Educational Leadership Commons^™

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …

Exploring Equity Through The Perspective Of White Equity-Trained Suburban Educators And Minoritized Parents, David E. Lawrence

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The intent of this qualitative critical incident study was to explore the interpretation of equity by White equity-trained suburban educators (WETSE) and minoritized parents (MP) in a Midwestern suburban school district to address and change inequitable student outcomes. WETSE and MP participated independently in focus groups. The research design used critical incident technique (CIT) as the methodology; focus groups as the data collection tool; and thematic analysis (TA) as the analytical tool. Zones of Mediation (ZONE) and Transformative Leadership Theory (TLT) were used to distill and categorize the research findings. WETSE and MP established an agreement on four themes thought …

Teachers Of Color's Perception On Identity And Academic Success: A Reflective Narrative, Lynette Suliana Sikahema Finau

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Research and scholarship in multicultural education has consistently affirmed that as a result of the long standing racial academic achievement gap and the current teaching force not reflecting the changing demographics of students in the United States, students of color continue to be deprived from having teachers who look like them and who may bring similar life, social, and cultural experiences that can increase the value they place on academics. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of teachers of color and how they perceive their identity as significant and meaningful to their profession and its …

Headteachers In Difficult Circumstances: A Study Of School Leaders In Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Nepal, Rupak Dahal

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

School leadership in developing countries, with a particular focus on post-conflict and post-disaster, is an area of increasing importance to education researchers. However, this research has often been limited to the areas of educational achievement and outcomes, government policies and their impact on school systems, and comparing schools irrespective of their vastly different contexts.

This thesis reports on research into school leadership within Nepali government secondary schools, typically referred to as community schools. As a developing country, The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal), faces crucial educational challenges due to its cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity, and associated socio-economic …

Building A Culture Of Trust: An Imperative For Effective School Leadership, Rodney A. Palmer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Emotional Competence In School Leaders, Melanie Sanders

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School principals are responsible for the recruitment and retention of effective teachers, leading the instructional program, maintaining the climate and culture of the building, ensuring school safety, and improving student achievement, among other things. Social emotional learning (SEL) has become an important part of K-12 education and has been found to improve climate and culture, student achievement, long term student outcomes, and many other benefits. Research has been conducted on many of the student outcomes associated with SEL but there is limited literature in the area of the social emotional competence (SEC) of adults who work in schools, particularly school …

An Assessment Study Of Student Experiences In A University Conduct Process, Lucas Jay Morrill

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study implements a quantitative assessment survey to explore how experiences of students who participated in a conduct hearing process during the 2020 fall academic semester align with the conduct process learning outcomes of a private liberal arts institution located in northeast Florida (Northeast University). Survey descriptive statistics indicate Northeast University’s conduct process facilitated student understanding of university policies, understanding of their impact on the campus community, and facilitated a process that resulted in a student’s intention to no longer violate university policy again in the future. Data collected also presents trends for students held responsible for COVID-19 related policy …

Student Retention In Higher Education: Effect Of The Campus Fitness Center On Women, Leslie Marie Gordon

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Of the 3.5 million first-time in college, full time students who began college in fall 2017, 74% returned for fall 2018, with 61.7% retained at their starting institution. Covid-19 has negatively impacted retention; in addition to normal attrition, one of every five students did not return to campus in fall 2020. Researchers have gauged both academic and social factors that positively influence retention and note the use of the campus fitness center (CFC) as one social factor; however, women are less likely to use the CFC, are one third as likely to exercise, and experience more numerous fitness obstacles and …

College Choice And College Match Among High-Achieving Pell-Eligible Students: An Instrumental Case Study Exploring Social Actor Influence, Jennifer A. Perkins

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College undermatch, the pattern of well-qualified students applying to and attending less selective colleges than their academic qualifications would permit, disproportionally affects low-SES students, a particular concern since attending a match college increases the likelihood that a student will graduate and reduces the amount of time to degree. The number of college-going individuals in one’s social network (including parents, peers, teachers, mentors, etc.) has a strong influence on whether a student attends a good academic match college, but little is known about the nature of the interactions between students and these college-going influencers. This instrumental case study sought to fill …

Measuring Employee Engagement And Adaptive Leadership During Higher Education’S Accountability And Performance Era, Karine Sandra Stukes

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Back in 2015, the Board of Governors for the state of Florida implemented new funding policy within its public state university system, as a mechanism to hold institutions accountable to their performance. According to the performance-funding policy, lower performing institutions were at risk of losing state funding if university metrics were not met. This challenging accountability and performance environment can cause much strife within lower-performing institutions, where it is relevant to explore positive workforce strategies that keep university employees engaged in the work that is needed to get the job done while keeping employees adaptive to challenges presented to them. …

Value-Added Model (Vam) Component Of Teacher Evaluation And Job Satisfaction, Efficacy, And Retention: Perspectives Of Secondary Teachers Of Historically Low-Scoring Students And Recommendations For Alternative Student Performance Measurements, Maureen A. Martin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study aimed to research the perspectives of four teachers who teach low-scoring populations of students traditionally. The research questions focused on job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and retention in education about Value-Added Model scores in their evaluations. The secondary purpose was for the teachers to recommend authentic assessment of student growth which is weighted 33% of teacher evaluations. I conducted a series of three open-ended interviews with each of the four participants. The interviews were designed to allow rich data to be collected. The significant findings have been discovered using the constant comparative method. The analysis revealed that the teacher’s …

Postsecondary Writing Program Collegiality, Job Satisfaction, And Self-Efficacy Teaching Writing: A Quantitative Analysis Using Self-Determination Theory, David A. Mackinnon Ii

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Calling on Ryan & Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory framework, the author sought to explore the relations among writing program faculty collegiality in their work (i.e., teaching, research/scholarship, and service), their job satisfaction in teaching writing courses in postsecondary settings, and their sense of self-efficacy for that teaching. The author surveyed writing program faculty across the State University System of Florida and analyzed collect evidence towards addressing if faculty collegiality behaviors and beliefs relate to faculty job satisfaction in teaching writing or faculty self-efficacy around the teaching of writing. Using exploratory factor analysis and linear regression modeling, the author analyzed the …

Qualitative Study Of Collaboration Between Independent Reading Specialists And Elementary Classroom Teachers, Lindsay Lee Hawbaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The failure of educators to meet the needs of elementary students who require separated, differentiated, and intensive reading interventions (Tier 3) has been attributed to the scarcity of administrative resources and a lack of effective collaboration between reading specialists and classroom teachers. Experts opine that common barriers to effective collegial collaboration between institutional reading specialists, who are employed by the school, and classroom teachers include: an unsupportive school culture, the classroom teachers’ fear of losing pedagogical autonomy, the absence of mutual trust and interdependence between the reading specialists and their students’ classroom teachers, and the inability of reading specialists …

Novice Teachers' Sensemaking In An Era Of Accountability: Implications For School Leaders, Hays K. Moulton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this research study was to examine how novice teachers make sense of the realities of their chosen profession, given their initial motivations for entering the profession. My research into teacher motivation and retention provided evidence that teachers did enter the field for altruistic reasons and that as many as 50% of all new teachers in urban schools did not last beyond five years. When they begin teaching, they find a field that is heavily impacted by strict accountability standards and required mandated testing. I used Sensemaking Theory and Self-Determination Theory to examine how beginning teachers make sense …

When Knowing Is Not Enough: A Narrative Exploration Of How K-12 Teachers Make Decisions About The Transfer Of Critical Competencies From Professional Learning To Daily Practice, Nell E. Ballard-Jones

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

School districts spend millions of dollars each year to provide training and learning to staff working in direct and indirect service to students (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2021). This financial commitment says nothing about what is even more important: the need for school employees and the systems in which we work to serve students more effectively. Despite vast allocations of time and money and presumably best intentions for better social and academic outcomes for students, very little data exist that reflect regular transfer and application of training/learning into professional practice (Nittler et al., 2015). By and large, schools and …