<p> This descriptive research study was conducted to determine the state of perceived teacher morale and student academic performance as measured by fourth-grade reading and math scores among four elementary schools defined by the servant leadership score of each principal in this Florida elementary school district. While related research from other geographical areas was identified and published, the aim of this study was to describe the current state of these variables in the southeastern United States. Four elementary principals and 153 elementary teachers participated in this study. The Revised Servant Leadership Profile 360 survey (RSLP 360) was used to obtain the principals' perceptions of servant leadership based on the criteria from the survey to categorize the four schools as servant or non-servant leadership-led schools, and the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire survey (PTO) was used to collect the teachers' perceptions of morale. Fourth-grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores in mathematics and reading were retrieved from the Florida Department of Education database and used as the third variable in this study. The intent of this research was not to define relationships between servant leadership, teacher morale, and student test scores, but to describe the extent to which these variables existed based on the perceptions of the survey participants and state test scores for this school district in Florida. The results from this study may be used for future research and practices to further examine the active and potential status of servant leadership, teacher morale, and student academic performance outcomes in PreK-12 education.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> servant leadership, teacher morale, student performance outcomes, public education</p>

<p> The dissertation, "Perceptions Of The Leadership Practices Of Principals In A High Performing School District," explores the understandings of leadership practices from the perspective of parents, teachers, and principals in one high performing school district. The study addressed the leadership practices deemed important by the stakeholder groups, the external factors that influence the leadership practices, and the amount of time the practices require. The study revealed that the three stakeholder groups agree on six specific practices as being very important to school leadership in the district. In addition, external factors focused on relationships between stakeholder groups were found to have impact on the leadership practices. The principals also perceived three specific practices as taking much time and attention.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic research was to study the culture and experiences of coaches who practice the blended coaching model through the lens of transformational leadership. The study strived to discover the coaches' perceptions regarding their coachees' skills in each of the 10 domains of transformational leadership and sought to understand which domains were impacted the most as a result of participating in the coaching process. This qualitative study was designed from an ethnographic perspective. It included focus group and one-on-one interviews, and observations of coach meetings and trainings. Artifacts were collected to provide a rich understanding of the coaches' culture. As a tool to fill the gap in information gathered through the interviews and observations, coaches completed the Transformational Leadership Skills Inventory regarding the leadership skills of their respective coachees. The findings revealed that coaches who utilized the blended coaching model supported their coachees' development of many of the transformational leadership skills. The coaches focused primarily on personal and interpersonal skills, communication, and collaboration skills. Coaches viewed that communication skill development was most impacted by coaching and that anticipating obstacles was the skill area in which the coaches provided the most coaching. Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that coaches who utilize the blended coaching model tend to support the development of transformational leadership skills in their coachees and emphasize the development of personal and interpersonal skills, communication skills, and collaboration skills. Coaches who practice the blended coaching model also support their coachees' relationship-building skills. It appears that coaches focus their coaching on the situational needs of the coachee. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that to ensure school leaders develop the transformational leadership skills needed to lead 21st-century schools, funding for leadership coaching is prioritized, coaches are provided to support all school leaders, consortiums of districts form professional learning community groups to help coaches deepen coaching skills and transformational leadership development skills, and coaches receive up-to-date professional development in current critical issues facing school leaders.</p>

<p>This embedded, multiple-case study was conducted to investigate perceptions of academic optimism and transformational leadership behaviors in two schools implementing personalized mastery educational paradigms. Personalized mastery educational paradigms require that students demonstrate mastery of established standards prior to moving onto more complicated concepts. This model represents a dramatic departure from traditional models of education where student progress through the curriculum is primarily determined by seat time. Teacher perceptions of academic optimism have been shown to have a positive effect on student achievement (Hoy, Tarter, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2006) and transformational leadership behaviors have been linked to second-order change required for successful implementation of new educational models (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006). Academic Optimism and Transformational Leadership were examined in two schools at different stages of implementing a personalized mastery model of education. The case is bound by the system of personalized mastery education, bound by place in terms of one school in Wyoming and one in Montana, and bound by time during February and April of 2014. This research was framed by the following central question: How do teachers at two high schools at different stages of implementing personalized mastery learning describe their perceptions of transformational leadership, academic optimism, and the organizational change process? The School Academic Optimism Scale (SAOS) (Hoy, 2005) was used to assess teachers' perceptions of Academic Optimism and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Avolio & Bass, 2004) was used to assess their perceptions of Transformational Leadership. In addition, semi-structured teacher interviews were conducted to obtain a richer and deeper understanding of perceptions related to academic optimism and transformational leadership during the organizational change process. Finally, a critical incident analysis was performed on principal journal entries describing principal perceptions of transformational leadership behaviors and teacher academic optimism during the organizational change process. Findings suggest increased perceptions of academic optimism and transformational leadership behaviors within both schools. Additionally, teachers in the school where the personal mastery model was implemented over a longer period of time suggested the school was recultured to accept this new educational model and felt a greater sense of collective leadership.

<p>The performance-based model of education has been proven successful in a number of schools across the United States and the world. The majority of the students and teachers who are currently operating in innovative performance-based programs have been exposed to the traditional model of education for the bulk of their educational lives, and are in a unique position to judge the efficacy of the system. In an earlier pilot study, there was a significant difference in the perspective of the students and teachers in favor of the performance-based system, which could eventually lead to the adoption of the model on a larger scale in future years. The purpose of this embedded, multiple-case study was to analyze how students and teachers operating in two educational programs that had implemented the performance-based model perceived their own levels of engagement and optimism, and how the teachers judged the leadership that helped put the system in place. The case is bound by the system of performance-based education, bound by place in terms of one school in California and one in Montana, and bound by time in that the analysis of the participant data is from the early months of 2014. This research was framed by the following central question: How do teachers and students who operate in a performance- based educational system describe academic optimism, student engagement, and transformational leadership behaviors of their principals? Three primary sources of data were used: individual interviews, student and teacher surveys, and achievement documentation. Analysis and triangulation of the data identified key issues and painted a rich picture of academic success in this innovative model.

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of retired transformative public school superintendents in Oregon. The difficult, complex, and dynamic position of the superintendent is told through the untapped wealth of knowledge and experience from those who have served in the position for a minimum of ten years. </p><p> This research contributes to the limited body of research of superintendents and provides a contemporary analysis of the complexities of the position of the superintendent. Nine retired transformative public school superintendents in Oregon participated in this research. </p><p> The study gained a deeper understanding of the recollections of the retired superintendents through in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed, interpreted, and coded using common themes. </p><p> The major findings in the study included: retired transformative superintendents were a lifelong and lead learner in their position as superintendent. A second finding in the study highlighted the key role of equity in the work of a superintendent. A third finding is centered on the need for the superintendent to be an innovator, problem solver, and informed opportunist. A fourth finding is the vital role of humor in the position of the superintendent. The fifth finding is each of the retired superintendents, if given the opportunity, would choose to become superintendents again. </p><p> Future superintendents can use this research to better understand the position of the superintendent and to study and learn "wisdom from their elders" in order to be a successful superintendent. Superintendent preparation programs can also use this research in the designing and implementation of relevant curriculum in training the next generation of superintendents.</p>

<p> There will be challenges resulting from the goals of the completion agenda (Lee &amp; Rawls, 2010), underrepresentation of low socioeconomic status (SES) students at highly selective colleges (Carnevale &amp; Rose, 2003), and relationship between institution type and social mobility (Haveman &amp; Smeeding, 2006). If rates of access and success for low SES students are not improved then the economic intentions behind the completion agenda may be compromised. This study measured the impact of SES and academic preparedness on academic outcomes at a highly selective, private, research university. Academic outcome data consisted of grade point average (GPA) and completed units after the first and fourth year, persistence to the second year, and graduation after the fourth year for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 freshmen cohorts. A composite score of high school GPA and test scores was used to determine the academic preparedness of students and the variable was statistically significantly for all academic outcomes measured. The comparison of students of similar academic preparedness revealed SES was statistically significant for GPA after the first and fourth year, first year units completed, and four year graduation. When further examining the effectiveness of a student support program, the results were inconclusive. Although the potentially at-risk students required to participate in the program achieved similar outcomes when compared to non-participants of similar SES and academic preparedness, the support program did not minimize the effects of SES. The findings of this study further advance previous research pointing to the challenges faced by low SES students in the areas of acceptance, belonging, and capital in higher education. The identification of potential best practices to respond to this will require future research examining the impact of SES at other universities, especially when academic preparedness is factored.</p>

<p> Can a first-line supervisor improve worker performance? First-line supervisors at a facility of a manufacturing company volunteered to learn performance improvement principles and be coached in applying those principles in order to solve performance problems in the workplace. The researcher continued coaching and evaluating the performance of the first-line supervisors as the volunteers utilized action research methodology to improve worker performance. While solving performance problems, the volunteers used a job aid specifically designed to guide the first-line supervisor in solving performance problems, improving the job aid as a result of usage. Each of the first-line supervisors, prior to volunteering, had some experience as a supervisor, ranging from one year to 20 years, but had not been prepared to be a supervisor prior to assuming the position and had not been trained in performance improvement after becoming a supervisor. In solving each performance problem, the first-line supervisor analyzed performance of a worker or group of workers to determine the performance gap for the problem, identified the cause of the problem, chose an intervention to improve performance, implemented the intervention, and evaluated all of the actions taken to determine if further action was needed to improve performance. Some performance problems were solved with one intervention and others required multiple interventions to find the most effective intervention to solve the problem. Each first-line supervisor used the job aid to guide, as well as document, actions taken to solve performance problems. Each first-line supervisor also contributed to improvement in the job aid resulting from usage. Findings resulting from observation, interview, and the comments of the volunteer first-line supervisors were that: (a) learning was transferred to application by actually solving performance problems, (b) the job aid was useful in guiding first-line supervisors in solving problems, and (c) action research, in addition to being easily understood by the supervisors, facilitated the solution of problems by providing a framework for action in solving performance problems. Further research is needed in applying the action research methodology in other organizations with a larger sample of first-line supervisors, in different locations, with different missions and goals.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to use a single subject research design to examine the effects of immediate feedback and delayed feedback within the Math to Mastery Intervention Package. The participants were 6 elementary school students who were performing approximately 1 year below grade level in math. A combined simple phase change design was used for the study. 3 of the students experienced the design in the A/B/A/C order, while the other 3 students experienced the design in a reversed order for B and C. During this study, 'A' represented the baseline phase and the return to baseline phase, 'B' represented the immediate feedback intervention phase, and 'C' represented the delayed feedback intervention phase. Each feedback phase was implemented separately for up to 4 weeks for each student. The final phase of intervention for each student included use of the most effective intervention condition after the student was exposed to both intervention feedback conditions. 2 weeks after the best intervention, follow-ups were conducted to determine if the students were able to maintain the skills that they were taught during the intervention. Results revealed that both intervention conditions were successful for addressing deficits in math academic performance. Improvement was seen for all 6 students with increases in digits correct per minute on single skill math worksheets, single skill math progress worksheets, and multiple skill math progress worksheets. Implications for school leadership within school settings are provided.</p>

<p> Professional development is an essential tool for supporting and improving the work of teaching in our schools. The current study sought to understand which elements of professional development teachers perceive to be most important, and what specific characteristics about professional development influence their willingness to make changes in their professional practices. Q-Methodology was utilized to investigate the subjective opinions of public school teachers at one selected high school in North Carolina. Data analysis indicated four statistically significant factors: Individual Teacher Needs; Student and Teacher Learning; Collaboration; Supportive Structures and Environment. In addition, data emerged explaining how teachers view effective professional development and what it is about that professional development that encourages them to make changes in their teaching pedagogy. The findings from the study provide vital information about effective professional development for teachers, and also offer useful information to educational professionals, policy makers, and researchers about an important topic.</p>