Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Central Board of Education'

School districts face enormous challenges with recent reductions in fiscal resources due to cuts in California's state budget and an average tenure for a school superintendent of only 3 years. School boards are challenged to find a leader who can address the needs of the school district during these difficult times. As numerous school superintendents are retiring, and a new generation of educators is applying for key positions in educational leadership, it is important to better understand the perceptions of school board presidents who have experience in selecting a school superintendent.

This study explored the perceptions of the superintendent selection process of five participating school board presidents. The participants in this study shared their perceptions of the superintendent search process and selection criteria, perceptions on the most important leadership characteristics desired in a superintendent, and perceptions in the standards used to measure leadership in the candidates selected as superintendent.

The findings revealed several components of the selection process that will serve school boards in evaluating the best strategy for them in conducting the superintendent search. When school boards embark on the process of selecting a superintendent, their actions become very public and ultimately reflect on how they view community involvement and input into on-going district leadership. As a result, a well-defined plan of action will reflect well on the school board, build community trust, and set the stage for a positive transition to new leadership at the superintendent level. The assertion that selecting a superintendent may very well be the school board's most important duty of action, it is imperative that such a process be articulated and integrated within the scope of district need and community involvement.

This study analyzes the growing trend in the development of online learning in public school K-12 districts in California. Specifically, it analyzes school board members' perceptions of the benefits and challenges to implementing online learning in their districts. Barbour and Reeves (2009) indicate four primary themes regarding challenges connected with online schools, and they include high startup costs, access issues related to technology and high speed internet, the approval and/or accreditation process of online schools, and student readiness issues. Areas indicated as advantages to online learning in the literature include increased educational access, high-quality learning opportunities, improved skills and educational outcomes, increased choice, and administrative efficiency (Barbour & Reeves, 2009). While there is research regarding perceptions of administrators, student, teachers, and parents there is a lack of research regarding school board members' perceptions of online learning.

A total of 82 school board members in California responded to the California Online Education Survey. The California Online Education Survey accessed school board members' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of online learning and their district's perceived support for implementing online learning in the future. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The following key findings emerged: First, school board members' perceptions of the current implementation of online learning were not consistent with current research. However, findings from the study supported evidence that online learning is reaching a tipping point toward being a common practice in school districts in California. Second, school board members' perceptions of the advantages of online learning centered on increasing educational access for students, and their perceptions of the barriers focused on concerns related to high startup costs. Third, while the limited sample size (N=82) prevented definitively answering the research questions, the findings suggest that support for implementing online learning is positively influenced by city community types but not by rural settings. Fourth, while the limited sample size (N=82) prevented definitively answering the research questions, the respondents in this study indicated that, in times of economic disparity, boards that identify themselves as matching the characteristics of an arena board take a more conservative approach to spending money on the development of online learning.

The National Board Certification is a process for educators who desire to pursue a deeper level of professional development and enhance their teaching practice. This certification process coupled with cognitive coaching involved high levels of reflective practices and deepened self-efficacy evident in this study. This study determined that with the use of cognitive coaching an educator self-efficacy would increase depending on what stage they were on in the process. The researcher provided three groups of participants (National Board Certified Teachers, Candidates in the process of National Board Certification and Did Not Achieve) an opportunity to elaborate on their experience moving through the process using a cognitive coach.

An analysis of qualitative and quantitative data revealed that the three groups differed in self-efficacy in favor of the National Board Certified Teacher (NBC) group and that on several aspects of cognitive coaching, the NBC group scored higher than the other groups. As well, each group showed support for the coaching process through certification and revealed that with this coaching they were able to achieve a deeper reflective state of mind.

Degree completion has been a topic of debate in higher education institutions. Although efforts have been made to raise the rate of completion, the number of students completing college remains low. Low rates may lead to wasted time and money as students often take unnecessary coursework as a result of not having a well-developed plan for completion. To combat this problem, programs have been implemented at community colleges that are designed to meet student needs, develop tailored educational plans, and help students set goals. One such program is the Central Valley Promise (CVP) program, which offers a solution that could meet the specific needs students of the Central Valley of California. Upon meeting the entrance requirements, students are eligible to receive free tuition for one semester and the promise of support to completion for all students. Because CVP has the potential to affect many incoming students, it was important to examine whether it is achieving its goal. This study sought to gain understanding of student transition and career readiness. A survey was given to 402 CVP students during their first semester of college. A comparison group of 112 students also received the survey. All participants were incoming community college freshmen. Also, observations were conducted during three CVP events. Findings included an increased satisfaction and confidence level in academic performance, social life, and choosing a college major among CVP students. Recommendations include continued support for students, adding a mentorship component, and hiring faculty to exclusively work with CVP students.

Fluctuations within the global economy have the capacity to affect the revenue streams of institutions of higher education, often necessitating discussions of financially-motivated mission shift within the context of governing boards. This study investigated the manner in which institutional cultural attitudes of governing board members differ when discussing such issues at religious institutions of higher education. These differences were studied within the unique context of the challenges raised by the interplay between organizational change and a culture defined, in part, by doctrinal formulations. Governing board members at five religious institutions of higher education were interviewed in a qualitative comparative case study regarding the board decision-making process. Structured interviews utilized the critical incident technique and the framework of resource dependence theory. The study revealed critical differences in the manner in which board members engaged the decision-making process in each of the aspects of resource dependence theory, as well as in the areas of institutional mission and finance. The local societal context of each institution was revealed to be a critical component in the board decision-making process relative to institutional mission, institutional finance, and financially-motivated mission shift.

Research has shown a disconnect between the behaviors of some school boards and the behaviors identified in the literature as critical in this era of accountability reform. The literature has specified best practices for effective school board governance behaviors in this accountability era and its accompanying emphasis of college and career readiness. These best practices are primarily focused on the traditional governance roles for school boards and include: Policy-making, goal-setting, planning, establishing the focus of curriculum, prioritizing resources, achievement data review, and holding administrators accountable - all aimed at improving student achievement (Danzberger, Kirst & Usdan, 1992; Iowa Association of School Boards, 2001). These best practices are particularly aimed at producing students who can meet the goals of college and career preparedness (2001). However, some board members report role confusion, with some exhibiting behaviors that might be considered micro-managing and parochial and along the lines of board members' personal or special interests (Danzberger, Kirst, & Usdan, 1992; Mountford & Brunner, 1999; Mountford, 2004; Kwalwasser, 2012). The study of individual school board members' motivations for board service has been found to give promising insight into school board governance practices (Mountford, 2004; Mountford & Brunner, 1999).

This phenomenological study was conducted using qualitative methods. Eleven individual school board members from three Midwestern school boards were each interviewed, as well as two of those three district's superintendents. The interviews were designed to discover their motivations for school board service and to identify specific behaviors, in order to help inform governance practices of school boards in this accountability era.

This qualitative study was designed to discover what community college trustees believe are the most effective leadership attributes. Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees were asked to list in, order of importance, the most effective community college board of trustee leadership attributes. The research questions emphasized the importance of the leadership attributes that occur when board trustees must complete community college goals given the recent increased student enrollment, despite diminished college budgetary resources. The theoretical framework of Stogdill (1974) was used for trait theory, Hersey, Blanchard and Dewey (2012) for situational leadership, and Burns (1978) for transformational leadership. The study examined the issue of increased student enrollment coupled with decreased community colleges' annual budgets. The slowing economy and legislative spending affected the State of California's budget, creating a deficit and appropriations challenge. The budgetary shortfalls negatively affected academia and student development programs. People depend on the community college system to receive a college education, obtain an AA degree, transfer to a university, or enter the workforce. In the literature review, a brief history of California community colleges is provided to illustrate how institutions of higher education and governing boards were established. As a needs assessment tool, Dr. Schmieder-Ramirez's (2001) SPELIT power matrix was particularly useful for capturing the driving forces at work at community colleges. The SPELIT power matrix helped to structure the literature review by making intelligible the social, political, economic, legal, intercultural, and technological environments of the community college system.

Without education, many South Sudanese will continue living in poverty. There are numerous factors that limit their educational opportunities including tribal warfare, colonialism, missionary malpractice, civil wars, a high illiteracy rate, low government funding, and threats of war. These factors have left a substantial deficiency in available training for teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine the pedagogical needs of the teachers of South Sudan. Within a conceptual framework of participatory action research, this qualitative study examined educators’ view of the effectiveness of the teacher education that they had received, the pedagogical needs of teachers, and the ideal training models for teachers given the country’s current situation. The research design was a case study focusing on 5 primary and secondary schools. The mode of data collection was interviews and observations among 15 K-16 educators and educator leaders selected by snowball sampling. Observations and interviews took place in school classrooms and campuses, best suited for data collection as South Sudanese are, for the most part, a preliterate people who value listening and storytelling. Themes found related to classroom management, lesson planning, differentiated instruction, and motivation to teach. Key results indicated that the teachers had little to no preparation, varied in their motivation to teach, and perceived challenges and needs differently based on their level of education. A 5-day teacher-training project was developed. Social change will be achieved by improving teachers’ ability to successfully educate the next generation of leaders for South Sudan.

California established the Board of Governors (BOG) fee waiver in 1984 to maintain educational access after the implementation of the state's first ever unit-based fees for community college attendance. Although it was not designed as an incentive to stimulate higher levels of academic achievement or student success, recent accountability policy enactments have ascribed this purpose to the BOG fee waiver. An example is the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012, which established the first-ever academic satisfactory progress requirements for BOG fee waiver recipients. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among students' financial aid awards, including the BOG fee waiver, and measures of success for students who were attending Rio Hondo College. Findings showed that students who had the greatest financial need—and therefore the highest financial aid awards—had lower cumulative grade point averages and completed a smaller percentage of units attempted. While the study was unable to control for students' prior academic achievement, it appears that financial aid awards were not sufficient to fully counteract the negative effects of students' need, thus calling to question some of the efficacy of adding academic performance requirements to financial aid awards such as the BOG fee waiver. The paper concludes with a discussion of findings and recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.