwait by using stratified sampling technique. The number of Jordanian students who participated in this study was 210, 106 male and 104 female enrolled in King Abdullah II Schools for Distinction in both Amman and Irbid Governorates. The number of Kuwaiti students who took part in this study was 197, 105 male and 92 female selected from Mubarak Al-Kabeer educational zone. To achieve the purpose of …

Effectiveness Of An Electronic Curriculum For Communication Skills In Accordance With The Standards Of Quality Of E - Learning In The Academic Achievement And Attitude Towards The Course Of Students Of The Faculty Of Sharia University Qassim, Soliman Hammoda Mohammad Daoud

International Journal for Research in Education

The current study aimed to build communication skills course electronically Using the E-learning management system Blackboard in accordance to e-learning quality standards by the foundation (Quality Matters), and to identify the impact on academic achievement and the trend toward electronic course.

The researcher has translated the standards of quality matters for online courses to undergraduate and building electronic course according to the indicators included and approved by Qassim University, the researcher built an academic achievement test and a measurement test for the trend toward the course, and secured and verified their validity. The researcher selected 77 students from the Faculty …

The Unsung Heroes And Silent Partners Of The Educational World, Gillian Schneider

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed method study was to identify and describe what paraeducators perceive as factors that lead to effective and sustainable engagement in special education special day classes, and identify what strategies are effective for encouraging discretionary effort as perceived by paraeducators.

Methodology: The participants in the study were 69 paraeducators employed by a Southern California County Office of Education. Participants partook in two research instruments: (a) a 37-question survey and (b) a semi-structured interview.

Findings: Data based on the mixed method analysis revealed that paraeducators are highly committed employees who want to know that they are …

Meaning Makers: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Of Exemplary K-12 Superintendents And The Behaviors They Use To Create Personal And Organizational Meaning, Jamel Thompson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this thematic, mixed-methods case study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary K-12 superintendents use to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration. Further, this study surveyed followers to assess the degree to which followers believe a leader uses character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration to create personal and organizational meaning.

Methodology: This research was achieved by interviewing exemplary K-12 superintendents regarding their perceptions of utilizing the behaviors associated with the five domains—character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration.

Findings: Overall, the participants indicated that …

Practitioner Research In Schools: Revealing The Efficacy Agency Cycle, Edward Resnick

Educational Studies Dissertations

Years of high stakes testing and managerial directives to improve student test scores created a trend of teachers’ declining sense of efficacy and agency. Researchers have yet to examine the perceptions of teachers following requirements to improve student engagement and school climate in an effort to improve academic performance following the authorization of local and national educational accountability reforms. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers perceive their efficacy and agency in response to the addition of nonacademic measures and the requirement of documented input from teachers and other stakeholders into educational policy planning procedures. Veteran K-12 …

Perceptions Of Advisors Who Work With High-Achieving Students, Melissa Johnson, Cheryl Walther, Kelly J. Medley

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors programs in higher education are designed to optimize highachieving students’ potential by addressing their particular academic and developmental needs and common characteristics. Gerrity, Lawrence, and Sedlacek suggested that high-achieving students can be “best served by course work, living environments, and activities that differ from the usual college offerings” (43). Schuman, in his handbook Beginning in Honors, noted:

"An important point to keep in mind as regards honors advising is that honors students can be expected to have as many, and as complicated, problems as other students. It is sometimes tempting to envision all honors students as especially well …

How To Drink From The Pierian Spring: A Liberal Arts And Humanities Question About The Limits Of Honors Education, Christopher Keller

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors educators frequently engage in conversations about the decline of interest in and funding for the liberal arts and humanities. Larry Andrews’s essay “The Humanities are Dead! Long Live the Humanities!” is one of several that contributes to a metanarrative about the liberal arts and humanities, playing out along the following lines: workforce-minded politicians, short-sighted university administrators, STEM-related programs, and market-driven students no longer understand the true value of the liberal arts and humanities because they cannot be easily measured in dollars and cents; consequently, higher education today typically narrows students’ perspectives, facilitates short-term and uncritical thinking, and fails to …

Linking Academic Excellence And Social Justice Through Community-Based Participatory Research, Lydia Voigt

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Naomi Yavneh Klos poses two questions for the NCHC community in her essay, “Thinking Critically, Acting Justly,” which appears in this issue of JNCHC: (1) how honors pedagogy/curriculum can engage the highestability and most motivated students in questions of social justice; and (2) how the honors curriculum can serve as a place of access, equity, and excellence in higher education. The University Honors Program (UHP) at Loyola University New Orleans has recently implemented several honors social justice seminars that have been experimenting with various approaches to these pedagogical, curricular, and programmatic questions. Violence and Democracy, an honors sociology/criminology seminar, not …

Creating A National Readership For Harper’S Weekly In A Time Of Sectional Crisis, Ashlyn Stewart

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

PORTZ-PRIZE-WINNING ESSAY, 2017

Throughout the 1840s and ’50s, localized and specialized periodicals serving specific regions, religions, pastimes, and vocations inundated the American magazine market (Lupfer 249). The vast majority of these publications were short-lived; Heather A. Haveman, a sociologist who in 2015 conducted a quantitative analysis of historical American magazines, estimates that the average lifespan of a magazine between 1840 and 1860 was a mere 1.9 years (29). As book historian Eric Lupfer says, “most were risky ventures— undercapitalized, poorly advertised, haphazardly managed, and with limited circulation” (249). However, magazines with the stability and capital of a sponsoring publishing house, …

What Makes A Curriculum Significant? Tracing The Taxonomy Of Significant Learning In Jesuit Honors Programs, Robert J. Pampel

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Over the last few years, I have sat in the opening sessions of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) conference and felt equal parts concern and conviction. In 2015 and 2016, opening speakers enumerated the challenges and opportunities that confront honors educators in a rapidly changing higher education landscape. I sympathized with their concerns in an institutional and cultural context marked by what Schwehn called the “Weberian ethos” of education—an instrumental, and less charitable, attitude toward academic inquiry. Yet, even as I acknowledged the veracity of their arguments, I was buoyed by belief in the Jesuit mission that animates my …

Editor's Introduction (Vol. 9, No. 1), Ada Long

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Even in these perplexing times, most citizens of the United States would agree that social injustices in this country need to be addressed and alleviated. Most would acknowledge the high rates of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, incarceration, economic inequality, racial discrimination, and bias in college admissions, for instance, that undermine the ideals essential to a thriving democracy. The challenge, though, is getting beneath these abstractions to a level of empathy that can bring about change. While the National Collegiate Honors Council has taken on this challenge in years past, the energy and commitment required to meet the challenge has generally waned …

Thinking Critically, Acting Justly, Naomi Yavneh Klos

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In October 2011, just two months after I became Director of the University Honors Program at Loyola New Orleans, my new home town was simultaneously proclaimed both “America’s Best City for Foodies” (Forbes) and the country’s “Worst Food Desert” (Lammers). The city known for beignets and crawfish, Mardi Gras and jazz, was revealed to have only one supermarket for each 16,000 residents (half the national average), with some residents traveling over fifteen miles from their homes to purchase fresh produce.

In the past six years, the situation has been somewhat ameliorated by multiple farmers markets throughout the city that accept …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring/Summer 2018): Forum On Honors And Social Justice, National Collegiate Honors Council

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Call for Papers

Editorial Policy, Deadlines, and Submission Guidelines

Dedication to Jack W. Rhodes

Editor’s Introduction — Ada Long

Forum on “Honors And Social Justice”

Thinking Critically, Acting Justly . — Naomi Yavneh Klos

Making Honors Success Scripts Available to Students from Diverse Backgrounds — Richard Badenhausen

Cultivating Empathy: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Service-Learning Course — Megan Jacobs and Marygold Walsh-Dilley

Socioeconomic Equity in Honors Education: Increasing Numbers of First-Generation and Low-Income Students — Angela D. Mead

Social Justice Education in Honors: Political but Non-Partisan — Sarita Cargas

Research Essays

What Makes a Curriculum Significant? Tracing the Taxonomy …

Making Honors Success Scripts Available To Students From Diverse Backgrounds, Richard Badenhausen

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In her lead forum essay, Naomi Yavneh Klos thoughtfully encourages us to reexamine our admissions practices in honors. She argues,

"We need a more nuanced reevaluation of standards that recognizes the role of systemic bias in traditional metrics of academic excellence and that holistically evaluates each student’s strengths and challenges in the context of individual and cultural experience. Such practices strengthen honors by identifying a diverse spectrum of students who both benefit from and enrich our honors community. (8)"

I would like to take that call for reevaluation one step further by asking members of the honors community to interrogate …

Social Justice Education In Honors: Political But Non-Partisan, Sarita Cargas

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?, Neil Gross introduces research that suggests fifty to sixty percent of college professors are leftist or liberal, a much higher proportion than the seventeen percent of Americans in general (7). He posits the conservative fear that “bias” in higher education is a “very serious” problem (Gross 5). April Kelly-Woessner and Matthew Woessner examine studies that also show that college students are more ideologically diverse than the professoriate (498) and, further, that students tend to discredit information presented by biased professors and consider them untrustworthy sources (499). If the majority …