Educational Leadership Commons^™

Science Instruction For Secondary Students With Emotional Or Behavioral Disorders: A Guide For Curriculum Development, Tal Slemrod, Leah Wood, Shelley Hart, William Coleman

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article provides a step-by-step guide for the organization and development of science lessons and units, to support the academic and behavioral performance of secondary students with challenges with related disabilities. This clinical practice guide provides a process for curriculum development for students with emotional or behavior disorders (EBD) in the science classroom. Steps include recommendations, goals, and examples for administrators and educators to discover appropriate plans and interventions to promote engagement and learning, including supporting success on State mandated High Stakes Assessments.

Implications Of 3-D Printing For Teaching Geoscience Concepts To Students With Visual Impairments, Karen E. Koehler, Tiffany A. Wild, Sean Tikkun

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article presents the results of a study on the use of 3-D printed models in a science classroom for students with visual impairments and examines whether the use of these models impacts student conceptual understanding and misconceptions related to geosciences concepts, specifically plate tectonics.

Data were collected one week prior to instruction, one week after instruction and throughout the 3-week instructional period. Results showed that students with visual impairments held many of the same misconceptions about plate tectonics as students who are typically sighted. All students in this study had fewer misconceptions after the instructional period than they held …

Promoting Growth And Self-Efficacy: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of First-Year Assistant Principals, Debra Murdock

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

ABSTRACT

PROMOTING GROWTH AND SELF-EFFICACY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF FIRST-YEAR ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

by

Debra Murdock

Kennesaw State University, 2018

Newly appointed assistant principals face a myriad of challenges. Often, the roles and responsibilities of assistant principals are ambiguous, primarily consisting of managerial and organizational type tasks. The lack of a systemic focus for assistant principals coupled with the assigned menial type jobs can leave new assistant principals with professional learning gaps. In the current model of high-stakes accountability for schools and school districts, educational leaders must redefine the role of assistant principals into a more distinct …

Lived Experience Of Newly Appointed Assistant Principals Who Receive Executive Leadership Coaching, Scott Townsend

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenographic study was to understand how leadership coaching supported personal growth for new assistant principals. Newly appointed assistant principals from a suburban school district outside metro Atlanta, Georgia were interviewed as part of a professional development model which incorporated leadership coaching into the support mechanisms for new administrators. The professional development model, known as a leadership academy, was instituted by the school district and comprised of multiple learning opportunities of which leadership coaching was one component. This study gathered perceptions of newly appointed assistant principals regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of leadership coaching and …

Assistant Principals And The Phenomenon Of Leadership Coaching, Thomas Flugum

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

This study sought to define and explore executive leadership coaching as a form of professional learning for educational leaders. This was a qualitative phenomenological inquiry into the ways, if any, that leadership coaching impacts the skills and abilities of first-year assistant principals. Research was conducted with a cohort of newly appointed assistant principals from a suburban school district outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Participants were part of a district leadership academy which provided professional learning and support for new administrators. The participants received leadership coaching from coaches endorsed by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) as one form of professional learning.

Exploring Principals' Perceptions About Efficacy In Arizona Urban Schools Designated For The School Improvement Process, Charlotte Patterson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Studies have determined a positive relationship exists between the self-efficacy of students and academic achievement, and teacher efficacy and student achievement. For over a decade schools have been publicly targeted for school improvement in a process with implications for efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine if principals’ perceptions about efficacy impacted their practices leading school improvement. Principals’ responses to two research questions led this study:

1. How do principals describe their perceptions about the efficacy of their school community relative to the school improvement status, label, or rating for their school?

2. How do principals describe …

Succession Planning For First-Year, P-12 Principals, Brannon Johnson

Dissertations

In order to improve retention of first-year principals, all schools should have a leadership succession plan for first-year, P-12 principals to help improve principal effectiveness and retention (Fink & Brayman, 2006). Russell and Sabina (2014) defined succession planning as the explicit design and implementation of programs to identify and develop high-quality principal candidates. Further, succession planning is about ensuring that the next set of leaders is trained and poised to take on leadership responsibilities when needed (Beaulieu, n. d.).

It is clear that the challenges of being a principal are great, and that this is especially true during the early …

Mission Enactment And Strategic Enrollment Management At Jesuit Universities, Drew Roberts

Doctoral Dissertations

The larger neoliberal environment that is driving all of higher education has left Jesuit universities and their leadership to face two problems. First, the ability for Jesuit universities to uphold their social justice inspired mission and offer an affordable and accessible liberal education is being threatened because they are pricing out those they seek to serve. Second, there is a growing disconnect between the espoused mission of Jesuit universities and the decisions that their leaders and administrators make to run the enterprise.

This explanatory case study seeks to understand the ways senior-level strategic enrollment officers at Jesuit universities experience and …

Counter Narratives: A Phenomenological Study Of High Achieving African American Male High School Students., De'nay Lanise Speaks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the contributing factors to the success of high achieving African American male high school students who attend an all-male, predominantly Black, college-preparatory academy. The study took place in an urban, Midwestern school district and highlighted the lived experience and perspectives of students who have at least a 3.0 grade point average. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory, this study was an effort to bring attention to counter narratives to the otherwise deleterious image portrayed of African American males. The history and plight of the African American male is included to provide a comprehensive understanding of the …

Investigation Of The Relationship Between Orientation And Persistence, Kellie A. Ziemak

All Theses And Dissertations

This study sought to understand persistence from a student’s perspective. In the past, student success courses were able to provide students with the opportunity to learn the college-readiness skills essential to student persistence. Developmental education reform in Florida has restructured course requirements, and students can now decide if they want to enroll in a student success course. This leaves colleges exploring alternatives to assist students in gaining the skills they need to be successful in college. This study used Tinto’s student integration theory as a conceptual framework to determine if students thought orientation helped them integrate both socially and academically …

Student Voices: African American High School Seniors' Perception Of Culturally Responsive Teaching., Whitney M. Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined African-American high school seniors’ perceptions of culturally responsive teaching in one public high school within a large urban public-school district in the southeastern region of the United States. It begins with a brief historical overview on the plight of African-Americans in the US public education system and how public school educators have failed to leverage Afrocultural learning orientations as an asset to educate and increase the academic achievement of African-American students in classrooms. The Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference Framework (Nichols, 1986, 1995) will guide this dissertation study. The latter part of the dissertation reveals that a …

Persistence And Superintendents: A Phenomenological Study, Katherine Hamilton Howard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to describe the lived experiences of public school superintendents with the phenomenon of persistence. Self-Determination Theory was used to describe the experiences of superintendents who have held the superintendency in the same school district for at least 5 consecutive years (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2002). The central research question guiding the study is: What are the lived experiences of superintendents who persist in the public school superintendency? Subquestions addressed various aspects of Self-Determination Theory and persistence, including sources of motivation and goal attainment (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan …

Principal Leaders And College And Career Readiness Programs, Inna Goretaya Polishchuk

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the intersection of high school principals and college and career readiness initiatives in five high school contexts. Because school principals are responsible for setting the vision in a school, college and career readiness initiatives have the potential to overlap significantly with the principal’s direction of the school. Moreover, studies indicate college and career readiness programs might rely on the active support of the school administrator if they are to succeed. What the school leader cares about tends to be what staff focus on; therefore, this study examines how three factors influence the effectiveness of a college and …

A Struggle To Bridge The Gap: Promoting African American Males In Teacher Education, Vance Vaughn

School Leadership Review

After serving 22 years in public education as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, and superintendent, I am in awe over the small number of African American males as public school teachers. My classroom teacher experience was ephemeral as I was promoted to educational administration after five and one-half years. As the only African American male teacher in a high school with over 3,600 students, hundreds of whom were African American male, I was an anomaly in that environment. African American male role models were drastically needed and sought after mainly because campus data reported African American males ranked first …

Strengthening The Campus Leadership Team Through Effective Principal And Counselor Relationships: Implications For Training, Jane H. Macdonald, Stephen A. Armstrong, Robin K. Henson

School Leadership Review

Campuses with successful leadership teams have a better opportunity to meet the ever-increasing and complex needs of the students they serve (Crowther, Kaagan, Ferguson, & Hann, 2002). These successful campuses are strengthened when they include strong principals and counseling teams with shared mutual trust and understanding that permeates the school climate (DeVoss & Andrews, 2006). A review of the literature revealed a paucity of studies examining the nature of successful principal-counselor relations and the impact of this relationship on student success, effective campus leadership teams, and an effective school climate that promotes learning. Meaningful dialogue and discussion of this critical …

Segregation Academies Then And School Choice Configurations Today In Deep South States, Marilyn Grady, Sharon C. Hoffman

Contemporary Issues in Educational Leadership

In the following article, we present a brief historical review of segregation academies and their impact on students and public schools. Based on the review, we provide a portrait of the vestiges of segregation academies that appear to be currently re-emerging in different educational configurations throughout the U.S. and particularly in Deep South states.

The purpose of a historical study is to provide a descriptive overview of specific social problems confined within a predetermined timeframe (Danto, 2008). This historical review’s purpose was to address the following inquiry: What were the characteristics of Deep South segregation academies designed to circumvent Brown …

Building Capacity For Quality Leadership With English Language Learners, John Leonard, Betty Alford, Neill Armstrong

School Leadership Review

Waxman, Téllez, and Walberg (2004) advocated that school leaders must assist staff developers in providing English language learner (ELLs)-related professional development that includes “demonstration of theories of language, sustained coaching, and evaluation programs measuring teacher implementation and impact” (p 2-3). These professional development goals are central to the leader’s purposeful expansion of teachers’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions concerning the unique needs of ELLs and communicating the importance of the effective curricular integration of well-planned and embedded strategies designed to meet the needs of the often marginalized ELL population. School leaders must be willing to provide a systematic program of professional …

The Changing Face Of The Elementary School Principal, Julie P. Combs, Stacey L. Edmonson

School Leadership Review

Principals in today’s schools have more experience, have more education, and are of a more advanced age than ever before (National Association of Elementary School Principals [NAESP], 2006). Women elementary principals in the nation have increased from 41% to 56%. Likewise, the age of principals at all levels has increased, as did the percentage of principals who had more than 20 years of experience before entering the position (NAESP, 2006). In addition, the number of elementary principals has increased by 7,000 over the past 10 years (NAESP, 2004, 2005); this number grew to 61,000 in 2003-2004 from 54,000 in 1993-1994. …

None Of Us Are As Smart As All Of Us: Site Based Decision Making, Peggy B. Gill, Ross B. Sherman, Timothy B. Jones

School Leadership Review

The old Japanese Proverb states,” None of us are as smart as all of us.” In recent years, the educational system in the United States has been evolving from a largely centralized decision-making structure to a more decentralized one. This shift to school-based management requires fundamental changes to the organizational structure of the district as well as the roles within the organization. From administrators to parents, school based management demands a change in the "status quo" (Cotton, 1991). It involves shifting decision making from the central office administrators to that of local schools (Henkin, Cistone and Dee, 1999).

A Scholar–Practitioner Stance: Practices Of Social Justice And Democracy, Patrick M. Jenlink

School Leadership Review

Crossing the threshold into a new millennium has been hallmarked by a series of defining events, which have shaped, irrevocably, society and its educational system. These events include the standards and accountability movement, the federal mandate of No Child Left Behind of 2001, the fifty-year anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the realization of how far we are from obtaining its promise, and the demographic shifts in population density and racial makeup nationally and particularly in urban centers, to mention a select few of the more profound historical events. Issues of diversity, both inter and intragroup, further illuminate …

Teacher Perceptions Of The Instructional Leadership Practices Of Principals, Don Leech, James L. Pate, Nicole M. Gibson, Ronny Green, Robert Smith

School Leadership Review

In today’s world school leadership, particularly instructional leadership, has taken on a new look. The era of high- stakes accountability has changed almost everything. The instructional leader of the 80’s was presented as an efficient top-down, task oriented manager who was focused on curriculum and instruction rather than buildings and budgets (Lashway, 2002). Gone are the days when principals spent most of their time with bus schedules, fire drills, and general curriculum, says the National Association of Elementary Principals (Henry, 2001). Leaders must keep abreast of state and federal goals, the latest technologies and teaching practices, as well as learn …

Ethical Development And Diversity Training For Educational Leaders, Ilene L. Ingram, Shannon Flumerfelt

School Leadership Review

In the 21st century schools must meet the challenges of current and anticipated increases in racial and ethnic student populations. In turn, school principals must be prepared to lead diverse student populations to high levels of achievement. To facilitate adequate leadership preparation, therefore, the diversity training of educational leaders in given settings must be reworked so that the achievement gap between non-white and white students can be closed. Furthermore, restructuring of principal training is best accomplished through consensus within the profession, based on the tenets of the democratic values of respect, acceptance, and appreciation of diversity.

The purpose of this …

Relationship Between Student Academic Achievement And Gender Of Campus Administrator, Pam Winn, Susan Erwin, Jim Gentry, Mary Cauble

School Leadership Review

Studies of the effectiveness of women’s leadership have been recommended by researchers for over three decades (e.g. Eckman, 2004; Edson, 1988; Schmuck, 1981; Shakeshaft, 1989). Burke & Nelson (2002) and Smulyan (2000) have suggested that a woman’s leadership experience is fundamentally influenced by gender. As greater numbers of women fill educational administration positions previously held by men (Addi-Raccah, 2006; Rusch & Marshall, 2006), opportunities to study leadership differences and effectiveness of men and women in meeting unique demands of their campuses can be measured. Although issues related to women leaders in superintendent positions have been explored (Tallerico, 1999; Brunner, 1999; …

Modeling Instructional Best Practices: Pedagogy Of College Of Education Professors, Kathleen Taylor Campbell, Rayma Harchar, Thomas Devaney, Deborah Mccarthy

School Leadership Review

In light of increased accountability for K-12 student achievement, critics have questioned the quality of teachers and school principals as well as the university programs that prepare them for these roles (Lambert, 1996; Levine, 2005; Murphy, 1992). Regarding the preparation of teachers, critics have stated that education courses are vapid, impractical, segmented, and directionless (Glenn, 2000). Two national reports that have made recommendations for teacher redesign are noteworthy. The report of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, What matters most: Teaching for America’s future (Lambert, 1996), found that teacher preparation education is thin and fragmented and recommended that …

Dimensions Of Educational Leadership: Cultural, Ethical, And Moral, Richard A. Gregory

School Leadership Review

Given the current state of affairs in the school districts of America, almost any observer could proclaim that a change in policy and leadership is urgently needed. The national pundits and politicians continue to blame the usual suspects: entrenched school cultures, teacher unions, shortened school years, and administrative bloat, to name a few. National educational leadership organizations (NCPEA, UCEA, and AASA) are hard at work defining a Knowledge Base (KB) for the training of educational leaders of the future.

While this author certainly applauds the efforts of these professional organizations, there are some things that university professors can do within …

Professional Learning Communities: Are Schools Ready To Collaborate To Educate?, Rachel Hawkins, Jason Mixon

School Leadership Review

Every school in Texas has a common goal: students must pass the state-mandated test called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). With pressure from the state and federal government to raise achievement scores, schools are frantically searching for a program that will guarantee student success. Unfortunately, no program will be found because it is people, not programs, who make a difference in education.

An Lnvestigation Of Princapals' Use Of Data In Data-Driven Decision-Making And The Impact On Student Achievement, Jimmy K. Byrd, Colleen Eddy

School Leadership Review

The passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) ushered in a new era of educational accountability and school improvement. Schools are held accountable to meet adequate yearly progress that requires educators to closely monitor student performance on high-stake assessments. Further, NCLB significantly increases the pressure on states, districts and schools to collect, analyze and report data. Accountability demands are increasingly forcing school leaders to explore student-level data and to complete more sophisticated analyses. Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) has become an emerging field of practice for school leadership (Streifer, 2002) and a central focus of education policy …

Preparing Aspiring Superintendents To Lead School Improvement: Perceptions Of Graduates For Program Development, Pauline M. Sampson, Betty J. Alford, Ralph L. Marshall

School Leadership Review

Changes in the design and delivery of educational leadership preparation programs are advocated in order to meet the needs of leadership for 21st century schools (Byrd, 2001; Cox, 2002; McKerrow, 1998; Smylie & Bennett, 2005). The changing needs of the 21st century, coupled with accountability standards and more diverse populations of students within school districts, create challenges for leaders who are attempting to increase student achievement (Firestone & Shipps, 2005; Schlechty, 2008). Further, student performance demands have increased at the state and national level because of the No Child Left Behind Act (Wong & Nicotera, 2007). These standards have thus …

Rural Principal Leadership Skill Proficiency And Student Achievement, Sue Erwin, Pam Winn, John Erwin, Jim Gentry, Mary Cauble

School Leadership Review

Warren and Peel (2005) found that rural schools can effectively develop focused leadership support and training. However, as indicated by Arnold, et al. (2004), the knowledge and skills most critical to effective rural administration have yet to be identified. Targeting specific leadership skills related to student achievement might focus university principal preparation programs and public school district staff development programs on producing more effective rural leadership. Ultimately, this emphasis may improve student achievement and school performance in rural schools.

Because of the importance of developing highly skilled rural school leaders, this study will endeavor to identify the leadership skills of …

"Thank You For Saying My Name": Academic Recognition As A Counternarrative For Black Male Achievement, Kendra Lowery

Diversity, Social Justice, and the Educational Leader

The author reflects on her experience as a middle school administrator involved in a school-wide initiative to recognize academic growth and achievement. She draws upon Perry’s theory of African-American achievement (2003) to explain how this recognition, which included several Black boys, contributed to a counternarrative of Black male achievement. In contrast to the dominant narrative of academic failure and discipline problems (Dumas & Nelson, 2016; Grant, 2011; Howard, 2013; Monroe, 2005; Noguera, 2008), this recognition created a new narrative of academic excellence and achievement (Allen, 2015). The concerted effort by school leadership to include new and underrepresented faces in a …