Educational Leadership Commons^™

Curated Conferences To Strengthen Equity Leadership Capacity: A Case Study Of Aspiring School Leaders, Heidi Von Dohlen, Jessica Weiler, Emily E. Virtue, Catherine Andrews

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine whether a Curated Conference Learning Experience (CCLE) could stimulate new learning or deepen existing learning around leadership for equity by engaging four andragogical theories: critical theory and praxis, new learning, guided learning, and reflective learning within a community of practice. Faculty members selected sessions focused on equity, provided journal prompts, and conducted focus groups for 13 students enrolled in a Masters of School Administration program at national educational leadership conference. Findings indicate new and strengthened learning in the areas of (1) relationship building; (2) understanding identity and co-constructing leadership for …

Social Media Practices Of School Administrators: The Time Is Now, Heather Bowman, Michelle Giles, Amy Orange, John Decman, Jana M. Willis

School Leadership Review

The educational disruption caused by COVID-19 increased awareness of the value of organizational resiliency/sustainability and the critical need for administrators to provide timely communication among all stakeholders. If preparation programs are to provide administrators with the skills and knowledge to effectively use social media as a communication tool, we must explore the practices and perceptions of school administrators’ use of social media to communicate with stakeholders and to identify their recommended social media communication practices. The Social Media as a Tool to Effectively Communicate with Stakeholders Survey and interviews were used for data collection. Findings are focused on comfort levels, …

School Leadership Assessment Of Teachers’ Work-Life Balance: Perceptions And Professional Learning Needs During A Global Health Pandemic, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Summer Pannell, Alissa Sasser, Katherine Fallon, Katarina Evans

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to better understand the work-life balance of educators teaching students during the Covid-19 health pandemic. Teachers face a multitude of challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face class to online learning resulting in a cyclical phenomenon for many teachers as schools have shifted back and forth between virtual and in-person settings in response to constantly changing coronavirus messaging. The findings identified three overarching themes related to teachers’ needs including Boundaries with Time and Commitments, Mentally Processing Daily Stressors, and Healthy Lifestyle. Implications for practice denote that …

Difference In Preparedness: Do School Staff Feel Prepared For An Active Shooter Or Attack?, Susanne R. Gaal, Matthew B. Fuller, Stacie Szaal, Katherine Linn, Cherokee Ford

School Leadership Review

The 2020 Texas Educators’ Needs Assessment Regarding School Safety and Victims Services included responses from educators across the state of Texas regarding school safety. This needs assessment generated data that provided researchers with the unique opportunity to analyze the school safety issues in Texas (Fuller et al, 2020). The purpose of the study was to evaluate Texas K-12 educators responses to their school’s preparedness for an active attack or shooter using data from that needs assessment. To build a strong analysis, the results were separated into three categories: educator role; Texas school regions; and urbanicity. Pearson chi square statistical analysis …

Reflections From Teaching Through A Pandemic: A Focus On The Silver Lining, Heather Walker

TFSC Publications and Presentations

While the COVID pandemic brought many challenges to teaching, it also drove innovation. In this talk, Heather Walker will reflect on the changes that the pandemic brought to her teaching practices. She’ll discuss which ones she plans to keep and which ones she’ll throw away. The goal will be to consider how teaching through the pandemic benefitted her as a teacher.

What Has Changed For Top Mba Schools Within A Decade In Terms Of Mindfulness?, Dr. Damla Aktan, Asst. Prof. Nilgün Gürkaynak

International Journal for Business Education

The concepts of “mindful consumption” and “sustainability” became indispensable parts of both academia and business life. Based upon an initial research conducted in 2012, this research aims to understand and compare the change within a decade in MBA curricula in terms of mindfulness content inclusion as well as sustainability and ecological orientation. The results compare the evolution of the integration of concepts to curricula since 2012 through the official websites of the top 100 MBA schools of the Financial Times Global Ranking in both 2012 and 2022. The study aims to summarize how the concepts of sustainability, mindful consumption and …

The Relationship Between Instructional Staff Training Expenditures And Teacher Retention: Comparing Georgia Public Schools, Sunita Holloway

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The teacher shortage is a threat facing our nation as many school districts have difficulty filling vacancies with qualified, effective teachers. Research has shown that the greatest contributing factor to the teacher shortage is the considerable number of teachers exiting the profession preretirement (Becker & Grob, 2021; Geringer, 2003; Ingersoll, 2001; Shakrani, 2008; Sutcher et al., 2016). As a result, a vast amount of literature has focused on teacher retention, teacher turnover, and factors influencing teachers’ decisions to stay or leave. This quantitative research study contributed to the body of literature regarding teacher retention by considering a financial lens. Specifically, …

Reinventing Identity In Transition From Principal To Professor: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Forrest J. Kaiser, Jennifer Bailey

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

School leadership is a fast-paced job where stakeholder feedback is frequent, and decision-making requires quick thinking and strong organization. When school leaders transition from practitioner to scholar, they face a dramatic change in pace and responsibility. Unlike their peers who come from academia, practitioner-scholars experience a unique context and career shift that requires navigating unfamiliar organizational structures and translating existing skills into new contexts. This collaborative autoethnography explores the lived experiences of two junior faculty who recently transitioned from the campus principalship to the tenure track professoriate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a process of individual writing, group reflection, and …

A Phenomenological Study Design Of Receiving Student Feedback: Professor Shared Experiences, James Sigler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experience of using student feedback for professors at higher-education accredited institutions in the United States of America. The essential question of this research was what are the lived experiences of professors when receiving feedback from students? This research found that professors use student feedback if the feedback is found to be valid. The essence of the phenomena was found using the guiding theory of feedback intervention created by Kluger and DeNisi. The 10 professors of this study represented a combined teaching tenure of over 200 years of experience who …

Former College Athletes And Their Persistence In Medical School: A Phenomenological Study, Michael J. Woodson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of former college-athletes who persist in medical school. The theories that guided this study were the achievement goal theory by Nicholls and the self-determination theory by Deci and Ryan, as each theory relates to the motivation to succeed in academics, as well as athletic participation. Eleven participants were purposefully selected to address the question: How do former college student-athletes describe their experiences in relation to the attributes and characteristics that allowed them to persist in medical school? The sub-research questions investigated certain experiences that may have helped them …

2022-10-20 Faculty Senate Newsletter, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate newsletter from October 20, 2022.

2022-10-20 Slide Presentation On The President's Policy Changes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

A slide presentation delivered on October 20, 2022 to the Faculty Senate on the President's personnel policy changes and administrative overreach.

2022-10-20 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate meeting minutes from October 20, 2022.

2022-10-20 Revision Of Academic Appeals Committee (Draft), Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Acadmic Appeals Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

A draft of a revision of the Academic Appeals Committee submitted to the Faculty Senate on October 22, 2022.

Transformational Leadership And Organizational Citizenship Behavior Motives In Teachers, Jeremy Davis, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Suzanne B. Miller, Katherine Fallon

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

A principal’s leadership is a key part to the success of a school as their leadership guides both instructional and organizational outcomes. Teachers often work beyond their formal duties to see that all their students have their needs met. This is referred to as an Organizational Citizenship Behavior (i.e., when followers display behaviors that benefit the organization or its members beyond their current job requirements). This study investigated the relationship between principal’s transformational leadership and teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and related motivating factors. Participants from a suburban school district completed a questionnaire based on their perceptions of their principal’s leadership …

2022-10-19 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting minutes for October 10, 2022.

Case Study Of The Impact Of Teacher Efficacy On Select Pk-3 School Faculty In A South Louisiana School: A Perceptual Investigation, Tara L. Alfred-Pellerin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This single case study explored the perceptions, feelings, and ideas of a select group of PK-3 certified teachers in a small, south Louisiana elementary school. As educators, perceptions and opinions often go unrecognized within the central school board and in the district. In order for teachers to be successful, it is imperative they are equipped with professional development and opportunities for collaboration in order to increase their self-efficacy to become more invested. This study focused on steps to increase self-efficacy, the importance of teacher collaboration, and professional development within an elementary school. It was grounded by theoretical frameworks of self-efficacy …

Engagement Is Everything: Principals' Perceptions Of Their Role In Teacher Engagement, Jennifer Hellbusch

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The effects of student engagement on academic achievement are studied by and large, leaving a lack of emphasis on teacher engagement. In seeking out research and literature on “engagement” and “education,” scholars focus on the importance of student engagement. Numerous studies examine the relationship between student engagement and learning (Carini, et al., 2006). Conversely, exploring teacher engagement and how principals view themselves as responsible for promoting that engagement is a topic that is understudied and will provide recommendations for principals as well as district level leaders.

Defined, teacher engagement not only includes the behavior of teachers, but also encompasses “a …

2022-10-17 Faculty Rights & Responsibilties Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Faculty Rights & Responsibilities Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

Meeting minutes of the Faculty Rights & Responsibilities Committee from October 17, 2022.

Dismantling Institutional Whiteness: Emerging Forms Of Leadership In Higher Education, M. Cristina Alcalde, Mangala Subramaniam

Navigating Careers in Higher Education Series

Dismantling Institutional Whiteness: Emerging Forms of Leadership in Higher Education focuses on the experiences of women of color in leadership roles in higher education. Top roles historically have gone to white men, and leadership has not reflected the range of identities and people who make up higher education. Why? And why does this problem continue to this day? Most importantly, what can be done to bring about meaningful change?

Dismantling Institutional Whiteness gathers a range of first-person narratives from women of color and examines the challenges they face not only at a systemic level, but also at a deeply personal …

Communicating Sustainability Through Websites Of Higher Education Institutions Of New Jersey, Swathi Karamcheti

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

Sustainability is integrated into the higher education institutions as a new culture. Since the emergence of various declarations and policies, higher education institutions have integrated, implemented and practiced sustainability in the form of campus operations, community engagement and academic programs. As a result, some institutions have started communicating about their sustainability practices through their websites to inform their stakeholders. It is also noted that prospective students prefer to study in institutions that communicate about sustainability on their websites. However, there is a gap in research to understand the strategies used by higher education institutions to communicate sustainability. This content …

A Delphi Study Of The Most Effective Actions Taken By Rural Superintendents In California To Improve Achievement For English Learners, Diana Jimenez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to have rural school superintendents whose districts have shown academic improvement as measured by the California School Dashboard identify the actions they have taken to improve academic achievement for English learners. In addition, it was the purpose to rate the effectiveness of the identified actions, and to describe the best methods for implementing the five most effective actions identified from the ratings. Methodology: This study employed a Delphi method, comprising three rounds to collect data. In Round 1, participants were asked to identify what actions they have taken to increase academic outcomes …

Principals' Knowledge Of Special Education Policy And Procedure And The Special Education Teachers' Intent, Tara Clark

Dissertations

Teacher shortage has been a growing problem. With the increase of teacher shortages, some areas are being impacted more intensely. Special education is one of the areas most impacted by the shortages. Common reasons exist as to why teachers are leaving the field or profession. These reasons may be personal or professional related. Some of the professional reasons for leaving pertain to the school’s administration and the way special education teachers are treated. Principal support is cited as one of the primary indicators of teacher satisfaction. Literature supports the analysis that a principal’s leadership heavily determines a teacher’s job satisfaction. …

A Failure Of Imagination, W. Jesse Blackstock, William L. White Ph.D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In the wake of increased behavioral issues in the peri- and post-COVID environment, schools have resorted to zero-tolerance policies that imposed uniform and predetermined punishments for even the slightest infraction. In this article, the authors argue that these policies represent a failure of imagination that installs punitive policies that do more harm than good. Further, they suggest that restorative justice and/or school-wide positive behavior support systems are better means of creating educational environments in which all students flourish.

High School Principal's Perception And Experience With Student Voice And Youth-Adult Partnerships, James D. Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

High school principals can foster student voice (SV) and youth-adult partnerships (YAP) while leading their students towards being engaged and informed citizens in our democracy. It is critical to understand the advantages and opportunities high school principals have in listening to and partnering with their students. It is also critical to understand the challenges facing high school principals in their journey towards SV and YAP. A qualitative multicase study of 10 high school principals from across the nation was used to understand the perception and experiences of high school principals in the area of SV and YAP. In addition, this …

Becoming Culturally Proficient Qualitative Researchers By Crossing Geographic And Methodological Borders, Corinne Brion, Carol Rogers-Shaw

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This article explores how novice researchers develop a scholarly identity as they cross geographic, cultural, institutional, identity, and methodological borders throughout their studies, experiencing insider, outsider, and in-betweener positions. It hypothesizes that researchers become more culturally proficient through their fieldwork and self-study. The autoethnographic narratives address the social justice issues encountered by two early career researchers who increased their cultural proficiency and self-awareness as they moved across multiple cultural contexts. By shifting back and forth between insider, outsider, and in-betweener, the researchers became more culturally proficient, developed their voices as researchers, and practiced inclusivity by amplifying marginalized voices. Their self-reflective …

Exploring Dual Enrollment Faculty Members' Perceptions Of Equity: A Collective Case Study, Michelle Donati Yates

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to discover how dual enrollment faculty members perceive and promote equity within dual enrollment courses taught at three high schools in collaboration with a partnering community college. The theory guiding this study was Argyris and Schön’s theory of organizational learning. Argyris and Schön offer insight into how an organization or individual may claim to promote equity but fail to look internally at the policies and practices that hinder equity. The central question was: How do dual enrollment faculty members define and promote equity within the dual enrollment program? Purposeful, criterion-based sampling was …

Transitioning In A Time Of Crisis: Understanding The Impact Students’ Prior Online Learning Experiences Have On Online Course Achievement, Clayton F. Benton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This quantitative study examines the impact that selected academic and personal demographic characteristics had on the successful completion of online coursework during the Covid-19 pandemic. Focused on a high-research university in the Southeastern United States during the Fall of 2020, this research looked the potential influence that prior online learning experiences had on students’ abilities to transition to the online modality during a time of crisis.

Data for this study was retrieved from institutional sources and the sample consisted of 5,739 second-year students at the institution. After describing the sample and population, exploratory regressions were conducted to establish models for …

A Primer For Incorporating Pre-Service Co-Teaching Into Teacher Residencies, Prepared To Teach, Bank Street College

Prepared to Teach

Pre-Service co-teaching – where teacher candidates engage as co-teachers during student teaching – is a strong instructional model, especially when combined with yearlong teacher residencies. This brief features a combination of resources, ideas, and activities that can help your preparation program/school district partnership create a shared understanding of pre-service co-teaching.

#Badgedtohire Final Report, Brian Laduca, Education Design Lab, Excalibur Education Group

IACT Reports, Publications and Resources

Education Design Lab, through professional input and focus groups, developed eight badges that address the instruction of “soft skills” to postsecondary students. With the emergence of alternative credentialing and badging, Education Design Lab wanted to contribute to the evidence of student confidence differences as attributed to completing the badge content as expressed on their resume, interview, and through application or example. Postsecondary institutions were engaged in this evaluation across the nation and allowed for three differing viewpoints on badge importance and expression – student, instruction, and employer.