Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Accrediting Processes And Institutional Effectiveness At A California Community College, Ruby Sodhi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The implementation of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges' (ACCJC) 2002 Accreditation Standards significantly increased the number of sanctions on California community colleges resulting in a debate regarding the interpretation and application of the standards. This study examined the perceptions at a community college regarding compliance and the application of ACCJC's 2002 Standard IB on institutional effectiveness as defined by the Commission. This qualitative, exploratory case study used Etzioni's 2 constructs' organizational compliance and organizational effectiveness' as the conceptual framework. Data were collected from a focus group and interviews with 12 participants with experience in accreditation as well …

Middle School Teachers' Perceptions Of Bullying And Their Practices In Reporting Bullying Incidents, Katherine Eileen Blust

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student self-report surveys showed bullying behaviors were problematic among students in one Midwest middle school. Despite implementing a version of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, students continued to self-report bullying behaviors that occurred on school property during school hours. It is crucial that educators are proactive in intervening and preventing bullying to establish a safe environment for academic success. The purpose of this study was to describe teachers' perceptions of bullying behaviors and their practices in reporting bullying incidents. Bandura's social learning and Locke's social contract theories served as the study's framework. Teachers were asked to describe behaviors they perceived …

U.S. Teachers' Perceptions Of School Violence Prevention Programs, Natakie Tamu Chestnut

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In response to high profile violent incidents and crimes, many schools have developed plans that address school discipline to create a school climate and culture wherein everyone is valued and treated with respect. The problem that prompted this study is teachers are struggling with effectively implementation prevention program. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of teachers about school violence prevention programs. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this study examined the connection among school violence, environment, discipline and prevention programs; and it explored approaches to creating safe communities in schools. The research questions focused on teachers' …

Improving Graduate Students' Satisfaction With Academic Advising, Jamie Loretta Green

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic advising is associated with increased student retention and academic success. However, advising at an urban graduate school of education in Tennessee has been criticized for limited advisor availability, poor communication, and lack of advising knowledge. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons for student satisfaction or dissatisfaction and to identify techniques to improve academic advising. This study was guided by the conceptual frameworks of Kelly's personal construct theory and Daloz's psycho-developmental perspective. The research question addressed the perceived role of academic advisors that graduate students associated with academic success. The …

Audio Books With Struggling Readers At The Elementary School Level, Alicia Hollis Mcgill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Title I school located in a southeastern state, 60% of 3rd grade students are reading below grade level. The state's new reading initiative ties grade promotion to 3rd grade students reading on grade level. At the study site, administrators identified audio books as a possibly helpful reading tool. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory, which holds that learners can learn new skills more readily with guided assistance, framed this study. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative design study was to explore the associations between the use of audio books and the reading levels of 3rd grade struggling readers. …

Scholarly Writing Among Graduate Students: A Qualitative Project Study, Marsha Armstrong Harwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study focused on scholarly writing skills of adult students enrolled in a private graduate institution in the West Indies. The institution provided writing instruction, but scholarly writing skills remained inadequate for some students when they began their final projects. The project study provided insight into the most pervasive writing skill deficits and the positive and negative influences on writing skill development among graduate students. The research design was an applied qualitative case study using data collected from a purposeful sample of convenience within a bounded system of current students, faculty members, and administrators in one institution. Open-ended questionnaires …

Examination Of Resource Allocation And Student Achievement, Jo Ann Neal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the raise in per-pupil expenditures, the achievement gap between economically advantaged and disadvantaged students continues to increase. Education proponents are scrambling to understand the complexities of local school funding. The No Child Left behind deadline stipulated that all students must be proficient in language arts and mathematics by 2014. The constructivist theory served as the conceptual framework for the study. Performance data were obtained from the State of New Jersey Department of Education and the United States Department of Education. This quantitative study determined whether a significant relationship exists between the allocation of fiscal resources and students' test scores. …

Faculty Perceptions On The Student Learning Accountability Movement, Tara Rose

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Literature examining the impact of the student learning accountability movement on faculty perspectives is insufficient, as little is known about how faculty perceive the requirements related to federal, state, and institutional accountability initiatives. This case study investigated the threat posed by the accountability movement on the stability of faculty engagement, while exploring how faculty perceptions of the movement will impact institutional and state policy. Using Levin's system of accountability as the framework for this study, the central research question explored how understanding faculty perspectives on the student learning accountability movement could promote policy within an institution. Data were gathered via …

Writing Center Editor Strategies For Addressing Student Academic Entitlement In Intervention Editing, Sarah Ann Matthey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Not all students who enroll in postsecondary institutions have the skills needed to be successful in higher education in reading and writing. At a for-profit, online university in Minnesota, many students were not completing 4 weeks of a remedial writing program, Intervention Editing (IE). According to internal surveys and personal communications, students' struggles to complete IE were partly due to academic entitlement (AE). AE is defined as students placing the responsibility for their academic success on third parties rather than on themselves. Using the theory of self-efficacy as a framework, the purpose of this intrinsic case study was to determine …

Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry Science Instruction Self-Efficacy And Student Achievement, Grace Hanners

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Standardized test data indicate that student achievement in science is a problem both nationally and locally. At the study site, only a small percentage of fifth-grade students score at the advanced level on the Maryland state science assessment (MSA). In addition, the performance of African American, economically disadvantaged, and special education students is well below that of the general student population. Some studies have shown that teacher self-efficacy affects student achievement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fifth-grade teacher inquiry science instruction self-efficacy scores and the scores of their students on the MSA. Bandura's …

High School Seniors' Knowledge About College And The Acquisition Of College-Readiness Skills, Karen Franklin Mcsherry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of college readiness, which affects persistence in college, is a problem for many students at a high school in New Jersey. Only 1 in 5 students in this school persist from first to second year in New Jersey public colleges and universities, and as many as 50% do not graduate in 4 years. This problem is important to study because low persistence may engender personal failure, familial debt, social stigma, and wasted public funds. Guided by Bandura's social learning theory, this qualitative case study addressed the lack of college readiness by exploring what high school students know about going …

Single Mothers Of Young Children And Continuing Education, Jackiethsha Lynette Fluellen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of households headed by single mothers living in poverty exceeds that of all other categories of poverty-stricken households, and poverty impacts the children negatively in various ways. When single mothers choose not to continue their education, they lessen their chances of finding higher paying jobs and raising their families out of poverty. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to better understand why some single mothers decided to continue into higher education. The study considered the decisions of 6 single mothers of young children in Montgomery County, Texas, and the obstacles they overcame while completing their education. The …

Health Science Adminstrators' Perception Of Remediation With Students In The Professional Track Programs, Yvonne Jackson Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Remediation to improve student retention is rapidly becoming an important part of health science programs in higher education. A career college located in the midwestern United States implemented remediation for students to address declining enrollment health science professional-track programs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how remediation was carried out by college instructors and their perceptions of instructional best practices for students in health science programs in the context of current research. The conceptual framework that guided this study was based on constructivism and adult learning theory. Research questions focused on how instructors were carrying out …

Elementary Teachers' Understanding, Knowledge, And Perceptions Of Inclusion Best Practices, Jason Liggins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recent legislative actions requiring schools in the local school system to increase the percentage of students served in the inclusion classroom has led to teachers having difficulty in implementing inclusion best practices. Using Vygotsky's social theory, the purpose of this case study was to examine teachers' understanding, knowledge, and perceptions of inclusive teaching strategies. The research questions were used to explore the teachers' understanding of inclusion, perceived effectiveness of strategies, and the resources that teachers feel are necessary to implement inclusion strategies. A purposeful sample of 10 teachers currently teaching in an inclusion setting were interviewed face-to-face using semistructured questions. …

Professional Development Of Head Start Teachers In Emotional And Instructional Support, Marilyn Mcleod Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the southwest region of Tennessee, a local Head Start program classroom assessment scoring system's (CLASS) scores fell in the lowest 10% among national Head Start programs in emotional and instructional support. Since 2012, the Office of Head Start has released reports showing that the average Head Start program has low performance CLASS emotional and instructional support scores. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the professional development of local Head Start teachers with low CLASS scores in emotional and instructional support. Knowles's adult learning theory of andragogy was the overall conceptual framework and the concentrated theory …

Understanding The Relationships Among Students' Goal Orientations, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, And Accelerated Academic Success In The Redesign Of Developmental Mathematics, Kelly Ann Hogan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The low success rates of increasing numbers of underprepared students taking developmental mathematics classes 'often minority and economically disadvantaged' are challenging community colleges across the United States. These students, who must start in the lowest levels of precollege mathematics courses, are unlikely to pass the first course and earn a credential. Using a mastery goal orientation theoretical framework, a quantitative, survey research design was used to ascertain any correlations between students' goal orientations, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and success in a new model of learning. Survey data were used to answer 3 research questions: (a) the relationship between success and students' …

Secondary General Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Challenges For Inclusion Students With Autism, Karen Clark Clark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many secondary students with autism (SWA) included in the general education (GE) classroom demonstrate academic and behavioral challenges. Most GE teachers who have inclusive SWA in their classes receive little or no training on evidence-based practices to address these challenges. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to explore secondary GE teachers' perceptions of and experiences with the academic and behavioral challenges of inclusive SWA. Theoretical frameworks of the weak central coherence theory for autism and executive dysfunction grounded the study. Data from 6 purposefully chosen secondary GE inclusion teachers, who educated SWA and students with autism spectrum …

Perceptions On Interventions Impacting The Self- Efficacy Of At-Risk Students, Natalie Giddens Giddens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers need interventions to improve at-risk students' self-efficacy, which may improve their academic performance in school. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of elementary school teachers at a Texas public middle school as to what research-based interventions they felt would improve the self-efficacy of these students. Bandura's social cognitive theory, which framed the study, indicates that self-efficacy beliefs affect the courses of action that people seek and the choices people make. Many at-risk students who experience a lack of academic success have low self-efficacy, which may affect their school performance. The research questions that …

Implementing The Common Core State Standards For Mathematics, Susan E. Hinkley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current research and declining test scores indicate that changes in educational practice are required for successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). Using a constructivist change theory framework, this grounded theory study explored the experiences 6 purposefully selected, experienced teachers at an Upstate New York school district had related to the implementation of the CCSSM. The research question investigated the experiences that educators had related to implementing the CCSSM and the accompanying New York State mathematics modules. Observation notes, interview transcripts, and teachers' journals were collected and analysed simultaneously through coding, constant comparison, theoretical sampling, and …

Multimedia Technologies' Influence On Language Acquisition In English Language Learners, Larissa Karina Parrilla

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English as a Second Language (ESL) learners at the upper elementary level have struggled to demonstrate the vocabulary required to read in English at grade-level. Although multimedia technologies have demonstrated positive effects as language acquisition educational tools at the university level, it remains unclear how useful they are for language acquisition at the elementary level. This quasi-experimental study used dual coding theory as a framework to examine the relationship between the level of reading comprehension upper elementary students developed and their construction of word meanings through use of multimedia technologies. The study utilized convenience sampling of 85 students divided into …

Secondary Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Preparation To Teach In Urban Schools, Jacquinne Reynolds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

University officials have identified a problem among secondary preservice teachers (SPTs) who have expressed reluctance to teach in local urban schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of SPTs regarding their preparation for and experiences with teaching in urban school settings. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Bruner's concept of scaffolding served as the conceptual frameworks that guided this study. Data were collected from 11 SPTs who completed the requirements of their field service experiences in urban schools. Data collection consisted of individual interviews, one focus group interview, and field observations. Findings showed that …

Impact Of An Innovative Classroom On Bsn Students' Self-Efficacy And Academic Performance, Laurie Jo Singel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The critical shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States has led to increased enrollment in nursing schools, but the number of graduates is still decreasing, as nursing students struggle and fail in upper division courses. There is a significant gap in knowledge concerning students' self-efficacy (SE) as a factor directly influencing students' academic performance. The problem examined in this correlational study was the impact of collaborative learning in an innovative classroom setting on Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students' SE and academic performance. Framed by Bandura's theory of SE, the research questions examined the relationship between students' …

The Effects Of A Reading Comprehension Intervention Package On Increasing Third Grade Students' Comprehension Skills, Marilyn P. Card

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Increasing students' reading comprehension involves the use of targeted strategies and effective instruction. Previous research has shown that instruction in individual skills such as vocabulary acquisition, reading fluency, writing, and story mapping help increases students' reading comprehension. However, few studies have explored combining these skills and their cumulative effects, if any, on reading comprehension. The purpose of this quasi-experimental secondary analysis study was to examine the effects of adding a reading comprehension instruction package (RCIP), which includes vocabulary acquisition, reading fluency, and writing, to instruction in story mapping alone. Constructivist theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. …

African American High School Graduates' Perceived Academic Success Factors, Paula Williams Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A large number of African American students attending a low performing, urban high school in Tennessee demonstrated a lack of understanding in reading/language arts by scoring below proficient on the end of course (EOC) exam in reading/language arts. The purpose of this case study was to examine the perceptions of 10 African American graduates who scored proficient on the reading/language arts EOC exam to seek factors they associated with their academic success. This study was guided by Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory. The research question addressed the perceived factors that African American graduates associated with their academic success. Purposeful sampling …

Internet Technology As A Means Of Delivering Reading Instruction In The Content Areas, Kimberly Rose Pintok

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to students not meeting minimum proficiency levels in reading, a central Florida middle school that was rated an A school for 4 years consecutively dropped to a B rating during the 2012-2013 school year and was 10 points away from dropping to a C rating in the 2013-2014 school year. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe classroom implementation of Internet technology in a middle school classroom in an attempt to address the steady decline in reading scores. Guided by Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky's social constructivist view of education, this study explored if and how teachers used …

Impact Of Orientation Programs On Nontraditional Students' Perceived Academic Success In Adult Education Programs, Marsha Ann Webster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many administrators and faculty within higher education institutions have grappled with identifying and employing effective strategies to facilitate student success and persistence. The current study focuses on assessing nontraditional students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perception of the orientation program at a 2-year continuing education program in a Caribbean nation. The study is important as the findings have the potential to increase nontraditional students' persistence and learning. Bandura's social cognitive theory and the theory of self-efficacy served as the theoretical frameworks of this sequential mixed-methods design study. The quantitative research questions examined the reported self-efficacy levels of 77 participants and nonparticipants …

Elementary Teachers' Support Of Positive Development Of Immigrant Africans In An Urban School District, Kelly Marie Ballard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Walter Pope School District (WPSD), a predominantly African American district, has experienced a new wave of immigrant students arriving from African nations such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. Many students arrive with little or no formal education, and they are not achieving academic success. This purpose of this study was to discover successful instructional strategies that academically, socially, and culturally support the immigrant students. Guided by Portes and Rumbaut's segmented assimilation theory, this study examined the experiences of WPSD African immigrant learners and explored instructional approaches to reinforce their learning. The research questions focused on teachers' perceptions of factors …

Impact Of Professional Development In Response To Intervention On Secondary Teachers' Efficacy, Crystal Joy Spence

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2012, a southeastern state mandated that all school districts employ the response to intervention (RtI) tiered approach model to meet the needs of struggling students. RtI was implemented at the study site; however, secondary teachers were not confident in their abilities to implement RtI. Researchers have found that a teacher's sense of efficacy can impact student academic outcomes. Professional development on implementing RtI was provided for teachers in the study school. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of explicit RtI professional development on the perceived self-efficacy of secondary teachers and their ability to impact student …

Professional Development Needs Of Faculty Members In An International University In Thailand, Loïse M. Jeannin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an international university in Thailand, with students coming from 92 different

countries, faculty members reported a need for professional development (PD). The purpose of this study was to understand faculty members' needs and preferences in the undergraduate department to help the administration offer appropriate PD programs. In accordance with the situated cognition theory, professional learning was approached as a social process embedded in workplace interactions. Research questions pertained to teachers' perceptions about their learning needs, program preferences, and the relationship between PD and student learning outcomes. In this descriptive case study, data were collected from fulltime faculty members via …

Examining Barriers To Retention Of Adult Learners In Rural Education Programs, Tiffany Minyon Spivey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The retention of adult learners in rural educational settings throughout the United States is challenging for adult education instructors. Adult learners in rural areas encounter internal and external barriers, including lack of self-efficacy and minimal transportation. Research exists regarding the retention of adult learners, but little is known about the barriers to persistence among adult learners in rural areas, or the motivations experienced by students and instructors. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify perceived barriers to retention at a rural adult learning center in Georgia and to provide suggestions to improve adult education and literacy initiatives. …