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<p>  </p> <p>This qualitative exploratory case study uses phenomenology to conduct an investigation of teacher collaboration and teacher empowerment within a Professional Learning Community (PLC) at a Title 1 elementary school. This study examined the experiences of five elementary and three administrators to learn about their perspectives on teacher collaboration and teacher empowerment at their school with a focus on discovering how administrators empower teachers and support teacher collaboration. The Professional Learning Community Organizer (PLCO) (Appendix A) developed by Hipp and Huffman (2010) is the framework utilized to assist in analyzing the responses from the respondents regarding collaboration and shared leadership in this study. From the responses from the interviews, the researcher identified in each of the five dimensions how the administrators initiated, implemented, and supported teacher collaboration and teacher empowerment at KES. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The emergent themes identified in this study were consistent with the research related to teacher collaboration and teacher empowerment in a PLC in Chapter 2. The themes include: 1) supportive relationships, 2) collaboration, 3) collective responsibility for all students, and 4) teacher empowerment. From these themes, three assertions were gleaned: 1) Administrators must create a culture of collaboration; 2) Administrators must create an environment that is conducive to supportive, trusting, respectful, and collaborative relationships; and 3) Administrators must create an environment that promotes and encourages shared leadership and teacher empowerment.</p>

Addressing today's complex environmental challenges requires learning, collaboration across sectors, and long-term collective action. This dissertation examines the role of place-based climate adaptation workshops can play in helping communities as they grapple with the current and anticipated effects of anthropogenic climate change. The manuscript contains five chapters. The introduction (Chapter 1) presents the phenomenon of place-based climate adaptation workshops and offers an overview of the research in this dissertation. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are stand-alone manuscripts. Chapter 2 draws upon surveys with participants in 33 workshops that took place in the United States between 2017 and 2020 to identify perceptions of meaningful outcomes and effective workshop elements. Chapter 3 describes a comparative case study that delves more deeply into 30 of the workshops from Chapter 2 and includes interviews with facilitators and local organizers to identify which workshop characteristics were most often associated with subsequent adaptation-related planning and action. In Chapter 4, we examine learning processes and outcomes in eight additional adaptation workshops held in communities in the United States from 2021 and 2023 by testing a hypothesized learning typology and exploring how it aligns with the theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Our findings suggest that workshops contribute to learning, strengthened feelings of efficacy, and deepened relationships, which, in turn, can yield meaningful planning and action outcomes. We suggest that workshops also expand reference groups and foster norms around climate change adaptation. We identify a range of factors that are associated with higher-performing workshops, including the presence of a local champion, co-design of workshop with participants, sustained support from workshop organizers or a backbone support organization, and a suite of effective facilitation techniques. Our exploration of learning in climate adaptation workshops indicated that learning takes place within distinct declarative, procedural, and relational domains and across tacit and explicit dimensions. We found no differences in participants' learning outcomes between in-person and online workshops. Our findings suggest that effective workshops could be designed to help participants articulate, share, and combine disparate sets and forms of knowledge. In the conclusion (Chapter 5) , I synthesize our findings and reflect on my Ph.D. experience. / Doctor of Philosophy / Tackling the kinds of intertwined social and environmental problems facing the world today requires that groups collaborate, coordinate, and learn together to take long-term action. One place where communities are coming together to learn, plan, and prepare to act is in climate adaptation workshops. These events are designed to help communities as they grapple with the current and future effects of human-caused climate change. My dissertation focuses on theses workshops, the kinds of learning that takes place in them, and the actions that happen as a result. The introduction (Chapter 1) describes place-based climate adaptation workshops and offers an overview of the research in this dissertation. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are stand-alone manuscripts. Chapter 2 explores what workshop participants think were meaningful outcomes and effective workshop elements of the process in which they participated. Chapter 3 goes deeper into a subset of the workshops from chapter 2 and tries to identify which workshop features were most often linked to planning and action. In Chapter 4, we examine learning processes and outcomes in eight additional adaptation workshops held in communities in the United States from 2021 and 2023. We examine the kinds of learning that takes place and the ways that knowledge is shared within a group. Our findings suggest that workshops contribute to learning, empower participants, and deepened relationships, which, in turn, can yield meaningful planning and action outcomes. We suggest that workshops can also contribute to a shared identity around climate change adaptation. We identify a range of factors that are associated with higher-performing workshops, including the presence of a local champion, co-design of workshop with participants, sustained support from workshop organizers or dedicated community organizations, and a suite of effective facilitation techniques. Our exploration of learning in climate adaptation workshops indicated that important aspects of learning for adaptation involve facts and figures, processes, and learning about the group of individuals involved in adaptation. Each of these elements have easily articulated elements, as well as aspects that are less easily shared. One way workshops can help advance adaptation is by guiding groups as they make their knowledge more readily sharable. We found no differences in participants' learning outcomes between in-person and online workshops. Our findings suggest that effective workshops could be designed to help participants articulate, share, and combine disparate sets and forms of knowledge. In the conclusion (Chapter 5), I synthesize our findings and reflect on my Ph.D. experience.

The purpose of this study was to identify specific cultural elements within one elementary school to provide information about the school's identity and functioning. These elements included values, beliefs, play, rituals, ceremonies, and cultural objects. Schools are distinct and unique cultures. The culture of each school building drives the daily happenings. The culture either enhances or stifles growth. By creating an awareness of school culture, educators can better understand the meaning of their day to day activities and how their school evolves towards continuous improvement. The aim of interpreting a school culture is thus to understand meaning and symbols as they have been created by the members of the culture (Schultz, 1995). This study uncovered evidence to demonstrate that the awareness of stakeholders of a school's culture influences how the culture works. Interviews, artifact collection, digital photographs, meeting analysis, and fieldnotes from observations comprise the data. The interviews were conducted with educators, staff, and parents to ascertain their perceptions of their culture. Artifacts include documents such as weekly bulletins and meeting agendas that reflect the cultural workings. These focus on personal and social aspects of the culture such a party invitation, which spoke of the members' personal and interpersonal connections. Digital photographs were taken of inanimate objects within the building that visually depicted the values of the culture. Meetings play a key role in cultivating and representing a culture's values and beliefs. Meeting analysis helped to emphasize how this culture made decisions and how the culture structured its daily rhythm. Fieldnotes based on direct observations of meetings an - 3 -d of key events within specific locations in and around the school building were taken. Data sources were analyzed across interconnected themes. These themes explain how the culture worked and why its members did the things they did. This study isolated specific cultural elements, specified the internal relationships among those elements, and then characterized the whole culture based on the current knowledge of the culture. / Ed. D.

The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the variables affecting peer coaching, (2) the characteristics of peer coaching, and (3) to determine the outcomes of peer coaching. Participants were interviewed individually, face-to-face to gain insight into peer coaching. The interview questions were developed around the three domains in the conceptual framework: variables affecting peer coaching, the characteristics of peer coaching, and the outcomes of peer coaching. This study was conducted in one school division in the Commonwealth of Virginia . Two schools within the school division were randomly selected by the superintendent of schools for participation. Twelve teachers and the principals of these two schools participated in the study. Data were gathered using a teacher questionnaire, a principal questionnaire, and face-to-face interviews with the teachers. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the interview data. The variables found to affect peer coaching were: (a) trust, (b) commitment, (c) administrative support, (d) environment (non-threatening), (e) time (constraints), and (f) teacher attributes. The characteristics of peer coaching were: (a) user friendliness, (b) instructive training, (c) the centrality of observation, and (d) conferencing. The outcomes of peer coaching were: (a) creates support networks, (b) impacts instructional and classroom management practices, and (c) confirms instructional and classroom management practices. These findings may be helpful to school administrators and teachers who are interested in learning about peer coaching and how peer coaching can serve as an ongoing staff development intervention to bring about changes in teachers' instructional and classroom management practices. <strong></strong> / Ed. D.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of collaborative learning strategies on formulating solutions to linear programming word problems that were designed to incorporate problem-solving skills. Forty-six students majoring in business at a small southwest college in Virginia participated in the study. After an instruction session, a study period, and a question and answer discussion, participants completed the test instrument based upon random assignment to three treatment groups. These included individual study with individual test taking (control), paired study with individual test taking, and paired study with paired test taking. All participants returned in 17 days to complete a posttest individually having received no further instruction in linear programming theory. The following null hypothesis was examined: No differences in treatment means measuring problem-solving abilities would be found based on students' test and posttest scores using two treatment groups of collaborative study, with collaborative or individual test taking, and a control group of individual study with individual test taking. After satisfying the assumptions of no difference in ability in the treatment groups, establishing significant influence of ability on test score and posttest score variables, and establishing homogeneity of regression, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis was rejected. Treatment had a significant effect on the variance for the test score variable, F = 3.92, p < .05, and for the posttest score variable, F = 4.44, p < .05. Newman-Keuls post hoc test showed significant differences in the adjusted means of the test score variable between the individual study with individual test taking group (72.22) and the paired study with paired test taking group (87.86). For the posttest score variable, the Newman-Keuls post hoc test revealed significant differences between the adjusted means of the individual study with individual test taking group (36.25) and the paired study with individual test taking group (59.20), and between the adjusted means of the individual study with individual test taking group (36.25) and the paired study with paired test taking group (55.77). Implications of findings and recommendations for further research were discussed. / Ph. D.

This study was designed to examine whether there is an association between the activities suggested by a federally mandated Title 1 learning compact and the reading achievement of at-risk fourth grade students. In addition, the researcher investigated the relationship between specific home and school parent involvement activities and student reading scores. Specifically, connections between reading comprehension achievement and the following parent involvement variables were examined: (1) homework involvement, (2) reading together, (3) monitoring of television viewing, (4) volunteering in the school, and (5) supporting school activities. The subjects used for this study were fourth grade students who were enrolled in a Title 1 reading program. Data for the study was obtained from surveys given to teachers, the Title 1 students, and their parents. Reading achievement scores were obtained from fall and spring administrations of the reading comprehension subtest from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the gains between the two measures. Chi square analyses were used to examine whether the levels of involvement by specific parties on the independent variables were associated with different levels of reading comprehension achievement. A second analysis was done with analysis of variance procedures. The study did not find any significant relationships between reading comprehension achievement and the total degree of involvement by all or either parents, teacher, and students on the learning compact. When specific parental involvement variables were examined, however, some differences among the groups emerged. A significant positive association was found between the degree of homework involvement and achievement while a significant negative relationship was found between the level of parental support and reading achievement. Parents' answers to the open-ended questions indicated that almost forty percent (38.8) of them would like less demands on parents or changes made in the school climate. The usefulness of an unidimensional index of parental involvement is called into question and the results are discussed within the context of instructional implications. / Ed. D.

This case study examined the principles of a professional learning community (PLC) in an elementary school setting and their impact on instructional practices and effect on the reading achievement of English Language Learner (ELL) students. The cohort of students in this study was followed from grades three through five. The data sources included a principal interview, a focus group discussion with teachers, classroom observations and the Standards of Learning reading scores for ELL students. The data from transcripts were analyzed using triangulation and coding techniques. The results of this study are a narrative description of a professional learning community used to impact instructional practices and reading achievement, the perceptions of a principal and teachers, and classroom observations. The data from interviews and the focus group suggest that teacher and principal perceptions of the professional learning community and its principles support their instructional practice. There appeared to be no consistent pattern of performance of individual scores during the study period. The PLC principles of collaboration, collective inquiry and continuous improvement were identified most often to be perceived as effective in the delivery of instruction. Staff development and providing adequate planning time for teachers are recommended as essential practices to a professional learning community. / Ph. D.

This study describes the evolution of a nonprofit corporation, The Cottage Family and Child Care Center, from its conceptual stage in 1989 through its institutional stage (or first two years of operation) in 1994 in order to identify the ingredients required to create and to sustain a viable educational organization. Research questions for the study included: (1) What were the environmental conditions that necessitated the creation of a parent and child center? (2) What was the vision of the leaders? (3) In what way did diverse groups come together on this project, and why were they able to join forces and to work together toward a common goal? (4) What were the major challenges along the continuum from conception to completion of two years of operation, and how were they handled? The research method employed was an interpretive study of a single case. Qualitative interviewing of five founders of the organization was the primary method for obtaining data. Additional sources of data included legal documents of the nonprofit organization, newsletters, personal calendars of the researcher, foundation proposals for funding, and "before" and "after" photographs of the site. Data analysis included a multistage process of reading verbatim transcripts of the long interviews until categories and patterns were distinguished and themes were identified. The findings suggest that vision, money, power, trust, expertise, contacts, time, risk-taking, and tenacity are required for a collaborative venture in creating a new organization. The theories that emerged from the data can be categorized as: the significance of serendipity, the role of specific leaders in emerging settings, and the conundrum of collaborative education. Implications of the findings for future initiatives include: the benefit of out-of-the-box thinking, the need for collaborative outreach, the value of disciplined passion, the diverse role of the university, and the importance of funding. The research contributes to the general field of organization study, especially the birth and early stages in the life cycle of an organization. It also gives both a developmental description and a theoretical overlay of one organization's efforts to collaborate with other nonprofit organizations in an attempt to address the needs of the at-risk child in a holistic, comprehensive, and preventive manner. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this research was to examine the perceptions of collaboration and individual communication skills among advanced high school students. Senior students from an Academic Year Governor's School for science and math, all of whom were enrolled in a 9-week leadership, teamwork, and communications course, participated in this mixed methods study. Pre and post surveys were administered to determine participants' perceptions of collaboration and their own communications skills and whether those perceptions changed after completing the course. Each student answered Likert-style questions taken from Zhuang et al. (2008) that categorized perceptions of three factors of collaboration: cooperation skills, advocating and influencing skills, and negotiation skills. A final open-ended question solicited elaboration regarding perceptions of collaboration. Junior students at the same school were not enrolled in the course but were asked to participate in the study as a comparison group. Two tailed t-tests revealed no statistically significant differences between the pre-survey results of the seniors and the juniors. T-tests also revealed no significant differences between the pre and post data for the juniors. However, senior participants had significantly more positive perceptions of collaboration overall; cooperation skills; and advocating and influencing skills; with a non-significant increase in negotiation skills, skills which were not specifically addressed in the nine-week course. The open-ended responses indicated that the seniors perceived collaboration in a more positive way when they were grouped with other students who were engaged and motivated. Students also indicated that positive collaborative experiences allowed students to hear different views and bring ideas together. More positive responses and fewer negative or neutral responses were noted in the post-survey data. The results of this study suggest that when the skills of collaboration and communication are specifically taught, students are more likely to view collaboration positively, recognize the benefits of collaboration both in school and in the workforce, and enjoy the experience of collaborating. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this research was to examine the perceptions of collaboration and individual communication skills among advanced high school students. Academically advanced senior students, all of whom were enrolled in a 9-week leadership, teamwork, and communications course, participated in this study that contained both quantitative and qualitative research data. Surveys were administered at the start of the course and then at the completion of the course to determine participants' perceptions of collaboration and their own communications skills and whether those perceptions changed after completing the course. Each student answered questions with responses including "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," "usually," and "always" taken from Zhuang et al. (2008). The results of the survey categorized perceptions of three factors of collaboration: cooperation skills, advocating and influencing skills, and negotiation skills. A final open-ended question solicited elaboration regarding perceptions of collaboration. Junior students at the same school were not enrolled in the course but were asked to participate in the study as a comparison group. The analysis of the results of the pre-survey data of the seniors and the juniors revealed a good basis for comparison. The data also showed little change of perceptions for the juniors over the 9-week period. However, senior participants had significantly more positive perceptions of collaboration overall; cooperation skills; and advocating and influencing skills; with a non-significant increase in negotiation skills, skills which were not specifically addressed in the nine-week course. The open-ended responses indicated that the seniors perceived collaboration in a more positive way when they were grouped with other students who were engaged and motivated. Students also indicated that positive collaborative experiences allowed students to hear different views and bring ideas together. More positive responses and fewer negative or neutral responses were noted in the post-survey data. The results of this study suggest that when the skills of collaboration and communication are specifically taught, students are more likely to view collaboration positively, recognize the benefits of collaboration both in school and in the workforce, and enjoy the experience of collaborating.