Thesis advisor: Diana C. Pullin / It is widely accepted that school leadership has both a direct and indirect impact on student achievement. Hitt and Tucker’s (2016) unified leadership framework summarized a decade of work by numerous researchers identifying the five most effective leadership domains that influence student learning. Using that work as a conceptual framework, this qualitative case study analyzed one of the five interdependent leadership domains in an urban elementary school that succeeded in educating traditionally marginalized students and outperformed other schools with similar demographics in the district. This study identified and explored the second leadership domain which is described as building professional capacity, focusing specifically on the principal’s actions. Building professional capacity is defined in this study as developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teachers and is important for expanding leadership responsibility for student learning and increasing student achievement. The study resulted in identifying all seven dimensions of the domain present in practice at the school and explored the actions taken to embed them into the culture. Data were gathered through the review of district and school level documents and open-ended interviews with district leaders and members of school administration, faculty, and staff. Findings indicated that the school principal performed several specific and tangible actions to build professional capacity in the school including implementing professional practice, messaging consistently high expectations with faculty and staff, modeling expected professional behaviors and habits, and coaching faculty and staff. Many staff believed the success of the school was a result of the culture of collaboration, dedication, and high expectations forged by the principal. Recommendations for building upon this work included selecting and hiring teachers who offer evidence of effective instruction despite different philosophical viewpoints, addressing levels of trust with those who express conflicting levels of collaboration and commitment, and expanding the effective leadership practices with other school leaders throughout the district. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Andrew G. Bennett / On-line homework is becoming a larger part of mathematics classrooms each year. Thus, ways to maximize the effectiveness of on-line homework for both students and teachers must be investigated. This study sought to provide one possible answer to this aim, by requiring students to achieve at least 50% for any on-line homework assignment in order to receive credit. Research shows that students respond well to reasonably set high expectations, and coupling this with one of the primary advantages of on-line homework, the ability to rework assignments, provided the basis for this study. Data for this experimental study was collected from the spring semester of 2008 until the fall semester of 2009, and included student exam scores, the number of on-line assignments above and below the 50% threshold, and the number of times students accessed help features of the on-line homework system when given the ability to do so. Analysis at both the whole-class and cluster levels attempted to discern the effectiveness of the intervention. Results indicated that significantly fewer students settled for on-line homework scores less than 50% in the experimental semesters where the 50% requirement was in place than in the control semesters in which the requirement was absent. Certain clusters of students seemed to benefit even more than others from this higher expectation, leading to the possibility of differentiated instruction or differentiated interventions in the future. In addition to fewer sub-par on-line homework scores, students also demonstrated other positive traits, such as accessing the on-line help links more within the experimental semesters.

This graduate project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds. My project component looked at research on teacher expectations and their effects on student success. Why does the color of a child's skin tone trigger lower expectations by some teachers? Why does this occur? How can school leaders and teachers confront preconceived notions that create barriers for high expectations for marginalized students? Selected literature was reviewed that concentrated on perspectives on teacher attitudes, systemic biases, and teacher expectations. I applied what I learned to exploring gaps in district emphasis on diversity and equity and potential approaches to engaging teachers and school leaders in collaborative and challenging conversation. In an examination of four major district documents, the terms ‘diversity of students’, ‘cultural diversity’, ‘high expectations for all students’, ‘multicultural awareness and equity’ each appeared only once. Professional development for teachers and school leaders was needed to focus on inquiry, self-reflection, curriculum development, and instructional approaches to surface and address implicit biases that contribute to low expectations for marginalized students.

This thesis is a critical reflection of the author’s time as a Principal of an Indigenous state school from 2003-2004. The purpose is to reassess the impact of her principalship in terms of the staff, students and Community change that affected learning outcomes at the school and to reanalyse to what actions and to whom positive changes could be attributed. This thesis reflects and identifies, in light of the literature, strategies which were effective in enhancing student learning outcomes. The focus of this thesis was the Doongal State School*, its students, staff and facilities. The author will attempt to draw out theoretical frameworks in terms of: (1) what changed educationally in Doongal State School, (2) what seemed to be important in the Principal’s role, (3) the processes that took place, and (4) the effect of being non- Indigenous and a female. Overall, the author undertook this critical reflection in order to understand and embrace educational practices that will (a) lessen the gap between the academic outcomes achieved by Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and (b) enhance life choices for Indigenous children. The findings indicate that principal leadership is critical for success in Indigenous schools and is the centrepiece of the models developed to explain improvement at Doongal State School. School factors, Principal Leadership factors, Change factors and factors relating to being a non-Indigenous female principal, which, when implemented, will lead to improved educational outcomes for Indigenous students, have evolved as a result of this thesis. Principal Leadership factors were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of the key components for success.

Young girls are taught to be good girls during upbringing and the “good girl” syndrome affects girls when they grow up to be women in the workforce. Female managers experience higher expectations on their performance than male managers. The aim of this study is to examine if female managers experience high expectations on their work performance and if the “good girl” syndrome affects the women in everyday work. Previous research shows that women and men face different conditions at work and expectations are higher for female managers than male managers. The study is conducted through qualitative interviews with female middle managers. The data is analyzed using Berger and Luckmanns theory on socialization and internalization, Doing gender, Acker’s theory on gendered processes in organizations and the term Homosociality. Our results show that women experience high expectations at work, though these expectations are perceived by the women as their own, we argue that these high expectations are a form of internalization of typical female traits, such as blaming oneself for wrongdoings. The results of the study also shows that the female managers are affected by the “good girl” syndrome at work, though it seems to get easier to handle with age. / Flickor uppfostras till “duktiga flickor” och “duktig flicka”-syndromet påverkar flickorna när de växer upp till kvinnor och kliver in i arbetslivet. Kvinnliga chefer upplever att det ställs högre yrkesmässiga krav på dem än på manliga chefer. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det ställs höga krav på kvinnliga chefer i arbetslivet och om “duktig flicka”-syndromet påverkar kvinnorna i deras dagliga arbete. Tidigare forskning visar att kvinnor ställs inför andra villkor än män i arbetslivet och det ställs högre krav på kvinnliga chefer än manliga. Denna studie genomförs med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med kvinnliga enhets- och verksamhetschefer. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats utifrån Berger och Luckmanns teori om socialisation och internalisering, begreppet Doing gender, Ackers teori om genusprocesser i organisationer och begreppet Homosocialitet. Resultatet visar att kvinnor upplever att det ställs höga krav på dem i arbetet, där kraven främst upplevs komma från kvinnorna själva, vilket tolkas som en typ av internalisering av typiskt kvinnliga egenskaper som att se fel hos sig själv. Resultatet visar även att kvinnorna påverkas av “duktig flicka”-syndromet i sitt dagliga arbete, men att detta verkar vara lättare att hantera med åldern.

Researchers have documented that high expectations do not always result in higher achievement, but the reason for varying results has not been clearly understood. This correlational study was done to find out if the degree of presence of principal leadership characteristics can predict when high expectations are effective and when they are not. Expectancy and transformational leadership theories provided the framework for identifying 9 principal leadership characteristics that might influence student scores on Colorado statewide testing. Existing student testing data were considered the dependent variable, while survey data on the leadership behaviors of Colorado middle school principals were used for the independent variables. Data were tested using a correlational regression analysis. The transformational leadership independent variables of beneficial modeling, inspirational motivation, systems thinking, individualized consideration, and empowerment were each found to be significantly related to statewide test scores at the .05 level. The high expectations variable was not found to be significantly related to test scores by itself but was found to be significant (p = .016) when transformational leadership characteristics were also high. Principals who were perceived to provide teachers with the environment they needed to facilitate student achievement were correlated with higher test scores. Implications for social change include public policy makers' support for transformational educational leadership as a part of providing teachers with what they need in order to meet high expectations.

African American males often struggle to read on grade level. However, 3 East Texas Title I schools demonstrated exceptionally high levels of reading proficiency with this population. This study addressed the knowledge gap of understanding the instructional practices linked to high reading achievement of third grade African American males in Title I schools in East Texas. Guided by Ladson-Billings's theory of culturally relevant pedagogy, which builds upon academic success, cultural competence, and development of critical consciousness, and supported by Vygotsky's theory of social and cognitive constructivism, the reading instructional practices of the 3 schools were investigated. Research questions focused on the instructional strategies and practices used by the Grade 3 teachers that may explain such high reading achievement in these particular schools. The questions also addressed campus-level administrator supports for guiding effective reading instruction. Through an explanatory case study methodology, the high levels of reading achievement seen in this population were explained. Data were collected from classroom teachers and campus administrators through semistructured interviews, personal reflections, and observations. Through use of a priori codes, open coding with thematic analysis, and axial coding, the key results aligned with the conceptual framework and indicated that the application of culturally relevant pedagogy explains much of the success experienced in the schools. Three themes resonated through the study: relationships, collaboration, and high expectations. This study contributes to positive social change by engendering a deeper understanding of effective instructional reading practices for African American males.