<p> This dissertation explores the need for critical transformative leaders who critique oppression within schools and have a desire for social justice. This study attempts to learn more about the principal practices that maintain or disrupt the status quo and what ritual patterns emerge in relation to the work of principals. Two public elementary school principals were observed over the course of a three-day period to better understand the challenges that critical transformative leaders face in the field of education. Four lessons emerged regarding the ritual patterns of principals studied: (a) an emphasis on solidarity, which creates ends that support status quo practices and restricts the development of dialogue centered on social justice issues, (b) the need to expose the hidden curriculum through praxis and work toward liberation, (c) a limited resistance in leadership practice, and (d) that a theoretical understanding of social justice leadership is not enough for transformation to occur in schools. The lessons learned in this study suggest that the neoliberal influences placed upon public schools and public school principals are a major obstacle preventing principals from doing critical transformative work. Furthermore, the academic coursework that principals are involved in is not a sufficient condition for doing critical transformative work. These themes suggest that there is a great need to find ways to open dialogue amongst principals, school staff, parents, and those who make policy decisions so that these groups can begin examining oppressive conditions in schools. Reflection and action against unjust policies are essential to aspects of praxis for which dialogue can be used as a vehicle for change.</p>

<p> Political advocacy is comprised of speaking on the behalf of a cause or participating as part of a political action group (Weerts, Cabrera, &amp; Sanford, 2010). Because state financial support for public higher education has not been maintained at previous levels, higher education (HE) institutions have been recruiting alumni in an attempt to win state appropriations. As discovered by Avery (2012), very little research exists on the role of alumni associations in political advocacy efforts. In this study, a quantitative research approach was conducted to gather data on D1 public college and university alumni associations. The instrument utilized in this study was an online survey. Executive directors of alumni associations were invited to partake in the political advocacy survey over a 30-day period. The majority of alumni association executive directors reported their alumni association played a minor role in political advocacy. The largest group of alumni directors stated their associations had been politically active for more than 20 years. The most used tactic in political advocacy efforts was email. The least used tactic was to organize and hold public demonstrations. Data were collected for alumni associations nationwide and were compared by region of the country where each alumni association primarily operated. A majority of alumni directors said they did not collaborate with other colleges and universities. Even fewer alumni directors admitted collaborating with non-profit organizations or corporations. Alumni directors were asked to rate their level of support from the two major political parties in state legislatures. Ratings were assigned for political parties, HE committee members, and party leaders. Overall, Democrats and Republicans were rated somewhat similar except in the descriptive options of very supportive and unsupportive.</p>

<p> The goal of this study was to allow high school graduates who attended both traditional and alternative education schools to speak about their experiences in both schools. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of high school graduates who attended an alternative school and explore how they made meaning of their experiences. </p><p> This research was a basic, qualitative study exploring the voices of graduates. All graduates spent at least nine weeks in an alternative school to be deemed fully able to gauge their experience in an alternative school. Interviews were semi-structured and in-depth, allowing the graduates to speak freely in response to the questions. The graduates were also asked to write a letter to a student who may have been in the same situation they were in before being attending the alternative school. A set of a priori codes was developed before interviewing, which was based on information from the literature. </p><p> The findings of the interviews and letters provided rich information as to the importance of alternative education. A recurring theme observed in the results was the impact of instructional personnel on their experience at both the traditional and alternative high schools. Graduates credited the environment to their success, both in terms of the physical and emotional feeling in the building. When asked about making meaning of their experience, four themes emerged from the participants in their interviews: the way the graduates viewed themselves and others at the alternative school, their self-evaluation, their determination, and the role of their family. </p><p> This research can provide practical applications in the field of education. Principals and educational administrators can use this research to help students in alternative high schools, using the information to design programs to fit the needs of their students based on the information provided by the graduates. Teachers at both traditional and alternative schools can use this research to help them reach students who may be struggling as the graduates in this study did.</p>

<p>This study examined the interrelationships between principal beliefs and expectations on the principal&rsquo;s capacity to create the conditions for equity and excellence that result in increased student achievement for all students. The study population consisted of three elementary school principals with demonstrated success in increasing student achievement for all students in the selected schools during the fall and winter of the 2015&ndash;2016 academic year. Data included semi-structured interviews, participant shadowing, and artifacts observed or collected during the study period. Using the portraiture methodology, collected data informed the development of portraits of the participants to answer the research question &ldquo;How do personal beliefs, organizational structures, and decision-making processes influence principal practice in leading for equity?&rdquo; The study found that these three principals demonstrated democratic ethical leadership practices influenced by their personal and professional experiences. The research concluded with the construction of parallels between principal beliefs and the organizational structures and processes they employ to support equity and excellence for all students. </p>

<p> The study was designed to understand the role that the school leadership team (SLT) plays in fostering practices consistent with organizational learning. The study population included five administrators and eight teacher leaders in a large, comprehensive high school in a mid-Atlantic school district. A qualitative case study approach was employed, purposively selecting a site where the SLT members were intentionally involved in distributed leadership based on expertise. The findings indicated that SLT members engaged in four practices associated with improved teaching, all of which, past research suggests, are also aligned with organizational learning: providing feedback, engaging in collaborative decision-making, building positive relationships, and focusing on student results. Collaborative roles facilitated collegial discourse about teaching practices and built a culture of trust among members of the SLT. Collaborative structures supported common goals, values, and norms. Further, fostering a collaborative environment supported knowledge building and the development of shared ideas about teaching and learning. The school&rsquo;s administration, including a strong collaborative principal, provided leadership and support for the work of the SLT throughout the study.</p>

<p> Researchers have explored various antecedents to teacher efficacy in an effort to shape leadership practice to promote this elusive construct. This study was conducted as a meta-analysis of the extant literature regarding principal leadership and teachers&rsquo; sense of self-efficacy. After a comprehensive search, a sample of 29 studies were determined to have met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. These studies referenced Bandura&rsquo;s theory of self-efficacy as a theoretical framework and tested a correlation between teacher efficacy and principal leadership.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to deepen the understanding of how much, if at all, principal leadership affects teachers&rsquo; sense of self-efficacy. The research questions for this study were as follows: (a) To what extent is school principal leadership associated with teachers&rsquo; sense of teaching efficacy? and (b) Does the relationship between school principal leadership and teachers&rsquo; sense of teaching efficacy vary as a function of the measured leadership constructs? (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify the challenges faced by rural school superintendent/principals and the corresponding strategies used to mitigate those challenges. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>

<p> In the last decade district-managed principal preparation programs have become common as a means for school leadership preparation (Leithwood, Seashore-Lewis, Anderson, &amp; Wahlstrom, 2004; Turnbull, Riley, &amp; MacFarlane, 2015), but evaluations of these programs are relatively rare. This dissertation evaluates one such program, the Mary Jane Patterson Fellowship conducted by District of Columbia Public Schools, now in its fourth year. </p><p> When asked to reflect upon programmatic activities within the Fellowship that have been most beneficial for them in their first year, fellows overwhelmingly cited the following programmatic features: cohort membership, access to the Central Office leadership, and the residency internship experience in which principals work closely with an experienced DCPS mentor principal. Notably absent were references to learning sessions, curricular content, and other &ldquo;classroom-based&rdquo; activities designed to improve individuals&rsquo; discrete leadership practices.</p><p> Through initial data collection and analysis, it became apparent that these three programmatic features&mdash;the cohort, access, and experience leading within the DCPS context through the residency&mdash;are beneficial to learning because of their impact on the fellows&rsquo; ability to cultivate social capital. Fellows&rsquo; unique access to aspects of the Fellowship that could be said to contribute to the development of social capital within DCPS is frequently cited as the main habitus that sets fellows apart from non-fellow principal peers. The cultivation of social capital within the Fellowship has led to improved self-awareness, trusting relationships with superiors, openness to feedback, and ease navigating the complexities of DCPS once in the role of principal.</p><p> This dissertation examines how the Patterson Fellowship cultivates social capital among fellows and what characteristics and trends emerge. Further, this study will analyze how fellows utilize the social capital they acquired through the Fellowship in their roles as novice principals. This study has many implications for the field of principal development, namely adding to conversations surrounding how principal preparation programs situated within districts position leaders differently; linking development of social capital within a preparation program to principal practice; and identifying how context, relationships, and positioning can influence principal development and practice. </p>

This study investigated the effectiveness of the two instructional strategies employed in the Atlanta Public Schools for teaching eighth grade mathematics: mastery learning, and the traditional whole group instruction. The purpose of the study was to better understand why eighth grade students in the middle schools scored higher on criterion referenced tests that their high school counterparts, while when the norm referenced tests were the measure the high school students did better. Teaching strategies were the only differential in the two groups. The population was stratified by the three areas of the city and a matched pair of high school and middle school classes were randomly selected. The research utilized an experimental model with a pretest-posttest design. Students in the middle schools were taught seventeen mathematical concepts using a mastery learning model while students attending high schools received instruction on the same concepts in the traditional manner. The results of a two-way ANOVA revealed that there was no significant difference in the mathematical achievement of either group.

<p> Schools exist for the sole purpose of academic achievement, and within every school exists a unique culture that every student navigates and absorbs. It is reasonable to assume a student&rsquo;s environment and the expectations set forth in that environment may have an effect on their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine the elements of rural middle school culture and their potential impact on academic achievement as perceived by administration at a high achieving rural middle school. A rural middle school in Eastern Oregon was chosen for this study. This school received a rating of &ldquo;Outstanding&rdquo; on the 2011&ndash;12 Oregon State Report Card, and when the report card rating system changed, they received a rating of &ldquo;5&rdquo; out of 5, which is above average on the 2012&ndash;13 and 2013&ndash;14 Oregon State Report Cards, identifying them as high achieving. Oregon did not assign ratings to schools for the 2014&ndash;15 report cards due to the transition between types of state testing, but this school performed higher than the state targets in all tested areas. This qualitative case study was conducted using four days of observations, surveys, interviews, a focus group, pictures, and field notes. The administration interviews and surveys were used to gain perspective on their perception of the school culture and its relation to the academic success experienced. The student focus group, parent and teacher surveys, observations, pictures, and field notes were used to triangulate the data to determine support or non-support for the administrative perspective. The results of this research indicated that the administration at this high achieving rural middle school perceives the research-based elements of culture, Unity of Vision, Role of Communication, Behavior Management, and Students Feel Safe/Cared For, as present in their school culture and responsible for student achievement. Administration also perceives they practice the transformational leadership elements of Building Collaborative Relationships, Holding High Performance Expectations, and Developing Shared Vision and Building Consensus most predominantly and these help foster the culture they attribute to their academic achievement. These perceptions were corroborated in full or part by teachers, students, and the researcher as shown through the survey, focus group, and observation data.</p>