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<p> The purpose for this study was to add to the current research on the perceptions of superintendent preparation programs within Pennsylvania by examining how participants felt their preparation program prepared them for their current role as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, or assistant to the superintendent. One of the school board&rsquo;s most important responsibilities is selecting a superintendent who is prepared for the position. A superintendent is the top administrative position within a school district with roles and responsibilities that have evolved and changed over time. </p><p> With these various responsibilities, changes in preparation programs must occur in order to prepare qualified candidates for this role. Studies have occurred around the topic of superintendent preparation programs; however, no studies have been conducted examining superintendents&rsquo; perceptions of the preparation programs within Pennsylvania. </p><p> This study used a mixed-method sequential design to answer the four research questions utilizing a survey and an interview. The survey was used to examine how the participants perceive how their superintendent training program prepared them to perform their daily responsibilities as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, or assistant to the superintendent. For the qualitative component of the study, participants were chosen purposefully from those who completed the survey to participate in an interview. Three individuals from each position participated in the interview process.</p><p>

<p> School reforms in the 21st century led the educational systems in the United States to raise levels of achievement in order to compete globally with international students. The intention of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative was to reduce the achievement gap among student subgroups, compared to high achieving students. The School Improvement Grant (SIG) served as a funding resource for underperforming schools to quickly improve academically. Schools underperforming for five consecutive years received mandates from the state and federal governments to select a turnaround model to increase student achievement. </p><p> This mixed methods study investigated the implementation of the turnaround model, while improving leadership characteristics, raising student achievement, engaging professional learning communities, and retaining teachers in a Midwestern public high school. A qualitative study was conducted with two focus groups, one with parents and the other with teachers. Both groups were critical with EGJ High School regaining its accreditation status. The themes that emerged were similar across both focus groups and featured theories of educational frameworks needed to increase student results. </p><p> A quantitative study was also conducted by surveying parents, teachers, assistant principals, and instructional coaches to analyze their perceptions on the way leadership guided turning around the school. Underperforming schools were always seeking ways for school improvement. The data and results from this study specified support systems required for a successful turnaround school.</p><p>

<p>Currently, three out of 10 parents fear for their students? safety while attending classes within the public school setting (McCarthy, 2015). This study focused on two elements that directly affect safety within schools: visitor management and intruder prevention. To analyze each of these two elements, qualitative methodology was utilized through four focus groups to determine the perceptions of Elementary school administrators, parents, and school resource officers on school safety. After conducting multiple interviews, four common themes emerged. The first theme was monitoring access to school buildings. Participants asserted taking an active approach in this area would increase the overall safety of students. The second theme discussed by multiple participants was to take additional measures to make the entrances of school buildings secure. The third theme that emerged was the importance of the role of the school resource officer. The fourth and final theme that developed was the importance of training and communication for administrators, school resource officers, staff, students, parents, and community members. After facilitating focus groups and analyzing the data obtained, it became evident the measure of a safe school depends on two variables. These variables are (1) to create a safe building for students managed by procedures designed with student safety at the forefront and (2) to employ trained individuals with the purpose of generating a positive and secure atmosphere. The data collected in this study could prove useful to district administrators wishing to design a safe and secure learning environment for students.

<p> This study explored the role of school superintendents and board of education trustees in closing the achievement gap, which can be defined as &ldquo;the disparity in academic performance between groups of students&rdquo; (Muhammad, 2015, p. 14). District leaders (superintendents and school boards) set the priorities in their school systems and have the power to promote or thwart educational equity (Skrla, McKenzie, &amp; Scheurich, 2009). The purpose of this qualitative study was to highlight effective practices of superintendents and school boards that have prioritized closing achievement gaps and have succeeded in narrowing them. This study involved four case studies and made use of interviews, observations, and document review. The data revealed that the most formidable challenges to closing achievement gaps were increasingly diverse student needs, stakeholders&rsquo; deficit-thinking about students, lack of family engagement, and financial obstacles. In order to overcome those challenges, the researcher found that superintendents used various strategies, including setting a vision for equity at the district level, using data to drive decision-making, hiring quality teachers and leaders, using district funds resourcefully, providing rigorous curricula for students, and creating innovative academic and non-academic programs for students. Although there is academic literature on the challenges that school superintendents face in closing achievement gaps and the strategies that they have used to overcome them, there is a lack of research on how superintendents and their school boards collaborate to narrow achievement gaps. The aim of this study was to address that gap in the literature. Data revealed that district leaders collaborated to narrow gaps by setting district visions, goals, and policies, sharing information, and partnering on the budgeting and hiring processes. </p><p>

<p> This research involved examination of the causes of school violence, attitudes concerning violence, and preventative measures used by schools in the United States in relation to problems and solutions found in southwest Missouri schools. The goal of this dissertation was to study perceptions of school violence in the United States to form a better understanding of what schools are doing to combat violence and why these actions are seen as necessary for the safety of students, staff, and faculty within schools. To gather relevant information for the study, a literature review was conducted, followed by a written questionnaire administered to school superintendents of southwest Missouri. This research revealed two significant findings. First, school superintendents in southwest Missouri generally consider their communities to be safe and the likelihood of school violence to be low. Second, the main influences for school violence are perceived to be factors outside of the school over which administrators have little control. These findings reveal the need for more involvement of families and communities in order to combat violence before it reaches the schools.</p>

<p> Research showed a correlation between highly effective teachers and student achievement. Studies also indicated school administrators play a vital role in overall student achievement by hiring quality teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the hiring process used by a Suburban Midwest Public School from 2011 through 2016. During this time, the research site used a systematic approach using various screening tools, JobFit, TeacherFit, and Morgan &amp; Associates Video Interviews, as a way to reduce the time spent on reviewing application materials while hiring highly effective teachers. JobFit, TeacherFit, and Morgan &amp; Associates Video Interview Screener all claim to provide school districts with data, which is predictive of highly qualified and effective teacher candidates. However, there is little evidence to support the claim. This study analyzed the possible relationship of the screeners used in combination of each other; the study also looked at each screener independent from the others to measure the possible relationship of each screener to teacher evaluation scores. The study also used survey data from local administrators to analyze the use of the tools to identify high quality applicants. By completing a quantitative analysis of approximately 350 applicants hired during the five-year period using the pre-interview screener tools, the researcher determined JobFit, TeacherFit, and Morgan &amp; Associates Video Interview scores are not strong predictors of teacher quality when used in isolation. Instead, the researcher suggests using these tools as part of a hiring system, which goes beyond screening. The interview process must also include a building level interview, teaching demonstration, a collaborative activity, and reference checks from a previous supervisor as a way to increase the probability of hiring a highly effective teacher.</p><p>

Donald Schon (1979) in his article, "Generative Metaphor: A Perspective on Problem-Setting on Social Policy," noted that the main difficulty of analyzing social policy was defining how the problem was "set." By "set" he meant the depiction of "what needs fixing" in the metaphors generated from a troublesome situation. Consequently, for Schon, evaluating social policy meant evaluating not the answer but the question. This dissertation, likewise, has focused on the question, the metaphors which underlay the setting of problems concerning the public policy of schools of choice.;Using the work of cognitive linguists George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, I identified and analyzed metaphorical expressions culled from three different groups of academicians who favor schools of choice. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of the dissertation are divided respectively into representative writings by advocates of (1) public-private schools of choice; (2) private only schools of choice; and (3) public only schools of choice.;Metaphors, according to Lakoff and Johnson "play a constitutive role in the structuring of our experience." They are a link, according to Lakoff and Johnson, to the construction and reproduction of our culture. to understand the conceptions underlying the metaphorical expressions used by schools of choice advocates, the metaphors were grouped into larger categories. These larger categories included "life is a game," "systems are containers," "causation is emerging," "systems are hierarchies," "market competition is a success story," "systems are balancing machines," "education is a structure," "controlled choice is a rational argument," and "choice schools are a link to the community".;The advocates of schools of choice advanced their doctrines within their metaphors. Isolating the metaphors from the debate led to the conclusion that all three groups used the marketplace as their foundational metaphor. Even when the advocates for public schools of choice directly rejected the marketplace as an analogy for education, their metaphors highlighted competition and supply and demand as solutions to the problem of improving the educational system.

The purpose of this single site case study was to examine administrators', teachers', and guidance counselors' perceptions of site-based management components and school improvement. The study addressed the following three questions: (1) What are the perceptions of experienced teachers toward key aspects of site-based management (shared decision making, school climate, and student success)? (2) What factors do experienced educators identify with promoting the successful implementation of site-based management components (shared decision making, school climate, and student success)? (3) What factors do experienced educators identify with hindering the successful implementation of site-based management components (shared decision making, school climate, and student success)?;The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Administered to only experienced teachers with three or more years of teaching, a questionnaire was used to collect data for three sub-scales: shared decision making, school climate, and student success. to answer question one, descriptive statistics were reported, and an ANOVA was used, resulting in no significant difference among the sub-scales. Qualitative data were collected from a focus group comprised of the School Improvement Team and from semi-structured interviews to identify factors promoting and hindering the successful implementation of site-based management components.;Results indicate that the implementation of SBM strategies was overall positive. Participants' responses revealed that shared decision making is an effective strategy for improving the school. Furthermore, the school climate is conducive to teaching and learning, and students are successful at this recently recognized Blue Ribbon School. as a professional community, the administrators and teachers collaborated to develop the vision, mission, and school improvement plan, especially with a focus on student achievement. Although the results were positive overall, participants also identified barriers, such as time, funding, and lack of technological assistance, sometimes hindering improvement efforts.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the written student control policies established by Virginia school boards and the principles of law found in recent federal court decisions related to student conduct. The researcher also examined the number of student control policies in relation to school division size and location. A further purpose was to relate such policies to school laws contained in the Code of Virginia.;The population for the study consisted of all the school divisions in Virginia, one hundred thirty-seven (137) at the time of this study. of this number, one hundred thirty-one (131) divisions had usable policy manuals since some divisions were combined under one school board. These manuals were made available to the researcher through the Virginia State Department of Education.;All the policy manuals were examined by the researcher through a method known as content analysis. Essentially, hypotheses are formulated; a sample of content is selected; categories are defined; documents are read and coded, using the categories as a guide; content data are tabulated; data are scaled or otherwise statistically treated; and interpretations are made in light of the hypotheses posed.;It was hypothesized that (1) the content of Virginia school board policy manuals matched the categories of student control policies chosen for the study; (2) the content of the manuals agreed with the principles of law found in selected student control federal court decisions, 1965 to 1979; (3) the number of written student control policies varied with school division size and location; and (4) the content of the manuals reflected student control statutes in the Code of Virginia.;It was concluded that most board manuals did not contain all categories of student control policies. The categories which appeared more frequently were health and safety standards, weapons and drugs, and student records. Nor were the board student control policies in agreement with recent court decisions except in areas such as suspension and expulsion, drugs, due process procedures, and corporal punishment. Policy manuals did vary in content according to the size and location of the school division. It was also determined that Virginia statutes for student control did not agree with the content of the manuals except in areas such as civil rights, health and safety standards, administrative standards, and weapons and drugs.