Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Science Homework And Parental Involvement: Factors Influencing Behaviors And Attitudes, Dana Harwell, Kate Brown

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The purpose of this study is to understand confounding information regarding homework and school achievement. Recent research has sought to identify specific factors impacting student success as it relates to homework including parental involvement, parental education, gender, socio-economic status, computer and internet use, extra-curricular activities, and other factors. Unfortunately, the results of these studies have lacked consensus. The review of the literature shows attempts have been made to isolate co-variates along with important factors such as gender, parental involvement, and student characteristics, but the results have been unclear. This study utilized a qualitative design with interviews, observations, and collection of …

The Relationship Between The Educational Qualifications Of Chief Financial Officers And The Effectiveness Of Local District Financial Leadership In Alabama Public Schools: A Policy Analysis, Philip Westbrook

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

In the early years of 2000, Alabama experienced a series of embarrassing financial incidents in local school districts. In one of the largest districts in the state, an audit discovered the finances were in such disarray that deceased employees continued to be paid, bills went unpaid, and accounts had not been reconciled in so long that no one knew the actual financial status of the school district. In the midst of this financial fiasco, the superintendent and the school board publicly acknowledged that they were not aware of the financial condition of the school system until the situation had deteriorated …

Why Are Faculty Wary Of Assessment?, D. Haviland

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Explanations for faculty hesitancy may be practical or principled, based on experience or hearsay, emerge from more general concerns about change, or be related to assessment in particular. Ultimately the reasons fall into four main categories: worries about the new work assessment presents, a “culture gap” in the way assessment is presented, poor word of mouth about assessment systems, and concerns about academic freedom.

Role Of Positive Experiences In Teachers' Reflective Engagement: A Case Study Of Three Individual Teachers, Zeenat Ismail, Rabail Qayyum

Business Review

This study examines determinants for small business success in Bangladesh. These include: characteristic of SMEs, their management and know-how, products and services, style of doing business, financial and other resources and external environment. Such study has not been conducted before in the context of Bangladesh. Findings of the study are useful for entrepreneurs and policy makers. Study is based on survey methodology through a questionnaire administered on the employees of small firms. Data is analyzed using SPSS. Six hypotheses are proposed and tested. Most significant factors affecting business success of SMEs in Bangladesh were found to be products and services, …

Teacher Qualifications And Middle School Student Achievement, Richard Buddin, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

This research examines whether teacher licensure test scores and other teacher qualifications affect middle school student achievement. The results are based on longitudinal student-level data from Los Angeles. The achievement analysis uses a value-added approach that adjusts for both student and teacher fixed effects. The results show little relationship between traditional measures of teacher quality (e.g., experience and education level) and student achievement in reading or math. Similarly, licensure test scores in general aptitude, subject-matter knowledge, and reading pedagogy had no significant effects on student achievement. Teachers with elementary school credentials had slightly better success in the classroom than did …

Western Guide To Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures, Nanda Dimitrov

Purple Guides

The Western Guide to Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures is a handbook for graduate supervisors who work with students from cultures around the world. The guide addresses the most frequently occurring challenges in supervision across cultures and includes concrete mentoring strategies and case studies to help supervisors promote independence and initiative in their mentees, bridge power differences in the relationship, set boundaries, communicate effectively and support their students in the transition to Canadian academia.

Koinonia, Connie Horton, Mark Davis, Eric Lowdermilk, Justin Heth, Caleb Farmer, Sharon Virkler, Philip D. Byers, David M. Johnstone, Jeff Rioux, Joshua Canada, Nicole Braddock Bromley, Kim Stave

Koinonia

Best Practices Features
Students of Concern Committee: Coordinating Care, Connie Horton and Mark Davis

Want to Change Student Culture on Your Campus? Do the CORE!, Eric Lowdermilk

Spotlight Features
You Only Get 1 Up, Justin Heth and Caleb Farmer

The Season, Sharon Virkler

Book Reviews
The Future of Christian Learning: An Evangelical and Catholic Dialogue (by Mark Noll and James Turner), reviewed by Philip D. Byers

Restoring Rebecca: A Story of Traumatic Stress, Caregiving and the Unmasking of a Superhero (by Christopher Marchand), reviewed by David M. Johnstone

A Review of Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling (by Andy Crouch), …

Morphosis Leadership Being Visionaries In A Changing World, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Living in a rapidly evolving society where change occurs continuously and on multiple levels, has created a need, more than ever before, for leadership that reflects this new reality. The changes in demographics, the forming of multicultural families, the diversity on an economic, educational, social and ethnic level, as well as the further rise of multinational corporations are all changes that are challenging traditional values and principles. Thus the quest for Authentic Leadership is rising, and it is an idea which implies that leadership is very personal. Why Authentic leadership? One might ask. Because, “there is evidence of the desire …

E Is For Elephant, J Is For Jackass: The Role Of Politics In Education, Michael Miles

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

K-12 institutions find themselves under the realm of No Child Left Behind. A central question is, “What does this really mean in terms of the educational world?” State legislatures are more and more influencing the organization and operation of institutions of higher education. It seems that the roles assumed by individuals in education and the roles assumed by individuals in politics have taken drastic, if not cataclysmic changes. No Child Left Behind and state-mandated funding formulas (to mention only a few) are not the only times in which educators and institutions have found themselves inundated by politics. The days of …

The Impact Of Leadership On Community College Faculty Job Satisfaction, Jaime Kleim, Becky Takeda-Tinker

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Technical colleges are experiencing high levels of annual turnover and retirement among faculty, staff, and administrators. Job satisfaction among employees in these institutions is therefore of vital importance to leadership that must increasingly work to understand and address factors of job satisfaction and turnover.

Table Of Contents - Spring 2009, Fort Hays State University College Of Education

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Academic Leadership Journal Spring 2009 table of contents

Background Checks And Fingerprinting In Public School Systems (Part Iii), Mindy Salmans

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Two events specific to this study occurred in 1999, 1) the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact became effective which provided reciprocity among the states to share records without charging each other for the information, and 2) all 50 states and the District of Columbia were finally members of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) Clearinghouse which collects information concerning the status of educational certificates and can then share (reciprocate) this information to any interested member of the NASDTEC Clearinghouse. The purpose of this study was to determine whether reciprocity among the 50 states …

Higher Education And Shifting U.S. Demographics: Need For Visible Administrative Career Paths, Professional Development, Succession Planning & Commitment To Diversity, Kristen Betts, David Urias, Keith Betts

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Higher education provides extensive opportunities for individuals seeking careers, career transition, and career advancement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there are an estimated 6,000 jobs in higher education administration that will need to be filled annually through 2014 (Leubsdorf, 2006). Alice Miller, a consultant with the executive-search firm Witt/Kieffer, “predicts there will be at least a 50-percent turnover among senior administrators (higher education) in the next five to 10 years” (Leubsdorf, 2006, p. A51). Additionally, national research by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACE) (2001) and Fain (2008) reveals that 79% of current community college presidents will …

How Do You Go From ‘Good’ To ‘Outstanding’?, Rima Aboudan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Many college educators receive a rating of ‘good’ on their teaching delivery. Following teaching evaluations, usually, raters highlight some clear areas for improvement in their rating reports. The challenge for the educator is to characterize what needs to be done and work on the pedagogy advice to gain an ‘outstanding’ rating in the final verdict of the college rating – satisfy those criteria they say, and outstanding you will be. But how? That is the question.

Impaired Faculty: Helping Academics Who Are Suffering From Serious Mental Illness, David Schwebel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Mental illness affects nearly every family. Recent epidemiological studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest over 26% of US citizens have a diagnosable mental illness at any one point in time (WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium, 2004). In many cases, mental illness does not seriously impact functioning; individuals can still work, create, and teach, despite the presence of an illness. When mental illness intensifies, however, it can impact one’s ability to function in all domains of life, including the workplace. The same WHO survey suggested nearly 8% of Americans have a mental illness serious enough to interfere …

Lessons Learned About Mentoring Junior Faculty In Higher Education, Hersh Waxman, Tracy Collins, Scott Slough

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Mentoring junior faculty in higher education is often thought of as an easy task that every tenured faculty member and college administrator thinks they can effectively do. Most tenured faculty think they know the “tricks of the trade” because they have successfully gone through the process themselves. Most administrators also think they know what to do because they have seen or gained “insight” from viewing the successful and unsuccessful tenure applicants over the last few years. This “lived experience” of tenured faculty and administrators, however, may not be the current “lived experience” of junior faculty in higher education today.

Preparing Students For The College Experience, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Preparing students for College life and most importantly for life beyond high school is a key challenge for many educators and secondary education institutions. Above all, today more than ever, educators must prepare students for the unknown and the unpredictable; careers not yet known to us, opportunities that we can not imagine, and for a world so different that we have no idea what it will look like in thirty or forty years. Hence some of the questions that arise are as follows: what shall we teach our students? What skills do we expect them to develop; and which processes …

Teaching Cultural Sensitivity To Pediatric Residents, Ralitsa Akins

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Teaching cultural sensitivity to healthcare professionals is critical in providing appropriate care to diverse patient populations. Constantly increasing U.S. immigrant population and growing numbers of international medical graduates practicing in the U.S. bring the issue of appropriate cross-cultural training to the forefront of addressing health disparities. Cultural competence training of healthcare professionals and provision of culturally sensitive patient care is the responsibility of healthcare leadership.1 Acquiring awareness and knowledge about cultural differences requires focused development of skills to communicate with patients from diverse cultures; this is a process developed through professional training and experience.2 Few professional continuous education programs have …

Curriculum Reform In American Public High Schools And Its Impact On Minority Students, Jayesh D'Souza

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

It seems like the high school curriculum reform effort in the United States has come full circle. While its development has taken place over time, statistical differentials in academic performance among racial/ethnic groups makes one question, the adequacy of the modern day high school curriculum in addressing the needs of all segments of society. After all, progress in the evolution of the high school curriculum has been slow and no matter what changes were made to it, there always seemed the need for further development. The early stages of educational reform can be traced back to the early nineteenth century …

Perceptual Chasm Between Industry And Academic Leaders On The Quality Of Higher Education, S. Rajasingh, B. Rajasekaran

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

In the context of the Information Technology Revolution, Communication Explosion, the Knowledge Economy and Globalization, India’s production of Professionals is phenomenal. With over 300 Universities and 15,600 Colleges spewing out 2.5 million graduates each year, in terms of the volume of production India trails behind only the US and recently China. Each year India produces 350,000 Engineers, twice the number produced by the US. A recent evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes all over the world, conducted by a Shanghai university, has not a single Indian University in the world’s top 300 – China has six.

A Comparison Of The Leadership Practices Of Principals Of High Schools That Work Schools As Measured By The Leadership Practices Inventory, David Knab

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, leadership is defined as “the office or position of a leader, capacity to lead, the act or an instance of leading.” (Merriam-Webster, 2008). Therefore, one needs to go to the definition of “lead” to discover the true meaning of leadership. Accordingly, to lead means “to guide on a way especially by going in advance, to direct on a course or in a direction, to serve as a channel for ” (2008). Leadership as a verb must mean that individuals are able to motivate people to advance in some direction. Leadership also implies that the …

Y Cant They Rite?: Integrating Writing Assessment Across The Undergraduate Political Science Major, Shala Mills, Bryan Bennett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Historically, student assessment in the Political Science Department at Fort Hays State University was left to the individual faculty member to embed into his or her courses via exams and writing assignments. Our curriculum and learning objectives were based largely on faculty interest in particular courses and on broad perspectives of what substantive knowledge a political science major should demonstrate. Over the years, writing courses such as advanced research methods and upper division theory courses served as unofficial capstone experiences. As such, approaches and expectations varied depending upon who was delivering the course.

Stress Levels Of School Administrators And Teachers In November And January, Robert Moody, James Barrett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Teaching today’s young people is not only arduous work, but can be dangerously stressful. Anxiety due to school reform efforts, minimal administrative support, poor working circumstances, lack of involvement in school decision making, the encumbrance of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among educators (Hammond & Onikama, 1997). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its subsequential mandated standardized assessments, family responsibilities, continuing education, low salaries, and poor working conditions can also create stress.

Exploring The Ultimate Role Of Central Office In The Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of Professional Development: A Comparative Case Study, Sarah Elizabeth Johnson

Dissertations

Much research has been done on the contributions made by teachers and principals to the field of education (Darling-Hammond, 1998; Glickman, 2001; Hirsch, 1993; Marzano, 2003; Muir, 2001). The role of central office workers in these efforts have, however, been given little recognition or discussion. This study has explored the ways in which central office administrators foster underlying systems that support their districts' professional development processes and structures.

Grove (2002) compares the central office role in professional development to the skeleton of the human body, in which the skeleton is integral to the function of the body and provides the …

Middle School Teacher And Parent Perceptions Of Parental Involvement, Brandon Graham

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study research was to examine the perceptions of teachers and parents towards current parental involvement factors in a suburban junior high school located in the Midwest United States. Such perceptions were compiled by means of surveys based on Dr. Joyce Epstein's Framework of the Six Dimensions of Parental Involvement: (a) parenting, (b) communication, (c) volunteering, (d) learning at home, (e) decision-making, (f) and collaborating with the community (Epstein, 1995). The subjects were N=36 seventh and eighth grade teachers, and N=344 parents of students. The descriptive statistical analysis did show a difference between teachers and parents …

A Look At The Beginning: Strengths, Weaknesses, And The Support Structures For New Teachers From The Perspectives Of Elementary School Principals, Scott Merkel

Dissertations

This research examined the perceptions of elementary school principals regarding their beliefs of the strengths and weaknesses of new teachers. The overall research goal was to examine ways that principals evaluate new teachers, their beliefs of strengths and weaknesses related to effective instruction and the effectiveness of structures established to support new teachers. Participants for this study came from 12 different school districts, four from each of the defined and identified categories of rural, urban, and suburban districts. As a secondary focus, a comparison was examined between each of these categories.

A phenomenological approach was used to guide this qualitative …

No.2, April 2009: Vision As An Impetus For Success: Perspectives Of Site Principals, Franca Dell'olio Ed.D., Kristen Anguiano

Education and Policy Briefs

Findings from the first two years of a 3-year evaluation of the PROMISE Model pilot are presented in this policy brief that seeks to understand the extent to which school principals know, understand, and act upon research-based principles for English Language Learners (ELL) and their intersection with the California Professional Standards for Educational Leadership related to promoting ELL success. Surveys and focus groups were used to gather data from school principals at fifteen schools throughout Southern California including early childhood, elementary, middle, and high schools. School principals identified several areas where PROMISE serves as a beacon of hope in promoting …

Teacher Retention: Program Evaluation Of A Beginning Teacher And Mentor Program, Janet B. Anthony

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation evaluated a beginning teacher induction and mentor program currently used in a rural, county school system in western North Carolina and its effectiveness in the retention of teachers. The system has 29 schools, around 16,690 students, and employs approximately 1200 certified staff members. Using the CIPP Evaluation Model with a formative approach, information was gathered about the conditions that necessitated the program, procedures and practices used by the system to provide support and assistance to beginning teachers, whether or not established processes were being followed, and the impact of the program on beginning teacher retention. Individual and focus …

Case Study: The Effect Of The Implementation Of Professional Learning Communities On Teacher Behaviors At Two Elementary Schools, Rachel N. Clarke

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the impact of the implementation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) model on teacher behaviors in two elementary schools. The research questions underlying and providing a research framework for the study were as follows: How does establishing a PLC change teacher instructional behavior? How does the implementation of a PLC encourage teacher professional growth? How do grade level meetings affect the instructional behavior of classroom teachers?

Written documentation and perceptions of principals and teachers, solicited through interviews and focus groups, were used to provide data for the study, along with survey data and grade level meeting documentation. …

Koinonia, Larry Crabb, Jesse Brown, Steven M. Conn, Michael Santarosa, Stephanie Santarosa, Steve Ivester, Kyle Lantz, Nathan Geer, Andrew D. Rowell

Koinonia

Spotlight Features
Sovereign Stumbling: My Life Journey to Date, Larry Crabb

Conversations About Racism, Jessie Brown

Anxiety: A Growing Problem in College Students, Steven M. Conn

Thinking Theologically
Teaching the Truth, Michael and Stephanie Santarosa

Book Reviews
Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit's Power (by J.P. Moreland), reviewed by Steve Ivester

The Soul of a Christian University: A Field Guide for Educators (edited by Stephen T. Beers), reviewed by Kyle Lantz

The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfullness (by Donald Opitz and Derek Melleby), reviewed by Nathan Geer

I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics …