As early as 1954, families of children who had been segregated into separate spaces fought and succeeded in having their concerns heard in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. In 1975, P.L. 94-142, Education for the Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) was important because it exposed the history of family-school relations, addressing the multiple forms of inequity, particularly the exclusion of children with dis/abilities from U.S. public schools (Valle & Connor, 2011). Although EAHCA legislation was created to provide solutions to the problems of special education, it appeared to have provided an unequal environment in which the families with the most economic resources could advocate for their children and obtain access to better educational opportunities (Ong-Dean, 2009). Goodwin, Cheruvu, and Genishi (2008) described these policies as based on the “culturally deprived paradigm that compares racially, culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse peoples to a White, middle-class standard” (p. 4). In this manner, these educational legislative policies are problematic as they have defined parent involvement as meaning families of culturally and linguistically different backgrounds are expected to act or interact with school professionals in particular ways. Moreover, these conceptualizations of parent involvement continue to privilege and perpetuate professional viewpoints based on a Eurocentric middle-class standard (Sleeter, 2001). Bakhtinian theories of language are used to understand how families describe their experiences as they encounter the deficit discourse of parent involvement used by school professionals. This is important because professional jargon or “stratified language” presents a danger in that it is replete with value judgments and beliefs (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 293), assuming power that then comes to inform the ways families understand their experiences and their selves in school contexts. This tells us that it is imperative to know how families of children with dis/abilities experience their communication with school professionals as there is a danger that the discourse of parent involvement will continue to perpetuate particular definitions of family participation that disqualify family knowledge by silencing the potential strengths and contributions of minoritized families (Lareau & Munoz, 2012). Moreover, the way minoritized families experience school professionals and how this is connected to how they come to be involved in their child’s education is not clear. This study, conducted just before and during the coronavirus pandemic, drew from Disability Studies (DS), disability critical race studies (DisCrit), and Intersectionality theories. It examined family-school communication being fully inclusive of all the ways families engage in the education of their children with dis/abilities at the crossroads of race, ethnicity, dis/ability, class, language, and culture (Hernández-Saca et al., 2018; Annamma et al., 2013). To rethink traditional notions of what counts as knowledge, pláticas (personal exchanges) revealed critical raced-gendered epistemologies that allowed the experiential knowledge of Latinx mothers of children with dis/abilities to be viewed as a strength (Delgado Bernal, 2002).

The oversight of systematic approaches to reducing voluntary employee turnover decreases educational institutions’ budgets and performance. In the United States, public schools spend over $2.22 billion annually in voluntary employee turnover costs. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies public school leaders use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The population consisted of 3 leaders from 1 public school located in Georgia, with successful experience reducing voluntary employee turnover. The conceptual framework for this study was grounded in Vroom’s expectancy theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews and organizational documents and artifacts. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data collected: building a collaborative and supportive work environment, creating work motivation, and implementing incentives, rewards, and professional development. The implications for positive social change include the potential to reduce the local government’s expenditures associated with the replacement of employees and to increase resources for supporting social initiatives and more effective instruction for students in the community.

According to the laws of Florida, the county is the unit for the organization and administration of schools. The Constitution of Florida requires the Legislature to provide for the election for a term of four years of a County Superintendent of Public Instruction. The laws also provide for the election for four-year terms of five members of the Board of Education and for three members of the Board of Trustees. Other county school personnel are appointed. / "A Paper." / At head of title: Florida State University. / "November, 1948." / Typescript. / Advisor: H. W. Dean, First Major. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts." / "Organization of County School Personnel - Jefferson County [Florida] (Chart)--P. 1. / Includes bibliographical references.

As technologies for learning become increasingly available in K-12 schools, the role and responsibilities of campus principals continue to evolve. Incorporating technologies in schools requires shifts in practices, the development of new skills, and in some cases, changes in the mindset of stakeholders. Schools should be capable of absorbing the knowledge and creating the systemic structures required for the implementation ICTs. The purpose of this study was to research the principals' perspective to lead the implementation of ICTs for learning in public schools. As campus leaders, principals are increasingly required to support the utilization of ICTs for classroom instruction. It is of particular importance, therefore, to study and explore the needs school principals identify to lead the implementation of technologies for learning. More specifically, the goal was to gather relevant data to analyze topics that campus principals believe positively and negatively influence the implementation of ICTs in schools.

[pt] O processo de ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa em contexto escolar tem sido avaliado como ineficiente pelos sujeitos envolvidos, a saber, professores, professores em formação e alunos, como apontam pesquisas recentes. Apesar de reconhecerem a importância desse idioma em suas vidas, tanto em âmbito pessoal quanto profissional, há uma crença que se perpetua no imaginário das pessoas, dentro e fora do ambiente escolar, de que a escola não é o local de se aprender uma língua estrangeira. Contudo, percebe-se que há uma crescente atenção a essa língua estrangeira pelas autoridades educacionais, como, por exemplo, a inserção desse componente curricular no Programa Nacional do Livro Didático (PNLD) em 2011. Sendo assim, esta tese buscou investigar as representações sociais de sujeitos (gestores, professores de inglês, professores de outras disciplinas e alunos) de duas escolas públicas (uma estadual e uma federal) sobre o processo de ensino/aprendizagem de inglês. A teoria das representações sociais desenvolvida por Moscovici (1961) é o principal referencial teórico da presente tese, que também considerou a perspectiva mais estrutural de tal teoria, denominada de teoria do núcleo central (ABRIC, 1976). Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com cada um dos 26 participantes. Após análise de conteúdo e do discurso dos participantes, essa pesquisa revelou as representações sociais nucleares e periféricas sobre o ensino/aprendizagem de inglês, assim como o posicionamento discursivo dos mesmos. Os resultados revelam que a língua inglesa é considerada importante, mas ainda é muito desvalorizada em ambiente escolar. Acredita-se que saber inglês é saber falar a língua, mas a habilidade de comunicação oral não é desenvolvida nas salas de aula. Conclui-se, portanto, que as representações sociais aqui elucidadas possam vir a informar políticas públicas, para que haja melhoria da qualidade desse ensino em contexto escolar. / [en] English education at schools in Brazil has been regarded as inefficient by teachers (both pre- and in-service) and students. Although they acknowledge the importance of learning English for their personal lives and professional careers, they do not think that English classes at schools allow one to learn this foreign language. In spite of that perception, English language education has been receiving increasing attention from the authorities at different levels, e.g., English subject was inserted in the National Program of Books (known as PNLD) in 2011. Considering those efforts, this thesis aimed at revealing the social representations of English education by listening to the voices of school managers, English teachers, teachers of other disciplines and students, in two public secondary schools (one run by the State of Rio de Janeiro and the other by the federal government). The theory of social representations developed by Moscovici (1961) was the theoretical framework of this research, which has also considered the structural perspective of the referred theory, the central nucleus theory (ABRIC, 1976). As regards to the methodology, a total of 26 participants were interviewed. After content and discourse analyses of the interviews, this research has revealed the nuclear and peripheral social representations of English education, as well as the way participants positioned themselves through discourse. Results showed that the English language is regarded as important, but is still considered inefficient in school classrooms. Participants believe that learning English is learning how to speak it, but this skill is not developed at the school environment. This study may lead us to the thinking that measures should be taken in order to improve the quality of English education at Brazilian public schools.

The purposes of this study were to assess the organizational climate of selected elementary and secondary attendance centers in Texas and to determine if there is a relationship between certain variables and the openness of the climate in these attendance centers. The variables considered in this study were: 1. the length of a principal's incumbency; 2. the age of a principal; 3. the size of the professional staff; 4. the departments of instruction in secondary attendance centers; 5. the grade levels of instruction in the elementary attendance centers. All public school districts in Texas with an average daily attendance of 5,000 or more were included. Random selection was used to determine the sample of districts to be included. A stratified sample of seventy-five attendance centers was then chosen. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire was administered. A correlational study design was used utilizing pearson-product moment statistical techniques.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between primary teacher beliefs, traditional or developmentally appropriate; and primary teacher practice, traditional or constructivist. A multi-case study design was employed for this qualitative research study. Eight teachers completed the Primary Teacher Questionnaire (PTQ) to determine the study group. Based on their responses to the teacher beliefs questionnaire, 3 teachers were chosen to further participate in the study. Three main research questions were analyzed with individual and cross-case analysis. Triangulation of data included observations, Assessment of Practices in Early Elementary Classrooms (APEEC) scores determined from observation data, and individual teacher interviews. The 3 teachers' initial data from the questionnaire were also used. The teacher with traditional beliefs demonstrated traditional practices. The teacher with developmentally appropriate beliefs demonstrated constructivist practices. The teacher whose beliefs fell in the middle demonstrated practices that were more constructivist than traditional.

This study was concerned with the following problem: What plan or procedures should the Lodi Elementary and Lodi Union High School Districts develop for civil defense and disaster preparedness in coordination with city, county, and state agencies? The specific purposes of this study were as follows: (1) To determine the need for a civil defense plan for the Lodi school districts.; (2) To determine the scope of civil defense plans for the Lodi school districts.; (3) To analyze various civil defense and disaster plans of other school districts.; (4) To investigate what civil defense and disaster plans have been formulated as the national and state levels.; (5) To develop a proposed plan for Lodi schools which will be in harmony with all other civil defense and disaster agencies, especially those within San Joaquin County.; and (6) To formulate a long range civil defense and disaster plan which can be adopted by the Lodi school districts.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to uncover the reasons why qualified African American administrators in California were not pursuing or ascending to a superintendency. Four questions served as the basis for the research. Using the Superintendent-Level Administrator Review Instrument (SLARI), a three-part questionnaire developed by the researcher, data were gathered from African American superintendent-level administrators in California who held the title of deputy superintendent, associate superintendent, assistant superintendent or executive director. Part I of the questionnaire asked demographic information of each respondent. Part II asked for the respondent's level of interest in the superintendency. Part III asked the respondent to use a Likert scale to indicate how 46 items had impacted his/her decision regarding a superintendency. Qualitative data was also collected by using 17 semistructured interview questions. The SLARI data were analyzed to determine the level of influence of each item. Interview transcripts were analyzed using content analysis and generalized as findings. The findings indicate there are at least 20 variables which have contributed to why more African American superintendent-level administrators are not pursuing or ascending to a superintendency. Some of the variables included lack of mentoring and networking, lack of community support, gender bias towards African American females, racism, lack of bilingual skills, perception of being incompetent, lack of trust, negative media pressure, low salary, headhunters' unfamiliarity with superintendent-level administrators, general lack of experience, negative impact of politics, lack of business skills, poor writing skills, lack of family support, and lack of self-confidence. The findings also indicate that negative actions of boards of education have significantly contributed to the respondents' decision to not pursue a superintendency. Respondents offered several skills, knowledge and strategies they needed to assist them in obtaining a superintendency. The researcher also identified four processes which will help increase the number of African American superintendents including strategic recruitment efforts, ongoing professional development opportunities in school business management and finance, mentoring and networking. Finally, eight recommendations are offered to help increase the number of African American superintendents in California.