Educational Leadership Commons^™

An Autoethnographic Study: An Identity Lost And A Passage Discovered, Simone Shonte Martinez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The professional careers of teachers with a chronic illness can sometimes be devastating. This study addresses the insufficient understanding of the identity crisis a teacher goes through when one is suddenly diagnosed with a chronic illness. While researching different types of theories, identity theory best fit this topic and my interest. Within identity theory, there are four perspectives to view identity. The four perspectives are Nature, Institution, Discourse, and Affinity identities. In order to understand identity, one must understand how identity is formed. Chronic illness identity is a change from all other identities that have been constructed. This study uses …

Improving Teacher Retention By Addressing Teachers' Compassion Fatigue, Jacquelyn Ollison

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

California is experiencing a massive teacher shortage, and urban schools are disproportionately affected by it negatively. Retention efforts to date have not included strategies to address Compassion Fatigue (burnout and secondary trauma) teachers experience when working with traumatized students at urban schools. This dissertation explores whether Compassion Fatigue is an unaddressed reason for teacher attrition at urban schools. A mixed method practical action research approach using the Professional Quality of Life Scale Version Five (ProQOL 5) and qualitative interviews, portions of which were turned into illustrative vignettes drove the exploration. Approximately 114 teachers completed the ProQOL 5. Statistical analysis of …

Developing Collective Teacher Efficacy In One Urban Low-Income Elementary School: A Case Study, Lori Ann Morgan

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Over the past two decades, research has shown links between collective teacher efficacy and student achievement. While the benefits of high levels of collective teacher efficacy have been documented, research focused on how it is developed in school serving socio-economically disadvantaged students and the role of principal leadership in that development is lacking, specifically from a qualitative case-study approach This qualitative case-study explored how collective teacher efficacy was developed in an urban neighborhood elementary school serving socio-economically disadvantaged students and how the principal’s leadership influenced that development. This was accomplished through in-depth individual interviews with teachers, support staff, and the …

In Defense Of Public Schools: A Toolkit From The Midwest, Ferial Pearson, Ann Hunter-Pirtle

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

One of the defining features of public schools is that they operate at the will of the people, with public oversight from elected school boards. In addition to being free and open to all, free from religious affiliation, and promoting civic understanding and participation, much of what makes public schools public happens through the democratic process. We have noticed that many teachers are so overworked and overwhelmed - rightly focused on their own classrooms and their own students’ day to day struggles - that it’s not easy for them to engage and advocate for themselves and their students in the …

Book Review - Beyond Leadership: A Relational Approach To Organizational Theory In Education, Jim Palermo

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

The author, Scott Eacott, is a relational theorist who blends philosophy and sociology in his discussion of educational leadership. Eacott succeeds in his description of relational leadership in schools and is convincing about the situational nature of leadership, but stops short of presenting a model for applying this theory.

Perceived Principal Servant Leadership And Teacher Stress, Donald Harris

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Stress is one of the major factors in teacher attrition, a continuing problem in education. Further contributing to teacher stress are state and federal accountability measures, which put added pressure on schools and teachers to increase student performance. School leaders must navigate not only how to keep pace with these accountability practices, but how to do so in a manner that does not increase the stress on their teachers. To seek answers in how this might be accomplished, this paper investigates the relationship between perceived principal servant leadership characteristics and occupational stress in teachers. Data was collected using the Wilson …

Letter From The Editor, Jim Palermo

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

While the move from my chair as Managing Editor to Chief wasn’t far physically, it is a huge leap for me in part because my colleague and partner in this enterprise of JOEL, Founding Editor Steve Bingham, set the bar so high. Steve served the nascent Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership admirably as Editor in Chief through three years and six issues as we grew this small journal and explored the niche of leader/practitioner scholarship and the nexus of educational and organizational leadership. In those six issues we have explored topics such from principal preparation programs to Confucian values …

The Development Of Young Children’S Social Identity In An Era Of Digital Tools, Sharon Rochelle Kaplan-Berkley

Educational Studies Dissertations

The advancement of innovative digital technologies has created a generation of digital natives (children) growing up in a diverse environment designed by a population of digital immigrants (adults). Consequently, this everyday experience has created some dissonance in their lifestyles, raising questions for educational leaders. The purpose of this mini-ethnographic case study was to develop a deeper understanding of how engaging with digital tools shapes the social interactions of young children, and to examine the various ways online/offline social environments influence face-to-face social peer group formation and functioning. Furthermore, this study explored whether digital technology influences the developing social identities of …

Principal And Teacher Beliefs About The Impact Of Cbas On School Performance: Five High Performing High Schools In Oregon, Kevin Jon Ricker

Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative study examined how school leaders work within the structure of individual district collective bargaining agreements to improve student achievement. The study examines real or perceived barriers to improving student achievement within educational organizations from the perspective of the principals and teacher-leaders.

This study included two qualitative instruments, one for building principals and one for the building teachers, administered in five Oregon high schools recognized as successful by the Oregon Department of Education in 2014-2015. This dissertation determined the impact collective bargaining agreements had on the ability of high school principals to reduce educational disparities and close the achievement …

Reimagining The Discourse: Media Representation Of Women In Boston Public Schools' Superintendency, 1991 - 2016, Lisa M. Cullington

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the relationship among public discourse, power and leadership for women superintendents in Boston Public Schools. For this qualitative study, I use a feminist poststructural discourse analysis (FPDA) to examine newspaper articles from The Boston Globe from 1991 to 2016. Through a FPDA, I illuminate the ways in which women superintendents have been discursively produced amidst neoliberal educational reform movements. In this study, I focus on how the superintendent’s role was conceptualized as a male endeavor in The Boston Globe, and the implications of this for current educational leaders.

Two major discursive stages frame the study’s time period: …

Educating Boys In Jamaica: In Search Of A New Lens, Marcia Sharon-May Chin

Dissertations

The need for innovative solutions to enhance educational outcomes for Jamaican high school male students is evident. For over two decades, national exam results demonstrate that these students have consistently underachieved. Using aqualitative research design, this study explores the possibility of scaling up a student leadership educational model, developed by one U.S. school that has proven successful in educating an inner city minority male student population, to a similarly placed Jamaican high school. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with stakeholders at an all male Jamaican school and with administrators at the Ministry of Education, to understand their perceptions regarding …

An Exploration Of The Perceptions Of Teachers And Administrators On The Relationship Between Professional Learning Community Practices And School Success, Lawrence L. Haggquist

Dissertations

Purpose: Professional learning communities (PLCs) have provided a popular means by which schools have used structured collaboration to improve student outcomes. For this reason, the PLC model for collaboration has a strong reputation for helping schools achieve success. However, teachers and administrators regard the PLC efficacy differently. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how high school teachers and administrators in Basic Aid funded school districts define success in relation to Professional Learning Community practices. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore the differences in perception between teachers and administrators in regard to defining success in …

The Role Of Conversation In How Educational Services Assistant Superintendents Lead Change, Lisa Paisley

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the behaviors that exemplary educational services assistant superintendents practice to lead their organizations through conversation as depicted by Groysberg and Slind’s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. Methodology: A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used in this study in order to describe the lived experiences and behaviors of exemplary leaders. The target population was educational services assistant superintendents in Southern California. Participants were selected using a purposeful, nonprobability, convenience sampling. Data gathering took the form of semistructured, in-depth interviews, observations, and artifact collection. Interviews were …

The Road Less Traveled: How Asian Cultural Values Impact The Career Choice Tendencies Of Asian American K-12 Principals, Melissa Chan-Nauli

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this constructivist inquiry study was to identify and describe the perceptions of Asian American principals of how cultural values impacted their career choice tendencies in the K-12 educational setting.

Methodology: For the purposes of providing the most authentic and genuine lived experiences and perceptions of these Asian American principal participants, the researcher engaged in three primary methods of collecting data, which included demographic questionnaire, interviews, and artifacts. The study participants were 15 current Asian American full-time principals who work in school districts located in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.

Findings. A thorough examination of study …

Shifting The Paradigm From Deficit Oriented Schools To Asset Based Models: Why Leaders Need To Promote An Asset Orientation In Our Schools, Shannon Renkly, Katherine Bertolini

Empowering Research for Educators

Schools often focus solely on risky behaviors exhibited by students, causing the school to act reactively rather than proactively. Student learning and growth must be the top priority of a school, and this can only be done by deliberately identifying and building up student assets. This asset model becomes even more important during the middle years of education. Introducing supportive adults into students’ lives is an effective method of building assets, while creating the potential for community involvement at the same time. School leaders must take charge of promoting asset-building in their school while also modelling asset development with their …

Sr. Sarah Grace: The Common Good, Caleb Wright

Ask a Sister: Interview Wisdom from Catholic Women Religious

This paper includes part of an interview with Sr. Sarah Grace from January 2, 2018. She is a women religious who has worked in education for 25 years. This paper includes a portion of the interview where she shared her perspective on the common good.

Are You A H.E.R.O.?: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Relationship Between Illinois Principals' Psychological Capital And School Culture, Karen Marie Ritter

Dissertations

Psychological Capital, developed by Fred Luthans as a byproduct of the positive psychology movement, involve the study of how applied positive states, attributes, and behaviors can improve performance in the workplace. An organization's leader needs a proactive, positive approach that emphasizes hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism to improve an organization's effectiveness (Luthans, 2002a). This study explored how a school principal's Psychological Capital influenced the school's culture, and the psychological states that best supported the school to flourish. A school leader is key in building a positive school culture, where administrators, staff, and students share a sense of purpose and commitment …

Making Headway: Developing Principals’ Leadership Skills Through Innovative Postgraduate Programs, Susan Simon, Michael Christie, Deborah Heck, Wayne Graham, Kairen Call

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Effective school leadership preparation has been regarded as desirable if not mandatory in Australia and globally for decades. Schools and school systems, higher education institutions and education jurisdictions have attempted with varying degrees of success to encourage teachers aspiring to become principals to prepare well for the complex role ahead. Research involving postgraduate education students identified that peer support, collaboration and collegial professional learning contributed towards self-development, strengthening the required Personal qualities, social and interpersonal skills of contemporary school leaders.

Nsu M.S. In Educational Leadership [No Date], Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Ed.S. Educational Leadership (Nevada State-Approved For Licensure) 2018, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Ed.D. In Educational Leadership (Florida State-Approved For Certification) 2018, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Surrendering To Gender In Education? Complacency And The Woman Leader, Kimberly Clark, Ane T. Johnson

College of Education Departmental Research

The purpose of our study was to better understand the role of gender performance for aspiring school leaders through a reflection of their journey through the administrative pipeline. The transformation of professional aspirations throughout and following the certification process and during employment was also analyzed. Also, the appealing factors of a nontraditional administrative preparation program were evaluated. Using heuristic qualitative methods, women graduates of and expedited certification for educational leadership program participated in focus groups and a select group returned for individual interviews. Coding was employed to analyze the data. Our participants entered into school leadership as a result of …

Race, Resilience, And Resistance: A Culturally Relevant Examination Of How Black Women School Leaders Advance Racial Equity And Social Justice In U.S. Schools, Tonya Evette Walls

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This culturally relevant qualitative examination of the leadership of Black women educational leaders (BWEL) committed to advancing a social justice leadership agenda within the contested spaces (Stovall, 2004) comprising United States (U.S.) P-12 schools, employs an African centered emancipatory methodology (Kershaw, 1990, 1992; Tillman, 2002), situated in a conceptual framework grounded in the research on applied critical leadership (Santamaria, 2013). It examines, highlights, celebrates, and makes transparent, the unique leadership of BWEL. Engaged to rebuke the silencing and marginalization of women educational leaders of color in the educational leadership discourse, this study bridges engages a multiple case study approach, phenomenological …

Thriving In Complexity: A Framework For Leadership Education, Daryl Watkins, Matthew Earnhardt, Linda Pittenger, Robin Roberts, Kees Rietsema, Janet Cosman-Ross

Publications

Technological advances, globalization, network complexity, and social complexity complicate almost every aspect of our organizations and environments. Leadership educators are challenged with developing leaders who can sense environmental cues, adapt to rapidly changing contexts, and thrive in uncertainty while adhering to their values systems. In a complex leadership context, inadequate leader responses can result in devastating organizational impacts akin to the butterfly effect from chaos theory. This paper advances a simple model for leadership education based on a program we designed to develop leaders who understand the nature of complex systems, reliably use their ethical value systems, are emotionally intelligent …

Thriving In Complexity: A Framework For Leadership Education, Daryl Watkins, Matthew Earnhardt, Linda Pittenger, Robin Roberts, Kees Rietsema, Janet Cosman-Ross

Publications

Technological advances, globalization, network complexity, and social complexity complicate almost every aspect of our organizations and environments. Leadership educators are challenged with developing leaders who can sense environmental cues, adapt to rapidly changing contexts, and thrive in uncertainty while adhering to their values systems. In a complex leadership context, inadequate leader responses can result in devastating organizational impacts akin to the butterfly effect from chaos theory. This paper advances a simple model for leadership education based on a program we designed to develop leaders who understand the nature of complex systems, reliably use their ethical value systems, are emotionally intelligent …

Gendered Ambition: Career Advancement In Public Schools, Robert Maranto, Manuel P. Teodoro, Albert Cheng, Kristen Carroll

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

We explore the relationships between gender, career ambition, and the emergence of executive leadership. In Bureaucratic Ambition, Teodoro (2011) shows that public administration career systems shape bureaucrats’ ambitions, political behavior, and management strategies. But career systems are not neutral conduits of talent: administrators are more likely to pursue advancement when career systems favor them. This research proposes that women and men respond to gendered public career systems. Using national and state-level data on public school managers, we find marked gender disparities in the career paths that lead educators from the classroom to the superintendent post. Specifically, we find that female …

Developing Evaluative Thinking And Evidence-Based Practice: A Synthetic Case Study, Tim Wyatt

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The NSW Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan, which operated from 2012 to 2016, provided $261 millon to improve literacy and numeracy learning in 448 the most disadvantaged and lowest performing schools across the three education sectors in NSW. A key objective of the Action Plan was to enhance teacher and school leader capacity, including the ability to apply evidence-based practices and evaluative thinking to planning and programming for teaching and learning at a classroom level, and to planning and decision-making at a whole-school level. The concept and terminology of ‘evidence-based practice’ is in common parlance in Australian schools; however, in …

Pre-Service And In-Service Teacher Education: A Leadership Model For Collaborative Learning, Jo-Anne Reid

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Innovative collaboration between schools and university can enhance teacher education. This model was developed as part of a partnership between a school principal leading a cluster of diverse primary schools, and a local university school of teacher education. The partnership established a memorandum of understanding to support targeted and standards-based professional learning for teachers and new leaders across the schools in the cluster. Novice pre-service teachers were also assigned to these schools for an extended weekly professional placement. This session outlines the model as it was designed: to respond to the strategic demands of particular school communities, as well as …

Courageous And Coherent Leadership Required For Excellent And Equitable Outcomes, Linda Bendikson

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The paper illustrates the complexity of leadership work, using data on the varying perspectives of middle and senior leaders about their own goals; the seriousness of the problems that they face in reaching those goals; and the perceived effectiveness of the senior leadership team. The findings from these studies indicate that the basic leadership skills of problem analysis, focused goalsetting and close monitoring of progress towards goals are lacking in many leadership teams in secondary schools. These findings highlight the importance of a team of middle and senior leaders being aligned in their goal pursuit, being active problem-solvers and being …

Enhancing Instructional Leadership: Lessons From The Nsw Literacy And Numeracy Action Plan, Tim Wyatt

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Over the past decade, schools, school systems and governments at all levels have invested heavily in enhancing the quality of school leadership. The Australian Government-funded National Partnerships (2012–2014) identified principal leadership as one of its explicit goals. More recently, the emphasis of leadership development has been on enhancing instructional leadership. This paper describes an approach to enhancing instructional leadership adopted as part of the NSW Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan (2012–2016), which was the particular approach of the NSW government school sector. The three school sectors in NSW each adopted different models for their implementation of the Action Plan relevant …