Educational Leadership Commons^™

Communication And Data Sharing Between K-12 And Community Colleges, Beth Page, Jacob Surratt, Debbie Bond, Mitzi Jones, Josh Meyer, Amy Webster, Brian Wright

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This report investigates communication and data sharing between K-12 and community colleges to identify best practices. This wide-ranging topic encompassed many efforts that impact student recruitment, retention and success in their postsecondary education. To prioritize the most pressing issues, this report focuses on recent system-wide findings and recommendations. In 2016, the Virginia General Assembly directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to review the VCCS, a process that had not been done since 1991. The JLARC report in 2017 stated that a relatively low percentage of community college students obtain a degree or credential (39 percent). In addition …

Improving Transferability Case Studies: 'Building A Better Bridge To The Bachelor's', Tamra Lipscomb, Cindy Wallin, David Braun, Katherine Clatterbuck, Faison Dana, Leonda Keniston, John Lipp, Christian Mason

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Many Virginians aspiring to earn a four-year degree intentionally begin their journey at one of the 23 community colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In concert with those aspirations, the VCCS is committed to providing its residents an affordable and accessible program of study that prepares them to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree at any one of Virginia’s colleges and universities. The establishment of an affordable and accessible pathway was one of the emanating purposes of the community college (Mellow & Heelan, 2015). The dream of affordable transfer education is one of three key legislative efforts of …

Increasing Success With Online Degree Courses And Programs In The Vccs, Thomas Chatman, Dave Dick, Paula Ford, Pamela Henry, Kim Hobert, Miles Keller, Kevin Riley, Christina Tidwell, Roberta Wright

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Over the last three years, 724,116 online courses were attempted within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). From these attempts, 206,533 resulted in a grade of D or F or a withdrawal, accounting for 29% of all attempted online courses (Virginia Community College System, 2015). This does not account for the students who may have dropped the course early in the semester to avoid academic and/or financial consequences. Studies have shown that students who do not experience success in their courses drop out significantly more than their counterparts (Thayer, 1973). Additionally, these students experience delayed degree or certificate completions, higher …

Using Artificial Intelligence To Enhance Educational Opportunities And Student Services In Higher Education, Mandy Barrett, Lisa Branson, Sheryl Carter, Frank Deleon, Justin Ellis, Cirrus Gundlach, Dale Lee

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming the basis for business. Most businesses use it to improve the customer experience. The education community is just beginning to find ways to successfully implement AI for staff and students. Artificial Intelligence should be leveraged to create a better student experience. For example, Elon University uses AI to assist students with tracking previously taken courses and helps them apply the information to their course-planning (Gardner, 2018). Georgia State University uses Pounce, a chatbot built by AdmitHub, reducing summer melt by over 20% by reaching out to students via text when they have not completed …

Improving Completion Rates For Underrepresented Populations, Jen Daniels, Lynn Bowers, Megan Cook, Mark D'Antonio, Amber Foltz, Carlita Mccombs, John Sound, Jenni Vancuren

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Most experienced educators recognize that many students will not complete optional assignments, and often those students who need additional help do not seek assistance. Current research demonstrates that students in underrepresented populations (see definition below) are less likely to seek support than others because they see needing help as a confirmation that they don’t really “belong” in college in the first place. Research shows that those who do access currently optional supports such as tutoring are more likely to succeed, so this research group looked for ways to build structured connections between underrepresented students and resources.

We found that our …

Increasing Diversity Of Faculty And Administrators In The Virginia Community College System, Nicole Munday, Rachel Angel, Mahzar Anik, Sylvia Clay, Lorraine Justice, Cheri Maea, Gena Mckinley, Tim Merrill, Aaron Rosenthal

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

In 2013, Chancellor DuBois convened a Task Force on Diversity with the aim of making the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) a model for diversity by “increasing the demographic diversity of the VCCS so that teaching faculty and leaders look more like the communities we serve” (Chancellors Diversity Task Force, 2014, p. 3). The hard work of the Task Force members culminated in a report that summarized their findings and recommendations, including a “Call to Action” list of 11 steps, many of which have been implemented or are in progress. Several of these key initiatives have put the VCCS on …

Intensive Care To Intermediate Care Bridge Program, Natasha Bartlett, Sally Langerak, Lindsey Lucas, Jonathan Archibald, Tayla Robbins, Miranda Thompson, Patrice Tetu, Calla Hastings, Megan Garland, Suneela Nayak, Stephen Tyzik, Ruth Hanselman, Amy Sparks

Operations Transformation

To deliver the highest quality of care across the continuum, a large academic tertiary medical center envisioned a project that would provide an internal source of cross trained nurses for their medical intensive care unit (SCU2) and their medical intermediate care unit (R4/IMC/AVU). The hope for this program was to improve communication and collaboration between nurses and enhance the care that they provide to patients and their families.

A highly qualified team of nurses was established to create a performance improvement project. The overall goal of this endeavor was to build a more collaborative relationship between the units and ultimately …

School And Community Expectations In A Small, Rural, Northern New Mexico School, Mónica J. Martínez-Archuleta

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

School leaders find themselves in constant reflection of their academic ranking in a time of national reform. With the No Child Left Behind Act and Every Student Succeeds Act, expectations around school and student performance are created to compare against national standards. Rural communities have undergone significant social and economic changes due to the decline of family farms, accompanied by people leaving and closing of businesses all which have dramatic effects on rural schools (Petrin, et. al. 2014). With increased attention on academic achievement at the state and federal level, it is imperative that we understand how rural schools address …

The Causes Of Teacher Burnout And Attrition, Kierstin Nygaard

Graduate Teacher Education

Teacher burnout is a reason why teachers leave the teaching profession. Relationships, working conditions, teacher self-efficacy, and years of experience all have an impact on teacher burnout. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies of teachers found that teacher burnout can be developed and be alleviated. Findings suggest that teachers who lack support from their principals and colleagues are more likely to develop teacher burnout. Results also indicate that new and veteran teachers develop burnout and work to relieve their burnout in different ways. Working in an environment where teachers feel supported can lead to teacher fulfillment and the prevention of burnout.

Leadership Behaviour And Worker Performance In The Nigerian Construction Industry, Abiodun Kolawole Oyetunji, John Adebiyi, Nathaniel Ayinde Olatunde

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Leadership is a dynamic process in which an individual influence other to contribute to the achievement of an assigned task. This paper investigates leadership behaviour and its impact on construction workers’ performance in Lagos, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 50 site-supervisors and 250 construction-workers involved in simple construction works. An investigation was carried out using a questionnaire survey method. The leadership variables investigated were ranked, regressed and correlated to workers performance. From the primary data analysis, leadership behaviour exhibited by supervisors were found to influence the site workers commitment to achieving the goal of the construction projects. …

Acknowledging The Genealogical: A Deleuzian Hermeneutics Of Narrated Identity, Dietger S. De Maeseneer

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The purpose of this paper is to express the vast scope of identity literature into a practical hermeneutical framework through which to interpret both my personal identity claims and experiences and those of five individuals in New Mexico. Furthermore, it investigates the impact of such framework on educational leadership. Referring back to the work Deleuze and Guattarri (1987), I explore identity ontologically through the three lines (the line of flight, the molecular line, and the molar line) and place these within a horizontally interpreted concentric circle diagram. The line of flight symbolizes the immanent characterized by pure difference and Ideas, …

Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Academic Achievement Of School-Aged Learners, Paul Carlson

Graduate Teacher Education

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are part of ongoing discussions among educators identifying at-risk students in need of additional support for academic success. This paper explored the cross-sections of academic achievement and ACEs within academic settings. This study featured a literature review with qualitative and quantitative studies on ACEs and their relationship to chronic absenteeism, retention, dropout rates, behavioral problems, and academic achievement in the United States of America (USA). In addition, studies on trauma, resilience, and mental health are used to further explain academic achievement in relation to ACEs. The focus question of this study is: How do adverse childhood …

University Update - July 2019, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

No abstract provided.

Strategically Engaging The Third Mission: A Comparative International Case Study Of Alternative Revenue Strategies Between The U.S. Flagship University And The European World Class University (Wcu), Harry Michael Clayton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The risk of financial sustainability for the university in the U.S. and Europe has been stressed by the reign of political authority in higher education disinvestment in the last four decades. The institution’s purpose has since been questioned, weighted by economics versus academics. Institutional priority and expanded centrality for strategic planning of societal engagement––the Third Mission––coupled with the Education and Research missions, promote clarity of the university’s purpose in this knowledge-based economy. Transparency of intended opportunities for regional economic engagement and societal development is then demonstrated to university communities. A comparative international case study of financial strategies between the …

Evaluating The Impact Of Intrusive Advising On Undergraduate Student Retention, Rebecca E. Caire

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I investigated the impact of intrusive advising upon undergraduate student retention. Specifically, I sought to identify the background characteristics of at-risk students at the midterm point in a semester, and whether significant differences existed among students who were retained in comparison with those students who were not retained. In addition, I examined the extent to which intrusive advising interventions predicted student retention when controlling for student demographics. Although the intrusive advising interventions were not statistically significant in this model, several notable findings emerged regarding groups of at-risk students who were more or less likely to be retained …

Teaching Top-Down Approaches To The Engineering Design Process, Joshua E. Katz, Joshua E. Katz

STAR Program Research Presentations

One of the main focuses of metacognition is to have students think about their learning. By bringing the engineering design process with educational psychology together, it can lead to a society that thinks more in-depth on various topics. The goal of the internship was to utilize and teach top-down educational and instructional objectives. Throughout the project, we followed a modified progression of the System Architecture Methodology to help other interns think in a top-down fashion. The purpose of this procedure is to create and induce new innovative and creative ideas for different projects. As teaching this methodology was tasked, research …

The Greenbook, Faculty Handbook, 2019-2020, Marshall University Academic Affairs

The Greenbook

This book has been published for the faculty of Marshall University for the specified period of time. This book was created by what is now known as Academic Affairs and is for the period of 2019-2020.

Parent Perspectives On Youth Sport Concussion Management, Corinne M. Daprano, Susan C. Davies, Elana R. Bernstein

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Concussions are one of the most discussed health concerns at all levels of sport. While much of this discussion focuses on football and the National Football League (NFL), there is growing awareness in the sport community that the risks of concussions extend to head injuries in all sports. Much remains unknown about youth concussions, particularly in terms of how parents feel about concussions and youth sport safety regulations. The purpose of this study was to examine parents’ perceptions and attitudes toward youth sport concussions. Results indicated that despite increased awareness and education there remain gaps in parental knowledge of concussions …

The Impact Of Campus Facilities On The Recruitment Of Students In Higher Education, Lucinnda Sue Mcdonald

Dissertations

The statement often has been made over the years that university recruitment efforts are strongly impacted by campus facilities. The subject has been a topic of research over the past several decades. This study indicates that as generations change and times change, the significance of various aspects of the university to the prospective student change as well.

This research effort is a mixed-methods study to provide insight on the facilities current students deem most important when determining which college or university they will attend. The research for this study was conducted through an online survey asking students to:

• Choose …

Considering Standards-Based Grading: Challenges For Secondary School Leaders, Matt Townsley

Faculty Publications

Rather than awarding points for a combination of worksheet completion, quiz performance, in-class participation, and essay writing, standards-based grading separates academics from non-academic factors and communicates students' nonprogress towards mastery of course or grade-level standards. Some secondary schools are moving towards standards-based grading (SBG) in an attempt to produce more consistent grading practices, however the empirical evidence resulting from this change is mixed. The purpose of this article is to describe principles of standards-based grading, empirical support of SBG, and several common challenges secondary school leaders may face when considering this philosophical shift. Future research recommendations include exploring the perspectives …

The Effects Of Grading Practices On Motivations For Learning At The Middle School Level, Justin D. Stebbins Ms

Muskie School Dissertations

The objective of this quantitative survey study was to measure the effect grading traditionally (using averaging) versus non-traditionally (best, most recent evidence) on four types of student motivation. These types of motivation were mastery orientation (learning for learning sake), performance orientation (going for the grade or external recognition), performance avoidance (not wanting to appear incompetent), and mastery avoidance (not wanting to lose what you have). This set of orientations is derived from the goal orientation theory.

In this study, 1,652 students and 93 educators between four schools took an anonymous 20-minute online survey. Due to lack of teacher participation, two …

Stepping Stone Or Road Block: An Evaluation Of Community Colleges In The Midwest To Improve Attrition And Graduate Percentages Of African American Students, Tamela Odom

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The path towards higher education is not the same for all. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore why African American students enroll into community college in the Midwest at higher percentages than any other racial group but persist to graduation at the lowest percentages. Factors that hinder African American students from persisting toward graduation and eventual degree completion from a 2-year college were uncovered through interviews conducted with participants on community college campuses throughout the Midwest. Considering the findings of this study, it is suggested that professors and instructors use classroom interactions and instructional opportunities to …

Perceptions Of School Bus Drivers And Their Experiences With Student Behavior: A Qualitative Case Study, Tesha Yvonna Foster

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

School bus drivers play a critical role in the student learning experience. School bus drivers are the first and last persons to interface with students and face many obstacles while transporting them. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how school bus drivers perceive their experiences with student behavior, discipline, and collaboration with campus administration. Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural learning theory provided the theoretical frameworks for this study. Sociocultural learning theory supports school bus drivers taking the steps to set behavior goals, expectations, and reinforcement systems. Sociocultural learning theory also supports the …

The Impact Of State Equity Standards On Leaders' Espoused Beliefs About Social Justice, Amanda Hadgraft

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

School leaders are tasked with greater responsibilities than ever before. Today’s school leaders are expected to act as social justice leaders, ensuring all students have an equitable environment to learn in. State departments of education hold leaders accountable by comparing standardized test scores of students in majority and minority groups. The problem is these assessments measure the outcome of learning, but fail to measure the environments learning occurs in. The purpose of this study was to understand, within the context of the accountability climate, school leaders’ espoused beliefs about social justice, and the practices they employ to those ends. Using …

Impactful Mentoring Of Women Graduate Students: Guiding The Development Of Leadership Behaviors, Ashley N. Greig, Barbara Holmes

Leadership Education Capstones

Women graduate students continue to express interest in developing as leaders and are looking to the university to provide support for this endeavor. In classroom discussions about leadership development, women graduate students indicate strong desire for professional mentoring for leadership development. Yet, there are no uniform ideas about what mentors should do or how mentors should support women graduate students. The need for mentoring is supported in the research literature. Bowling (2018) asserts that sustainable female leadership is best supported through mentorship. Bowling (2018) further explains that mentorship is a critical component of preparing women for the workplace and continued …

The Impact Of Unified Enrollment On School Choice For Parents Of Students With Disabilities: A Phenomenology Of Real Choice, Bridget Denise Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to investigate the effects of a unified enrollment system on school choice for parents of students with disabilities in a charter-dominant school district. Previous research indicated that charter schools provide parents with enrollment choices outside of the traditional public school (Rhim & McLaughlin, 2000; Finn, Caldwell & Raub, 2006).

This study was conducted in an urban, southeastern district that transitioned from a traditional school district to a district of independent charter schools. Research questions examined the availability of resources for parents to identify and receive placement in schools that are appropriate for meeting …

Cultural Appropriation: The Continued Phenomena Of American Indian High School Mascots, Joshua Bullock

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the phenomenon of how high school administrators view the identity of their school’s American Indian mascot and how it creates school culture, views of American Indians, and cultural appropriation. Critical race theory offered a positional framework to contextualize the phenomena as experienced by each participant. Understanding the influence of an American Indian mascot has on administration is important because it adds insight into the controversial conversation about American Indian mascots and their use nationwide. This research study added to the body of knowledge regarding American Indian mascots by specifically engaging in …

An Evaluation Of Lead Turnaround Partners’ Services In Virginia, Tamara A. Sterling

All Theses And Dissertations

School reform in K–12 education has experienced a cycle of changes that requires the implementation of stringent mandates for increased student achievement and sanctions for school divisions not meeting the required benchmarks. The purpose of this study is to identify school-based services that Lead Turnaround Partners (LTPs) provided to priority elementary schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia relative to the improvement, if any, of third through fifth grade students’ Standard of Learning (SOL) reading assessment scores. The study utilized a systematic review approach to data collection that will analyze Lead Turnaround Partners’ Scope of Work, Quarterly Reports, and Standards of …

Examining Student Perspectives On Information Literacy, Kathleen Conklin Brenner

All Theses And Dissertations

The American Library Association released its Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education in response to the changing needs and demographics of today’s digital native students. This study was designed to ascertain first-year undergraduate students’ definitions and perspectives of information literacy to determine how they are aligned to the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) six frames of information literacy. The overarching research question was: How is the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy aligned to first-year undergraduate student expectations of information literacy instruction? The following supplemental research questions supported the study:
1. How do …

Generation Z, Employee Enagement And Leadership Communication Behaviors, Natalie Kompa

All Theses And Dissertations

As Generation Z enters the workforce, new and perplexing questions for leaders emerge. Members of Generation Z, the generational cohort following the Millennials, were born in 1995 and later and come with unique characteristics, including an ability to use technology and consume online data in accelerated ways. Much has been written about the Millennials but little can be found in the current literature about Generation Z and workplace behaviors. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine if there is a correlation between Generation Z’s levels of employee engagement (trust, control mutuality, commitment and job satisfaction) and leadership’s …