Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Tenure: A Communal Privilege For Service, Not An Individual Privilege For Research, Steven Kessler

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Tenure is commonly understood as a privilege earned by individuals in higher education guaranteeing a lifetime appointment barring gross negligence. To individuals outside of higher education, the tenure process is less clear. Contemporary tenure is earned today largely for research and teaching with the heaviest emphasis on research. The third leg of tenure, service, is often neglected or discouraged in the rewards structure. While this information is widely known in higher education, the irony of this system is not. This paper aims to explore higher education’s historical roots as a medieval corporation in explaining the origins of tenure. Tenure originally …

Teacher Candidates Learn To Create Teacher Websites To Support Student Success Through Student, Parent And Community Engagement, Jennifer Laffier, Meaghan Clarke, Alanna Houston

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

‘Theory to practice’ based learning activities are important for teachers in training. Therefore, as part of a course in a Bachelor of Education program in Ontario, Canada teacher candidates learned how to create effective teacher websites to promote the healthy development of students as well as engage students, parents, and the community in the learning environment. Student, parent, and community engagement are considered key elements of student success. This learning activity and how teacher candidates developed effective websites based on theories of healthy development and student success were explored in this paper. First, the research related to teacher websites is …

Developing And Implementing Principal And Teacher Evaluation Systems In Mississippi, Kristen Dechert, Lois Kappler, Alexis Nordin

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

In 2013-2014, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) implemented statewide the Mississippi Principal Evaluation System (MPES) and select components of the Mississippi Teacher Evaluation System (MTES). Now overseen by the Office of Educator Quality, these instruments and the professional development that accompanied them were originally developed collaboratively by the MDE’s Office of Federal Programs, Teacher Center, and Office of Career and Technical Education in order to help identify best practices for their principals and teachers, as well as to illuminate areas for improvement. Elements of both the MPES and MTES were piloted in 2012-2013.

While offering an opportunity to reinvigorate …

Engaging The Learning Community With An Integrated E-Learning, Gaming And Social Networking Platform, Tim Thomasma

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Our view is that an e-learning platform based on user-created content, gamification, and with an integrated social network, will create a content-dense environment in which all of the stakeholders can maximize their outcomes and in which the best teachers, students, lessons, and organizations will rise to the top. The elements of such an integrated e-learning platform would include: Wizards to enable instructors to quickly create engaging multi-media lessons; Capability to automatically transform lesson content into additional activities, games, and quizzes; The ability for students to take lessons in the form they prefer, including lessons presented as games; Reports and monitoring …

Our Grades Were Broken: Overcoming Barriers And Challenges To Implementing Standards-Based Grading, Randal Peters, Tom Buckmiller

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this study was to describe the barriers and challenges school leaders face as they implement a standards-based grading (SBG) system. The researchers used a multiple case study methodology to investigate how key school leaders described their implementation journey at three schools that differed in size, demographics, and location. Purposeful sampling was used to identify key administrators at three different schools who were in the process of implementing a SBG system. Data were collected primarily via semi-structured interviews. In the analysis, researchers used three phases: horizontalization, thematizing, and textural-structural synthesis. Each of the three schools had very different …

Examining Effective Characteristics Of Professional Development In K-12 Education Since The Inception Of The No Child Left Behind Act Of 2002: A Meta-Analytic Investigation, Eugene M. Thomas, Karen H. Larwin

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

With the dire financial crisis facing our national and state economy, schools are forced to reduce budgets while simultaneously improve program delivery. Professional development is the mechanism that is generally used to facilitate improving educational delivery and subsequently student achievement results. This investigation examines the influence of professional development on student achievement since No Child Left Behind. Results indicate that professional development can have a moderate impact on student achievement. A number of moderators were found to have a positive significant impact on this effect including the level of students, the duration of the professional development, the discipline area focus …

Professional Development: The Use Of Nonverbal Communication During Class Lecture, Dustin York

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Teachers’ nonverbal communication has a vital role within the classroom environment. This literary review examined (1) a historical perspective of teachers’ nonverbal communication, (2) the relationship between students’ perceptions of their learning and teachers’ nonverbal communication, (3) the relationship between standardized measurements of student learning and teachers’ nonverbal communication, and (4) the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher credibility based on the teachers’ nonverbal communication. Findings in the literary study suggest that teachers’ nonverbal communication is beneficial to students’ academic success. This review has outlined elements of nonverbal communication a teacher could use to benefit student learning. Using the findings …

Forgiveness Education And Bullying Prevention And Intervention: Benefits For Bullies, Victims And Schools, Amy Carlon, Suzanne Freedman, Nicole Skaar

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Over the past 50 years, attitudes toward incidences of bullying in the schools have shifted significantly. Previously, bullying was seen as an expected and normal part of a child's development and school experience. Some even believed bullying wasn't harmful, that it assisted in character-building, and was simply "part of growing up" (Smith & Brain, 2000, p. 3). In recent decades, however, the negative effects of bullying have been more widely recognized, and there is growing acceptance that experiences of bullying often lead to negative outcomes, such as poor physical and psychological health, for those who are victimized (Due et al., …

How About The Real Responders' Perceptions? A Comparative Case Study On School Principals' Perceptions Of School Administration Through Metaphors In Usa And Turkey, Ibrahim H. Karatas, Harun Parpucu

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Expectations of school administration changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century. Today, the roles and responsibilities of school administrators must be re-defined for success in the 21st century. The current research aimed at revealing the perception of school leadership by school administrators who were expected to cope with problems and enable students to succeed in the U.S. and Turkey. Comparative case study design was used to analyze and compare the U.S. and Turkey school administrators’ perceptions of school leadership through metaphors. The study sample consisted of 47 school administrators employed in K-12 schools in Turkey and the U.S. …

Global Educational Opportunities In The Emerging Information Society, Mikhail Bukhtoyarov, Anna Bukhtoyarova

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This paper addresses the issues of new educational opportunities available through the growing variety of web services. The study’s objective is to explore the perspectives of the global and regional educational projects with regard to the emerging global information society. Summarizing key characteristics of Web 2.0, the researchers raise questions that should be answered by the new pedagogy. Virtual educational communities, open e-learning resources, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and educational online competitions are discussed in terms of their influence on education. Describing global opportunities, the authors cover challenges for traditional educational systems.

Ple-Centered Education: The Next Boundary. Perceptions And Realities Behind Students Personal Learning Environments, Paz Prendes, Linda Castañeda

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

In this paper the authors discuss the results and implications of research regarding the building and perception of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) that they developed in the last four years. In addition, the authors discuss the next step of this research; the public funding project CAPPLE, on which they are currently working.

Structuring A Teacher Education Program For Faculty Collaboration And Second-Order Change, Tammy V. Abernathy, Shanon S. Taylor

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and functions of an integrated elementary special education undergraduate teacher program (Integrated Elementary/Special Education Teacher Education Program, ITEP). By abandoning our old “enhancement model” of teacher education, we redesigned our program into a “merged model.” We examine this restructuring from the perspective of first- and second- order change, and we discuss the obstacles we found that prohibit meaningful second-order change. Finally, we briefly discuss how our experiences in designing ITEP and our state’s devastating fiscal crisis have affected our teacher-education programs and nudged us into more authentic second-order changes.

Plcs: Student Outcomes Evaluation In A Midwest High School, Kelly E. Dickinson

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This study was an evaluation of student outcomes following a five-year implementation of PLCs at Midwest High School in the U.S. Three research questions were addressed: (1) Has student achievement increased during the course of implementing PLCs? If so, is there evidence that this is a result of a contribution from PLC implementation from 2006-2011? (2) Have teacher attitudes toward curriculum rigor, public image, quality of education, and post-high school preparedness changed during the implementation of PLCs from 2006-2011? (3) Is the staff, in April 2011, a mature PLC? For research question one, eight hypotheses resulted in the evaluation of …

University Presidents' Perspectives Of The Knowledge And Competencies Needed In 21st Century Higher Education Leadership, Sydney Freeman Jr., Frances K. Kochan

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this study was to identify the core knowledge and competencies needed for executive leadership in higher education administration as perceived by university presidents. Thirteen presidents shared the knowledge and competencies they perceived as being essential for an effective presidency. The respondents identified the important knowledge areas as: foundational; acquisition of cultural knowledge; and complex cognitive. They viewed personal attributes, management, and communications as the essential competency areas. The study found that presidents viewed themselves both as leaders and as managers.

Results of this study should be helpful to organizations seeking to develop and/or implement degree programs to …