Educational Leadership Commons^™

Culture In Mind: Fostering A Sense Of Belonging For Students Of Color In Wellness-Affiliated Spaces, Mandy Mekhail

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between students of color and mental health resources at a predominantly white institution. Previous research demonstrates that negative mental health outcomes are positively correlated with students who feel a lack of belonging while on campus. These negative outcomes are felt more pronouncedly by students of color. Furthermore, students of color are shown to underutilize mental health resources relative to their white-identifying peers. Utilizing my positionality as a person of color working within a wellness office, I worked with students of color, wellness professionals, and multicultural professionals to ask what more …

The Impact Of Hypermasculinity On Students' Development In Fraternity Organizations, Cristian Mcgough

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to explore the concept of hypermasculinity in fraternal organizations and how that may affect students’ personal development during their collegiate years. My research question was, how can I work with fraternity students to understand what contributes to hypermasculinity and provide support that will better promote an inclusive masculine culture? My findings indicate that certain environments in fraternity organizations promote hypermasculinity traits and that students on the executive board of the Interfraternity Council are seeking spaces to have dialogue about their experiences to challenge the norms of fraternity organizations.

A Mixed Method Study Of Community Development In Online Learning Envirnonments, Rachel Olshine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods on a sense of community development in online learning environments. The researcher surveyed 734 online students at a small private school in East Texas, examining the variables of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods to evaluate the sense of community experienced in online learning environments.

The study used a convergent mixed method using the Classroom Community Scale along with supplemental open-ended questions. A factorial analysis was conducted, resulting in two factors: supportive relationships and a sense of reliance. The responses expressed the use of discussion boards, emails, and self-recorded videos …

Strengths So White: Interrogating Strengthsquest Education Through A Critical Whiteness Lens, Nicholas Tapia-Fuselier, Lauren Irwin

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Many college student leadership programs utilize StrengthsQuest as a tool for individual and group development. Although StrengthsQuest is touted as a universal tool to help all individuals leverage their strengths in varied settings, the authors are critical of both the tool itself and the ways educators utilize StrengthsQuest. This paper employs tenets of critical whiteness theory, including color evasiveness, normalization, and solipsism, to deconstruct StrengthsQuest within the context of leadership education. Additionally, the authors offer possibilities for reimagining StrengthsQuest education in ways that center inclusion and justice. Finally, strategies for critical leadership educators are discussed.

Support Services For Formerly Incarcerated Students, Janelle Brown-Peters

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to improve and/or create support services for formerly incarcerated students at the University of San Diego. I sought to discover first if there were any existing support services available for these students at USD. I also sought to discover what kinds of support services existed at other local colleges and universities in order to compare and contrast with USD. Through 1:1 interviews, surveys, focus groups, and community restorative justice organizations, I learned that USD was one of the only higher education campuses in San Diego not currently providing support services for this population of …

The Role Of For-Profit Educational Leadership Styles In Creating Shared Values, Diyang Yu

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Based on previous studies that assert that for-profit organizations have the capacity to create value in education, I assume that the private educational sector can take on a great role in advancing educational outcomes. This study explores assumptions about organizational culture and adaptive leadership styles as a basis for creating shared value (CSV) in the education for-profit sector. Through integrating educational leadership theories and leadership characteristics in CSV practices, the adaptive leadership characteristics appeared in this study present the values and assumptions for leaders. Based on this concept, the study generates some common factors from adaptive organizational culture and the …

Perceptions Of The Conference System At A Technology-Focused High School, Victoria Phipps

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

John Jay High School used a form of the house system called the Conference System. The goal of the study was to understand the student and teacher perceptions of the Conference System. The study also tried to find if there was a difference in perceptions between students who were new to the Conference System and those who had been a part of the system for a few years. For this study, the author conducted student and teacher interviews and collected student responses to a survey. The author used the constant comparative method to find emerging themes from the student surveys …

The Impact Organizational Factors Have On Role Ambiguity Amongst School Social Workers, Melissa Kichura

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what organizational factors increase or decrease role ambiguity amongst school social workers. This study attempted to provide practical information for schools on the influence of specific organizational factors on role ambiguity so that they can provide a supportive work environment for school social workers and students. A cross-sectional survey design was used to provide a snapshot of the current organizational factors impacting the ambiguity of school social work roles from a sample of 73 members of the School Social Work Association of America. Some findings were not congruent with the literature. The …

Enhancing Access And Success Of Underserved Students In Dual Enrollment Programs, Theodore Mbaegbu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines dual enrollment activities and their impact with a focus on equitable recruitment, persistence, and targeted success mechanisms for Black students and students from low-income families. The lived experiences of four former students from diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds, and the perspectives of ten dual enrollment practitioners garnered from a purposeful sampling of two Southwestern Pennsylvania universities inform the study. A qualitative approach examines interviews, focus group, and survey data through thematic investigative interpretation to yield common and unique experiences and perspectives relevant to recruitment processes, funding, support systems, and observed outcomes. The findings indicate how adequate preparation, …

Accelerating Systemic Change Network (Ascn): Demonstrating Impact, David Bressoud, Pamela Brown, Archie Holmes, Kate White

Publications and Research

The goals of this presentation for participants was:

•Learn about the Accelerating Systemic Change Network (ASCN), why it is important, what it can do for you, and how you can get involved. •Learn about work done by ASCN on demonstrating impact and how measurement and communication can be used to promote change. •Learn about areas where educational research is needed and you can contribute.

The Impact Of 1:1 Technology Initiatives On Lesson Planning, Michael Amick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Districts across the country are quickly moving toward a 1:1 student to laptop ratio. Where computer labs or carts were once the norm, many districts are now purchasing all students a laptop to start the year. This movement is occurring at a rapid pace, despite a growing body of research that shows that increased technology does not automatically lead to achievement gains. The teacher plays a vital role in student outcomes, with or without technology. In particular, the manner in which teachers plan lessons is significant to classroom outcomes. This is evident in that the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching …

2019-05-08 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate's Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes for May 8, 2019.

Arkansas Principal Preparedness To Identify And Assist Students With Mental Health Needs, Candra Leigh Brasel

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

There is a growing need for children’s mental health services. With the majority of their time spent at school, educators are often the first adults in a child’s life to identify and assist students with mental health needs. However, oftentimes educators do not have the education and training needed to assist students with accessing quality mental health services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the preparedness of Arkansas public school principals to assist students with mental health needs in this rapidly changing era of education. The participant sample of the study consisted of 133 Arkansas public school …

Aligning Criteria:School Board Hiring Practices And The Educational Leadership Standards, Robin M. Hixson

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

One of the most important endeavors a school board will complete is the hiring of a district superintendent. This study focused on Northwest Arkansas school board members’ perceptions of criteria used for hiring practices and review how or if they align with the professional leadership standards. The research concentrated on the 16 Northwest Arkansas School Boards and examined hiring criteria via an electronic survey questionnaire which was adapted from Klamfoth (2013). Following the survey, three face-to-face interviews were conducted for clarification. The Person-Fit Theory (Kristof, 1996) guided the research and through the study the results indicated many Northwest Arkansas school …

The Impact Of Teacher Mentoring On Novice Educator Retention In High Poverty Schools, Gabriel D. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

Retaining novice teachers in today’s educational system is proving to be extremely difficult. In schools of poverty, this challenge is much more difficult. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the effectiveness of a district-mandated teacher mentoring program in a Central Arkansas School District in regards to skills, dispositions, and retention. Eight novice teachers who work in high poverty schools were interviewed as part of this study. Through transcription and analysis, themes were established to gain a clear understanding of the novice teachers’ thoughts and perceptions of the teacher mentoring program. The results indicated a strong presence of …

Is Collegiate Political Correctness Fake News? Relationships Between Grades And Ideology, Matthew Woessner, Robert Maranto, Amanda Thompson

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

While considerable quantitative research demonstrates ideological liberalism among American professors, only qualitative work examines whether this affects undergraduate education. Using the HERI dataset surveying students in their first and fourth years in college (n=7,207), we use OLS regressions to test whether students’ political beliefs are associated with reported college grades and perceived collegiate experiences. We find that while standardized test scores are the best predictors of grade point average, ideology also has impacts. Even with controls for SES, demographics, and SAT scores, liberal students report higher college grades and closer relationships with faculty. Nevertheless, conservative students consistently show higher levels …

An Introduction To Transformative Inquiry: Understanding Compelling And Significant Relationships For Personal And Societal Transformation, Mark L. Mccaslin, Kelly A. Kilrea

The Qualitative Report

Transformative inquiry is a theoretical model designed to facilitate the inquiry of important and meaningful relationships that transform and potentiate us. Creswell (2007) described the essential elements of a research agenda: the axiological, ontological, epistemological, methodological, and rhetorical. Each carries with it assumptions that hold implications for practice and research. Transformative inquiry addresses all of these elements through considerations given to deep ecology, transdisciplinarity, integral meta-theory, heuristic research, and eudaimonistic philosophy, respectively. Transformative inquiry is an approach to understanding and fostering the full range of deep and meaningful relationships from the personal to the political, and beyond. It is a …

Rewriting Honors 300: Teaching For Teaching Assistants, Nina Schenk

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this project is to rewrite the curriculum of Honors 300: Teaching Honors for Honors Students. After conducting research via survey and reading and analyzing works by Gonzales, Dallimore, and other university and pedagogy websites, meeting with organizations on campus, and getting feedback from other Honors TAs, the goal of my final project is to rewrite the Honors 300 curriculum and syllabus; this includes a restructuring of the TA selection and pairing process, a series of suggestions on training and orientation, and the recommendation for renaming the Teaching Assistants. I developed the following by consulting literature on pedagogy, …

Inside The Black Box: Stakeholder Perceptions On The Value Of Arts Field Trips, Angela Watson

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

This descriptive, qualitative study, an extension of an experimental primary study, documents stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of attending multiple field trips where urban elementary students in fourth and fifth grades were randomly assigned to receive three arts field trips including an art museum, a live theater performance, and a symphony concert. Evidence of declining K-12 attendance to educational cultural or arts field trips has been mounting for decades. Further, minority students in struggling schools and their teachers report attending fewer field trip experiences, as well as limited access to arts experiences in their schools. The full impact of this declining …

Factors That Impact Blue-Collar Worker Higher Education Entrance And Completion: A Grounded Theory, Jerrod Michael Ward

Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a study involving ten blue-collar workers who are not currently working towards a four-year degree. The dissertation study analyzed the experiences of the participants from answers they provided during interviews, as well as through observation protocols the researcher took during those interviews. Through narrative inquiry, this study explored the lived experiences of blue-collar workers as it affected their predisposition and interest in attaining a four-year degree. Working class, blue-collar students must negotiate the difficult transition from their working-class culture, to that of the culture of academia, to be successful in college. This type of transition typically requires …

Sr-18-19-54 Lac, Marshall University

Recommendations

No abstract provided.

Curriculum Analysis: Hardin Middle School Math, Michael Zitzer

Educational Specialist Scholarly Papers

The City of St. Charles School District, particularly Hardin Middle School (HMS), has routinely been outperformed by its St. Charles County counterparts in math. Consequently, it is necessary to evaluate curriculum development, implementation, and resources to begin to determine the causal factors of low performance. If HMS’ curriculum is not effectively facilitating high quality instruction, it could be a leading factor in their low performance. To determine whether HMS’ curriculum is impacting student achievement the research will conduct an analysis of both the written and implemented (textbook) curriculum. The analysis will be designed to determine whether the district’s current curriculum …

Failure To Launch?: Advancing The Case For Financial Literacy Interventions In Postsecondary Education, Cathleen Snyder

Dissertations, 2014-2019

For college undergraduates, the thought of managing money is often new, exciting, and terrifying in the same breath. Some students have learned well from their parental and prior academic influences, and yet others may be overwhelmed by a lack of those same resources. As postsecondary institutions endeavor to level the proverbial playing field, helping college graduates launch into meaningful, financially independent lives, it begs additional consideration on the intervention methods that might be most impactful.

This study examined a for-credit, curriculum-based intervention specific to personal finance topics. It attempted to answer several key questions: How knowledgeable are students relative to …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Student Persistence In A Bachelor Of Science In Forestry Program, Maxwell Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational leaders in forestry have been challenged to increase and diversify the pipeline of ‘society ready’ foresters. To meet these challenges, leaders must shift their focus to student retention. By understanding the factors that influence student engagement and persistence, these leaders will be better positioned to support students in forestry programs, thus positively impacting retention. This qualitative case study investigated student persistence of second-year forestry students in an undergraduate forestry program. The study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Social Capital Theory and explored the malleable psychosocial mechanisms of self-efficacy, sense of belonging, emotion, and well-being proposed by Kahu …

The Impact Of Peer-Led Diabetes Education: A Quasi Pre Post Experimental Study, Stacey Bell Sloas

Student Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic illness costing over $300 billion per year in the United States with an estimated 100 million individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Complications due to diabetes place individuals at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, amputations, blindness, kidney failure, disability, and early death. Education has been shown to be effective in improving health behaviors that decrease complications due to diabetes. Common risk factors for development of diabetes are modifiable behaviors such as sedentary lifestyle and obesity. A peer-led approach to diabetes education has the potential to overcome multiple barriers to receiving education. Peer-led diabetes education …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes, May 2-3, 2019

Board of Trustees Minutes

Minutes from the Wright State University Board of Trustees Meeting held on May 2-3, 2019.

Gender Equity In Outdoor Adventures: How Gender Constructs Shape Engagement At The University Of San Diego, Lauren Wong

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Outdoor Adventures (OA) at the University of San Diego bridges the industries of outdoor education and higher education. This action research investigates the constructions of gender that inform programming and relationship building within OA. Through a survey and focus groups, I collected data from OA professional staff and student leaders. The purpose of this research was to explore how different genders engage with experiential learning in an outdoor setting through a lens of queer theory, by evaluating the engagement of OA professional staff and participants. My findings indicate that the constructs of gender inform the ways students experience their capacity …

A Grounded Theory Study Of Orientation Leaders' Perspectives On The Impact Of Their Involvement In Orientation, Rochelle Ramirez

Theses & Dissertations

Theory suggests students benefit when they become involved in co-curricular activities outside the classroom (Astin, 1993). While there is some literature on college orientation programs, most is dated and focuses on the participants attending orientation, providing little knowledge on the student orientation leaders (OLs) who help execute the programs (Pierson & Timmerman, 2004). Therefore, this grounded theory study was conducted to describe the details of the participants’ lived experiences serving as orientation leaders. The intent of this qualitative study was to extract meaning and understanding from the OLs personal accounts and their unique interpretations of their experiences. Individual in-depth interviews …

Public High School Principals’ Perceptions Of Leadership Strategies For Improved School Performance, Christine Keyser-Fanick

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what leadership behaviors and strategies public high school principals perceived to be most effective in achieving school improvement. The qualitative constructivist grounded theory research methodology used for the study was modeled after the work of Kathy Charmaz (2014), who acknowledges that the researcher is a part of the process, as observer, data collector, analyzer, and interpreter of the data. Data were gathered through one-on-one interviews with six principals from high schools with student populations of 1,200 or more whose schools showed improvement based on state standardized test scores and whose high schools …

Leading Change In Fresh Food Access: Increasing Food Security Through Urban Agriculture, Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick

Leadership Education Capstones

This pragmatic qualitative case study explored leadership strategies regarding urban agriculture related to food deserts in the research city. One-to-one interviews, a focus group, and a review of documents were the data sources for the study. The themes emerging from the investigation were a moral obligation, policy and protocol influence on individual practice, disproportionate access, health factors, cost factors, take it to them, building community with food gardens, and the need for farmers to grow food. This study utilized a political ecology framework that acknowledges the relationship between environmental, economic, political, and social factors. With rapid population growth expected in …