Educational Leadership Commons^™

Providing The Fuel (And Passing The Flame), Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

At the risk of opening with a cliché statement- at the heart of the most effective mentor is a burning passion. The fuel for this passion is a desire to convince, not just try to, but actually convince your mentee that you care about their success (be it in the classroom, career, or personal life). I am guilty of believing in, and living by, this cliché. However, despite passion being my primary motivator, I am not unwilling to admit that rationale for mentoring can sometimes transcend this ethically normative line of thinking. I believe that there are also sometimes quantitative, …

The Implementation Of Common Core Standards And Teacher Intent To Persist, Eddie Miles Louis Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of the Common Core Standards (CCS) into schools had an impact on teacher intent to persist in the classroom. Specifically, this study sought to determine if the implementation of the CCS was a factor of novice and veteran teachers’ intent to persist in schools located in south Mississippi. A review of the literature indicated that teacher shortages were not primarily due to recruitment and training, but rather, to a significant extent, were the result of teachers leaving the profession long before retirement (Ingersoll & Smith, 2004).

Data were collected …

Graduate Program Practices At Western University, Gloria J. Leckie

Purple Guides

Based on interviews with graduate chairs and faculty, the guide catalogues practices in graduate education, from recruitment through coursework, comprehensive exams, thesis proposals, to placement and tracking.

Single Gender Language Arts Classes And The Impact On Achievement Of Males, Brock English

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal comparative research design was to analyze the relationship between Language Arts scale scores of elementary male students on the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Version 2 (MCT2) and the type of classroom, mixed-gender or single-gender. The study also analyzed the percentage of questions answered correctly on the MCT2 in the English Language Arts sub-categories of vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, and grammar. Archival data of 222 students was used, 100 male students in single-gender classes and 122 students in mixed-gender classes. The study was conducted in an urban elementary public school with a diverse population in northeast Mississippi. …

Rigor And Academic Achievement: Career Academies Versus Traditional Class Structure, Linda Kyees

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if students who attended high school Career Academy classes, as part of Career and Technical Education, showed greater academic achievement than students who attended traditional high school classes. While all participants attended schools in the same school district, and were seeking the same goal of graduation with a standard diploma, the Career Academy students had the benefit of all classes being directed by a team of teachers who helped them connect their learning to their desired career through collaborative learning projects and assignments. The traditional high school classes taught each subject independent …

America's Missing Link: Educational Reform And Workforce Development, Sharon A. Weiner, Lana W. Jackman, Glen Warren

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation was given at a White House meeting about the potential role of information literacy in Michelle Obama's Reach Higher initiative on June 18, 2014.

Experiences Of Hispanic Students Enrolled In Secondary Agricultural Education Programs, Karina Salomon, José Vargas

Agricultural Education and Communication

Nearly 52% of the 72,445 [state] students enrolled in agricultural education are Hispanic. However, when many of these programs participate in leadership development activities beyond the local level, the diversity of their participants fails to mirror that of their enrollment. Many teachers are at a loss as to what they can do to cultivate the talent of these students.

In this phenomenological study, a focus group interview was conducted at a [state] high school agriculture program with the reputation for strong Hispanic student engagement. Nine Hispanic agriculture students were invited to participate. The purpose of the study was to interpret …

Maine’S Charter School Law: Predicted Impacts On Waynflete School Enrollment, Kelsey Robinov

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to predict the impacts of Maine’s recently enacted charter school law on the enrollment at Waynflete School, a private co-educational day school in Portland, Maine. National data on current public and private school enrollment trends were examined, as well as existing data on the effects of charter schools on enrollments at these schools. The intent at looking at this data will be to determine what, if any, factors can predict in what areas charter schools are likely to flourish and pull students from private schools in significant numbers and to compare the characteristics of …

Exploring The Multiple Dimensions Of Intelligence Identity In High-Achieving Students, Amy A. Holland

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the important elements reported by second-year undergraduates at Midwestern University (MU) as they renegotiated their intelligence identity of being the smart one. The five participants were members of the 2012-2013 first-year cohort of Jumpstart Business Community (JBC). Per inclusion in JBC, the students identified as high-achieving students and/or were classified as accelerated learners in high school. The reconceptualized model of multiple dimensions of identity from Abes, Jones, and McEwen (2007) informed this study in the examination of renegotiation of the intelligence identity.

The main research question of this study was what …

Effects Of Project-Based Learning Professional Development On 21st-Century Skills, Debra Sue Atwell

College of Education Dissertations

This research project was designed to add to the limited available research concerning effects of project-based learning professional development on 21st-century skills within rural Arkansas settings. The researcher sought to determine if high school teachers, trained in project-based learning in the NTN model, perceived they taught and assessed their students’ 21st-century skills differently than high school teachers not trained in project-based learning under the NTN model.

This casual comparative study was conducted in 20 school districts in Arkansas with a total student population of approximately 11,646 from 6th grade to 12th grade. The 21st-Century Teaching and Learning Survey was used …

Distributed Leadership In Schools: Conditions For Success, Daniel Noble

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Teacher leadership has always been a necessary part of school dynamics. Through committees, union/administrative negotiations, formal and informal leadership roles, teachers play an important role in the growth and change of an educational institution. The purpose of this study is to examine teacher leadership through the perspective of distributed leadership theory; identify the conditions and components of both schools and administrators that support distributed leadership and identify essential steps to transform leadership practice to a distributed model.

This is a qualitative text analysis of current theoretical papers and relevant research on the subject of distributed leadership. The information was used …

Teacher Attitudes And Practices That Support Student Learning, Charles T. Sutton Mr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Generally in today’s classrooms educators have the responsibility to develop teaching practices that are best suited for a particular group of learners. Since the early days of 1-room schools, various teaching styles have been developed to accommodate a changing world. As the curriculum has broadened through the years, individual student needs have remained the focus as teachers have become more and more accountable for student learning.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate or identify how successful teachers manage their classrooms. It defines key student behavior issues that most teachers experience daily. The study further investigates the hypothesis …

An Autoethnography Of Heart-Based Hope Leadership: A Matter Of Life Or Death, Cynthia Jeanne Kimball

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative, reflexive autoethnography explores my health journey over a span of 20 years and beginning with the 1994 diagnosis of breast cancer, through the 2012 diagnosis of an endothelial ischemic microvascular pattern heart dysfunction, and up to the 2014 writing of this dissertation study. The purpose of this study was to define the construct of hope-based action from the perspectives of nine participants and myself. As researcher-participant, I used reflexivity and personal narrative to describe the language and rituals of a culture of hope. The construct of hope was investigated from the perspectives of Snyder's hope theory (1994) from …

21st Century Workforce Readiness Skills: How Are Students Being Prepared, Peter B. Licata

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Throughout history, schools have strived to prepare students for future educational and workplace success. This is made evident through the many federal and state policies enacted. While the specific skills required for careers have changed, the goals of the educational system have not. The 21st Century international workplace requires a generation of skilled workers with specific attributes. To prepare students for gainful employment and to combat the high percentage of high school students who drop out of school unprepared for the workforce, school districts across the country have instituted Career and Technical Education and Industry Certification programs. These programs strive …

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Increasing The Accessibility Of Science For All Students, Samantha Langley - Turnbaugh, Glenn Wilson, Lynn Lovewell

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This paper evaluates the accessibility of selected field and laboratory high school science activities, and provides suggestions for increasing accessibility for students with disabilities. We focused on GLOBE (Global Learning Observations to Benefit the Environment) protocols, specifically the new Seasons and Biomes investigation currently being developed as part of the GLOBE program. Five university students with disabilities majoring in science or technology were recruited to test the GLOBE protocols, and 10 protocols were evaluated for accessibility. Based on our results, we make several suggestions with regards to instructions, equipment, safety, outcomes and activity significance that will increase the accessibility of …

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Self-Efficacy And Self-Regulation While Learning In A 1:1 Laptop Environment, Joan M. Carraher

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

1:1 Laptop initiatives continue to grow throughout Nebraska schools. There are many questions regarding their effectiveness in improving student learning, justifications for expenses, and the process to guide such an initiative.

The purpose of this case study was to explore students’ perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-regulation while learning in a 1:1 district where students in grades 7 through 12 have 24/7 access to a school-issued laptop. Students in their first (8^th grade) and third-year (10^th grade) of learning in a 1:1 environment at a Nebraska school district participated in this study. Data was collected from an online …

Martin County School District Turn-Around Initiative, Mark Andrew Blackburn

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Mark Andrew Blackburn on April 10, 2014.

Effects Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Middle School Student Achievement, Chad Knowles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Today's teachers face more frequent and more severe challenges than perhaps any generation of teachers that have come before them. Administrators attempt to support teaching in an environment of ever-increasing accountability and dwindling financial resources with new and innovative strategies. One such strategy employed by modern educators has been the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model for clear behavioral expectations and pyramids of intervention for targeted support for students. This study compared a middle school that employs PBIS with a middle school that does not, to determine if there was any statistical improvement realized on academic achievement. Two diverse …

Working On The Work Framework For Engagement: Impacting Students' Perceived Learning, Attitudes Toward School, And Achievement, Michael Forehand

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A quasi-experimental, pre-test post-test nonequivalent control group study was utilized to determine the difference in students' perceived learning, attitudes toward school, and achievement when participating in classes utilizing engagement design qualities as compared to students in classes not utilizing engagement design qualities. To inform the relationship between student engagement, perceived learning, attitudes toward school, and achievement, Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of Flow was utilized as a theoretical framework along with the implementation of Schelchty's Working on the Work (WOW) Framework with 178 third grade students in a Metro-Atlanta school system. A perceived learning questionnaire, the Elementary Form of the Battle Student Attitude …

The Development And Transferring Process Of Transformational Leadership In Home Schooling Students In Central Texas, Johnnie Seago

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this systematic, qualitative, grounded theory study is to describe the process of leadership development by describing conscious, subconscious, and intrinsic behaviors in second-generational home schooling students as transferred from first- generation home school parents in the Central Texas area. Through interviews, observations, and survey results of second-generational home schooled students, their parents, and others in authority over the second-generational students, this research explores how these children demonstrate transformational leadership skills. Taking responsibility for their own education, pursuing part-time jobs, caring for siblings, attending political and social events represent a few of the activities that provided leadership development. …

2014 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

An Investigation Of Teacher Candidate Perceptions: Using 21st Century Tools And Clinical Medical Model Practices To Teach Classroom Management Skills, Helen Rader, James Rader, David R. Riel

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Helen J. Rader James P. Rader David R. Riel on March 13, 2014.

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

A Primer On Charter Schools And The Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The charter school movement began in 1991, when Minnesota enacted the first law authorizing their creation. To date, 41 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico permit the creation of charter schools, according to the National Charter School Resource Center (n.d.).

Charter schools, public schools of choice, are usually operated as not-for-profit institutions independently or occasionally in conjunction with public organizations, such as colleges and universities. As such, they have generally survived challenges to their constitutionality.

This column provides a primer for education leaders on the legal basics associated with the operations of charter schools. It does not …

Full Steam Ahead: Creativity In Excellent Stem Teaching Practices, Danah Henriksen

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This article emphasizes the value of creativity and arts-based learning in the sciences (STEAM education), using one example from a recent research study of creative and effective classroom teachers. The future of innovative thinking in STEM disciplines relies on breaking down the distinction between disciplines traditionally seen as “creative” like the arts or music, and STEM disciplines traditionally seen as more rigid or logical-mathematical (Catterall, 2002). The most exceptional thinkers in fields like science or math are also highly creative individuals who are deeply influenced by an interest in, and knowledge of, music, the arts and similar areas (Caper, 1996; …

The Relationship Between Servant Leadership And Student Achievement In Southwest Virginia Schools, Christopher Crabtree

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational study is to test the theory of servant leadership that relates the servant leadership characteristics of school principals to student achievement in Southwest Virginia schools. The primary independent variable was principals' servant leadership characteristics as derived from a self-assessment survey (SASL). The dependent variable was student achievement as measured by students' scores on the Virginia Department of Education Standard of Learning achievement tests in math and reading. Other variables tested were principal total experience in education, principal total experience in administration and principal education level. The data analysis chosen for this research is the Pearson …