published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

<p> Instructional leadership for high school principals is becoming more important as principals are being held increasingly accountable for student achievement results. Principals are next to teachers in impacting learning in the classroom. The problem for high school principals is that they do not feel prepared to be instructional leaders for their school. There are many tasks a principal must handle throughout the day and these tasks take time away from principals acting as the instructional leader for their school. Principals are also not always supported in their development as an instructional leader. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how high school principals have developed into instructional leaders, the obstacles they encountered during this process and their perceptions of the types of external support they received in instructional leadership. The participants in the study included six high school principals from four different school districts. The principals had all been on the job for at least one year. Interview and document data were collected and analyzed for common themes. The findings of the study suggested that when principals receive external support in instructional leadership, there are indications that they begin to develop in this area. District support, mentoring and coaching, team support and reading with purpose were important in the development of the principals. The findings also suggested two obstacles, time and people, for principals as they lead their schools in instruction. Finally, the study&rsquo;s findings indicated the principals who receive support had positive views of that support. Based on the results of the study, recommendations were made for providing a strong system of support for high school principals in the area of instructional leadership.</p>

<p> Recent changes in written Army leader doctrine have reaffirmed the informal practice of mentorship as a component of subordinate leader development. At the same time, the use of Professional Forums in the Army has the potential to alter commonly accepted norms, policies, and practices of mentoring. This dissertation conducted a phenomenological study of how lived experience in the Forums complemented or detracted from the practice of Army mentoring. The study found that the lived experience closely corresponded to Kram&rsquo;s mentoring functions, with additional documented experiences in the areas of peer and computer-mediated communications mentoring. The participants&rsquo; practices of mentoring within the chain of command and cross-gender mentoring were significantly impacted by unique aspects of Army culture. The researcher found that the Professional Forums were supportive of mentoring practice, but were not mentoring spaces themselves. Participants credited the Forums with helping them identify viable mentoring partners and refining their own mentoring practices. Forum participants believed that their engagement in those spaces gave them a positive outlook on Army mentoring. The study&rsquo;s findings suggest best practices for informal Army mentoring while illuminating new directions for quantitative research in cross-gender and CMC-based mentoring. </p>

<p> Supportive relationships between teachers and their students help create an environment for student success, but there remains a need for additional understanding about how to effectively promote positive teacher-student relationships in order to support stronger policy and practice in modern schools. In this qualitative analysis, I seek to deepen the research about supportive teacher-student relationships by analyzing how students, teachers, and principals described their experiences in early college high schools (ECHS) in North Carolina. Early college high schools represent a relatively new school model in which high school students earn college credits while working toward their high school diplomas. Quantitative analyses of the performance of ECHS students suggest students in early college high schools outperform their peers from comprehensive schools on a variety of measures. One important design element of these schools suggests that teachers must know students well to help them achieve academically and it is my assertion that supportive teacher-student relationships may contribute to ECHS students&rsquo; success. </p><p> For this study, I analyze qualitative data previously collected as part of a larger longitudinal study from students, teachers, and principals studying and working in 19 early college high schools in North Carolina. I employ Giddens&rsquo; theory of structuration as a lens for understanding the relationships between the agents (students, teachers, and principals) and the social structures that influence the experiences of those in the schools. I consider the leadership practices of the principals to promote supportive teacher-student relationships as well as teacher practices, and compared the adults&rsquo; claims to the students&rsquo; perceived experiences with their teachers. My findings reveal three elements in the social systems of the ECHS contribute to supportive teacher-student relationships which include the following: (1) the beliefs of teachers, students, and principals; (2) deliberate actions of principals and teachers; and (3) programs that create social spaces for such relationships to grow.</p>

<p> Chinese students have historically come to study in the United States at the college and post- secondary levels. In the last ten years, this phenomenon has spread exponentially to the high school level, but scant research exists on this topic. This paper investigates why Chinese students come to study in U.S. high schools, who these students are, what their academic and social experiences are, and what can be done to support them. A qualitative study was conducted, with one on one interviews with 14 high school students from three different high schools, one all male school, one all-female, and one co-ed. Cultural capital theory (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977) underscores and helps illuminate the data. While the findings mirror those of research completed at the college level, something deeper emerged. Chinese students possess the cultural capital to make this journey, and the habitus that gives them the courage and perseverance to navigate it, but that capital and habitus doesn't always transfer to the field of the U.S. high school environment. While Chinese students perceive students and teachers as helpful and kind, there is much more U.S. high schools can do to support them. In the end, Chinese students use the traits they've learned from their families and their culture to meet their goals, escape the Chinese style of education and the <i> Gaokao</i> exam, acclimate to the culture, and go on to attend U.S. colleges. </p>

<p> Women continue to be underrepresented in top level management roles in spite of their progress in the labor market and educational attainment (Eagly &amp; Carli, 2007). The gender gap in leadership is true in most of the developed and developing world. When assessed under early leadership models, leadership self-efficacy is usually lower among women than men (Schein, 1973; Schein, 1975). This has been used to support the notion that leadership is predominantly a practice for men (Chemers, 2000). However, recently developed leadership models under transformational leadership theory represent opportunities to study leadership and gender without much of the cultural bias that has been part of the earlier models (Eagly &amp; Carli, 2007). To solidify the study of the relationship between gender and transformational leadership self-efficacy, this study was developed using data gathered through the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) from a purposive sample of 153 MBA students (73 male and 80 female). Independent-samples t-tests were used to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in mean scores between male and female participants on leadership behaviors measured by the LPI. The results indicated that there are no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the sample, which further suggest that the reasons behind the underrepresentation of female leaders cannot be attributed to leadership self-efficacy. The study took place in Mexico, where female underrepresentation in top management roles is a well-documented problem, and where research on transformational leadership is scarce. The study may be used to support initiatives on the part of aspiring female leaders, educational leaders, and organizational decision-makers to help close the gender gap in leadership roles in the country. They may do this by reviewing the findings of this study and others conducted under transformational leadership theory that suggest that the practice of leadership is not inherently male, so there is ample opportunity for women to succeed in top management roles without conforming to traditional male patterns of behavior. Future researchers may build on this study by evaluating transformational leadership behaviors in different segments of the population of males and females and by using observer data rather than self-reports.</p>

<p> Research on school turnaround has been centered on individual schools and principals. This research argues the principal&rsquo;s role is essential to turnaround (Herman et al., 2008; Leithwood &amp; Strauss, 2008, 2010). There has been little research on what role superintendents play to influence school turnaround. This qualitative study explored the self-perceptions and reflections of ten superintendents (representing city, rural and suburban settings) that led districts in which schools turned around. The central question investigated the role and leadership approach of these superintendents. Along with exploring the superintendents&rsquo; leadership through Bass&rsquo;s (1985) transformational leadership theory, Rawls&rsquo; (1971) concept of social justice also underpinned the study. This framework was appropriate considering mostly poor and minority students attended the nearly 5,000 chronically low-performing schools in America (Stuit, 2010; USDOE, 2014). Despite decades of effort, low-performing schools continue to deprive many students of an excellent education. Former Education Secretary Arnie Duncan argued a quality education remained an unresolved civil rights issue (Duncan, 2014). Using primarily interviews and document review, results provided a deeper understanding of the challenges district leaders faced during turnaround efforts. While superintendents self-identified having various leadership styles, collaboration and stakeholder engagement emerged as important. Superintendents also spent time navigating resistance, addressing personnel challenges, promoting instruction, and attempting to create district focus. Superintendents often cited a social justice belief, but acknowledged stakeholder influence and district culture sometimes led to a compliance mindset. The study suggested that superintendents must consider their district&rsquo;s context to determine their approach for inspiring stakeholders to champion educating <i>all</i> students. </p>

<p> This mixed-methods study was conducted to determine if there was a significant relationship between extracurricular and/or co-curricular participation and leadership styles of beginning superintendents in the state of Missouri. First-year superintendents from 63 school districts in Missouri were invited to participate in the study, and 28 participated. The first instrumentation used in the research was a Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X Short Form, created by Bass and Avolio (2004), consisting of 45 leadership style questions and was administered on-line through Mind Garden, Ltd. In addition to the MLQ 5X-Short, participants were invited to complete a second survey created by the researcher, the Profile of Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Participation Questionnaire, was administered on-line through Survey Monkey and consisted of nine demographic and background questions. This particular survey also asked participants to identify past involvement in extracurricular and/or co-curricular activities and to answer three open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of the impact, if any, of those activities on their leadership experiences. The quantitative and qualitative data indicated many of the first-year superintendents had participated in extracurricular and co-curricular activities in high school and/or college. Many participants also reported they believed these activities had made a significant impact on their lives, including leadership skills.</p>

<p> The focus of this study was to examine the impact of Missouri Leadership for Excellence, Achievement, and Development (MoLEAD) program on the school district administrators who attended and their constituents. After three cohorts of school leaders have attended the MoLEAD training, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education authorities have yet to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The purpose of this study was to determine the value and benefit of administrators attending the MoLEAD professional development. The participants of this study included school administrators who attended MoLEAD training in Cohort One in the state of Missouri. Data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MODESE) was reviewed, along with the participants&rsquo; survey results. The outcome of the study indicated no correlation between administrators&rsquo; participation in the MoLEAD training and their students&rsquo; achievement test scores. Participants responded to open-ended questions and replied that the MoLEAD training offered great collaboration opportunities, but the program needed updating. Participants in Cohort One of MoLEAD scored highest in the area of Model the Way on the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Survey; no school districts who experienced an increase in school achievement scores as measured by Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) Phase 5. The essential elements identified in this study served MoLEAD directors and provided MoDESE insight into supporting the improvements needed in this established program.</p>

<p> The position of the Superintendent of Schools is multifaceted and complex. The superintendent is responsible for instruction, personnel, general business operations, budget, finance, law and politics. Do existing superintendent preparation programs adequately prepare individuals for the duties and responsibilities that they will face on a day to day basis? Research on this topic is becoming more prevalent but, because of individual state licensing and certification requirements, the research is often either generalized or it is state specific. There are few identifiable studies on superintendent preparation in New York State. </p><p> Current research indicates that superintendents felt that their administrative preparation programs were lacking in specific areas such as finance, budgeting and law and that the programs needed improvement. Therefore, research in this area is important because improving the quality and content of superintendent preparation programs will have a positive impact on the individual&rsquo;s readiness to assume the position. </p><p> The study is a qualitative study that will utilize a series of semi-structured interviews with individuals that are currently working as a Superintendent of Schools in New York State. The interviews focused on their perceptions of their administrative preparation programs, their internships, and the relevance of their coursework to the performance of their day to day duties. The interviews were structured to elicit comments and discussion regarding the personal experiences of those interviewed with regards to those aspects of their preparation program that was most beneficial to their role&rsquo;s as superintendent and those aspects that were least beneficial. Interviewees were also asked to make recommendations regarding ways to improve administrative preparation programs.</p>