Educational Leadership Commons^™

Two-Year College Faculty Perspectives On Developmental Student Persistence: A Case Study, Mary Colleen Patterson

All Theses And Dissertations

This study sought to understand the perspectives of two-year college composition faculty concerning the persistence of students in their developmental composition courses. Research has shown that developmental students are a population at risk for leaving college before completing their degree programs and that students are more likely to persist to reach their goals when they’ve built meaningful connections with faculty. Many factors affect faculty ability to connect with developmental students such as faculty history, teaching preparation, and work load.

This study answered four research questions: 1) how do faculty describe and perceive their experience in encouraging developmental students to persist? …

Supporting Leadership Preparation In Indonesia, Kathryn Moyle

International Developments

Kathryn Moyle reports on an evaluation of a professional learning program for aspiring school principals in Indonesia.

Native American College Students: A Group Forgotten, Kristen E. Willmott, Tara Leigh Sands, Melissa Raucci, Stephanie J. Waterman

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Broadening McClellan’s (2003) study through 2011, the authors utilize qualitative content analysis of over two thousand journal articles, professional association conference programs, and reflective memos, to detail the extent to which Native American college students remain a forgotten group within the literature. The authors’ positionality and Indigenous feminist theory inform the study. The study concludes by exploring the benefits of expanded Native American college student research and the authors propose a research agenda that can guide higher education professionals to better serve the educational needs of this unique group.

The Remedy That's Killing: Cuny, Laguardia, And The Fight For Better Math Policy, Rachel A. Oppenheimer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nationwide, there is a crisis in math learning and math achievement at all levels of education. Upwards of 80% of students who enter the City University of New York’s community colleges from New York City’s Department of Education high schools fail to meet college level math proficiencies and as a result, are funneled into the system’s remedial math system. Once placed into pre-college remedial arithmetic, pre-algebra, and elementary algebra courses, students fail at alarming rates and research indicates that students’ failure in remedial math has negative ripple effects on their persistence and degree completion. CUNY is not alone in facing …

The Effects Of Consistent Observation And Feedback On Teacher Practice And Motivation To Refine Instruction, Scott I. Nasatir

Dissertations

This evaluation of a pilot program investigates the effects consistent observation and feedback had on teacher practice and motivation to refine instruction. An observation-feedback loop was initiated at a high school in a large Midwestern urban school district where teachers received bi-weekly observations and were provided with instantaneous feedback. Current research has shown that teacher evaluation, if utilized appropriately and with fidelity, can be a strong lever to improve instructional practices. While the advantages are vast, few schools and districts alike are also enacting measures to roll out a companion model that has “coaching” attributes embedded to support educators entrenched …

Irb Processes And Guidelines, Richard E. Cleveland

Leadership, Technology & Human Development: Faculty Presentations

This session is for Students who have completed some coursework in their EdS or EdD program and want to get oriented to the research process and/or students who are about ready to start their action research projects (EdS) or dissertations (EdD).

Dr. Richard E. Cleveland will present an introduction and overview of IRB processes and guidelines. The session will facilitate both small- and whole-group interaction. Students are encouraged to bring current IRB materials (at whatever stage of completion) for peer collaboration.

Let Me Lae-Something On You, Or How I Found My Way Back To Education Through Laes, Robert Sean Myers Ii

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

Examining The Decisional Ethic Of Textbook Adoption In Christian Schools: A Collective Case Study, Cecil Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study is to examine the decisional ethic Christian school administrators employ when evaluating textbooks for adoption in Christian schools. The study affirms the truism that Christian schools ought to be decidedly Christian and focuses upon textbook adoption practices in Christian schools. A multisite, qualitative research design is employed to examine current practice of textbook adoption among a purposive sample of secondary schools within the Southeast region of the Association of Christian Schools International. The research questions address such administrative leadership factors as organizational values and learning objectives, textbook content criteria and features, and the …

Evaluating An Assessment Instrument For The Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan, Susan Mae Duncan

Dissertations and Theses

This mixed methods study evaluated the validity, and reliability of an instrument designed to assess a middle school student's proficiency in systems thinking as described in the 2010 Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan. In Stage 1, a forum of middle school students, formal, and non-formal educators used the Delphi technique to reach consensus regarding which skills were important to include in a scoring guide for systems thinking. In Stage 2, the scoring guide was field tested by formal and non-formal educators using a sample of students' work. The two groups' scores were compared using Cohen's kappa to make inferences regarding inter-rater …

The First Year Transition And Resilience Of Precollege Outreach Program Alumni, Dale-Ellen M. O'Neill

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

While traditionally underrepresented groups are attaining degrees at a higher rate than ever before, these students still receive bachelor’s degrees at significantly lower rates than other groups of students (Avery & Kane, 2004; Wilds, 2000). As a result of the educational attainment gap in the United States, precollege outreach programs have been established to provide resources for underrepresented youth to aid them in completing a post-secondary degree. Current research focuses on these participants’ college enrollment and, as a result, minimal information is available to describe these programs and their outcomes concerning students’ first year experience and college success (Hooker & …

Five Challenges In Australian School Education, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Policy Insights

There is no shortage of challenges in school education. Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to elude us. In this paper Professor Geoff Masters discusses five significant challenges facing school education.

1. Equipping students for the 21st Century, including by increasing reading, mathematical and scientific literacy levels;
2. Reducing disparities between Australia's schools, particularly along socioeconomic lines, by ensuring that every student has access to an excellent school and excellent teaching;
3. Reducing the …

Immersions In Global Equality And Social Justice: A Model Of Change, Kevin Guerrieri, Sandra Sgoutas-Emch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

In the work for global equality and social justice, how should “change” be understood? Who determines what must change or be changed? In the efforts to carry out social change, what is the academy’s relationship with the community, society at large, and the broader world? This article parts from these and other key questions and then proposes a model of change that can be used as a lens for examining any project, program, or organization with the aim of creating positive change that is meaningful, sustainable, and holistic. The article provides both an explanation of the underlying interdisciplinary theoretical framework …

The Spirituality Of Immersion: Solidarity, Compassion, Relationship, Michael E. Lovette-Colyer

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

While the term spirituality can be problematic, obscuring as much as revealing, immersion experiences cannot be understood fully without exploring the contours of what can only be described as spirituality. To the extent that they work, immersions effect change when they speak to the deepest longings of the heart. While manifesting in many different ways, the spirituality of immersion revolves around three major components: solidarity, compassion, and relationship. The spirituality of immersion is a developed relationality, a desire to enter into richer, wider, more expansive relationships with others, which naturally leads into deeper relationship with God.

Reflections On Skipping Stones To Diving Deep: The Process Of Immersion As A Practice, Judith Liu Dr

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Reflecting upon over 30 years of teaching courses with a community service-learning and engagement component, this article is a personal piece that explores the author’s journey through voluntarism, community service-learning and civic engagement, and how that path has led to embracing immersion as a critical pedagogical practice for community engagement.

Engaged Pedagogy: Reflections From A Barriologist, Rigoberto Reyes

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

This essay offers advice to University faculty and administrators on how best to implement the work of engaged pedagogy and community development work. The author is an established activist and community organizer for the past 40 years. His most important recommendation when doing the work of community engagement is to begin work that starts and benefits the community.

The Participant Effects Of Private School Vouchers Across The Globe: A Meta-Analytic And Systematic Review, M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin Anderson, Patrick J. Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

School voucher programs (a.k.a. opportunity scholarships) are scholarship programs - frequently government funded - that pay for students to attend private schools of their choice. Many private school vouchers programs have been initiated around the world with the goal of increasing the academic performance of students. Voucher programs are often viewed as a way to increase achievement and satisfaction for individual students and families, while at the same time creating competitive pressures that encourage other schools in the area to improve. Countries like Chile and India have developed extensive school voucher programs. While many studies have been conducted on school …

Comparing And Validating Measures Of Character Skills: Findings From A Nationally Representative Sample, Gema Zamarro, Albert Cheng, M. Danish Shakeel, Collin Hitt

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Though researchers now are aware of the potential importance of character skills, such as conscientiousness, grit, self-control, and a growth mindset, researchers struggle to find reliable measures of these skills. In this paper, we use data collected from the Understanding America Study, a nationally representative internet panel to study the validity of innovative measures of character skills based on measures of survey effort. We believe surveys themselves can be seen as a behavioral tasks and that respondents provide meaningful information about their character skills by way of the effort they put forward on surveys. In particular, we compare measures of …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Traditional And Alternative Principal Preparation Programs, Summer Pannell Ph.D., Bernnell M. Peltier-Glaze Ed.D., Ingrid Haynes Ph.D., Delilah Davis Ph.D., Carrie Skelton Ph.D.

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

This study sought to determine the effectiveness on increasing student achievement of principals trained in a traditional principal preparation program and those trained in an alternate route principal preparation program within the same Mississippi university. Sixty-six Mississippi principals and assistant principals participated in the study. Of the 66 participants, 41 competed a traditional principal preparation program, and 25 completed an alternate route principal preparation program at the same university. The data included the type of principal preparation the participant received, the number of consecutive years served as a principal or assistant principal, and student achievement data for their assigned schools. …

The Achievement Gap And Students Living In Poverty: The Role Of Core Self-Evaluation And Transformational Leadership In Teachers, India Harris

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Research has shown that the combination of locus of control, self-efficacy, self-confidence, and emotional stability is a good predictor of life success. Until now, this second order factor, called core self-evaluations (CSE) has only been studied in adults. Findings from this study, showed levels of CSE were significantly and positively connected with academic achievement for middle and elementary aged students. CSE appears to play to a similar role between students and academic achievement as it plays with adults and job performance. In this study, the dimensions of transformational leadership were applied to teacher behaviors and students were grouped based on …

Inclusive Settings: Rti In The General Education Classroom, Brittany Graves

Honors Projects

The premise of this study was derived upon seeing a severe need for professional development in my current field work experience. I set out to determine a possible solution to the lack of cohesion among general and special educators evident in my local school district. This small town rural school is looking to expand RTI, and intervention technique, to decrease gaps in education for at risk students. With issues of cohesion and professional development evident, I collected and analyzed data in order to determine a way the school district can still incorporate and expand their Response to Intervention (RTI) practices. …

A Grounded Theory Exploration Of The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System And Its Effects On Teaching Practices And Teacher Leadership, Daniel A. Wydo

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the effects of the recently implemented North Carolina Educator Evaluator System (NCEES) on teaching practices and teacher leadership in a mostly rural county in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. NCEES is designed to improve teaching practices and teacher leadership through performance-based standards. This mixed-methodology study began using grounded theory to form categories from qualitative data collected from piloted focus groups and interviews. Categories derived from the grounded theory analysis were refined in a secondary research method guided by a historical analysis of the processes related to teacher evaluation systems across many decades. The refined categories were …

School-Based Traumatic Brain Injury And Concussion Management Program, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), including concussions, can result in a constellation of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that affect students’ well-being and performance at school. Despite these effects, school personnel remain underprepared identify, educate, and assist this population of students. This article describes a model of service delivery for students with TBI in a large urban school district. The district's TBI Program and Concussion Management Team addresses unique issues related to assessment, intervention, and transition planning for this population of students, as well as prevention and education efforts in the district as a whole.

This model involved designating a …

Challenges And Supports During The Transition From High School To College For Students With Traumatic Brain Injuries, Michaela M. Kramer, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Students who have sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may experience a number of consequences, all of which can impede the transition from high school to postsecondary educational settings. This study, which relied on interviews with students who had sustained TBIs and who had persistent problems related to their traumas, helped gain an understanding of their postsecondary transition experiences. Students’ parents were also interviewed to provide a point of comparison. The reports of these students—all of whom were enrolled in college at the time of the study—revealed significant challenges with attention and focus, fatigue, short-term memory, and social situations. Comments from …

The Effect Of Daily Progress Reports On Parental Academic Support: Paper Versus Electronic Communication, Jonathan Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this age of data based decision making and accountability, parent involvement and data collection are paramount. This study represents a significant contribution to educational research by extending the understanding of home-school communication media with specific regard to daily progress reports. The purpose of this study was to compare communication scores of parents of student using paper daily progress reports with communication scores of parents of student using electronic daily progress reports. This quasi-experimental posttest only control group design research study compared survey results of parents (N = 45) of middle school students currently using a DPR as part of …

Middle School Teachers’ Perspectives On Promoting Effective Technology Integration, Yona Andrew Rose

All Theses And Dissertations

Technology integration reforms in education have increased in number and expectation throughout schools across the United States. Some instructors have experienced barriers with skill sets, attitudes, professional development opportunities, and collaboration time which have impacted their ability to model good practices. Pictures of qualified, confident teachers integrating technology into their classrooms with regularity and fidelity are unclear. Existing literature was reviewed regarding methods of increasing teacher comfort and knowledge related to technology integration so that the 21st Century Skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication can be addressed in public schools. This research study explored what middle school teachers …

The Case For Explicit, Skills-Based Resilience Building Instruction, Michael B. Maschi

All Theses And Dissertations

The study of resilience in young children has captured the attention of many researchers over the last twenty years. A number of research questions about resilience have focused on the definition and use of the term, conditions under which resilience is likely to develop in children, the characteristics/traits associated with resilience, and how to best teach resilience. While there have been considerable advances in the ways that we think about and teach resilience, there is still much debate about how and when to teach resilience (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012). In addition, the procedures and methods used to provide scholarly explanations …

Dual Enrollment Efficacy On College Readiness As Perceived By High School Dual Enrollment Teachers And Counselors In South Alabama, Shulanda Stallworth Franks

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Dual Enrollment teachers and high school counselors to compare and determine whether there are significant differences between their perceptions of college readiness among DE participants in South Alabama. Data was analyzed and presented based on its relevance to effectiveness. This study is relevant because scholars are unclear about the effects of DE on college readiness.

This research was designed to close some of the gaps in the literature and help education stakeholders to identify effective mechanisms to continue to develop and promote the Dual Enrollment program. This study examined …

The Effectiveness Of Digital Leadership At K-12 Schools In Mississippi Regarding Communication And Collaboration During Ccrs Implementation, Lin Zhong

Dissertations

Successful CCRS implementation requires educators to communicate and collaborate at the local, state, and national level. Technology plays an important role in successful CCRS implementation. This study aims to investigate how digital leadership improves communication and collaboration at K-12 schools in Mississippi regarding implementation of CCRS as well as the effectiveness of different ways of supporting communication and collaboration regarding CCRS implementation. Mixed-method was chosen to investigate the research questions. Ten public school principals from two school districts were interviewed and observed at qualitative stage and two hundred fifty-four public schools teachers participated in the survey at quantitative stage. Interviews …

The Use Of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis For Academic Progress And Degree Completion, Joshua William Schutts

Dissertations

College student retention and graduation are important to students, institutions, and the community. Institutions must commit to understanding why students persist and depart in order to address student success. As a result, institutions and governmental entities have increased the emphasis they place on using data to improve student success and degree completion. An abundance of research suggests that background factors (such as high school GPA and ACT score) combined with environmental factors (such as one’s major and first semester GPA) are predictive of student success. However, the literature has yet to explore the value of ROC curve analysis as a …

Student Achievement In Response To Intervention Groups, Allison L. Gardenhour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify components of Response to Intervention (RTI) groups associated with increased student growth on progress monitoring tests. The relationship between student growth scores and fidelity of implementation scores, types of groups, types of interventionists, group setting, group time, and various demographic groups were examined. Seven hundred fifteen students enrolled in reading and math groups in an RTI program at 8 schools in an Upper East Tennessee school system participated in this study. Ten research questions and null hypotheses were analyzed using Pearson correlations, independent t tests, and one-way Analyses of Variance. Results indicated …