Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Educational administration'

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to examine the leadership traits of Elmer Towns and the strategies employed as co-founder of Liberty University. In order to accomplish this purpose, this study will assess the behavioral traits, work habits, communication patterns, and organizational concepts he employed as the Dean of the School of Religion at Liberty University. The “Portraits of Leadership” pattern is defined by viewing the university as a complex organization through which leadership behaviors and traits are manifested as a part of managing the governance structure, the internal operations, and the academic functions of the institution. The case study method is employed by the examination of the leader’s background, formal education, influence of mentors, and defining events.

The case study is individual in its focus and seeks to analyze the leadership behaviors of Towns in the context of the “Reframing Patterns” of higher education leadership of Lee Bolman and Joan Gallos. The data from the study is organized into the concepts of reframing and identifies four frames of academic leadership in which administrators of higher education often function. The data from documents, interviews, and observations are placed in four framing categories and serve as chapter headings in the research findings: Structure, Politics, Human Resource, and Symbols.

The research design for the case study uses three methods of research. The first method is document research. The study examines books and articles written by Towns in order to find leadership principles identified as essential to an organization. They also serve to identify situations and events related to the history and the function of the school. Documents related to the school and to the faculty are examined for communication and organizational factors. Faculty senate minutes, accreditation reports, catalogs, faculty handbooks, Liberty University policy documents and publications are included as data for triangulating research within the case study.

The second method of research includes interviews conducted with the dean, faculty and administration. Persons selected for the interviews worked at Liberty University for a significant part of Elmer Town’s tenure and served under him in various capacities. Three of the faculty members included in the study have written previous dissertations on Elmer Towns.

The third research approach included observations of Towns and his work with students and faculty. Observations were made while attending classes taught by Towns. Informal discussions with faculty and students also proved helpful in confirming and rejecting conclusions made during the five years. The researcher made observations from interactions with Towns in meetings, at church, and during appointments held in his office and at a local restaurant. The researcher also became a Liberty University Online adjunct professor during the time period in which the research was conducted. This allowed additional access to documents and to videos related to the leadership of Towns

Concluding findings of the case study categorize leadership traits and actions employed by Towns as Dean of the School of Religion. These traits and actions are applied within the context of higher education as a model for leaders and for deans serving in other institutions of higher learning.

As school enrollments across the United States include increasing numbers of students of color, the number of administrators of color remains disproportionate. In California school districts, where a large percentage of students are Latino and Latina, Latino and Latina principals remain rare. While studies have suggested why Latinos and Latinas do not enter educational leadership, fewer have examined why they do elect to enter the field. This ethnographic exploratory study examines factors that led Latino and Latina educators to enter administrative leadership preparation programs with the goal of becoming school principals. The sample includes interviews with seven Latino and Latina elementary school principals from a large urban school district in California. The study uses Freire’s concepts of banking, conscientization, and praxis as a lens to synthesize the findings. The investigation provides insight regarding how school districts and colleges of education can consider targeted recruitment of Latino and Latina leaders to increase the candidate pool for educational leadership and close the disproportionate ethnic gap between who attends California public schools and who leads them. The research proposes a possible working model for the development, recruitment and growth of the leadership pipeline in California schools. Lastly, this study is a call to action for Latinos and Latinas to consider becoming active participants in the narrative that defines them in the educational landscape of the United States. Issues of race, gender, socio-economic status, language, politics, and immigration are discussed as factors that contribute to the development of Latinos and Latinas in school leadership.

This study investigated the methods of professional development used for institutional mission education, the role of the senior student affairs officer in delivering professional development, and the frequency of mission education that entry-level staff receives within the Division of Student Affairs at Catholic colleges and universities. The targeted population for the study encompassed senior student affairs officers (SSAOs) working in student affairs at Catholic colleges and universities within the United States.

The study found that prior knowledge and understanding of institutional mission is important for new entry-level student affairs practitioners to join the Catholic college or university student affairs community. The study also categorized common strategies of education for institutional mission into two subgroups: formal and collaborative. Finally, the research study found that there were no institutional characteristics that were significantly linked to institutional mission education training for new student affairs staff. However research results showed a slight difference in that institutions with Offices of Mission offered mission training with greater frequency than institutions without an Office of Mission.

According to higher education policy experts, “Campus threat assessment is not merely a recommendation, but an emerging standard of care.” However, despite evidence of the emergence of this standard and the consistency of recommendations that comport with those made by the Virginia Tech Review Panel, college campuses continue to vary significantly in their approaches to threat-assessment protocols. This study examines the extent to which campuses in the state of Illinois do vary and seeks to understand better the reasons for that variation. This research also examines the status of threat-assessment policies and protocols being conducted on three campuses and how the implementation of recommendations that followed Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings have contributed to the creation of more optimally safe campuses. The study also examines the prevalence and consistency of the barriers that impede institutional efforts to detect and mitigate campus threats of violence.

Research sites included Northern Illinois University, where an incident of violence occurred in 2008, and the University of Illinois–Chicago and Illinois State University, where an incident of such magnitude has not yet occurred. The findings suggest that in states where the implementation of threat-assessment protocols and policies has been mandated by state law, campus leaders perceive these required measures to increase the preparedness of the campus environment. The research also suggests that even in Illinois, a state where such policy schemes are mandated, variation in the application of these policies and protocols persists. Findings suggest that even in states where policies are legislatively mandated, campuses continue to experience barriers to full implementation of recommendations that might lead to greater preparedness, including ambiguity regarding how best to balance the obligation to protect individual privacy and community security and to address self-harming behaviors and suicidality, the limited utility in zero-tolerance standards, institutional constraints in policy adoption and participation by the campus community, and insufficient dedication of institutional funding and support. The most significant barrier, however, was the unrealistic expectation that campus personnel be able to predict future behavior and events.

This study explores private higher education and implementation of quality assurance procedures in Ghana, a country in West Africa. While focusing on the three main isomorphic classifications (coercive, mimetic and normative) of DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) institutional theory, this study examines how regulatory measures are not only designed to enhance the quality of private higher education institutions, but also how they impact the efforts employed by private providers towards meeting quality assurance standards in the environment in which they are located. Using a qualitative methodology, participants from five private university colleges and two private chartered institutions are selected as constituting the sample for this study. In addition, quality assurance documents from the website of the Ghana’s National Accreditation Board (NAB) as well as documents from the websites of seven private higher education institutions are coded using NVivo 10 to determine the kind of efforts made by institutions to convey the message of legitimacy across to students and other clientele. Other participants are officials from the NAB, higher education specialists and retired faculty of public higher education institutions in Ghana. In general, the outcome of open-ended interviews with selected participants as well as documents analyzed found evidence of efforts private institutions are making towards meeting their quality assurance requirements through mimetic, coercive and normative isomorphism. These are indicated through institutional affiliations, conformity to mentoring (supervising) institution’s programs, quality assurance requirements and measures established in conformity to the NAB requirements. Higher education specialists advocate that a specific policy aimed at addressing shortage of faculty members in Sub-Saharan Africa should be formulated to take on a more regional dimension. The Ghanaian private higher education landscape has a number of issues including shortage of academic and non-academic staff, dependence on adjunct faculty, and non-compliance to time frame given for program and institutional accreditation. These issues will require a holistic approach involving the NAB and the PHEIs in order to find long lasting solutions. As a result of the continual growth of private higher education providers in Ghana, it is imperative that the NAB make the quality assurance process very welcoming to genuine actors.

A gap in research on the impact of a university-based laboratory school on a campus-based educator preparation program and a decrease in the number of university-based laboratory schools requires current laboratory school programs to evaluate strengths and weaknesses to provide quality evaluative data to ensure continued viability. This qualitative study sought to expand the extant research by identifying perceptions of stakeholders, educator preparation program students, faculty, administrators, and laboratory school teachers, parents, and administrators—to examine the impact of a laboratory school on an educator preparation program. The case study outlined stakeholder perceptions at one university and one laboratory school and investigated the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the impact of a university-based laboratory school to a campus-based educator preparation program. Four major themes emerged related to the impact of a laboratory school on an educator preparation program include: experimentation, early practice and ability to bridge theory to practice, expertise of faculty and teachers, and safety and support of environment to practice new learning. A fifth overarching theme was identified as significant to research: complexity of the organization.

The socio-economic achievement gap is prevalent in schools across the country. There are many high-poverty, high-performing schools that have been successful in closing this achievement gap. This study investigated 30 Illinois elementary school principals from high-poverty, high-achieving schools. Principals were given the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and data was collected about school location, number of administrative jobs previously held, gender, race, and ethnicity of the principal. The personality types of the principals were compared to historical data on personality types of school principals. There were three findings in the study. Principals with the sensing-thinking-judging (STJ) type were most prevalent in the sample of high-poverty, high-performing schools. The rate of STJ and specifically ESTJ in the sample was higher than the historical data for principal personality type. Principals in their third or more administrative job in the sample had higher scores for extravert than those in their first or second job. More research is recommended including larger samples, samples including high schools, and comparison research with principals of high-poverty, low-performing schools.

Although there is a significant body of literature on superintendents and another on social justice, there is not a comprehensive body of research on superintendents who focus on social justice issues. It is important to study what actions superintendents with a social justice focus take to address inequities in their school districts. The primary research question for this study is: how do superintendents within Los Angeles County define social justice, and how have they implemented social justice tenets within their school districts? To answer this question, eight semistructured interviews were conducted with current superintendents within Los Angeles County. The results of the interviews were then analyzed and the patterns were compared to existing social justice frameworks. The findings identified an opportunity to continue to clarify the definition of social justice and to expand upon current frameworks utilized for principals. In addition, recommendations for superintendent preparation programs and advice for existing superintendents were identified.

While teacher stress is a topic that has been widely explored, there is a lack of research that focuses on teacher stress at high-performing schools. This study used Clark and Estes' gap analysis framework to examine what knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources teachers at a high-performance high school need to effectively manage workplace stress. Analysis of evidence from one-on-one interviews and researcher constructed documents revealed that while teachers had declarative knowledge of workplace stress and coping, they lacked the procedural and metacognitive knowledge needed to apply what they know. Furthermore, lack of self-efficacy and attainment value impeded teachers’ ability to manage workplace stress, especially in the face of high-performing expectations and work demands within a high-performing culture and setting. Lastly, inadequate resources also served as barriers to effective workplace stress management. To address these knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs, a comprehensive workplace stress management program that includes training, communities of practice, and peer model partnerships was recommended.

Texas Education Agency (TEA) introduced Texas Principal Evaluation and Support System (T-PESS) for the 2016-2017 year. The evaluation system identifies five standards that serve as a guide to campus principals for improving school productivity, increasing student achievements, and continually improving effectiveness as a leader. In an effort to support principals with T-PESS standards, some districts have implemented leadership development plans. Leadership development plans provide a framework for principals to measure their leadership competencies, acquire peer feedback, and develop an action plan focused on effective leadership practices. Standard 4 of T-PESS measures effective culture-leader practices of principals. The current study reviewed principal leadership development plans and the perceived impact on school culture. According to T-PESS standards, effective culture leaders establish a shared campus vision, high expectations, family and community engagement, school safety, and student discipline. In the current qualitative study, eight campus principals who have utilized leadership development plans for two consecutive years and the eight assistant principals who serve under these principals were interviewed. The researcher used NVivo 11 Pro to analyze the qualitative data from the interviews. The researcher analyzed and coded the data as patterns emerged in perceptions of leadership development plans and the impact on school culture. Themes emerged which aligned with T-PESS Standard 4 culture-leader indicators. Furthermore, the data indicated that the participants considered leadership development plans to be a useful guide for campus principals in developing effective practices as culture-leaders.

There have been many recent changes in education focused on closing the achievement gap, yet minority students continue to fall behind. Latina/o students encounter systemic oppression in schools and society in the forms of academic tracking, classism, racism, and other biases (Bemak & Chung, 2011; Dickson, Zamora, Gonzalez, Chun, & Callaghan Leon, 2011; Hipolito-Delgado & Lee, 2007; Holcomb-McCoy, 2007; Martinez, 2003; Ortiz & Gonzales, 2000). At the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels, Latina/os attend schools whose educational conditions are some of the most inadequate in the United States (Oakes, 1984; Valencia, 1991). One of the most significant school reforms at the high school level is converting comprehensive high schools into small schools or small learning communities. This school structure could be beneficial in addressing some of the academic issues of minority students but also offer some cautions.

The problem under investigation in this study is the achievement gap of Latina/os students in gaining college access in comparison to their white peers (Education Trust, 2010). While small schools were created to close this achievement gap, there are still some concerns in regards to college access of these students. The purpose of this study was to explore Latina/os college students’ experiences from the same small high school on how the school helped or hindered their college access. It also explores how these students used their community cultural wealth factors in order to overcome challenges and be successful. Led by a narrative inquiry interview qualitative methodology, data was collected via 10 semi-structured interviews of college students who met the necessary criteria for this study.

Findings from this study suggested that the family feeling these students cited of being in the small school, was a factor that contributed to their academic success. The college awareness resources that were available to them with constant reminders from a college counselor also contributed to their success. Through a critical race theory lens, (Solórzano, 2001) this study also revealed institutional oppression occurred through the school’s lack of quality Advanced Placement courses, lack of diversity, and insufficient funding for extra-curricular or school activities that hindered their acceptance to prestigious universities. Further, participants expressed that they overcame these challenges using Yosso’s (2005) six community culture wealth factors.

Recommendations for this study include key curricular strategies to ensure students experiential knowledge is considered in creating the school’s curriculum. Secondly, the importance of having a robust curriculum, and the role of creating funding to offer extra-curricular and school activities will make a huge impact on Latina/os’ college access.

The placement of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in school leadership roles emerged as a feature of comprehensive reform models and school improvement initiatives. Educational practitioners must verify the saliency of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) process in preparing NBCTs for school leadership, particularly how NBCTs demonstrate leadership behavior in the principalship role. These prompts inspired the central research questions of this study. How did an NBCT demonstrate leadership behavior in the principalship? What perceived role (if any) did the NBPTS process play in developing those leadership behaviors? I designed this single-case study to examine the leadership behaviors of one NBCT who ascended to the principalship.

Therefore, I investigated the influence of the NBPTS process to determine its role in developing the participant’s leadership behaviors. In my initial analysis, I applied Pitner’s (1988) conceptual path models to describe, categorize, and analyze, the leadership behaviors of the NBCT participant. These models depicted leadership behaviors as direct, mediated, reciprocal, and antecedent (DMRA). In my second analysis of the data, I pursued a thematic approach. I analyzed the data for code words and phrases that ultimately signaled the emergence of four major themes: setting the vision and mission, school and community relationships, religion, spirituality, and faith, and the 5 core propositions approach to school leadership. The four themes were instrumental in answering the central research questions of the study.

I used multiple interviews, observations, a survey, and documents to collect data. The resulting wide range of data captured a detailed picture of the participant, the school’s operations, and provided an indication of the extent to which survey respondents corroborated the participants’ perceptions. Findings indicated that the NBCT participant used each DMRA leadership approach; however those behaviors were subordinate to the five core propositions of the NBPTS. I concluded that the NBPTS process was vital to development of the participant’s knowledge relative to curricula, instruction, assessment, and reflection; all were important components of the participant’s school leadership behaviors. The findings represent a step toward confirming the unintended effect of the NBPTS process in preparing the participant for the principalship.

Much literature has been written about the history and induction of local school councils in the State of Illinois. Chicago's Local School Councils (LSCs) were created based on the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988. These LSCs were given power in Principal Selection and Evaluation, School Improvement Planning, and School-Based Budgeting (Moore & Merritt, 2002 p.11). State law currently requires 18 hours of training for newly elected members, but critics contend the large-scale lecture format does not properly prepare panelists (Gewertz, 2002). While some researchers agree that LSCs have made strides in improving schools, others have indicated that there are many troubles that hinder the effectiveness of LSCs such as the lack of skills, commitment, and support (PURE, 2006). Larger citizen participation in school councils can create its own problems. Many future LSC members may not be adequately prepared to assume a leadership role (Cunningham, 2003).

The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine what knowledge LSC members currently possess in order to be effective leaders within the school system. Data was collected from various schools within the Woodlawn community in Chicago, Illinois, to analyze the perceptions of parent and community stakeholders regarding LSC training. A quantitative Needs Assessment survey was designed to assess the participants’ perceptions. An overall analysis of the data indicated that the survey participants were dissatisfied with LSC training. LSC members believed that the mandatory LSC training modules did not prepare them to address issues relevant to their school. Generalized LSC member training programs have been criticized for failing to address the unique issues and scenarios in which LSC members often find themselves (Grendon, 2010). Perceptions of LSC members and community stakeholders are vital in determining what factors are hindering the success of schools in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. Based on a needs assessment of LSC members, recommendations are developed to assist in determining further training for LSC members to ensure they have the knowledge and skills required for effective decision making within their schools. Also discussed are areas for further research as it relates to LSC training.

The purpose of this qualitative multi-site case study was to explore the impact of principals’ leadership styles on student academic achievement in a high-poverty low-performing school district in Louisiana. A total of 17 participants, principals and teachers, from this school district were used in this study. Data source triangulation of interviews, questionnaires, and archival data were used for the analysis. The central research question that guided this study was: What is the perceived impact, if at all, that the leadership style of a principal in a high-poverty low-performing school district in Louisiana has on a school performance score in those same schools? Four main themes, some of which included additional subthemes, emerged from the study. These included: (a) Theme 1: principal leadership, with subthemes: passive behavior, motivation, and collaboration; (b) Theme 2: leadership implication on student achievement, with subthemes: dual leadership, teacher shortages and quality, and disruptive student behavior; (c) Theme 3: professional development; and; (d) Theme 4: initiatives to improve student achievement. The findings of this multi-site case study offered insight into factors other than principal leadership styles, which influences student academic achievement. This study provides recommendations for further research to be conducted in high-poverty low-performing schools in Louisiana targeted in the areas of teacher shortages, collaboration, dual leadership, passive behavior and teacher quality.

As a society, America has struggled to resolve some deep-seated differences over values. These differences are most visible and divisive in the historical White-Black dichotomy. In the realm of education, the Black male achievement gap is a vivid reminder of this previously legalized oppressor-oppressed relationship.

The Black male achievement gap is a particularly unique phenomenon in that Black male students surpass every other racial and gender category in educational achievement gaps (NCES, 2013a, 2013b, 2014a, 2014b; NAEP, 2011, 2013). This phenomenon is well-known and well researched. Many researchers point to a fundamental conflict over values that results in this lingering gap between Black male students and their peers. Though these value differences have been researched, how these differences are being reconciled in efforts to close Black male achievement gaps is not known.

Argyris and Schön’s (1978, 1989b) theoretical framework provides a practical way to engage the values of the school organization. This perspective allows social scientists to understand whether or not the values guiding the actions of the organization are enabling the organization to effectively meet its stated goals. This research study analyzes a school’s process of responding to the Black male achievement gap, focusing on the school leader’s efforts to close these gaps. The theory of action framework allows the school leader’s efforts to be mapped, distinguishing between espoused and in-use theories of action and understanding if and how the in-use theories are reconciling value differences within the school organization.

Preparing students for 21st-century learning is a great responsibility and a challenge for many school districts across the country. A large body of research suggests that a school district’s level of awareness with regards to education technology and particularly those technologies that are on a positive trend correlates with a successful technology implementation program. District Administrators that lead the charge of developing technology policies and oversee the various aspect of the technology implementation must possess a solid awareness of modern education technologies and their interplays with curriculum and pedagogy. In addition, district Administrators must have the technological skill to overcome network infrastructure capabilities constraints as well as the leadership skill to prioritize technology.

This study used a survey as its main method of data collection; the survey was guided by three research questions that helped gain valuable insight about California K12 school district Administrators’ familiarity with most relevant modern technologies and strategies for educating students in the 21st-century, knowledge of intermediation between (technology, pedagogy, curriculum), as well as what Administrators perceive as constraints that impede effective technology implementation. The data shows that majority of district Administrators reported to having insufficient knowledge of modern and emerging technologies or digital strategies that are most reliant on technology, in addition, the data suggest that district Administrators are finding funding, training, and infrastructure as main factors that impede implementation of technology appropriate for a 21st-century education. The results of this study propose recommendations that have implications for K12 school districts’ technology awareness, knowledge acquisition for technology preparedness, district technology plan, and minimum technology readiness requirement for school district Administrator positions for the 21st-century.

Teacher turnover is a systemic problem that negatively impacts student success and contributes to the achievement gaps in hard-to-staff schools. Also, in the United States, teacher attrition is a financial burden that diminishes educational resources. The purpose of this study is to explore three models to provide an in-depth understanding of the precise leadership practices that enhance the commitment and retention of teachers. The research grounded in the Path-goal theory utilized a comparative case study method to explore the teacher attrition phenomenon. The following three research questions guided the investigation of three purposefully selected cases to provide a thorough explanation of the problem: (1) What is the relationship between leadership behavior and retention? (2) What is the relationship between leadership behavior and teacher commitment? (3) What are the specific leadership behaviors that promote teacher commitment and retention? Holistic coding and a cross-case analysis revealed that leadership directly influenced teachers’ commitment, and teachers’ commitment had a significant impact on retention. Specifically, supportive leadership practices with a focus on emotional support positively affected teachers' commitment and retention. An aggregation of the identified codes prompted the formation of seven themes for supportive leadership practices that contribute to teacher commitment and retention. The thematic descriptions led to the theoretical composition of seven specific situational leadership practices that positively supported teacher retention.

This study investigates the impact, both proximal and distal, of inter-scholastic sports participation on the academic experiences of Latino male high school students. I utilize the notion of imbrication and a nested ecological framework to interrogate these larger constructs to illuminate differences and commonalities that exist amongst and between Latinos, the type of sport played, and three forms of engagement (cognitive, behavioral, and emotional).

“Do sports impede mobility or do sports enhance mobility?” is a fundamental question in education and interscholastic athletics research. Using the ELS:2002 survey data from 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2012, I conducted a series of statistical analyses to explore the following relationships: 1. between specific U.S. Latino population demographics to sports participation, and academic engagement/achievement/attainment; 2. between participation in high school sport, generally, and academic engagement; 3. between the type of sport played on academic engagement; 4. to test if academic engagement is a mediator between continued sports participation and educational achievement/attainment.

The regression results consistently show that those who participate in athletic activities have higher grades and greater rates of high school/college degree attainment. The relationship between sports participation and academic engagement was either neutral or negative, particularly as it pertained to behavioral engagement. The outcomes imply that institutional practices created to boost athletic participation are unlikely to produce positive effects on engagement unless there are intentional efforts by school officials to create athletic environments that are conducive to academic endeavors.

The students in Title I schools remain the most vulnerable in our education system. Principals in these schools must be exceptional and well prepared. However, principals have been trained in a universal approach that is not sufficient for those who lead schools with high poverty rates as well as culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The purpose of this mixed-methods descriptive study was to gain insight from principals about instructional leadership in Title I schools. Thirty-two principals described their perceptions about the preparation, supports, and challenges necessary to develop instructional leadership, including cultural proficiency for Title I schools. The findings in this study highlight the complexity of the principal role with a specific focus on Title I schools. While principals reported positive experiences as well as support from their leadership preparation programs and school districts, neither was sufficient to fully prepare them to be instructional leaders in Title I schools. Recommendations include a comprehensive, cohesive district coaching and mentoring program that considers elements necessary to build well-prepared and exceptional leaders for Title I schools.

In large school districts, principal supervisors oversee groups of principals. Principal supervisors commonly have titles such as Area or Regional Superintendents, Leadership Directors or Network Leaders. They are situated in the organizational hierarchy between top district leaders (Chief-level positions) and principals, and serve as the link between these two groups. To reflect recent changes in the responsibilities of principals from a focus on school management to a focus on instruction, many school districts have re-conceptualized the role of principal supervisors based on the premise that having principal supervisors provide support to principals about issues that directly relate to teaching and learning is necessary in order to raise school performance. Using qualitative methods, this research study analyzed the role of principal supervisors as middle managers who are expected to develop the instructional capacity of the principals they supervise by examining how the organizational conditions of school districts and the practices of top district leaders and principals influence principal supervisors’ work. Since there is minimal scholarship in the field of education, the conceptual framework of the study draws on theoretical perspectives about middle managers and strategy implementation from the fields of business and organizational behavior—Argyris & Schon’s (1974) theories of action and Guth & MacMillan’s (1986) middle management expectancy theory.

Through written questionnaires and interviews with top district leaders, principal supervisors and principals in a large, urban school district, this research found that principal supervisors do not spend the majority of their time focusing on developing the instructional capacity of the principals they supervise. Rather, as a result of principal supervisors’ positioning in the district’s organizational hierarchy, the organizational conditions and practices of top district leaders and principals, and principal supervisors’ views about their intended job functions, principal supervisors often serve as “brokers”—intermediaries between central office staff members and principals. Honig & Copland (2008) set forth the conceptualization of principal supervisors as “brokers,” and the findings from this study confirm their findings. However, the results of this study extend their research by offering numerous additional ways in which principal supervisors’ brokering serves central office staff members and principals. As a contribution to the existing scholarship about principal supervisors, I further distill Honig & Copland’s (2008) denotation of principal supervisors as brokers by dividing principal supervisors’ broader brokering functions into three more refined categories of buffering, bolstering and bridging, and providing evidence to support these distinctions. I contend that most of these brokering activities are consistent with the district goal of having principal supervisors support principals’ instructional leadership.

The findings from this study have a variety of implications for school districts, including the need for districts to either further refine the role of principal supervisors based on the realities of principal supervisors’ daily work, or to address district organizational conditions and practices in a way that allows principal supervisors to serve their intended instructional role.

Reforms and changes in the public school system across the United States have affected all aspects of public school learning, governance, and the leadership roles of principals. This investigative, qualitative case study explored the educational reforms under Children First, a wide scale reform that re-ordered and re-designed the New York City public school system from 2002 to 2014, and its effects on the leadership roles of principals. Furthermore, it examined the New York City Public School System under this innovative mayoral reform. This qualitative study used interviews, observations, and survey methods of inquiry to examine how three veteran New York City principals perceived their leadership roles and their skills; and how they maintained their leadership roles during Children First. Through Bolman and Deal’s (1991) four frames model, this research explored the number of frames that the participants exhibited while conducting their executive daily practices. The findings of the study highlighted the theory of the four frames model, in the context of NYC principals’ changing roles. The investigation examined the lens that veteran principals used to re-organize, re-adjust, and realign their approaches to educational leadership during Children First. One significant finding of this research was that principals were empowered as a result of Children First.

A mixed method study with a statewide sampling of both superintendents (N = 258) and school board members (N = 543) within the State of Illinois designed to identify the perceptions of the ideal superintendent candidate. Using the study defined professional standard sub-components of the superintendency developed from the American Association of School Administrators Professional Standards for the Superintendency (Hoyle, Bjork, Collier, & Glass, 2005), a quantitative survey was develop and distributed to each superintendent and school board member within the State of Illinois. The following analysis provides a ranking of standard sub-components for each group, along with perception data comparing population characteristics including gender, tenure, type of district and size of district. Continuing from the quantitative analysis, four participants representing an even distribution of superintendents, school board members and gender were selected and interviewed. This qualitative stage of the study was conducted using semi-structured and open ended questioning to delve deeper into the quantitative findings.

This study brings affirmation of the importance of the identified professional standard sub-components while expanding on the perceptions of the role of superintendent through the lived experience of people within and overseeing this critical educational leadership position. The quantitative analysis found that of the twenty-two standard sub-components included within the study, Leadership Qualities (Ethics & Values) was consistently found across both populations as ranking the highest. This was similarly found for the standard sub-component of Strong Communication Skills which was ranked second for both populations. The sub-component of Community / Public Relations Skills was found to be ranked in the top five most highly ranked sub-components for both populations. The qualitative analysis provides a categorical breakdown of each of the twenty identified themes relating to superintendency within three key indicator groupings including Situational, Personal Traits and Skills/Abilities.

Incongruency was identified between the quantitative and qualitative analyses of this study in a single area. Across the quantitative analysis, a total of 19 of the 22 sub-components were found to hold a statistically significant difference between male and female responses. This was in direct contrast to the consistent opinion held by each of the interview participants that gender held no impact on perceptions of the ideal superintendent candidate.

American politicians, policy makers, and educators continue to grapple with ways to improve the academic achievement for all student groups. In spite of recent reform efforts such as the No Child Left Behind Act, evidence suggests that America has yet to adopt changes that not only improve achievement for all student groups but also reduce the high school dropout rate for its highest-risk students. Empirical research suggests that when students participate in the particular extra-curricular offerings of athletics and (on a more individual basis) fine arts, they have greater chances of staying in school and not dropping out. Yet this area of the school curriculum is often elusive for students who have background characteristics that put them at greater risk for school failure. The phenomenon under study is the experience of at-risk student participants in athletics and fine arts, and this inquiry sought to discover what it is about these offerings that may contribute to decreases in school failure. Data collection took place through one-on-one interviews and focus groups with 12 high-risk students who met predetermined selection criteria of being at-risk, participating in athletics and/or fine arts, being on a trajectory toward success in conventional terms, and being willing to talk about these experiences in an interview and focus group. Participants indicated that supportive social connections played a critical role in their initial and/or their ongoing participation. Findings revealed that students’ participation in both athletics and fine arts cultivated and nourished the affective domain of learning by appealing to their interests, passions, and hopes. For participants, both athletics and fine arts appeared to play a significant role in their lives, to the point of being life changing. There were many attributions associated with participation, and included such things as improvement in academic achievement, staying in school and not dropping out, as a result of their participation in both athletics and fine arts. These and other findings identified in this study should provide guidance to politicians, policy makers, educational reformers, educators, communities, families, and students themselves about the value of participation in these specific school offerings. Thus, findings implied that schools should encourage greater pupil participation in the full curriculum and not decrease support to these specific offerings, which could be increasingly vulnerable to cuts during fiscal challenges because athletics and fine arts may often be thought of as a privilege for a select few or an unnecessary part of the school curriculum.

The retention of quality school leaders is critical to school success and improvement (Fuller, Orr, & Young, 2008; National Association of Elementary and Secondary Principals, 2013; School Leaders Network, 2015). It is unlikely that student achievement will improve in schools with rapid turnover of school principals (Mascall & Leithwood, 2010). Research contends that fifty percent of new principals will quit within three years of being hired and those that do stay often leave high poverty schools for less demanding leadership roles (Fuller et al., 2008; School Leaders Network, 2015). School change is more successfully implemented when a principal remains in the position for a minimum of three to five years (Fuller, Young, & Baker, 2007). Understanding what factors lead to principal job retention may provide insight to minimize principal turnover and increase student achievement.

The purpose of this explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study was to investigate the factors that lead to principal job retention in traditional public elementary and secondary schools in a small northeast state.

This study addressed the following research questions: 1. What factors do principals rate as important for job retention in their current position? 2. What is the relationship between principal identified factors related to job retention and the following demographic variables: gender, school urbanicity, school level, school enrollment, socio-economic status, priority school status, overall happiness in their current job, and principal tenure status? 3. How do principals describe the factors that influence their job retention?

During the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to elementary and secondary principals (N=270) to measure perceptions of the factors that contribute to their decisions to persist in their current positions. During the qualitative phase, interviews (n=6) were conducted to explore how principals describe the factors that contribute to job retention. Significant findings were found related to school level, priority school status, overall happiness, and principal tenure. Six prominent themes emerged from the qualitative data.

Results from this study may benefit school superintendents and other educational leaders to help them better identify the conditions necessary to retain school leadership that may lead to student academic success and decrease principal turnover.

Instructional leadership for school leaders is a complex, multifaceted task. Central office leaders can and must support the instructional leadership of school leaders. Yet the central office can sometimes present roadblocks that make it challenging for principals to be effective instructional leaders. Complicating matters is the impact of context, which can influence the ways that the central office supports or hinders the instructional leadership of school administrators.

This exploratory study examined the ways that the central office supported or hindered the instructional leadership of school administrators. It also examined the way that school district size, type and access to resources may have impacted those interactions. Participants included central office staff involved in teaching and learning as well as school principals and assistant principals in six public school districts in Pennsylvania. A qualitative design was employed. Fifty-one participants were interviewed and asked to provide documents related to curriculum, instruction, professional development, and/or assessment.

Central office administrators played a role in managing curriculum, assessment, professional development, and expectations in school districts. Supportive practices included fostering connections between and among school administrators, skill-building/mentoring, and shielding school administrators from community issues and state mandates. Practices that created roadblocks included lack of expertise and quality work products, failure to bring school administrators together around collaborative work, lack of trusting relationships, and failure to shield school administrators from community issues and state mandates. Tension around the balance between school autonomy and coherence to district mandates/needs, the process of change, feedback and accountability, and philosophical differences created additional roadblocks. Context was a relevant factor in the areas of trust and relationships, the amount of autonomy granted to school administrators, and the role of resources.

Four main conclusions were drawn. In the districts studied, there was little work on the part of central office around instructional strategies. The central office played a more direct role as instructional leaders in schools housed in smaller districts. When the central office engaged in supportive practices, fewer tensions were reported by participants within districts. Finally, the central office provided the “glue” that held schools together within a district.