Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

An Imperative For Colleges And Universities: Orienting And Supporting New Faculty Members, Robin Lindbeck, David Darnell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The confluence of four major factors is taking many colleges and universities to the “edge of chaos” where complex, adaptive systems exhibit characteristics of both chaos and order (Hock, p.116). Present and impending retirements, competition for new hires, realities of the ever-changing professoriate, and generational diversity in colleges and universities comprise these factors that are simultaneously chaotic and orderly. For example, faculty members in today’s colleges and universities represent five decades of transitional ages in higher education. Those who began their teaching careers in the 60’s are were a part of the Age of the Scholar, those in the 70’s, …

Student Identification Across School Levels, Roxanne Mitchell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Failure to identify with school has been suggested as one explanation for why some students persistently fail to meet academic expectations. Identification with school has been conceptualized as involving a sense of belonging and a valuing of school and school related outcomes (Voelkl 1997). Students who fail to identify with school often experience a host of problems ranging from behavioral problems, social and emotional withdrawal, and academic failure. These students are also at-risk for delinquency and dropping out of school (Finn 1989, Finn & Voelkl 1993, Voelkl 1997). Empirical research thus far has attempted to explain this failure to identify …

A Plan For Facilitating Undergraduate Student Success, Nancy Martin

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Students are successful when they achieve their maximum potential and are well prepared to become transformative leaders in their chosen fields of study. Easier conceptualized than accomplished, this success is the result of a complex combination of factors and an outgrowth of quality instruction, opportunities for personal growth, access to resources, and a culture of connection with classmates, faculty, staff, and the institution. Each of these areas is an imperative ingredient for student success. Together, these components interact to provide the pathway for the greatest number of students to be successful.

Absenteeism And Lateness Among Secondary School Students In Nigeria: Profiling Causes And Solution, Enamiroro Oghuvbu

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Absenteeism is major and continuous administrative problem among secondary school students in developing countries. Since the problem is to 70% student home based, there is need for the student/parent to help identify and proffer solutions to this quality disturbing problems that could lead to students’ dropout from school.

An Analysis Of The Organizational Patterns Of North Carolina School Districts, David Dunaway, Leigh Ausband

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

School system organization has been described as the skeleton that outlines the structure and determines the form of a school district. (Grove, 2002). Organizational charts are the manifestations of these skeletons. Some are simple; others are more complex – more like nervous systems than skeletons. Whatever metaphor is chosen, understanding the underlying organization of the complex multiple functions of a social group such as a school district is important. Our schools are being asked to educate our children in an ever-increasingly complex and global society. Surely the organization of a school district has an impact on how students are educated …

Expectancy Theory And Its Implications For Employee Motivation, Isaac Mathibe

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The significance of employee motivation as the panacea of productivity in organizations is illustrated by the volumes of literature on motivation and human productivity. For example, social theorists are of the view that employees are motivated by their needs and they develop through and in relationship with others (Dawson, 1993). The implication of the preceding statement is that when there is synergy between employees’ needs and organizational needs, they – employees – will be more acquiescent to productive tendencies than when their needs are not gratified. Invariably, the balancing of employees’ labour with their social needs and expectations is necessary …

Giving Our Gifted Students A Voice, Theresa Monaco

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Gifted students continue to struggle in class because they are restricted to learning the standard curriculum (Clark, 2002). Gifted learners cannot be confined to a proficient level of education and therefore the need to advocate on their behalf continues. Not only can the need be recognized by those in the classroom, but also by those outside of the classroom with an interest in gifted and talented education.(Douglas, 2004) (Kaplan, Summer 2004) Each year the students that are enrolled in gifted and talented programs are asked to do an advocacy for gifted and talented education. They take on different approaches with …

New Perspectives On Academic Leadership Moving The Research Agenda, Sabine Hotho, Jim Mcgoldrick, Alastair Work

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1. to expand the theory base underpinning academic leadership and HRD; 2. to expand theoretical frameworks to challenge prevailing myths about the ‘unwilling academic manager’; 3. to open up new research avenues and questions which have a better chance of constructively supporting HRD practice in HE.

Principals’ Strategies For Successfully Closing The Achievement Gaps In Their Schools, Hersh Waxman, Lee Yuan-Hsuan, Angus Macneil

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

One of our greatest educational challenges is reducing the achievement gap between successful and less-successful students. The achievement gap is usually discussed in terms of dramatic differences in graduation rates and the academic achievement between white and minority students such as Hispanics (Waxman, Padrón, and Garcia, 2007). Research in this area typically looks at school districts and/or schools that do better than others in reducing the gaps between groups of students. There are fewer research studies, however, that focus on achievement gaps within schools and classrooms. These “within” school educational disparities often are greater than the differences between schools or …

Asynchronous Learning Networks: Policy Implications For Minority Serving Institutions And For Leaders Addressing Needs Of Minority Learners, Janet K. Poley

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

For minority serving institutions, policies that support learners call for decisions about equity, quality, cost, impact on national economic performance and international global relationships

Leadership Transitions: The Key To Organizational Success, Bharti Venkatesh

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

There is a growing recognition in the business world that a good leadership strategy can significantly improve business results. At the same time, good leaders seem to be rare things these days. According to recent study, it has been found that recruiting and retaining qualified leaders has become crucial challenge facing businesses today and in the future.

Mathematical Conformation Of Leadership Based On Erosmatic, Nadeem Malik, Shafeequr Rehman, Davood Salmani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Mathematical conformation of leadership based on Erosmatic

Promise And Possibility: Building Collegial Opportunities For Scholarship, Thomas Lucey

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The professoriate is a highly individualized endeavor where scholars work independently on projects of their choosing. High stakes issues of retentions and promotions require new faculty members to document a public expertise in scholarship. In one sense, academics are scholarly gamesmen (Maccoby 1976) who attempt to create a scholarly presence while interpreting their colleagues’ patterns of actions and motivations. Such interpretations are created in an environment of “hollowed collegiality” (Massey, Wilger, and Colbeck, 1994) where superficial evidence of active participation often masquerades as community. For many new faculty members, connecting their work to a larger community of scholars can be …

The Effect Of Consolidation On Extracurricular Activity Participation, Ibrahim Duyar, David Collins

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

School reform initiatives have often included the controversial practice of school consolidation in an effort to limit the cost and improve the quality of the educational process. While there are both benefits and liabilities in consolidating schools, there are few studies that have determined the impact of consolidation on certain student behaviors such as participation in extracurricular activities (Blake, 2003; Clinchy, 1998; Eisner, 1995; Fanning, 1995; Hawkes, 1992; Hughes, 2003; Jonjak, 2003; Nelson, 1985; Reynolds, 1999; Seal & Harmon, 1995; Self, 2001a, 2001b). Findings are mixed in that some studies have indicated that consolidated schools offer a greater number and …

Urban Vs. Rural Baccalaureate Colleges: A National Study Of Student Financial Aid, Lee Waller, Elizabeth Waller, Albert Reyes

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This study examines baccalaureate colleges of arts and sciences in light of institutional degree of urbanization to determine the percentage of students drawing financial aid. The study further examines aid award amounts from federal, state/local, institutional, and student loans. The indicated demographics are then analyzed for differences between and among the city, suburban, town, and rural institutions.

Teachers' Participation In Formal Induction Programs And Their Subsequent Level Of Professional Growth In Wisconsin Public Schools, Paul Edmund Blanford Sr.

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between teachers' participation in formal induction programs and their subsequent level of professional growth as measured by two variables (graduate level credits/graduate degrees attained) as reported by public school teachers in the State of Wisconsin. In addition, selected demographic variables (teachers' age; teachers grade level taught; teachers' school district size; training and support provided to teachers in their first years of teaching; participation by teachers in mentoring and induction programs; teachers' level of education) were examined for their predictive relationships with teacher induction and professional development.

This study was conducted during the spring of 2007. …

Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Within the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector there has been a considerable amount of debate in recent years about the level of quantitative and literacy skills exhibited by students on entry to university courses. Indeed the UK government commissioned two major reports on the development of skills at school level in the post-14 age range focussing specifically on the development of quantitative skills (Roberts 2002; Smith 2004) since there has been a sustained year-on-year fall in the numbers of students opting to study mathematics, science, and engineering subjects at degree level. Coupled with this reluctance of students to specialise …

An Investigation Of New Faculty Orientation And Support Among Mid-Sized Colleges And Universities, Robin Lindbeck, David Darnell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Colleges and universities are encountering an interesting conundrum in today’s fast-paced and aging culture. Faculty demographics are changing radically as the professorate ages and “the first 77 million baby boomers turn 60 next January.” (Friedman and Moen 2005). The impact of this demographic shift was described by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (2000), when they projected that by 2010, more than 30,000 full-time and part-time faculty will be replaced. In addition, the authors of the study projected the need for an additional 15,000 new hires to teach the roughly half million new students who will be entering higher …

Institutional Servant Leadership: A Catalyst For Urban Community Sustainability, Brian Grizzell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Servant leadership is a growing practice that calls for community leaders (politicians, clergy, and educational centers) to be more pragmatic and lead others by serving them. Inspired by principles of religion, servant leadership implies that true servants make true leaders (Greenleaf, 2002, 21). They must be flexible in their approach and responsive to the needs of those they serve. Servant leaders must also provide a fresh outlook based on their past experiences and contribute to society by meeting its demands in an earnest effort. Exhibiting such behavior definitely may have a positive impact on others; thus inspiring them to do …

Position Paper: Scholarship Defined, Fort Hays State University College Of Education

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Scholarly activities at Fort Hays State University are defined as original, innovative intellectual contributions in the form of research, practice, creative activity, or performance. FHSU recognizes and values the diversity of types of scholarship, including discovery, pedagogy, integration, engagement, and application (Boyer, 1997). Scholarly activities must be intended and reasonably expected to lead to the production of scholarly works. Scholarly works must be communicated with and validated by peers beyond the FHSU campus community. The means of communication as well as the comparative value of types of scholarly activity and work are to be determined by each department. These determinations …

Preliminary Study Of The Relationship Between Undergraduate Learning Outcome Assessment And Estimated Earnings Of Graduates, C. Crawford, Lawrence Gould, Robert Scott, Dane Crawford

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The primary motivation for exploring the relationship between learning outcomes assessment and graduate earnings is to simply document the assumed link so that educators have some basis for claiming long-term benefits of outcomes assessment. Furthermore, the scope of the project was limited to exploring learning outcomes assessment in the state of Kansas as this was deemed a preliminary inquiry. Specifically, this article seeks to address the following three questions: 1. Have academic programs in Kansas adopted assessment plans? 2. Does student ability play a role in earnings differentiation upon graduation? 3. Is there a difference in earnings between the highest, …

What Our Students Need, Natala Orobello

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

I have been an educator for over twenty years; this is long enough to know what works in the school system and what does not work. I have mentored rookies and peers, and I have mentored students in and out of school (I was a mentor for Big Brother Big Sister). Today’s students need a lot more than reading, writing and arithmetic. They need educators who are willing to go the extra mile and by educators I mean all those who purport to be working for our students like politicians, school board members, administrators, teachers, staff and anyone else who …

The Leadership Paradox, Jean Marie Vianney Mulinda

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

A book review of The Leadership Paradox by Denny Gunderson

Transformational Leadership Practices Of Teacher Leaders, Gary Alger

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Although many schools are developing teachers as leaders, researchers have not sufficiently investigated the leadership behaviors of these individuals. Therefore, using data collected from teacher leaders and their principals, I addressed three questions in this study: 1. What are the leadership practices of teacher leaders, as perceived by the teacher leaders and their principals? 2. Are there significant differences between the perceptions of teacher leaders and principals regarding the leadership practices of teacher leaders? 3. Are selected demographic variables of teacher leaders, specifically age, years of experience, educational level, and gender related to the leadership behaviors of teacher leaders?

Teacher Expectations And Urban Black Males’ Success In School: Implications For Academic Leaders, Terrell Strayhorn

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Over 50 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, the American educational system is fraught with separate and unequal opportunities for historically underrepresented and underserved populations. However, unlike the 1950s when race was the single most important predictor of educational disparities, most contemporary scholars agree that it is a convergence of multiple factors that shapes the circumstances in which America’s neediest students exist. For example, in 2005 (the most recent year in which data are available), women represented the majority of college entrants at 2- and 4-year institutions. Yet, African American women represented a smaller proportion of the total population …

Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Ladson-Billings’ assertion that students’ familial and cultural identities must be recognized and more fully incorporated into the educative process finds much support in the community of progressive educational scholarship, as countless academics (including bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, and Henry Giroux) and activists (including Myles Horton and Ernie Cortes) have critiqued generalist models of education that ignore community assets in their structures and delivery. Ladson-Billings and others insist that when educational programs (both school and community-situated) are designed and implemented as if they occur in social vacuums they implicitly ignore unique community identities and modes of understanding. They relegate …

A Study Of Relationship Between Consequences Of Leadership And Transformational Leadership Style Of The Presidents Of Iranian Universities And Institutions Of Higher Education, Nasrin Noorshahi

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

All through history, leadership has been a part of human societies. When leadership is considered as a function, it is an important dimension of management whose presence and existence depends on several skills which can be taken as methods or styles of leadership and guidance on the part of a group of people in order to achieve a certain goal (Bennett and Anderson, 2003).

Book Review – Spousework: Partners Supporting Academic Leaders By Teresa Johnston Oden, Janet Haynes

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This book is not a first about supporting spouses in leadership roles, however it appears to be the first book to describe marriage with a spouse in educational leadership as “spousework.” Spousework defined by Johnston Oden is “supporting our leader-partners in an artful, intelligent way”. The book is written from the leadership perspective of a wife partnering an academic leader in a marital relationship and an institutional relationship.

Multi-Perspective Systems Thinking Arrives At School, Curt Duffy

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Managers who cling, dogmatically and unquestioningly, to a single view of leadership are especially apt to fail in educational institutions, where critical thinking and serious debate are part of the daily routine. Such unskilled application of simplistic leadership philosophies is seen even more often now that the corporate model, and its focus on basic accountability, is being integrated into the educational sector. Today’s educational administrators desperately need sophisticated training to help them apply forprofit methodologies to the more value-based and institutionalized educational arena.`

Personal Faith And Public Religious Neutrality: A Brief History Of The Separation Of Church And State For School Leaders, Peter Miller, Engel Max

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

We are often told “keep the faith” or “have faith” but rarely are we told what that means. Psychologist and educational philosopher Sharon Daloz Parks states that faith is the way we make meaning from our life’s experiences: faith results when “human beings… compose a sense of the ultimate reality and then stake [their] lives on that sense of things” (Parks, 2000, p. 20). Faith is both a dynamic force as well as a stabilizing and grounding entity; it organizes how the world is perceived, acted upon, and interpreted; faith is not synonymous with religion, belief, or spirituality. Obviously something …