Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Mediating Teachers As Learners: Conversations From Shared Experience, Paul Watkins

Administrative Issues Journal

Race to the Top mandates, much like other comprehensive reforms before, focuses on teacher quality and student outcomes. Measuring teacher quality, under Race to the Top reforms, remains a subject of uncertainty, particularly measuring for improvement. This article argues that a central purpose of classroom evaluation is to provide supportive, targeted feedback by differentiating teachers as learners. Drago-Severson and Mezirow offer a framework for adult learning that overlays this theoretical analysis. The three cases explored for this article demonstrate levels of adult learning among teachers, directing the novice to addressing the fully formed transformational learner. The cases promote professional learning …

The Relationship Of Grade Span In 9th Grade To Math Achievement In High School, John West, Mary Lou Miller, Jim Myers, Timothy Norton

Administrative Issues Journal

Purpose, Scope, and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between grade span for ninth grade and gains in math achievement test scores in 10th grade and 12th grade. A quantitative, longitudinal, correlational research design was employed to investigate the research questions. The population was high school students in the United States from public and private schools who were in the ninth grade for the first time during the 1989-1990 school year. The data collection instrument was the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Further sampling and data analysis was conducted …

Women In Business: Influences On The Undergraduate Major Choices, Victoria Geyfman, Christina M. Force, Laura M. Davis

Administrative Issues Journal

This study employs a survey of undergraduate business school freshmen to examine factors that influence their decision to study business and whether these factors differ by gender. Specifically, the study examines internal factors, such as students’ perceived aptitudes and interests in the subject; external factors, such as compensation and job availability; and social/interpersonal influences, such as input of teachers, school counselors, parents, and friends. This paper follows up on the authors’ earlier work, which found that despite an increase in the number of male students enrolled in business programs across the nation during the period between 2003 and 2011, female …

Implementing A One-To-One Technology Initiative In Higher Education, Daryl Fridley, Diana Rogers-Adkinson

Administrative Issues Journal

This paper describes the process of conceptualizing and implementing a one-to-one technology initiative at a regional comprehensive university. Organized around the principle that sustainable change requires attention to clear, justifiable goals, attention to key decisions, the development of stakeholder investment, adequate training, building appropriate infrastructure, and a concern for sustainability, the authors provide specific examples detailing how the change initiative in which they participated addressed each of those areas.

Despite Best Intentions: A Critical Analysis Of Social Justice Leadership And Decision Making, David E. Dematthews, Angus Shiva Mungal, Paul A. Carrola

Administrative Issues Journal

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between social justice leadership and organizational decision making in order to make recommendations for how principals can make more socially just decisions in difficult school contexts. This article begins with a discussion of social justice leadership, facets and theories associated with social justice, and how facets can be contradictory and problematic in practice. Then, rational choice theory is presented to detail key assumptions and criticisms that are associated with decision-making in complex organizations. Next, rational choice theory is utilized as a straw man for analyzing principal decision-making in complex organizations …

Redefining The Core Competencies Of Future Healthcare Executives Under Healthcare Reform, Dianne B. Love, M. Femi Ayadi

Administrative Issues Journal

As the healthcare industry has evolved over the years, so too has the administration of healthcare organizations. The signing into law of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has brought additional changes to the healthcare industry that will require changes to the healthcare administration curriculum. The movement toward a vertically integrated delivery system for healthcare has demanded that healthcare executives have a new set of skills and competencies. These competencies include management skills across hospitals, ancillary providers, physician practices, ambulatory settings, as well as skills in risk management and quality. Healthcare organizations can transform healthcare delivery through the …

Letter From The Editor, Lisa Appeddu

Administrative Issues Journal

No abstract provided.

Diversity In American Graduate Education Admissions: Twenty-First-Century Challenges And Opportunities, Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D., Elizabeth A. Daniele

Executives, Administrators, & Staff Publications

While the legal precedent of affirmative action in U.S. higher education is well documented, graduate admissions practices that withstand strict scrutiny need further documentation. This chapter fills that gap in three ways. First, we briefly highlight the history of affirmative action in U.S. higher education as it relates to broadening the participation of URMs. Second, we offer best practices in U.S. graduate admissions that take into account the benefits of diversity while working within legal guidelines. We then close with considerations for future scholarship, policies, and practices.

Ua3/9/7 Recent Events, Wku President's Office - Ransdell

WKU Administration Documents

Email from WKU president Gary Ransdell to faculty & staff regarding death of student and the Charlie Hebdo Attack in Paris.

National Assessment Of Educational Progress (Naep) Results For 2015, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The National Center for Education Statistics has released this year’s NAEP results which measure nationwide student performance in 4th and 8th grade Reading and Math. NAEP is administered nationally to a representative sample of students from all 50 states, so acts as a standard measure of student performance across states and time. This policy brief will examine Arkansas’ 2015 results and consider possible causes and implications.

Education Funding Equity In Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Thanks to the landmark Lake View case, Arkansas has doubled-down on its commitment to ensuring an equitable education to all students. This brief examines the equity of current education spending in Arkansas.

Education Funding Adequacy In Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Over the past decade and a half, Arkansas has made enormous strides in ensuring that every child in the state is has access to a quality learning experience. This brief examines the adequacy of current education spending in Arkansas

Broadening Students’ Perceptions Of Conflict: The Challenge Of Metaphorical Change, Justin D. Walton

Administrative Issues Journal

This qualitative investigation examined the semester long effects of a critical transformative pedagogy on students’ metaphorical understandings of conflict interaction. The study included five university conflict management seminars taught over a four year period. Findings revealed that (a) while most students entered the course with predominantly negative and oppositional perceptions of conflict, the use of a critical transformative pedagogy did indeed (b) help support new metaphorical understandings of conflict interaction and (c) supported instances of personal empowerment and expanded self-knowledge. Implications and suggestions for future research are considered.

Graduate Students’ Evaluation Of The Character And Caring Of Their Instructors, Dan Shepherd

Administrative Issues Journal

Recent research concludes that student-teacher relationships are foundational for greater instructional effectiveness and its concomitant increase in overall student achievement or learning. Similarly, research seems to demonstrate conclusively that trust is a vital component in the development of strong relationships. Recently, 488 current participants and recent graduates of an online and blended Master of Education program were surveyed about their perceptions of their instructors’ character and concern for them as individuals. Survey respondents were public school teachers. Based on the survey’s results, the personal qualities and characteristics that graduate students most seem to prefer in their instructors when determining their …

Rethinking Professional Development Training Through Mentoring Relationships, Tania Marie-Cecile Benoiton

Administrative Issues Journal

This proposal looks at teacher mentorship and how it is manifested in different school environments. Grid and Group Theory provides the basis of discerning the cultural forces at play within the respective school environments. The theoretical framework will highlight the data collection process. Rather than being a secondary asset, mentorship should become a primary resource for the professional development of teachers, novice and veteran alike. Each school faces challenges that are unique to their environment which calls for the use of inhouse resources to engage the educator on multiple levels. The proposal reports preliminary findings and concludes on with a …

An Exploration Of The Validity Of Inferences Made From The Interpersonal And Social Empathy Index (Isei), Kateeka Harris, Celia M. Wilson

Administrative Issues Journal

Social empathy is the ability to understand other people by perceiving or experiencing their life situations, thus providing an opportunity to gain insight into social inequalities. Institutions of higher education have unique opportunities to engage students in socially just educational conversations that challenge negative social biases of others who are not like them. The current study investigated the validity of the inferences made from the Interpersonal and Social Empathy Index (ISEI), a common tool used to explore levels of empathy among college students. A comparison was then made between the original constructs described by the instrument developers (Segal et. al., …

The Challenge Of Organizational Change: Before, During, And After, Richard Parsells

Administrative Issues Journal

Aligning with the theme of this conference, this paper addresses actions, as reported in the literature, that are purported to assist organizations in successfully accomplishing change initiatives. This paper presents factors related to the development of a robust culture for the handling of change, actions to be taken during a change, and suggestions for action after a change. Implications for practice are explored.

Using Emergence Theory-Based Curriculum To Teach Compromise Skills To Students With Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Lance Fein, Don Jones

Administrative Issues Journal

This study addressed the compromise skills taught to students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and related social and communication deficits. A private school in the southeastern United States implemented an emergence theory-based curriculum to address these skills, but no formal analysis was conducted to determine its effectiveness. Guided by cognitive development and constructivist theories, a concurrent, mixed-methods case study design was used to investigate the impact of this curriculum on teaching compromise skills to middle school students with ASD and related deficits. Teacher observations and compromise interventions were open coded and analyzed thematically using descriptive statistics. For the quantitative sequence, …

Performance Theory And Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness, Jeffrey Aulgur

Administrative Issues Journal

This abridged article reports on a review of the literature of performance theory and its relationship to the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. Specifically, the article explores the challenges in defining organizational effectiveness in the Third Sector due to the wide disparity in the size, scope and mission of nonprofit organizations. The following theoretical models, and their application to the Third Sector, are explored: Agency Theory, Resource Dependency Theory, Group/Decision Process Theory, Stakeholder Theory, Institutional Theory, Policy Governance Theory and Contingency Theory. The review indicates there is not a single theory or hypothesis capable of meeting the challenges of nonprofit governance. …

An Analysis Of Fertilizer Markets In Bric Countries, Robert Lloyd

Administrative Issues Journal

Over the previous decade the collection of countries known as the BRIC nations has worked together to advance social and economic agendas. These four nations represent unique challenges and immense opportunities for MNC’s searching to expand their business into these countries. This paper reviews these opportunities and challenges in the context of the fertilizer industry and provides an overall outlook for this international market. Recommendations are provided for how an international business might succeed in each of the BRIC nations.

An Investigation Of Factors Contributing To All But Dissertation Status: Doctor Of Education Students, Jacqueline M. Gaffner, Celia M. Wilson

Administrative Issues Journal

Literature regarding advanced degree completion illustrates multiple factors attributing to completion or abandonment of dissertation research. Contributing factors are typically linked to the environment associated with the institution in which a doctoral candidate is enrolled, or personality characteristics held by individual candidates. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gather data from current doctoral candidates regarding factors that inhibited their completion of the doctor of education degree. Initial responses from participants appeared to confirm findings from similar research studies exploring dissertation non-completers. Most participants noted personal factors for non-completion, while a few mentioned institutional factors. In order to …

Leadership Opportunities In Education For Individuals With Disabilities, Sean Daniel Kinder

Administrative Issues Journal

This study examines the perceptions of individuals with disabilities concerning employment opportunities as administrative leaders in public school contexts. A discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as well as the definition of what is considered a legal disability, as provided in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Additionally, this piece explains Critical Disability Theory as a theoretical lens that provides perspective and highlights the methods used in the data collection process. It reports preliminary findings and concludes with a discussion of why this educational issue is of significance.

Experiential Learning Approaches To Principles Of Management, Robert Lloyd

Administrative Issues Journal

This paper describes a lesson plan that can be used in an undergraduate course in principles of management. The lesson plan helps students learn the basic concepts of management and the functions performed by managers – planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Through traditional lecture and classroom discussion, the students will better understand these concepts. This lesson plan also helps students recognize these functions through observation. Finally, to ensure that student’s have fully internalized each function of management, they will have the opportunity to apply the concepts through a group project. Upon completion of this lesson plan, the students should be …

Administrative Issues Journal Conference Proceedings: Welcome And Table Of Contents

Administrative Issues Journal

No abstract provided.

View From The Front Gate: A Comparative Study Of Nyc Schools From A College Admissions Perspective, Sharon Hardy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluated patterns of college applications from NYC Schools to CUNY. Specifically, a cohort of former large high schools that were reorganized into small schools of choice (SSCs) under the City's Children First education plan were studied. Coupled with the assessments of college admissions directors, the study concluded that despite an increase in applications, the outcomes of student academic quality and college preparation from a college admissions perspective were mixed.

The Lsu Department Of Otolaryngology – Head And Neck Surgery: A Decade In Review And A Vision For Our Future, Department Of Otolaryngology

LSUHSC Hurricane Katrina Archive: Reports & Presentations

"The LSU Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery: A Decade in review and a vision for our future" is a 10 page document extracted from a publication created the LSU Health Department of Laryngology on September 27, 2015.

The selected pages from this publication detail the forced temporary closure and relocation of LSU Health Sciences Center due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and the ways the Department of Otolaryngology continued their academic programming.

Arkansas Science Benchmark, Eoc Biology And Itbs Test Results 2014-15, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) has released the 2014-15 Benchmark Science and ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) results. PARCC results of Literacy and Math will be released later this fall. The following brief highlights the results of these tests, compares achievement scores over time, and provides a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Science Exam (Grades 5 and 7)  End-of-Course Biology Exam  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1 and 2)

Using A Merit-Based Scholarship Program To Increase Rates Of College Enrollment In An Urban School District: The Case Of The Pittsburgh Promise, Robert Bozick, Gabriella Gonzalez, John Engberg

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The Pittsburgh Promise is a scholarship program that provides $5,000 per year toward college tuition for public high school graduates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who earned a 2.5 GPA and a 90% attendance record. This study used a difference-in-difference design to assess whether the introduction of the Promise scholarship program directly influenced changes in rates of college enrollment among students graduating from Pittsburgh public high schools in years immediately following the launch of the program. Becker’s (1964) standard human capital investment model, which predicts that youth make cost-benefit calculations to guide their college enrollment decisions, provides the framework for the analysis. …

Aspire In Arkansas?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On June 22, 2015, Governor Hutchinson communicated with Johnny Key, State Commissioner of Education, his request for the state’s removal from PARCC by June 30th. This back and forth over student assessment has raised many questions for educators, students, and parents. This brief will review the history behind annual assessments, address the differences between PARCC and ACT/ACT Aspire, and suggest the scores Arkansas’ students would receive if ACT Aspire is administered next school year

Australian Students In A Digital World, Sue Thomson

Policy Insights

This century has seen continued exponential growth in the use of digital technologies. In Australia, the proportion of students having access to a computer at home rose from about 91 per cent in 2000 to over 99 per cent in 2013, and access to the internet grew from 67 per cent in 2000 to 98 per cent in 2013. According to the 2013 report on the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement’s (IEA) International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), Australia had the highest percentage of students who used computers at school at least once a week (81%), …