Educational Leadership Commons^™

Professional Growth: Informal Peer Observation, Carolyn A. Clark

All Theses And Dissertations

The practice of peer observation has recently gained attention as educational and political leaders examine teacher effectiveness. Prior research studies about peer observation were mostly conducted in secondary universities or in schools where this practice was voluntary. Since this practice has recently become mandated, this qualitative case study examined how teachers perceived the experience of informal peer observation in relation to their professional growth. The study was conducted in a Pre-K-8 public school for three months while teachers participated in informal peer observation rounds. When teachers completed their informal peer observation, they filled out the peer observation documentation forms and …

Exploring Self-Authorship In Post-Traditional Students: A Narrative Study In Students’ Meaning-Making, Lisa Wardlaw Myers

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the narratives of ten post-traditional students enrolled in a degree completion program in a small, regional public university. The narratives provide insight of post-traditional students and their experiences with self-authorship: a way of knowing that empowers people to skillfully navigate life from consciously constructed epistemological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal paradigms. The findings in this study revealed that 6 of 10 of the participants demonstrated decision-making at lower levels of self-authorship, with half those indicating movement toward self-authorship and the other half exhibiting no indication of self-authorship. The participants also demonstrated the same patterns of self-authorship development as …

The Leadership Behaviors Of College Freshmen, Kevin Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine if a difference exists between leadership behaviors of male and female college freshmen and the amount of extra or co-curricular activities they participated in during high school. Leadership was measured using the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (S-LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2013) and was guided by the theoretical framework of leader identity development (LID) as promulgated by Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, and Osteen (2005) and revised by Komives, Longerbeam, Osteen, Owen, and Wagner (2009). Participants consisted of 98 male and 84 female incoming college freshmen attending a mid-size Catholic university located …

A Case Study Describing Practices And Beliefs Of Teachers Who Are Effective In Their Classroom Behavior Management In A Diverse Rural School System In Georgia, Busani Siphambili

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this nested case study was to describe the practices and beliefs of teachers who are effective in their behavior management with minority students (African American) in three rural schools. This study was shaped by Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural behavior theory that states that learning is a social process and the origination of human intelligence in society or culture. It also emphasizes that the development of thinking is a shared process, not an individual one, and that children learn by participating and sharing other people’s frame of reference. Social interactions play an important role in the development of cognition. …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Transitioning From A Professional Career In Health Information Management To Teaching In Higher Education, Mildred Norris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of faculty in Health Information Technology (HIT) programs as they transitioned from working in their field of expertise to become a teacher in the accredited HIT associate degree programs. The intended sample size, pending saturation, was comprised of 10 HIT faculty members at five colleges in the southeastern United States. Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theory is used to guide this study; it is a thematic approach, which can be used to identify the factors which affect people as they make transitions. The expectancy-value theory, conceptualized by Atkinson (1957), utilized …

A Causal Comparative Study On The Effect Of Proficiency-Based Education On School Climate, Kay York

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

his quantitative, causal comparative study sought to determine if proficiency-based education has an effect on school climate. With sweeping school reform across the United States, educators are seeking ways to improve student achievement and maintain a positive school climate. This study consisted of 87 teachers in proficiency-based high schools and 125 teachers in non-proficiency-based high schools in New England who were emailed the Secondary School Climate Assessment Instrument (SCAI-S-G). Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics computed for each teacher group through SPSS. SPSS was also used to conduct separate t tests for each of the eight domains of the SCAI-S-G …

Classroom Teachers And Their Experiences With A Diagnosed Mental Disorder In The Atlanta Area: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology, Becki Kelly

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to describe the experiences of nine classroom teachers with clinically diagnosed mental disorders in the southern part of the metro Atlanta area. An ontological philosophical assumption is utilized through a social constructivist view while framed through the modified labeling theory (Link, Cullen, Struening, Shrout, & Dohrenwend, 1989) and the social identity theory (Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, & Flament, 1971). The central research question is: How do classroom teachers diagnosed with a mental disorder describe their experiences in the school environment? Research questions cover (a) their emotions and the prevalence of them, (b) their …

Implementation Of A Standards-Based Grading Model: A Study Of Parent And Teacher Perceptions Of Success, Amber Dee Wheeler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the success of a standards-based grading initiative in meeting its goals. Furthermore, findings from this study will be used to inform decisions made in future grade level implementations. Standards-based grading meets all criteria for a problem of practice. The literature situates standards-based grading as a high impact strategy that can affect the entire system. This mixed-methods study will be used to determine practical changes for a school implementing standards-based grading. This study found parents positively responded to the change, and parents understood their child’s current …

On The Right Track: Exploring Influences Contributing To Successful Track-Switching Of Indians Working For A U.S. Company, Rose-Marie Speck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how Indian managers assessed the influences leading to their transition from technician to manager when working for a company in the U.S. This study was based on interviews with fifteen Indian managers who had track-switched from a technical job to a management position in the U.S. in a U.S. company. The interviewees were asked five questions about what they believed made them successful in track-switching, and the consensus among interviewees was that for a technician to track-switch effectively, the technician had to have excellent technical skills. In addition to technical skills, the …

Characteristics And Behaviors Of School Board Members In "Grade A" Arkansas Public School Districts, Bridget Lynn Polk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to describe characteristics and behaviors of school board members in Arkansas school districts where 50% or more of their campuses earned a letter grade of “A” on the 2014 Arkansas School Performance Report (Arkansas Department of Education [ADE], 2015). This purpose was achieved through analysis of artifacts from selected school districts including: achievement patterns; board minutes; and board member professional development records. A web-based survey of school board members was also utilized to gather demographic and background information. Finally, personal interviews were completed with a small group of board members to collect …

Examining The Phenomenon Of Dropping Out Of High School Through The Perspectives And Experiences Of The African American Male, John L. Colbert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We expect all students to achieve and succeed in school, yet current data shows that 23.6% of African American students in Arkansas drop out of school (Bailey & Dziko, 2008). The African American male high school dropouts are much higher than the number of male dropouts from other ethnic groups. As the researcher reviewed the current data about African American dropouts, it was the impetus behind this study. Although many have discussed and written about African American male dropouts in educational forums, essays, short stories, dissertations, and even movies, few have captured the experiences of the African American males in …

Community College Honors Education And Student Outcomes: A Propensity Score Analysis, Jane B. Honeycutt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of honors education to student success by comparing honors-eligible community college students who met requirements to academically matched peers who opted out of honors participation. Honors program participation was defined as completing 12 or more credit hours of honors-level course work. The population for this study included 452 honors-eligible participants with 95 honors participants (HPs) and 357 non-participants (NPs) from a community college in Tennessee. The sampling frame was generated using a five-year participation window from 2008 through 2013. Propensity score matching alleviated the threat to validity for self-selection bias …

Teacher Retention In Rural Schools Nested In Large Districts: An Ethnographic Qualitative Study, Sandra Gomez Cerda

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the retention of teachers that work in large school districts with rural schools. The study examined: 1) the general characteristics of large school districts that have small rural campuses that retain and recruit teachers; 2) what draws teachers to teach in rural schools in large school districts; and 3) what factors contribute to decisions to stay at rural schools in large school districts. The author offers recommendations to retain teachers in rural schools nested in large school districts.

An Exploration Of The Manner In Which Personal Spirituality Influences Five New Hampshire Principals’ Decision-Making, Carolyn Nicole Squires Cormier

All Theses And Dissertations

Educational leaders face difficult decisions on a regular basis. These decisions, often associated with educational leadership and organizational change, are influenced by a variety of factors including the leader’s personal spirituality. This phenomenological study explores the manner in which the personal spiritual beliefs of five New Hampshire public school principals influence their workplace decision-making. The purpose of the work is to describe the essence of the experience of having one’s personal spirituality influence educational decision-making in an effort to provide school leaders an opportunity for metacognition. Data analysis reveals that the participants’ personal spirituality provides purpose, integrity, and perspective to …

Training The Whole Counselor: Qualitative Analyses Of Professional School Counselor Training In Central Virginia, Jason W. Fleshman

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The profession of school counseling is a dynamic one that has endured the evolving American educational landscape for over 100 years. This changing landscape has contributed to a sense of role confusion for professional school counselors in the United States. With much variation among states, school divisions, and even schools within the same division regarding the appropriate role of the professional school counselor, the research attempted to determine professional school counselor perceptions of their division-level and building-level training for their ASCA-defined inappropriate responsibilities in four school divisions in central Virginia. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the research studied the lived …

Factors Contributing To The Problem Of Student Absenteeism In A Rural School, Angela Denean Durborow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student attendance would seem to be a vital link in measuring student success in school. If students are not in school, they miss instruction from the teacher. Without instruction it seems incredibly difficult to complete the work needed to pass classes and be successful in school. The research explored the problem of practice of student absenteeism in a rural school. The study was conducted using mixed methods research methodology, specifically a sequential mixed methods research design. The research questions were as follows: (1) What explicit or implicit messages are parents and the school sending about school attendance? (2) What is …

Understanding A Vicious Cycle: Do Out-Of-School Suspensions Impact Student Test Scores?, Kaitlin P. Anderson, Gary W. Ritter, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

A vast body of research has proven the correlation between exclusionary discipline (out-of-school suspensions and expulsions) and student outcomes such as lower test scores, dropout, grade retention, and involvement in the juvenile justice system, but there is no consensus on the causal impacts of exclusionary discipline. This study uses six years of de-identified demographic, achievement, and disciplinary data from all K-12 public schools in Arkansas to estimate the causal relationship. We conduct dynamic panel data models incorporating student fixed effects using Anderson-Hsiao (1981) estimation. We find, counter-intuitively, a null to positive impact of out-of-school suspensions on test scores. Therefore, while …

Experiences Of North American Teachers Working Overseas Who Broke Their Contracts Within One Year, Stephanie L. Kattera

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight into the experiences of North American teachers working in international schools and why they chose to leave within the first year. The findings offer insights into the following questions; (1) How do these teachers experience relationships with leadership and students? (2) What role, if any, did their recruitment and induction have on these teachers’ decision to leave? (3) What role, if any, did the culture of the host country play in these teachers’ decision to leave? The struggles experienced from these conditions led teachers to abruptly leave their contracted international …

Exemplary Nonprofit Leaders And The Behaviors They Use To Create Personal And Organizational Meaning, Candice Flint

Dissertations

Exemplary Nonprofit Leaders and the Behaviors They Use to Create Personal and Organizational Meaning

by Candice Flint

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed method case study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary nonprofit leaders use to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through character, vision, relationships, wisdom and inspiration. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to determine the degree of importance to which followers perceive the behaviors related to character, vision, relationships, wisdom and inspiration help to create personal and organizational meaning.

Methodology: A mixed method case study was utilized …

Knowledge To Action: A Communication And Framing Issue, Norman Eng

Publications and Research

Translating knowledge into action requires that education scholars step beyond their traditional role as researchers and engage the public more deliberately. At the same time, their impartiality must be rigorously maintained. One solution is to focus their engagement on educating, discussing, and sharing—rather than persuading or advocating. Communication studies suggests that framing research in ways that resonate with people’s core values may help the public see complex issues more constructively. It may even stimulate political will. In this paper, I explore four ways to frame education issues, based on widely held American values like achievement, progress, and pragmatism. I also …

Dynamic School Psychology: Perceptions Between School Psychologists, Teachers, And Administrators On School Psychology And Paradigm Shift Theory, Homero Flores

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this research paper is to gain current perceptions of school psychology services and paradigm shift theory in school psychology by school psychologists, teachers and administrators within public school systems. The paper will focus on the history of school psychology, federal legislation, and IDEA. Surveys were collected from school psychologists, teachers and administrators regarding perceptions of school psychology and paradigm shift theory in school psychology services. Although the results were non-significant, results of the surveys indicate similar results to previous perceptual surveys. While teachers and administrators would like more services in general from school psychologists, school psychologists remained …

Weary In Well Doing: A Descriptive Study Of Burnout In Teachers Working In Christian Schools, Cassandra Maria Lopez

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this study was to examine how burnout is experienced by teachers working in Christian schools. Exploring how teachers working in Christian schools experience burnout, as well as which teacher characteristics are the best predictors of burnout, may assist Christian school leaders in creating “flame retardant” organizations. This quantitative study utilized a survey research method. Teachers in 25 Christian schools located in Central Florida were invited to complete a survey on job-related attitudes which included the 22 items of the Maslach Burnout Inventory—Educator Survey. Personal and professional teacher characteristics were found to be statistically significant predictors of burnout …

Surviving Or Thriving? A Study Of Engaged Learning, Academic Determination, Social Connectedness, Positive Perspective, And Spirituality Of Doctoral Students In A Private Christian University, Sarah J. Yates

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

There are factors that contribute to thriving in a doctoral program. The purpose of this study was to compare doctoral students’ Thriving Quotient at a private Christian, liberal arts university to the national norms on the Thriving Quotient while evaluating how the spiritual climate related to student thriving at the subject university. By examining the factors that comprise thriving, doctoral advisors, professors, and workers in student services may better understand the support needed to help students not only survive a doctoral program, but to thrive on a holistic level. The quantitative study utilized a survey research method. Students pursuing a …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes, April 27-28, 2017

Board of Trustees Minutes

Minutes from the Wright State University Board of Trustees Meeting held on April 27-28, 2017.

The Dynamics Of Gender Identity And Implicit Bias Impacting Women's Executive Leadership Development Programs And Female Executive Leadership Coaching, Emelina Belle

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” - Albert Einstein

The implicit gender bias and stereotypes in our society continue to impact gender diversity in executive leadership roles within organizations. The critical demand of high-potential talented female leaders to fill the gap in the corporate pipeline of senior executive positions continues to increase in our global world. Our technologically advanced society impacts this demand, the global climate of organizational change, the competition in products and services, and the impact of implicit bias and gender stereotypes influence …

University Update - April 2017, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

Included in this Update:

• Otterbein Mentor Impact Award
• Above and Beyond Awardee
• Where We Stand Update

A Mixed-Methods Study: Self-Efficacy And Barriers To Participation In Workplace Wellness Programs, Massiel Perez-Calhoon

Dissertations

America needs a healthy workforce to sustain the country. The scourge of obesity continues to plague Americans despite government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and wellness programs in the workplace to combat this epidemic. However, despite initiatives to make America healthy, barriers continued to impede the nation’s health. Lack of awareness and sensitivity to what motivates individual participants versus group participants built formidable barriers to accessing all workplace employees equitably. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the intent of this study was to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and the impact on participation and engagement when …

Cultivate Conscious Kids: Unique Youth Leadership Development Programming, Ashley Adams

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Regardless of what divides us as a global community, whether it be location, religion, ethnicity, politics, etc., it is generally agreed upon that the future of our increasingly complex world lies in the hands of our youth. As we, the current decision makers in society, continue to add to the complexities of this world, we also have the responsibility to empower the youth of today with the proper tools to navigate not only their current realities but also the complex local, national, and global concerns they will quickly inherit as they grow into adulthood. Developing young people’s ability to tap …

Authentic Leadership Behaviors Contributing To Job Satisfaction Of Elementary School Principals And Elementary Special Education Teachers, Penny M. Tharpe

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand what elements of authentic leadership (heart, values, purpose, relationships, and self-discipline) contribute to job satisfaction as perceived by elementary special education teachers in the Desert/Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). A second purpose of the study was to understand what elements of authentic leadership contribute to job satisfaction as perceived by elementary principals in the Desert/Mountain SELPA. A third purpose of the study was to identify the similarities and differences that exist among the elements of authentic leadership that contribute to job satisfaction as perceived by elementary principals and …

Necessary But Not Sufficient: The Continuing Inequality Between Men And Women In Educational Leadership, Findings From The Aasa Mid-Decade Survey, Kerry Robinson, Charol Shakeshaft, Margaret Grogan, Whitney Sherman Newcomb

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The gender of school leaders makes a difference in career paths, personal life, and characteristics of workplace. There is additional evidence that men and women are appointed or elected to lead different kinds of educational jurisdictions. Even if those differences did not exist, equitable access to leadership positions for people of different backgrounds would make this an important issue. This article reports gender-related findings from the American Association of School Administrators 2015 Mid-Decade Survey. Findings confirm many of the trends in research on the superintendency over the past 15 years. The profiles of women superintendents are becoming more like their …