Educational Leadership Commons^™

Perceptions Of Rural Superintendents On Factors Influencing Employment Decisions, Heather P. Williams, Kathleen Shoup, Lisa Colon Durham, Ben A. Johnson, Shannon Dunstan, Brittany A. Brady, Carl F. Siebert

School Leadership Review

School districts struggle to attract and maintain a sufficient supply of highly capable superintendents. High-needs within rural districts, in particular, often are not able to attract and retain effective leaders. The issue of short superintendent tenure has drawn speculation and concern that revolving leadership may have negative consequences for schools and student achievement. A variety of factors contribute to superintendent turnover including: school board relations, job satisfaction, school district characteristics, and the personal characteristics of superintendents (Grissom & Anderson, 2012; Kamrath & Brunner, 2014; Wood, Finch & Mirecki, 2013). This study provides insight into perceptions of rural superintendents (n=10) and …

Professional Learning In Trauma Informed Positive Education: Moving School Communities From Trauma Affected To Trauma Aware, Helen Stokes, Tom Brunzell

School Leadership Review

In order to assess and then to identify promising approaches for school leadership within rural communities, it can be helpful to reframe struggling schools as trauma-affected schools. Acknowledging the impacts of childhood trauma on students and their learning allows school leaders to undertake professional learning both with and for their schools to become trauma-aware. Embedded within a rural community located in a region contending with intergenerational disadvantage, the findings reported in this study suggest that when school leaders deliberately implemented trauma-aware practice as a whole-school approach for all staff members, there was growth in student academic outcomes. In addition to …

Practice-Based Coaching And Early Childhood Professional Standards In A Diverse Field, Julie Betthauser

Graduate Teacher Education

Abstract

The field of early childhood education has long relied on professional development strategies to support teachers with varying degrees of education who enter the field from a variety of disciplines. Research indicated educators needed intensive and individualized professional development efforts that were integrated into daily practice (Rodgers, Kennedy, VanUitert, & Myers, 2019). Practice-based coaching has been used as a professional development strategy in early childhood classrooms to develop educators’ knowledge and skills in best practices for young children. Thirty-two empirical studies conducted since 2011 on the process, effectiveness, and assessment of practice-based coaching were reviewed to identify coaching components, …

Coaching Nurse Leaders In Conflict Management And Team Building To Improve Retention, Jeanette Black

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Problem: Retention of assistant nurse managers (ANMs) was identified as a concern from interviews with executive leadership and ANMs employed at a large hospital within a Northern California integrated health system. The nurse leader orientation training was reviewed, with gaps identified in conflict management and team building.

Context: The attrition rate of U.S. nurse managers in 2010 was 8.3%, higher than executive nurse leaders, with replacement costs equal to 75% - 125% of a nurse manager’s salary (Loveridge, 2017). Employee turnover and dissatisfaction due to conflict can have detrimental effects on retention, productivity, morale, and quality of patient care. …

Strengthening The Advanced Practice Clinician Workforce Pipeline Through Preceptor Education And Support, Tarina Levitt-Trujillo

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem: The Advanced Practice Clinician (APC) workforce pipeline is dependent on clinical training opportunities. Clinician providers are encouraged to precept students but rarely are offered support tools to ensure a successful process. Lack of adequate support can result in a suboptimal outcome for the APC students.

Context: Clinician preceptors in a large healthcare organization looking to build a robust APC pipeline to support future patient populations.

Interventions: Preceptor materials were developed and delivered to clinical preceptors to help them successfully precept advanced practice clinician students during their clinical rotations. This material consisted of 20 microlearning modules to help clinicians …

Stories We Don’T Tell: Research’S Limited Accounting Of Rural Schools, Michael Thier, Paul Beach

School Leadership Review

To help build capacity among PK-12 school leaders and policymakers whose decisions can impact rural settings, often without full understanding of the nuances most salient to rural places, this study asked (1) To what extent do education researchers account for geographic locale in their reporting? (2) Do highly ranked journals account for geographic locale in their reporting more readily than education research in general? Hybridizing three systematic approaches to literature review—rapid, mapping, and scoping—the study examined a population-level dataset of nearly 109,000 school-focused, peer-reviewed articles in ERIC during a 10-year period and dove deeper into 4,001 articles from highly ranked …

Emerging Teacher-Leaders For English Learners: A Professional Development Model In Rural Florida, Raisa Ankeny, Nidza Marichal, Maria Coady

School Leadership Review

This paper describes an ongoing Professional Development (PD) program that aimed to prepare teacher-leaders for rural English learner (EL) students. We delineate the theoretical underpinnings of the PD design and describe the two-year graduate coursework program with onsite coaching in rural schools in detail. We define rurality and the context of ELs in the rural partner school district and describe the PD coursework, which was adapted to meet the local rural educational needs of the participants. At its outset, participants reflected on the overall PD through online discussions, surveys, and focus group interviews. Data revealed that the participants found the …

Principals As Instructional Leaders: An Embedded Descriptive Case Study Of One Rural School's Effort To Improve Student Outcomes Through Reading Plus, Joshua W. Tremont, Nathan R. Templeton

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this descriptive embedded case study is to address a reading literacy problem at a rural school district through a principal’s instructional leadership and to determine whether student outcomes improved. Campus principals are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring every student receives high-quality instruction that aligns with research-driven best practices by implementing current interim assessment cycles to track classroom trends and determine appropriate interventions (Texas Administrative Code [TAC §149.2001.]). However, the manner in which the principal influences student achievement varies based on leader capacity and school setting. While leadership in rural settings is as diverse as the community …

Fostering Inclusive Culture Through Partnerships With Nonprofits, Kevin Badgett, John Decman

School Leadership Review

NELP Standards place a particular emphasis on “the leaders’ responsibility for the well-being of students and staff as well as their role in working with others to create supportive and inclusive district and school cultures” (Preparing for the National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) Program Review: A Companion Guide, 14). This concept, that of working with others to create inclusive district and school cultures, necessarily means that school leaders are required to look at organizations and leaders in the community to foster positive growth. Because of this, there is a fertile ground upon which to investigate the benefits of partnerships with …

Centering Students In The Community: Building Capacity For School Improvement Efforts Through Community Connections, Wesley Henry

School Leadership Review

This paper explores the efforts of rural administrators to link students with the local community. Previous research on the visibility of rural administrators and rural school-community connections are discussed. Findings indicate that bolstering the prominent role of students within the local community supports rural administrators’ learning improvement agendas by building capacity and buy-in for their improvement efforts, linking students with opportunities that the school alone cannot provide, and securing additional resources.

Prosocial Leadership: The Transformative Power Of Others Directed Leadership Behavior, Timothy G. Ewest

Journal of Research Initiatives

This paper seeks to provide an understanding of the prosocial leadership development process as defined by Ewest (2018), and how it acts to personal flourishing. To this end, this paper will provide an understanding of personal flourishing as discussed by Rogers (1959), positive psychology framed by Mackie, (2017) and then considers the emerging positive theories of leadership as discussed by Ewest (2018b). Finally, the paper will resolve by considering prosocial values, and specifically the prosocial leadership development process as posited by Ewest (2018), including the four steps in the process and possible benefits from becoming a prosocial leader.

Leadership Theories And United States Demographic Shifts: Responsiveness In The Workplace, Sherry H. Latten, Jonathan Perez

Journal of Research Initiatives

As the United States becomes increasingly more diverse, it is imperative that organizations consider the implications of their leadership pipeline. Given the differences that can exist by social identity groups in experiences, values, interests, and communications, it raises a question about the responsiveness of current leadership theories to the changing demographics. This article explores the responsiveness of transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory to the demographic changes as a means of helping organizations consider how existing leadership norms and theories need to be expanded to encompass the future population of leaders across race, sex, and age.

2019-12-11 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting minutes for December 11, 2019.

Exploration Of Emotional Intelligence, Dpt Curriculum, And Student Success, Lyndsey Vandenberg Pt, Dpt, Edd

Doctorate in Education

Positive professional performance as a physical therapist requires a combination of both cognitive and non-cognitive traits. To date, there has been little-to-no literature on how Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs engage, refine and enhance students’ non-cognitive traits and abilities throughout a DPT curriculum. This dissertation had five foundational research questions that examined whether there was a statistically significant correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and student success throughout a DPT program. Additionally, it explored how, when and where a DPT program embedded EI constructs in the 8-semester curriculum. The study took place in a private University in the Midwest and …

Doctoral Student Perspectives On Motivation And Persistence: Eye-Opening Insights Into The Ideas And Thoughts That Today's Doctoral Students Have About Finishing The Doctoral Degree, Barbara Holmes, A. Brooke Boulton, Bryan Boysen, Carson L. Perry, Donavan Bailey, Amanda Durnen, Joe Mollner, Kara De La Fosse, Meghan W. Sinning, Nichelle Guillaume, Richard Breuninger, Sam Jones, Susan Webber

Education Doctorate Books

"It all comes down to this: we have an amazing team of faculty working with us who are present, supportive, intelligent, and motivated to help us succeed. They designed this program with those objectives in mind. We are in good hands, and any questions we have will be answered, so long as we ask them. Having the support system of our faculty, along with the tools we need to be successful, are major parts of the battle, already won. The rest is up to us." - A. Brooke Boulton

2019-12-10 University Graduate Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., University Graduate Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

University Graduate Committee meeting minutes for December 10, 2019.

Strategies Exemplary Unified School District Superintendents Use To Work With The Political Styles Of School Board Members, Bradley Tooker

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to identify the political styles of superintendents and school board members as perceived by unified school district superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose to identify and explain the political strategies unified school district superintendents use to work with the different political styles of school board members.

Methodology: This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study analyzed quantitative surveys to identify the political styles of superintendents and school board members and qualitative interviews to identify political strategies using a political styles framework.

Findings: The major strategies exemplary unified district superintendents used to work …

Unfamiliar Territory: A Preliminary Exploration Of The Experiences Of International Junior Transfer Students, Nicole Mcintyre

Master's Theses

Over one million international students attend American institutions of higher education each year. For many of these students, community colleges are an accessible and increasingly popular enrollment option because they offer small class sizes, intensive English language courses, and affordable tuition costs. Many international students enrolled in community college seek to transfer to a four-year university and complete a Bachelor’s degree. To date, the experiences of international students who successfully complete this transfer pathway have gone largely unstudied. As a result, very little is known about the international junior transfer population. This qualitative study utilizes a phenomenology methodology to explore …

Exploratory Advising Impact Report: Spring 2016 To Spring 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Mykel Beorchia, Stephanie Hamblin, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Academic advising performs a pivotal contribution to student success by providing information about univeristy expectations and avenues towards graduation. Exploratory student advising has the additional task of supporting students in major selection. This analysis investigated the relationship between academic advising and student persistence for exploratory students to better understand the impact of current advising practices. METHODS: Exploratory academic advisors met with an average 53% of exporatory students each semester. Students with a record of meeting with an academic advisor were compared to similar exploratory students who did not. Students were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who met with …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes, December 5, 2019

Board of Trustees Minutes

Minutes from the Wright State University Board of Trustees Meeting held on December 5, 2019.

2019-12-05 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate meeting minutes from December 5, 2019.

Multi-Touch Books In Higher Education: A Study Of Educational Leadership And Policy For Schools Of Education, Jason M. Cascio

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Technology points to gaps in higher education adoption of learning technologies where decisions are based on a digital tool’s efficacy and unique capabilities, rather than the role they play in effective teaching and learning (Grush, 2019). Higher Education institutions and their faculty postpone technical decision-making. This results in an educational system ill-equipped to meet the needs of students, faculty, and sufficient digital fluency of graduates and the workforce. By integrating current, interactive tools into teaching materials, such as multi-touch books, or iBooks, faculty can meet their students’ learning needs, thereby improving competencies and ability to track their assessment and engagement …

Student Voice In A Participatory Design Process Focused On Developing Equity-Based Stem Teaching Practices, Frank Heimerdinger

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study with second grade students in a mid-sized city in the Northwest was to examine an equity-based STEM teaching practice and design process that builds on student's voice in the context of an elementary school. Teaching practice innovations were designed using a participatory process drawing on student voice and experience, culturally responsive pedagogy, STEM content, and teaching practices. The students collaborated with the teacher to design and enact equity-based STEM teaching practice innovations and gave necessary and appropriate feedback regarding its efficacy in creating equitable and empowering learning experiences from their own perspective. A specific goal …

2019-12-03 Student Disciplinary Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Student Disciplinary Committee.

Faculty Senate Records

Student Disciplinary Committee meeting minutes for December 3, 2019.

Peer-Assisted Learning In Calculus Ii: Examining Gender Differences, Xiaoqing Wu

Publications and Research

Mathematics is a topic in which undergraduate students find challenging, particularly for females. By providing a peer-assisted workshop during the semester, undergraduates are offered academic support throughout the course. New York City College of Technology, though a Department of Education Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (DOE MSEIP) grant, has adopted the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) instructional model in a few Calculus II sections. Peer Leaders engage the students one-hour a week in working on selected problems sets in a collaborative setting. This project examines if there are gender differences in Calculus II class in 1) PLTL workshop attendance, 2) …

Teachers’ Perspectives Of The Observation Process Within The Evaluation, Christine E. Lenhart

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

One of the largest challenges for administrators is to create and implement teacher evaluation systems that help improve teaching and student learning. As policymakers and administrators have worked throughout the United States to develop and implement new teacher evaluation systems, teacher involvement in developing those teacher evaluation systems has been limited. Specifically, the evaluation process and the tools used in a state in the southwestern part of the United States to evaluate teachers do not incorporate teachers’ perspectives, yet they directly impact teacher standing, ability to receive tenure status, and, in some cases, their salary.

The purpose of this research …

University Update- December 2019, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

No abstract provided.

Life After Death: An Autoethnography Of A Teacher’S Journey Through Personal Grief And Loss, Kimberlyn Oliver

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This study sought to understand how grief and loss affected me on a personal and professional level. Additionally, the process of grief and loss and its effects on teacher performance was examined. The death of a loved one often leaves a person feeling a great deal of emotions. As an educator, it is incredibly difficult to process grief and loss at work due to the demands of working with students all day. Nine participants were recruited for this study and I used semi-structured interviews to discover more about the experiences of these educators while they dealt with the loss of …

Balancing The Demands Of College And Athletics: First-Generation Female Student Athletes’ Perception Of The College Experience, Adrienne Rodriguez

Theses & Dissertations

Research Focus. The launch of the 1972 Title IX regulation education amendment arrived at a pivotal time for women in sports. “Title IX recognized the uniqueness of intercollegiate athletics by permitting colleges and universities to have separate and equal athletic programs for women” (Hogshead-Makar, & Zimbalist, 2007, p. 2). As more women began to participate in sports, pressures to perform both competitively and academically presented different challenges for female athletes during their collegiate career. For a female student-athletes to be successful in both academics and athletics, the student-athlete must discover a means to sustain a reasonable balance academically and athletically …

Selected Performance Indicators Of University-Model Schools, David Herndon

Dissertations

University-Model® schools seek to blend attributes of homeschooling with traditional schooling by transferring a significant portion of classroom time to a satellite classroom, typically the student’s home. Proponents suggest the model lends itself to better prepared and well-balanced graduates due to the forced ownership required of students in terms of time management, the development of independent study habits, increased balance of family life, and subsequent parental guidance; however, very little research exists to validate these claims. These tenants of the model are in line with recent research and theories suggesting a more holistic approach, beyond academic metrics, to ensure college …