Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons^™

Female Superintendents By Locale, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The most recent AASA decennial study of the superintendency reveals the growing presence of female superintendents (24.1 percent nationwide) has not been affected by either district enrollment or the level of a school district's racial or ethnic diversity. Across four district enrollment categories, the range of female representation was 20.4 percent (in the largest districts) to 29.8 percent (in the smallest districts). By comparison, females accounted for 17.7 percent of very small-district superintendents and just 5.4 percent of the largest-district superintendents a decade earlier. Across five district diversity categories, the range of representation was 21.4 percent (in low-diversity districts) to …

Standardized Chaos: A Portrait Of The Indonesian Education System, Andrea Bucciarelli

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Indonesian education system exists to provide children across the archipelago with a high quality education that bears relevance to life and culture in Indonesia. School attendance is mandatory for at least nine years, however schools have yet to achieve 100% enrollment at any level. School curriculums, unified by national guidelines, cover a wide range of subjects and evaluate students on their knowledge at the end of each schooling level, through a national exam. Teachers are often, but not always, employed by the central government and assigned to teach in public schools. Other teachers may work part-time at public schools, …

Mas Que El Apoyo Academico: La Educacion No Formal Y El Programa Servicio Pais Educacion, Leah Ewald

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation aims to analyze the operation and overall results of Servicio País Educación, an intervention-based program of the non-profit organization, Fundación de la Superacíon, offered to primary, low-resource, municipal schools in Chile. Functioning from 2010-2012 as an after-school program, Servicio País Educación provided a non-formal educational environment which provided hands-on learning opportunities for students. Children selected to participate in the program came from especially poor socioeconomic situations and often underperformed academically in the classroom or exhibited behavioral issues. Students participated in small groups led by tutors where they received not only individualized academic help but practical education in the …

Student Centered Mathematics In An Isolated Skill Environment-Constructivist Methods In Mathematics, Amy Katherine Sorenson

Mathematics Graduate Theses

"A research paper submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Mathematics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Elementary and Middle Mathematics Education"

Principal Leardership Behaviors Which Teachers At Different Career Stages Perceive As Affecting Job Satisfaction, Valari Hill

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of teachers as to how the leadership of their principal affects their job satisfaction. This study collected the view of teachers at different career stages and examined their perceptions and needs. The participants consisted of 12 elementary school teachers at three different career stages (beginning, middle, and late).

Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed three major themes and nine subthemes.

The first theme reveals that principal leadership style is not consistent and includes the subthemes: (1.1) principals are not successfully sharing their vision with teachers, (1.2) principals attempt …

Assistive Technology And Students With Disabilities, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As part of providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school boards to offer assistive technology when necessary to ensure that students receive the educational benefits to which they are entitled.

As important as related services such as assistive technology (AT) are, the Supreme Court noted that school boards must provide such help only to the extent that it is necessary for students with disabilities to benefit from the programming identified in their individualized education plans (Irving Independent School District v. Tatro 1984). Although the related services mandate …

Is The Sat The Root Of All Evil? Reviewing The Evidence On Admission Policies And Diversity In Higher Education, Loris Fagioli

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

It is imperative to achieve diversity in Higher Education. With affirmative action policies under fire, it is becoming difficult to enroll a diverse student body. Many critics see standardized tests, and the SAT in particular, as contributing to the problem. This paper reviews research on such criticism, about suggested alternative approaches, and regarding recommendations on how to improve the current situation. In general, this review finds little evidence against a judicious use of the SAT. Also, alternative approaches such as percent plans or abolishing the SAT have had little success in increasing diversity. However, most specialists agree that a comprehensive …

Promote Equity, Excellence In Our Region's Schools, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In a region that loves history, public anniversaries offer an opportunity to reflect on events that have shaped our collective present. This spring brings just such an occasion; it has been 40 years since the U.S. Supreme court halted a federal court order mandating the consolidation of the Richmond public school district with the Chesterfield and Henrico districts. This action locked in city and suburban school boundaries - and associated inequities - that still exist.

Finding The Gifted Child's Voice In The Public Elementary School Setting: A Phenomenological Exploration, Keely S. Porter

Dissertations and Theses

Who are talented and gifted (TAG) students and how do we meet their unique needs in the elementary school setting? The body of literature clearly articulates the unique intellectual, social and emotional needs and characteristics of TAG students. Additionally, the literature supports the implementation of differentiated teaching strategies and affective curriculum to help meet these unique needs. This descriptive phenomenological study allowed gifted children, in fifth grade from a Pacific Northwest suburban elementary school, to share their lived experiences through reflective narratives and art. The data collected generated a central theme of Friends and general themes of Awareness, Feelings, Learning, …

Partnerships With Catholic Colleges Support Schools, Susan M. Ferguson

Center for Catholic Education Publications

Animating our faith and hope for our church and our future, Catholic higher education and P-12 Catholic school partnerships are growing in number and variety. New times call for new measures grounded in respect and recognition of our deep and lasting traditions. Recent events seem to show the way to new endeavors that will bring innovative means to cultivate formation in faith and heighten academic excellence for students in our nation's Catholic schools. Critically considering partnership formation, sustainability and impact creates excitement and spurs action.

Improving Access To Children's Mental Health Care: Lessons From A Study Of Eleven States, Donna Behrens, Julia Graham Lear, Olga Acosta Price

Center for Health and Health Care in Schools

Implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is well underway, creating long-overdue opportunities for growing the capacity of child and adolescent mental health systems and meeting children’s pressing needs. The good news is that as of January 1, 2014, coverage of mental health conditions and substance use disorders will be required as part of the broad Essential Benefits package of services under the ACA. While states will determine specific benefits, it is widely accepted that mental health and substance abuse coverage will substantially increase, though the details remain to be determined.1 Additionally, as a result of this …

Is The School Board Evaluated Formally?, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Little progress has been made with respect to evaluating the performance of local boards of education, according to the most recent decennial, nationwide study of superintendents. Seven in 10 boards do not receive any form of formal evaluation, and among the 30 percent that do, almost all engage only in self-evaluation.

Criticality And The Pedagogical Reconstruction Of Leadership Standards In An Educational Leadership Classroom, William R. Black, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

The authors describe their attempt to develop students’ critical perspectives on the content and assumptions in the 2008 Florida Principal Leadership Standards (FPLS) through a reflective essay assignment in a class titled Ethics, Equity, and Leadership in Education. The authors conducted textual analysis of 92 student essays (a total of 922 pages) submitted in 5 sections of a class from the summer of 2008 through the spring of 2009. The authors describe ways students analyze knowledge claims in the FPLS in relation to the standards’ considerable silence around issues of ethics and equity, which were central to the class: 1) …

Imagine A Place Where Teaching And Learning Are Inspirational: A Decade Of Collected Wisdom From The Field, P. Maureen Musser, Micki M. Caskey, Linda L. Samek, Younghee M. Kim, William L. Greene, Jan Marie Carpenter, Jay Casbon

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The purpose of this article is to share wisdom collected from the field and offer a view of meaningful learning, explore the tensions that exist in educators’ work, and invite conversation about the future of educational practice. The anecdotes and data come from a series of research studies conducted from 2001 to 2011 by a cadre of middle grades researchers— university faculty from public and private universities across Oregon. Over the past decade, we studied the perspectives of middle grades principals, middle grades teachers, university faculty, and district personnel directors representing distinct communities (urban, suburban, rural), disparate demographics (e.g., low …

Access To Facilities By Non-School Religious Groups: An Enduring Issue, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Among the many duties of school business officials (SBOs), their boards, and other education leaders is establishing policies governing access to district facilities. When disputes over access are litigated, the judiciary walks a fine line, as courts generally grant school officials discretion in defining use policies. However, as discussed below, when it comes to granting access to public school facilities, educators cannot violate the constitutional rights of a group based on the religious content of its speech.

In light of the enduring issue over access to facilities by nonschool religious groups, this column reviews relevant Supreme Court precedent before examining …

Educational Leadership Or Followership?, David Gabbard

Democracy & Education

Opponents of the neoliberal privatization of schools must be cautious in formulating their opposition so as not to situate themselves as the defenders of an otherwise indefensible status quo. Though we might expect professors in traditional university-based educational-leadership programs to protect their institutional self-interests and their traditional monopoly on the preparation of school leaders against the challenge presented by Eli Broad’s Superintendents Academy, do we know for a fact that the curriculum of Broad’s Academy differs significantly from their own programs? It would be hard for us to name very many professors who have defended those programs as bastions of …

Voracious Appetite Of Online Teaching: Examining Labour Issues Related To K-12 Online Learning, Michael Barbour, David Adelstein

Education Faculty Publications

A paper presented at the annual Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) conference, Waterloo, Ontario, February 16, 2013.

Distance education and online learning at the K-12 level is growing at dramatic rates in Canada, the United States and worldwide. Barbour (2012) estimated that there are approximately 245,000 Canadian students who are enrolled in one or more distance education courses. This figure represents approximately 5% of the total K-12 student population in Canada; up from the estimated 2.5% to 3% reported just two years earlier (Barbour, 2010). This is dwarfed by the rate of growth in the United States, …

Job Evaluation, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Knowing the factors used in the annual performance evaluation of superintendents is foundational to building a more effective process. The accompanying graph, based on AAS~s decennial survey of the field, shows how superintendents rank seven response options about the conduct of their own assessments by school boards. Critics claim current evaluation practices are plagued by ambiguous purposes, unrealistic expectations, uneven and subjective processes, and invalid outcomes. The overall quality of superintendent evaluations suffers from the variation in the bases of assessments and the number and competence of the evaluators. The limited application of national standards (such as those published by …

Letters Of Recommendation: Honesty Remains The Best Policy, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Amid concerns over teacher sexual abuse and other misconduct involving students— although involving a very small percentage of educators—boards should strengthen their policies for evaluating the qualifications of potential teachers, including those with experience, by requesting letters of recommendation after they complete initial state-mandated criminal background checks.

As crucial as letters of recommendation are in the hiring process, litigation demonstrates that some education leaders fail in their duty to safeguard children from sexual predators. Cases arose when officials provided undeserved positive reference letters for teachers who engaged in sexual misconduct with students—teachers who moved on to other school systems where …

Career And Technical Education Faculty Retention: A Leadership Study, Jennifer Bates

Theses and Dissertations

Attracting and retaining qualified teachers is a necessary component for successful schools. Literature on faculty retention abounds (Ingersoll, 2001; Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 2007; National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium, (NASDCTEc), 2010.), but literature specific to retention in career and technical education is limited. One New Jersey career and technical high school experienced high faculty mobility rates which was reason for concern. This qualitative action research study sought to identify environmental factors that contributed to the mobility rates. This study also focused on the leadership of the school principal and the components …

Leadership For Change: Insights Gleaned From One District’S Implementation Of An Educational Innovation, Crystal V. Shelby-Caffey Ph.D., Ronald A. Caffey Ph.D.

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The research reported here is extracted from a larger study aimed at describing the challenges and barriers to implementing the two way immersion (TWI) program at Stark Elementary School (a pseudonym). While Stark’s TWI program is used as the backdrop for the current discussion the perspective taken here is to examine the actions (and lack of action in some instances) of Stark’s administrators and describe how those actions impacted other stakeholders and led to challenges during the implementation process. The findings illuminate the need for leaders to gain support for proposed changes while maintaining dialogue with stakeholders and developing other …

Communicating With Respect, Phyllis Gimbel, Lenesa Leana

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Parent Participation And Student Success In A Long-Term Weight Loss Immersion Program, Susan Mary Trotter Borgman

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study focused on the relationship between student success in a long-term weight loss immersion treatment program and parent participation in the program; parent participation is defined as engaging in similar healthy behaviors at home while their child is in the program including (1) parents also striving to achieve or maintain a healthy weight; (2) parents self-monitoring of weight loss behaviors/healthy habits; (3) parents reducing/eliminating high fat foods in the home and increasing nonfat/low fat foods in the home; (4) parents improving family support in the home; and (5) parents facilitating healthy family functioning in the home.

The problem addressed …

Maine's Improving Schools: An Examination Of Distinguishing Features Of A Sample Of Maine's Improving Public Schools, Erika Stump Phd, David Silvernail Phd, Catherine Fallona Phd, Lori Moran Gunn

School Improvement

In 2010, at the request of the Maine state legislature, the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) at the University of Southern Maine (USM) began a multi-year study of two sets of schools in Maine. One set of schools was unique because they were found to be examples of More Efficient Maine schools. The second set were unique because they were examples of Improving schools, schools on their way to becoming more efficient. Following a summary of the findings from the study of some of Maine’s More Efficient schools, this report provides a summary of the findings from the study …

Age Entering The Field, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Over time, the typical career span of superintendents (in that position only) has been about 15 to 20 years. In large measure, this relatively short period is explained by the fact most superintendents enter the position in mid-career. Data collected and analyzed by AASA in 2010 revealed nearly two-thirds of superintendents (62 percent) first entered the position when they were 41 to 55 years old. Outside this age range, novices were twice as likely to be younger than 41 than older than 55. Only 8 percent of superintendents first entered the position after age 55.

Exploring The Role Of The Principal In Elementary Teacher Retention And Migration As Perceived By Elementary Teachers In Rural School Districts Of North-Central Pennsylvania, Diana L. Barnes

Dissertations

Problem. Teacher migration and attrition are costly to educational institutions and negatively impact students' education. Teachers migrate to other positions and/or leave the profession for different reasons. Research of literature indicated that one influence on the teacher's decision to migrate to another position or to leave the profession is lack of principal support. This sequential mixed-methodology study explores elementary teachers' perception of the relationship between principal support and teacher retention and migration in the rural elementary schools of north-central Pennsylvania.

Method. To explore the role of the principal, this sequentially mixed-methodological study used a focus group to identify elementary teachers' …

Pakistan: Target Revision In Education Policy, Sajid Ali

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Accessing The Inaccessible : Educational Development And Improvement Programme (Edip) An Extenstion Of The Diamir District Gilgit-Baltistan : A Case Study, Mola Dad Shafa, Haider Fancy

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

No abstract provided.

Mobile Teaching And Learning In The Classroom And Online: Case Studies In K-12, Michael M. Grant, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we describe two projects to integrate mobile teaching and learning into K-12 schooling. First, we consider the rationale for increased use of mobile devices with today’s students, and we describe a professional development program to deploy iPads to classroom teachers. Next, we discuss the growth of K-12 online learning, and we describe a project for students enrolled in an online Advanced Placement course was delivered through a mobile learning content management system. Lastly, we discuss some of the lessons learned from these pilot projects and some of the promise and challenges of mobile teaching and learning.

The Impact Of School District Size On Wellness Policy Strength, Comprehensiveness, Implementation Status And Barriers In South Dakota Schools, Emily Kranz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: The purpose of this project was to determine if differences exist in strength, comprehensiveness, perceived implementation, and barriers of school wellness policies between public school districts of varying size in South Dakota. Methods: All public school districts within South Dakota (N=151) were contacted and asked to submit their current wellness policy. The strength and comprehensiveness of each written policy was assessed via WellSAT. An electronic invitation to complete the School Nutrition and Physical Activity Practices Survey was sent to all Kindergarten-12th grade school principals (N=96) to assess perceived policy implementation and barriers. Results: Wellness policies were collected from 70 …