<p> This qualitative study explored principals' leadership strategies and decision-making in literacy instruction. One-to-one interviews, a focus group, and a review of documents were the sources of data for the study. Themes emerging from the investigation were data-driven decision-making, asking essential questions, distributed leadership, modeling data use and literacy strategies, strategic communications, reflective leadership, focusing on instructional improvement and student achievement, structuring time to support literacy and use of data, and offering professional development opportunities. Findings from the study included principals not having an informed and consistent use of data instructional decision-making, and lacking training in literacy instruction. Recommendations for research include expanding the study to rural, charter, and private schools to ascertain principals' literacy instructional knowledge and data-driven decision-making that show high degrees of principal leadership across preK-12 schools.</p>

No description available.

The offshore oil and gas industry has created significant wealth for the UK economy; approximately 250 billion Great British Pounds (GBP) since oil was discovered under the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) of which approximately 70 billion GBP was paid in tax and royalties to the UK government. The industry currently employs about 35,000 individuals directly and supports many more jobs indirectly. In short, it is a very critical industry to the UK economy. But for all its contribution, there is a dearth of social science and management research into the how the offshore industry is managed. This thesis reports the background and findings of an investigation into the first level of the platform production management team and examines this role in terms of the personal characteristics and man-management skills required within this working environment. This thesis was the first study that attempted to investigate the non-technical characteristics of high performing supervisors. It examined the question of what makes an effective supervisor in terms of biodata, personality, job satisfaction and perceptions of the work environment. The transformational model of Bass and Avolio (1990) was also adapted to assess leadership style. A specially designed semistructured questionnaire was developed. The research sample comprised of one hundred first line supervisors (operators and contractors), their subordinates and their superiors on three North Sea platforms. It was hypothesised that effective offshore first line supervisors would have a distinct supervisory style compared to less effective ones. Other aims included assessing the differences between supervisors working on the UKCS and those on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS); and between supervisors working for contracting companies as opposed to operating companies. The key contributions of the thesis were in the following four areas; (i) the summary data that described the offshore first line supervisors, (ii) the findings from standard instruments, particularly the Bass leadership instrument, identified that supervisory effectiveness was dependent on the platform membership of the supervisor, (iii) the qualitative findings from the supervisory decision making vignettes and finally (iv) the platform differences that were elicited from both within the UK sector and between the North Sea sectors. For example, on one UK platform, UKI, the more effective supervisor displayed a more transactional leadership style, namely taking an active role in enforcing workplace standards. There was some evidence to suggest that dimensions of a transformational leadership style such as motivating subordinates through pep talks and depicting visions of a better workplace were positively correlated with performance. These findings were broadly consistent with the results of previous research. In contrast, the second UK platform, UK2, produced a different finding. This was surprising given the numerous physical and organisational characteristics that these two platforms had in common. The Norwegian platform sample was small (n= 19) and therefore correlational results were largely exploratory. Further differences were revealed through multi-variate analyses between all three platforms based on leadership, job satisfaction and biodata variables. This implies that `effectiveness' may be dependent on the platform membership of the supervisor. As an alternative explanation, these findings may suggest that the standard instruments and appraisal measures were not sensitive enough to differentiate performance within this work environment. The Bass and Avolio (1990) leadership model, in particular, produced contradictory findings and its usefulness in this context remains questionable. Qualitative evidence from the total sample of effective supervisory behaviours, using a behavioural event interview method, supported the quantitative findings from UK1 but broadly disagreed with the findings from UK2. Measuring supervisors performance without reference to objective indices remains a weakness for this style of research. The impact of these findings is discussed in the context of both practical recommendations for recruitment, selection and development for the supervisory population and future research into management research in the offshore oil and gas industry.

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify the key learning opportunities necessary to build teacher leadership, the most difficult barriers to overcome, and the most important facilitators as identified by teacher experts. This study also sought to determine the best approaches to implementation of identified learning opportunities, the most effective approaches for overcoming identified barriers, and the most effective approaches for implementing facilitators that support teacher leaders. Consistent with a Delphi method, the instruments used within this study collected perceptual data from an expert panel of high school teachers from Riverside County, California, through an electronic format within a 3-round process. The expert panel consisted of effective high school teacher leaders selected by their principals based on the 6 most prominent characteristics of effective teacher leaders. Findings showed that there are elements of professional learning opportunities that must be addressed for professional learning to take place. They include the opportunity for collaboration, practice, and practical application. Teachers must also feel that they have a voice in addressing current issues/needs. Findings from this study also indicate that it is essential to have an environment that includes a supportive administration and supportive colleagues and that the provision of time is essential for developing effective teacher leadership. According to the expert panel, to implement professional learning opportunities that develop effective teacher viii leadership, teachers must have the opportunity to collaborate, practice and apply newly learned information or instructional strategies, and have a voice in addressing current issues and site needs. Finally, developing effective teacher leadership is facilitated through a supportive environment. To develop effective teacher leadership, schools and districts must (a) restructure the school day to create time for teachers to interact, (b) provide teachers with information on teacher leadership, (c) bridge the disconnect that currently exists between what teachers and what administrators believe is needed, (d) provide professional learning for teachers and administrators to continue the development of a shared model of decision making, and (e) provide opportunities for teachers to participate in peer observation and debriefing, self-reflection, practicing teacher leadership skills, and mentoring and coaching colleagues.</p>

<p> The study focused on school discipline and climate while exploring differences in perceptions of students, teachers and administrators about school discipline in an urban middle school. The data shows that participants experienced and observed the application of multiple disciplinary practices that resulted in the issuance of student removal from the instructional environment. The use of prevention, intervention and responses to misbehavior are all analyzed. Recommendations for improvement include the implementation of restorative justice and social skills curriculum.</p>

This study examined the leadership development experiences of adolescents participating in a school-based leadership program. A case study of ten Grade 8 students is described based on qualitative data from student response journals, field notes, and program documentation. Evidence from the study suggests that adolescents value and benefit from leadership development experiences and opportunities. Leadership development experiences that adolescents find meaningful are those where they are: (1) actively engaged in experiential learning opportunities; (2) granted freedom and increased responsibility; (3) able to work in educational groups; (4) given interesting learning experiences; (5) supported by positive role models; and (6) long-term participants. Leadership experiences benefit students by: (1) allowing adolescents to feel like they can make a positive impact on their world; (2) giving adolescents an improved sense of self; (3) teaching students essential skills; and (10) giving adolescents the opportunity to build relationships with like-minded individuals.

This study examined the leadership development experiences of adolescents participating in a school-based leadership program. A case study of ten Grade 8 students is described based on qualitative data from student response journals, field notes, and program documentation. Evidence from the study suggests that adolescents value and benefit from leadership development experiences and opportunities. Leadership development experiences that adolescents find meaningful are those where they are: (1) actively engaged in experiential learning opportunities; (2) granted freedom and increased responsibility; (3) able to work in educational groups; (4) given interesting learning experiences; (5) supported by positive role models; and (6) long-term participants. Leadership experiences benefit students by: (1) allowing adolescents to feel like they can make a positive impact on their world; (2) giving adolescents an improved sense of self; (3) teaching students essential skills; and (10) giving adolescents the opportunity to build relationships with like-minded individuals.

<p> This dissertation examined the implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) in two rural school districts in south central North Carolina. Federal legislation requiring an increase in school system accountability included the expectation for implementing differentiating levels of academic intervention for struggling students. Implementation structure and pragmatics differ from district to district as the process design remains with local education units. The filtering of federal legislative expectations to state-level administration and subsequently to school system and ultimately school site leadership is a long journey that can result in varied interpretations. The communication of methodology and expectations from district-level administration to school-level practitioners is crucial for effective implementation. Therefore, an understanding of and a focused vision for Response to Intervention implementation is essential throughout district and school leadership (Kratochwill, Valopiansky, Clements, &amp; Ball, 2007).</p><p> This dissertation explored the district-level to school-level facilitation of RtI implementation in two rural but very different districts in south central North Carolina, both identified to demonstrate stellar RtI implementation processes. Individual staff members were interviewed at the district and school-level (elementary, middle, and high) using a structured interview protocol to explore this process of implementation. The responses were then analyzed using a theme matrix. A consistent set of core strategies, practices, and beliefs were found in schools in the two districts, although facilitation of the expectations from district to school-level differed significantly and impacted the breadth and levels of implementation. Monitoring the fidelity of the process remained at the school level. The results reinforce the barriers that rural districts confront in complying with federal mandates.</p>

<p>After seventeen years since the apartheid education system was abolished in Namibia, the education system remains stagnant. The governmenthas been spending big budgets on Education. The Ministry of Education introduced various educational ploicies and innovations aimed to change the Education system. Yet, the quality of education remains poor. Although there are seemingly various reasons why the quality of education system is poor, education policies are not implemented effectively to bring about the desired quality of education and the desired quality of educationand continuous improvement of schools. There is a lack of commitment and culture of learning, which are said to be the preconditions for educational change. And practitioners seem to lack the urgency required to implement policies. Notwithstanding this, there seem to be another reason why policies are not iplementedeffectively in schools. This research study argues thatprofessional preparation of principals to implement educational policies is done intensively and rigorously. Hence, such professional preparedness of the school leaders is noot impacting effectively on their leaadership and management in schools.</p>

This doctoral study used the Path-Goal Theory (House 1971, House & Dessler 1974, House & Mitchell 1974) to examine the relationships between the managerial leadership styles and subordinate job satisfaction and job performance in Sibu Municipal Council (or SMC in short), a municipal council in Sarawak, Malaysia. The moderating effects of task structure on these relationships were also examined. The four path-goal leadership styles studied were: directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership styles. The self-administered questionnaire survey gathered a response rate of about 88% out of the total staff strength of about 260 people in the SMC. / The order of the levels of leadership styles, as perceived by both the SMC managers and their subordinates, from the lowest to the highest, was supportive, directive, participative to achievement-oriented leadership styles. The SMC managers perceived themselves to exhibit a higher level of each of the leadership styles than that perceived by their subordinates. / The subordinates reported a relatively high level of job satisfaction, and the study showed that this satisfaction was derived only from the participative leadership style of the managers. Directive, supportive and achievement-oriented leadership styles did not have significant relationships with job satisfaction. / The level of job performance was also found to be relatively high. Supportive leadership style was tested to have significant negative influence on job performance while achievement-oriented leadership style was found to have significant positive influence. Directive and participative leadership styles were found to have no relationship with job performance. / The level of task structure was found to be relatively high. The level was found to be lower than normal for a study in Taiwan (Chang 1999) but higher than the US norm. Task structure was tested to have no significant moderating effect on the influence of participative leadership style on job satisfaction. It had significant moderating effect of the influence of supportive leadership style on job performance but no significant moderating effect on the influence of achievement oriented leadership style. A sub-group analysis showed that the moderating effect of task structure was greater for subordinates with relatively less experience than those with relatively more experience. / An important outcome of this study is the finding that the research instruments show reliability for research in a non-Western setting. Overall, the results of the study show some support for the Path-Goal Theory. / Thesis (DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.