A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2017 / This qualitative study explored the roles of principals as instructional leaders. Several models of instructional leadership were briefly discussed, and a theoretical framework for the present study was outlined. Individual interviews were conducted with principals, deputy principals, heads of department and post-level 1 educators. Qualitative data were collected using interviews and questionnaires. Themes and sub-themes emerged from the study. It was found that the quality of the role of the principal posed a challenge to principals. The participants reported that principals were expected to manage the school in terms of day-to-day functionality, buildings and grounds maintenance, managing of finances and human resources, and many other matters. On the other hand, the principal was also expected to be an instructional leader, which involved setting clear goals, allocating resources to instruction, managing the curriculum, monitoring teaching and learning, and creating opportunities that were conducive to learning. It was found that most secondary school principals concentrated on management instead of instructional leadership.

This was a single case qualitative study designed to investigate instructional leaders’ perceptions of the impact teacher quality has on students’ performance. Over the past three decades, various stakeholders have expressed concern regarding teacher quality as it relates to students’ performance. Therefore, there is an urgent need for quality teachers at all levels of the education system. This study was significant as it sought to add new information to the body of existing literature on the growing phenomenon of quality education by exploring the perceptions of instructional leaders on teacher quality and its impact on students’ performance. The main thrust is for quality teachers and quality teaching and a more robust education sector. Multiple forms of data collection were used and significant time was spent in the natural setting gathering information. Primary forms of data collection were interviews, observation and the examination of artifacts. In order to code the data, they were first divided into content unit which was coded in terms of the quality of effective teaching. Thus, content unit was used to analyze the data. As the researcher explored the perceptions of the instructional leaders on elements of teacher quality and students’ performance it became evident that there was no single element that constitute teacher quality. The researcher recommended that practice be data driven, bringing information based on elements of teacher quality and self- efficacy in particular to bear on instructional strategies. TEACHER QUALITY AND STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE i Key terms: teacher quality, instructional leaders, self- efficacy, student performance. / Educational Leadership

Thesis advisor: Martin Scanlan / This qualitative case study explored the role of central office leaders as they supported principals’ development of high instructional expectations in the Lawrence Public Schools. One of the key strategies of central office transformation is the creation of assistance relationships with principals, which serves as the conceptual framework for this study. Data were gathered from interviews with central office leaders and principals as well as a document review. The results of the study found that central office leaders employed high quality practices that strengthened principals’ instructional leadership capacity and raised instructional expectations within schools and of teachers. Principals reported that having central office support through systems and structures, curriculum, culture and working conditions created heightened instructional expectations and contributed to their growth as instructional leaders. The central office leaders and principals reported the strong culture of assistance relationships contributed to increased expectations and improved student outcomes. Recommendations include continual examination of assistance relationships among central office leaders in support of principals in the context of a turnaround district. Future researchers may continue to contribute to the growing body of literature by examining these findings and offering a longitudinal view of this practice. This strand’s findings can serve as a guide for the practice of central office leaders who are working with principals to raise and create heightened instructional expectations required for improving achievement and equity system-wide in habitually underperforming schools and districts across our country. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate instructional leadership in the area of reading at the elementary school level. Specifically, this study investigated elementary principals as instructional leaders in reading, In order to determine if elementary principals were perceived as instructional leaders in reading, teachers were asked to provide their perceptions of their principals in this area. This study also examined the relationship of teachers' perceptions of their principals as instructional leaders in the area of reading and student reading test scores. The study was conducted in San Joaquin County in California. The researcher developed a survey instrument entitled, Principals Leadership Reading Inventory, which consisted of 30 questions. Surveys were distributed to elementary school teachers from randomly selected schools within San Joaquin County. The teachers' responses to the survey provided the researcher with their perceptions of their principals as instructional leaders in the area of reading. Additionally, school reading test scores for each school site participating in the study were obtained and used in part of the data analysis. This study found that instructional leadership in the area of reading had specific behavioral descriptors, identifiable characteristics, and positively related to the leadership subscales of encouraging, enabling, inspiring, and challenging. This study did not find that based on teachers' perceptions a principal's leadership in the area of reading significantly correlated to the reading test scores at the school site.

ABSTRACT The goal of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the perception that exists for fourteen Jamaican instructional leaders as they integrate Tablet Computers (TCs) into the pedagogical process to prepare grade four students for the Grade Four Literacy Test (G4LT). The research was conducted in four schools; three rural primary schools in the parishes of Trelawny, Manchester and St Elizabeth and an urban primary school in Kingston. The focal group comprised four principals, three vice principals, three grade four coordinators and four grade four teachers from the scope of schools that were piloting the Tablet in School (TIS) initiative. Structured interviews and observation were used as data sources. Findings from the data revealed that the instructional leaders, while receptive to the initiative of utilizing the TCs in the pedagogical process, were unable to speak to how effective its usage was in preparing students for the G4LT. Furthermore, although the devices were somewhat facilitated in the teaching and learning process, the majority of instructional leaders did not use them to teach the components of the examination. Finally, results suggested that the usage of the TC as an instructional tool had encouraged more favourable responses from students in the classroom learning environment. As the first study to investigate the integration of TC to teach literacy in the Jamaican Primary Classroom, the current study provided novel insights and a springboard for more qualitative investigations into this particular phenomenon. It is also anticipated that the emerging data will influence and inform decision making within the Ministry of Education (MoE). / Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to identify instructional leadership practices elementary principals in Blue Ribbon awarded public elementary schools in Virginia implemented to influence the instructional program. A mixed methods research design was used to collect and analyze data. Principals at eleven of the sixteen public elementary schools in Virginia who received the Blue Ribbon Award between the years 2013-2015 were interviewed. An interview protocol consisting of eleven questions was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. From the data collected during the interview process, a list of fifty instructional leadership activities was developed by the researcher. The list of fifty activities principals performed were grouped into the following categories; teacher observation practices, providing feedback to teachers, collaborating with teachers to analyze data, implementing professional development, and promoting a positive learning environment. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze how administrators and faculty leaders perceive the impact of AB 1725 on faculty hiring in California community colleges. Employing a qualitative case study approach, this research presented the findings from interviews and document analysis for the cases included in this effort. Four California community colleges (CCCs) were chosen for this study; they were selected based on their differing, but representative, CCC characteristics to encompass a range of participant perspectives. Institutions were purposefully chosen to include two sites within the same multi-college district; a small, rural site; and a large, urban, single-district site; the chief instructional officer and academic senate president (or designee) were interviewed at each of the colleges in the study. Interviews and document analysis produced several themes related to how the instructional administrators and faculty leaders at the four case-study sites perceived the 75/25 mandate. Seven cross-case themes emerged from the data. Participants expressed an understanding of the 75/25 ratio that generally aligned with the language of the mandate. However, in light of their observations regarding the inconsistent enforcement of the mandate, participants viewed 75/25 as an ideal rather than a rule. Additionally, while it might seem that a plan or directive for meeting 75/25 would promote progress toward the ratio levels, the participants from the only site that had reportedly achieved the mandated levels indicated the absence of a plan. When asked about the obstacles to compliance, participants most often cited fiscal constraints as the main hurdle to successfully meeting the 75/25 rule. Finally, most participants expressed little awareness of the progress of the 75/25 mandate within the CCC system. The results of this research may be used to reassess the full- to part-time hiring ratio.

The study involves an in-depth case study on the leadership task of the grade heads at a private secondary school in Gauteng with the main research problem arising as: After defining the leadership task of grade heads at a private secondary school in Gauteng, how important do the learners in the grade view the individual grade head tasks to be? From the mixed-method research conducted, it stems that the leadership tasks of the grade head (and also the grade head system as a whole) have a positive impact on the learners and the holistic school environment. Therefore, it is recommended that the particular school under study continue with the structure of grade seven roles of the teacher as this provides a clear background for an organised educative approach to leadership within a grade head system.heads and that the leadership roles of the grade head continue to function within the seven roles of the teacher as this provides a clear background for an organised educative approach to leadership within a grade head system. / Educational Management and Leadership / M.A. (Education Management)

The study involves an in-depth case study on the leadership task of the grade heads at a private secondary school in Gauteng with the main research problem arising as: After defining the leadership task of grade heads at a private secondary school in Gauteng, how important do the learners in the grade view the individual grade head tasks to be? From the mixed-method research conducted, it stems that the leadership tasks of the grade head (and also the grade head system as a whole) have a positive impact on the learners and the holistic school environment. Therefore, it is recommended that the particular school under study continue with the structure of grade seven roles of the teacher as this provides a clear background for an organised educative approach to leadership within a grade head system.heads and that the leadership roles of the grade head continue to function within the seven roles of the teacher as this provides a clear background for an organised educative approach to leadership within a grade head system. / Educational Leadership and Management / M.A. (Education Management)

Praktiese onderwys is onderrig aan leerders by skole. Die onderrigleier is die persoon wat die verantwoordelikheid vir die onderwysstudente by die skool aanvaar. Die doel van die navorsing is om vas te stel wat die rol van die onderrigleier in die opleiding van onderwysstudente by die skool is. As ‘n kwalitatiewe benadering is ‘n etnografiese ontwerp gebruik om vas te stel watter leierskaprol die geskikste sou wees vir die begeleiding van onderwysstudente by skole. Dienslewerende leierskap is as konseptuele raamwerk gebruik. In die navorsing van dienslewerende leierskap word die “SERVE”-model gebruik om die toepassing van dienslewerende leierskap te evalueer. Daar is gevind dat onderrigleiers wat dienslewerende leierskap toepas die onderwysstudene die beste dien deur hulle toekomsgerig voor te berei en deur professionele opleiding te bied wat gerig is op moontlike veranderinge en aanpassings in die onderwys. Die onderwysstudente moet voldoen aan die hoë verwagtinge wat gestel word deur die personeel by die skool. Dienslewerende onderrigleiers stel self die voorbeeld deur hulle leefwyse en professionele optrede in en buite die skool. Die onderrigleiers voldoen aan die verwagtinge van die universiteite en die Departement van Basiese Onderwys (DBO) deur dienslewerende leierskap aan te wend tot voordeel van die onderwysstudente. Die rol van die onderrigleiers is dus om die onderwysstudente te dien op alle vlakke van die onderwys. Die onderrigleiers moet in vennootskap tree met die universiteite en die universiteite adviseer oor tekortkominge en veranderinge in die voorgeskrewe kurrikulum wat die opleiding van onderwysstudente kan verbeter. Die onderrigleiers moet die verantwoordelikheid wat deur die DBO aan hulle opgedra is, nakom deur mentoronderwysers op te lei en te bemagtig sodat hulle saam met die onderrigleiers die onderwysstudente beter tot diens kan wees. / ENGLISH : Practical teacher training is the short-term “in-service training” (exposure to the teaching profession’s day-to-day tasks and responsibilities) of education students at schools. Practical teacher training is the responsibility of a specifically appointed instructional leader at a school. The purpose of the research is to determine what the role of the instructional leader should be in the practical training of education students at schools. As a qualitative approach an ethnographic design was used to determine what kind of leadership model would be most suitable for the instructional leader to utilise in the guidance of education students at the school during in-service training. Four case studies were used to assess the utilisation of the “SERVE” model (Blanchard en Miller, 1994) in the application of servant leadership by the instructional leaders during the practical teaching process at school. It was found that instructional leaders who use the “SERVE” model for the application of servant leadership serve their educational students best by preparing them for the future with a shared vision and through professional training and teaching them to be flexible so as to adapt to any changes and alterations in education. The education students will be able to satisfy the high expectations that are set by the staff at the school. Servant-instructional leaders set the example through their own way of life and their professional conduct in and outside the school. The instructional leaders are able to satisfy the expectations of the universities and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) through the application of servant leadership to the benefit of the education students. Therefore the role of the instructional leader at the school is to serve the education students on all levels of teaching. The instructional leaders must enter into a partnership with the universities to advise them about shortcomings and changes that can improve the practical teaching of education students. The instructional leaders must take up the responsibilities that the Department of Basic Education bestows on them by appointing mentor teachers who have been trained and empowered to assist the instructional leaders to best serve the education students. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted