Educational Leadership Commons^™

Higher Education Administrators' Perspective On Service Learning, Briana Cicero-Johns

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

An economic downturn beginning in late 2007 has led to decreased funding and greater competition to recruit and retain students in higher education. Service-learning, while demonstrated to be an effective recruiting and retention strategy, could fall victim to budgetary constraints – thus undermining institutions’ historical commitment to service and engagement – unless administrators are convinced of its value. This study examined administrators’ perspectives on the perceived financial benefits, if any, that accrue to the institution from the implementation of service-learning courses and programs, and whether service-learning requirements are perceived to contribute to student learning, recruitment, retention, and fundraising.

The study …

Evaluating High School Mathematics Performance Measures And Student Attributes For Predicting Remedial Mathematics Success And Student Retention In College, Sherri L. Stepp

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to evaluate multiple high school student attributes and performance measures that could be considered for use in predicting success in developmental mathematics courses and college-level math courses at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. This study also evaluated the predictive ability of the same high school student attributes and performance measures in determining first-year fall-to-fall retention rates for successful math students.

The study population consisted of first-time freshmen who entered the case study institution in the fall semesters of 2010 through 2014 and graduated from West Virginia public high schools. The population was stratified …

Implementation And Perceived Effectiveness Of Distributed Leadership In Resa 1 Schools In Southern West Virginia, Ingrida Barker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The study explored the implementation and effectiveness of distributed leadership as perceived by school administrators in selected schools in southern West Virginia. The data for the study were collected via survey and semi-structured interviews. Ninety-three building level administrators responded to the survey and eleven central office administrators were interviewed.

Generally, building level administrators described the level of implementation of distributed leadership components as partial or above partial. They also described effectiveness levels of distributed leadership components to positively influence student learning as some of the time to most of the time. Statistically significant differences were found for a limited number …

Plc Participation: Roadblocks, Speed Bumps, And Detours, Lindsay Lee, Audrey Moore, Angela Szakasits, Cynthia Wortham

Center for Innovative Leadership Development Summer Seminar Presentations

Educators have a tendency to downplay their own awesomeness; this session will remind us of how great we are and what we can do to meet all of the Teacher Leader Model Standards. We are all leaders in some way by nature of what we do in our individual classrooms. In this session, participants will understand how they can become or already are teacher leaders in their schools and districts. Teachers may be organic leaders (the “doers”- the people everyone assumes will lead the committee because that’s just what you do). This session will introduce the idea of how to …

Career Counseling For Gifted Students: Understanding Student Needs And Strategies For Success, Layla J. Kurt

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Meeting the needs of gifted students’ career selection process can pose some unique considerations such as gifted asynchronous development, multipotentiality, and demographic differences such as gender, culture, and socio-economic status (SES) within the gifted population. To address the career counseling needs of gifted students, counselors need to understand the characteristics and needs of gifted students and the relationship this has in the career planning process. This article provides guidance for school counselors to understand gifted students and how to apply career counseling theories, such as the strengths-based approach, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and constructivist theory to this student population.

Fostering Campus Diversity And Advancing The Internationalization Of Education On College And University Campuses, Sherwood Thompson, Timothy Forde

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This paper discusses the challenges that institutions of higher education face in educating and preparing students to work and live in an increasingly diverse global population. This concept-oriented discussion does not intend to provide detailed theoretical or experimental development and analysis. Instead, this paper presents an innovative paradigm that attempts to embrace many nuances associated with the terms diversity and globalization in the literature. The paper posits the internationalization of education as a strategy that can help universities demonstrate their commitment to educating students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Other strategies include targeted recruiting of highly competent international faculty …

Create A Better Flow Through Sequencing Resident Assistant Training, Rich Whitney, Sherry Early, Travis Whisler

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

The Resident Assistant (RA) role in higher education institutions is one of the most well-known functions on the modern campus (Akens & Novak, 2011; Porter, 1999), tracing back in some form to colonial times (Blimling, 2010; Winston & Fitch, 1993). There are roughly 10,000 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2011) RAs working at U.S. institutions. According to Winston et al. (1984), residence hall administrators are most likely the first student affairs professionals to employ students as paraprofessionals. Their functions include peer support and development, planning educational and social programs, and ensuring safety within the halls. The RA role, as peer educators, …

An Examination Of Mentoring Relationships And Leadership Capacity In Resident Assistants, Sherry L. Early Phd

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

The leadership capacity of resident assistants can be impacted by many experiences, including involvement in mentoring relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine if and how resident assistants’ leadership capacities are influenced by participating in these relationships. A sample of 6,006 resident assistants was analyzed using data from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. An adapted version of Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome college impact model was used as the conceptual framework, and the Social Change Model of Leadership was used as the theoretical framework. Overall findings revealed that resident assistants who participated in mentoring relationships exhibited significantly higher leadership capacities …

University Update - November 18, 2016, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

Included in this update are:

• Academic Affairs
• Athletic Achievements
• Technology Updates
• 'Where We Stand Matters' Campaign Update
• Business Affairs

2016 Before Sdl Conference Narrative For Florida Final, John Henschke

Adult Education Faculty Works

The author will present his perspective and experience on how SDL and Andragogy may complement and contrast with each other. Focus will be on: theoretical/practical, historically/currently implementing, strengths/weaknesses, foundational/personally engaging, comparing/contrasting; a case will be made for valuing each (SDL & Andragogy) for enhancing benefit to the constituencies we serve.

Examining Mattering, Spiritual Mattering, And First-Year Retention At A Private, Religiously-Affiliated Institution Of Higher Education, Jason Morris, Alison A. Spencer, Avia Gray

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

The primary purpose of this project was to explore how Schlossberg’s (1989) theory of college student’s mattering relates to college student retention in the context of a Christian institution of higher education. In addition, the authors created and tested a “spiritual mattering” measure based on Schlossberg’s theory. Mattering is a self-perception that refers to how important we believe we are to others. Schlossberg (1989) inserted this concept into the realm of higher education when she examined mattering and adult students returning to college. The purpose of the study was accomplished through the following three research objectives: a) Determining whether “institutional” …

Mediated-Efficacy: Hope For “Helpless” Writers, Eileen K. Camfield

University Writing Programs Staff Articles and Papers

Building on previous studies of college students' writing self-efficacy beliefs, this article presents the empirical foundation for a reconceptualized understanding of this identity process. The study assessed 131 college freshmen enrolled in a developmental writing course who were evaluated holistically using grounded theory methodology. The study identified (a) major theoretical categories revealing the nature of students' initial pessimism about themselves as writers and sense of learned helplessness and (b) a subsequent shift toward optimism and self-efficacy triggered by a particular learning relationship formed with their instructors, the core of the posited mediated-efficacy theory. Implications for college-level developmental writing pedagogy are …

Leadership, It's Everyone's Responsibility, Bruce A. Triplett

Projects

Abstract

Leadership, It’s Everyone’s Responsibility

Bruce A. Triplett

Leadership is something that is discussed in all facets of life. Specifically in sports, leadership is something that coaches view as an integral part of a team’s success. Although leadership is a crucial component to a team’s success, many high schools do not provide a leadership development program for their athletes. This project was developed to be an introductory leadership course for high school athletes. The curriculum is set up to work around the busy schedules of teachers, athletes, and coaches. The lessons are put together to give the athletes a foundation …

Service-Learning And The Hungry And Homeless: Tangible Sensibilities Of Care Among Young Urban Adolescents, Dilafruz R. Williams

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

For over 20 years, Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland, Oregon has adopted service-learning as an instructional approach to engage young people with local communities. This report explores the voices of sixth through eighth graders illustrated by their Reflection Journals as they interacted with hungry and homeless individuals in the community. The human-scale connections resulted in tangible sensibilities of care evident in students’ reflections: dispelling stereotypes as students became open-minded, making a noticeable difference however small, developing compassion through new understandings, and taking action to correct social injustices in the communities where they live.

Supportive Leadership: The Principal's Role In Beginning Teacher Retention, Kelli Leann Epling

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

School districts in West Virginia and across the nation have been experiencing a mass exodus of teachers over the last two decades, creating a widespread shortage of certified educators in the classroom. In the United States approximately a half-million teachers leave their schools every year, and only 16% of those exits can be attributed to retirement. The rest is due to movement between schools and to teachers leaving the profession. While a great deal of research has been completed in order to ascertain why teachers are leaving the profession most focuses on the individual teacher’s perspective – and that perspective …

Diversity, Equity And Inclusion: A Roadmap For Usf Faculty And Staff Professional Development, Shawn P. Calhoun Mr., Julie Dowd, Mary J. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi Phd, Martha Peugh-Wade

Ignatian Colleagues Program

This is a proposal is seeking support for a series of interactive workshops and lectures

for USF faculty and staff that center on exploring the intersections between Jesuit

Catholic identity, lgnatian spirituality and the complex issues we face as a

community around diversity, equity and inclusion.

It includes a description of a 6-part conversation series with select

faculty/ staff who seek to expand our understandings of the intersections of Jesuit

intellectual traditions, Catholicity and race, thereby increasing our capacity to move

forward together on these issues as a more united community.

A History Of Andragogy And Its Documents As They Pertain To Adult Basic And Literacy Education, John Henschke

Adult Education Faculty Works

This paper on the History and Philosophy of Andragogy includes items related to andragogy, especially as they apply to adult basic and literacy learners as well as the instructors and educators that facilitate the learning of these adults. Many of these documents as well as the accompanying experience of the author have been discovered and accumulated over a period of 16 years. While this article contains only 70 documents, there are now more than 500 documents covering wider and more extensive andragogical research. These particular documents, though limited to the English language, are arranged chronologically and have been obtained from …

Does Racism Exist In The Hiring And Promotion Of K-12 School Administrators?, Phillip Smith

GSE Faculty Publications

There is an absence of any extensive examination of the ways in which agency, White conferred dominance, and racial stratification perpetuate inequalities in access to educational leadership positions by Black Americans. Through an integrative review, and analysis of national data sets, this paper explores the extent to which differing levels of racism - individual, institutional or cultural, exist in the hiring and promotion of K-12 school administrators. Utilizing a critical race theory (CRT) epistemological approach, as well as a historicizing of knowledge analytical approach, the paper illustrates that despite significant gains through the Civil Rights movement, African Americans continue to …

Color-Conscious Paradigms Of Adult And Educational Leadership Development Through Culturally Relevant Mentoring: Africentricity And Critical Spirituality Explored, Phillip Smith

GSE Faculty Publications

This conceptual paper draws on the indigenous wisdoms of the African Diaspora, and critical spirituality. It strives to formulate a new definition of culturally relevant mentoring for educational leadership development as applicable to the leadership development of Black school principals and other senior educational leaders.

Flipped Learning Instruction: Differentiating Mathematics Instruction Through The Use Of Technology, Nathan A. Flansburg

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between mathematics achievement and the instructional approach used (flipped versus traditional). A suburban school district located outside of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul implemented flipped learning instruction in one-half of all six elementary sites across the district. Half of the students in fifth grade mathematics classes received instruction via traditional lecture-style teaching methodology while the other half of the students received instruction via flipped learning instruction. Data was collected over three years time and a comparison of the quantitative results based on flipped versus non-flipped classes, differences between student groups as defined …

Good Goodbyes And Happy Hellos: The Tck Transition To Postsecondary Education, Sarah R. Hoverson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to discover the lived experiences of Third Culture Kids transitioning to postsecondary education in the United States, and what role social media had in building or maintaining bridging and bonding social capital. All the participants in this study were Missionary Kids (MKs). MKs, a subgroup of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), spend a significant part of their developmental years outside their passport culture due to the nature of their parents work. The participants of this study grew up in different regions of the world, including: South America, Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, the …

Rural Principals On The Move: Why They Leave, Cynthia Hansen

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the personal, institutional, and environmental factors that influenced a principal’s decision to leave his or her school. Respondents included six elementary principals in rural Minnesota who left their positions within the past year. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes. Transferability and credibility were enhanced through the participation of the researcher in a bracketing interview to identify potential biases, independent coding by an outside analyst of the bracketing and regular interviews, and repeated checks with respondents about transcriptions, codes, and themes. Themes were codes that occurred in at least four …

Improving Parental Engagement Through The Use Of Reading Apps, Evelyn M. Lemons

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative case study was conducted in a rural Title I school in the Piedmont of North Carolina using a pre and post-intervention survey and participant interviews, during the summer of 2016. The intervention was a workshop for parents to show them how to use online reading apps at home to help their child with reading. The goal was to determine if that workshop would improve parental engagement. The study found that the one time offering of the workshop for parents did improve parental engagement. The summary of the findings for the study are described in chapter four. Practical recommendations …

Relationship Between Grade Configuration And Parent Perceptions About Schools, Jason J. Lind

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This was a comparative case study that used in-depth interviews of parents to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of two grade configurations, and the possible influence of grade configuration on parent participation and parental attitudes toward their schools. The purpose of this study was to gain deeper insight into the differences of two grade configurations from the perspective of parents, and determine if parents reveal more advantages of one model over the other model. There were seven sets of parents interviewed from a K-5, 6-8 configuration and six sets of parents interviewed from a K-8 configuration. The results indicated advantages …

Arts Integration And Student Achievement, Sheryl Denise Ray

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract This is a quantitative cross sectional survey design dual method study to test a theory that relates arts integration to achievement for students in grades two through six at three arts magnet schools and five non-arts schools in two school districts in Minnesota. Demographic groups studied included special education, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (FR), Limited English Proficiency (LEP), gender, and gifted. The dual design method included the use of cross tabulations, chi-square tests, MAP RIT results, and teacher practice survey responses to find relationships. Oreck’s (2000) Teaching with the Arts Survey (TWAS) was examined and used as a resource to …

Big Five Personality Traits And Other Predictors Of Academic Success In Physician Assistant Students, Wade Avery Nilson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive and noncognitive variables, and academic performance among Physician Assistant (PA) students. Noncognitive variables (i.e. personality traits) were assessed using the Big Five Inventory and the Marlowe Crown Social Desirability Scale. Academic performance outcomes were defined by the participants’ preclinical GPA, clinical GPA, PACKRAT score, PANCE score, and PANCE pass/fail. Cognitive variables were assessed using participants’ overall preadmission GPA and science GPA. The study followed 146 PA student participants’ in seven class cohorts, from matriculation to graduation (first time PANCE). Pearson correlations were computed for each of the cognitive …

A Case Study Of How Teacher Preparation Programs In Minnesota Are Preparing Elementary Teachers To Work With English Learners, Sarah Lynn Stay

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the population of English Learners in mainstream classrooms across the United States continue to increase, it is critical that all classroom teachers (not just English language specialists) take responsibility for and are adequately prepared for working with and educating ELs. The exponential growth of culturally and linguistically diverse students in the public school system raises important questions about teacher preparation. Since academic achievement in elementary school directly correlates to high school graduation rates, it is critical to examine current teacher education programs and the opportunities within these programs that provide an understanding of EL needs. This study will examine …

The Impact Of Principal Turnover On Pbis Success: A Quantitative Analysis, Katie A. Svenby

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the impact of principal turnover in the principal’s office on the successful maintenance indicators of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The study sampled identified PBIS-utilizing, public, elementary and middle schools in the state of Minnesota. Research has helped established PBIS as an effective behavioral intervention in the United States. PBIS requires principals to understand not only the base principles of PBIS but also how best to establish and promote PBIS within a specific school setting. Scholars have also documented acceleration in the turnover of public school principals. Given the environment …

Teacher Burnout: A Comparison Of Schools In North Dakota, Wayne R. Samson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher burnout is a substantial issue in education today, and its negative effects have been seen across the United States. This quantitative study will focus on the state of North Dakota and analyze teacher burnout through the lens of the number of students that a school serves. By implementing the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator’s Survey (MBI-ES) this study attempts to not only see the prevalence of teacher burnout between large and small schools in North Dakota, but also to understand if the causes for burnout are similar or different based upon student population in schools. According to the information gathered within …

Disruptive Leadership: A Grounded Theory Study Of How Three Kentucky Women Are Leading Change, Christian N. Ryan

Dissertations

In this grounded theory study, I explored the process of leadership demonstrated by three women in south central Kentucky as a unique model of leadership: disruptive leadership. These citizen leaders seek to solve wicked problems, disrupting the unacceptable status quo by offering better alternatives. The study is guided by the following research questions: (1) What does it mean to be a disruptive leader?; (2) What are the central concerns of leaders facing wicked problems?; (3) What motivates leaders to solve such problems?; (4) What strategies are employed to address such problems?; and (5) How can disruptive leadership be distinguished from …