Premature mortality resulting from the growing global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is a contemporary development challenge. Low-income and lower-middle-income countries are disproportionately affected, with the poorest in society considered the most vulnerable. A paucity of literature exists on how leadership practices at the implementation level relate to ensuring readiness for NCD services. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether any relationship exists between leadership practices at the county level and readiness for NCD services in Kenya. Path-goal and adaptive leadership theories were used to guide this quantitative correlational study, using secondary data from a 2013 Service Availability and Readiness Assessment survey. Correlation and multiple linear regression tests were used to determine the strength and direction of any relationship between the independent variable of leadership practices (annual work planning, therapeutic committees, and supportive supervision), and the dependent variable of NCD readiness (county readiness score). The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between therapeutic committee (p = .002) and supportive supervision practices (p = .023) and NCD readiness. Leadership practices also had a statistically significant predictive relationship with NCD readiness (p = .009). This study may be significant to county health leaders in relation to their efforts to ensure proximal access to quality NCD services in Kenya. The results of this study may help to promote the development of capacity-building programs targeting health leadership and prioritization of actions to ensure access to NCD prevention and treatment services at the county level in Kenya.

Educational policy researchers have concluded that if U.S. schools transition from the traditional model of grading and reporting to a uniform standards-based grading and reporting model, students would benefit academically. However, very few middle and high schools in the United States have made the transition to standards-based grading. This qualitative research study was designed address the role of leadership in change by identifying a set of best leadership practices to guide school principals in leading such a transition. The conceptual framework was Kotter's change model. A national sample of 7 middle and 5 high school principals from 8 states who had previously led their schools in the transition to standards-based grading elected to serve as study participants. This panel completed an open-ended questionnaire designed to identify perceived best leadership practices school leaders should consider as they plan to lead such a change. Using the Delphi technique to determine consensus, a set of 78 best leadership actions were identified. Then, these actions were rated by the same panel, resulting in a set of 8 best leadership change practices consistent with Kotter's framework. Practices included establishing and communicating a sense of urgency, developing a change vision and stakeholder buy-in, building coalitions and broad-based actions, generating short term wins and continuing processes, and incorporating change into school culture. This consensus set of leadership practices might affect positive social change by assisting school principals in planning and leading grading change initiatives in schools to enhance students' learning and improve systems of communicating student academic progress using uniform and consistent standards.

Despite the importance an urban school district places on data-driven decision-making (DDDM) to drive instruction, implementation continues to remain a challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate how support systems affected the implementation of DDDM to drive instructional practices in three urban schools that recently transitioned from priority or focus to good standing on the State Accountability Report. The study aligned with the organizational supports conceptual framework with an emphasis on data accessibility, collection methods, reliability and validity, the use of coaches and data teams, professional development, and data-driven leaders. Through the collection of qualitative data from one-on-one interviews, the research questions asked about the perspectives on data culture and data driven instructional practices of three school leaders and nine teachers. The data were triangulated to generate a thematic illustration of content that was coded and analyzed to identify solid patterns and themes. Findings suggest that leaders create a data-driven school culture by establishing a school-wide vision, developing a DDDM cycle, creating a collaborative DDDM support system, communicating data as a school community, and changing the way technology is used in DDDM initiatives. Based on the findings, a project in the form of a white paper was developed, using research to support that when data is regularly used to hone student skills, a positive shift in overall teacher practices occurs. This shift provides the potential for positive social change when students have opportunities to attain academic goals, resulting in increased student achievement and higher graduation rates.

Women entrepreneurs are emerging in the national economy as important players, yet gender bias and stereotypes still exist in organizations that prevent firms from taking advantage of women'€™s potential as leaders in entrepreneurial ventures. At the same time, traditional leadership models are lacking in diversity and unanswered questions remain regarding the role of gender in entrepreneurial leadership and enterprise sustainability. The purpose of this qualitative study, which used an exploratory, multiple-case research design, was to gain insight into the leadership practices of women entrepreneurial leaders and the implications of these practices for enterprise longevity 5 years after their business'€™s start-up phase. This study is framed by, first, the concept of the entrepreneurial leader and, second the intersectionality of gender and entrepreneurial leadership. Semistructured interviews with 9 participants, observational field notes, and archival data provided data regarding the leadership experiences of women entrepreneurs and enterprise longevity of women-led firms. Identifiable themes emerged through thematic analysis of the textual data and cross-case synthesis analysis. A total of 7 conceptual categories that enclose a total of 12 themes were identified. The conceptual categories are (a) gender, (b) entrepreneurial leadership, (c) market, (d) money, (e) management skills, (f) macro environment, and (g) meso environment. Findings from this study may serve as a catalyst for social change by challenging the status quo in existing formal work structures and promoting diversity in the workplace, opening new avenues for business growth and building bridges of communication between the business world and society.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between leaders’ self-awareness and their effectiveness. The population included leaders with at least five years of experience in a leadership role. Participants were recruited by snowball sampling methods; the researcher used a diverse network of professionals to recruit other leaders from diverse industries. Each leader completed a 35-survey questionnaire along with demographic questions (gender, education, years in leadership role, industry), and was required to ask at least four direct reports to complete the 35 questions about observed behaviors of their leader. After removing incomplete responses, the final sample included N = 179 leaders, each with at least four direct reports (N = 761). Data were collected using three well-established, validated research instruments for this quantitative correlational study: the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) (Boyatzis, 2007), the Leadership Practices Inventory SELF (LPI-SELF) (Kouzes & Posner, 2013b) and the Leadership Practices Inventory OBSERVER (LPI-OBSERVER) (Kouzes & Posner, 2013a). LPI surveys provided five independent leadership competency scores: Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Qualtrics, an approved third-party online survey platform, was used to collect and analyze study questions. The study measured direction and strength of leaders’ LPI scores and self-awareness, the direction and strength of how the direct reports’ rated their leaders’ LPI practices and the leaders’ self-awareness; it also measured if there were significant differences in how the leaders rated themselves based on gender, education and time in a leadership position. The results indicated a positive, but not strong relationship between leaders’ own LPI scores and self-awareness. The relationship of the direct reports’ observation of leaders and their self-awareness appeared positive and strong for each of the five competencies. The correlation of the five LPI-SELF competencies and self-awareness to gender did not appear significantly different. Results appeared different in four of the five leadership practices based on education. Only Challenging the Process was similar for all educational levels. Whereas, years as a leader appear similar in four of the five leadership practices, and only Modeling the Way showed different results.

Thesis advisor: Raquel Muniz / There is an abundance of research that both supports teachers’ developing the social and emotional competencies (SEC) of students and acknowledges that doing so positively impacts students’ academic and life success, as well as improving general well-being. As of 2020, Massachusetts required teachers to provide social emotional learning (SEL) opportunities for students, but district and school leaders have done little to develop teachers' own SEC.  Yet, the literature shows that teachers’ SEC matter, both to the successful implementation of SEL programs in classrooms and to teachers’ own ability to manage their emotions and handle stress. Teaching is stressful and high emotional stress can lower resilience and impact job performance. This qualitative case study examined the practices of school-based leaders in one Massachusetts public school district to determine which leadership practices developed and supported the resilience and well-being of school-based staff and how those practices promoted SEL opportunities for staff. Data was gathered from leaders and school-based staff through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and document review. Findings revealed that leaders developed and supported staff resilience and well-being when they provided opportunities for collaboration, recognized and provided feedback to staff, included staff in decisions related to their work, and supported work-life balance and self-care. Engaging in these leadership practices allowed leaders to promote SEL opportunities for staff and often modeled SEC for staff. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This is an explanatory research investigation on the role of principals as instructional leaders which has been highlighted over the past two to three decades. The emergence of this concept in the leadership field and the rigorous research attention that it has received is a result of mounting pressure faced by principals as a result of the year-on-year poor performance of learners in the matriculation examinations. Parents, politicians and other organs of civil society expect principals to be accountable for what happens in the classroom (teaching and learning), including the performance of learners. The poor performance of learners in the matriculation examinations is the central focus of this study, growing out of the discussions and arguments which have dominated the media, social and political groupings, government, as well as the business sector. All these groupings and institutions are perturbed about the decline of learner performance in the matriculation examinations and seek possible solutions to this problem. I was therefore intrigued by the above concerns, which motivated me to engage in this study. This study set out to investigate the variables related to instructional leadership and the contribution of these variables to learner performance. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the variables related to instructional leadership practices of secondary school principals and what is their effect on the pass rate in the matriculation examinations? In order to respond to the above question, the following subsidiary questions were examined: a. How can instructional leadership possibly contribute to the improvement of learner performance? b. How do heads of department (HODs) and deputy principals perceive the role of their principals regarding instructional leadership? c. How are principals prepared with regard to their role as instructional leaders? This study followed an explanatory, mixed method research approach, utilising two sets of questionnaires (one for principals and another for HODs and deputy principals), semi-structured interviews, and focus group interviews. Seventy eight principals completed questionnaires regarding the performance of their learners. One hundred and thirty-seven deputy principals and HODs completed questionnaires regarding their principals‟ roles in instructional leadership and contribution to learner performance. The interviewing process took place in two stages / phases. During the first phase, a group of sixty principals was exposed to the four variables which underpin this study, namely: a. The principals’ role in promoting frequent and appropriate school-wide teacher development activities; b. Defining and communicating shared vision and goals; c. Monitoring and providing feedback on the teaching and learning process; and d. Managing the curriculum and instruction. In fifteen groups of four, the respondents brainstormed the strength of each variable and prioritised or arranged them in order of their importance and contribution to learner achievement. The outcome of this first phase of the interview process and the findings from the analysis of the questionnaires informed the formulation of questions for the face-to-face interviews with five principals who were randomly selected from the seventy eight principals who participated in the completion of the questionnaires for the quantitative part of this study. The key insights and contributions drawn from this study make it unique in the sense that it: <ul><li> has an impact on the preparation of principals for their role as instructional leaders; </li><li> informs the support that principals need with regard to their practice as instructional leaders; </li><li> assists principals to identify appropriate variables to help align their own visions for their schools with the national, provincial and regional visions for the improvement of learner achievement; </li><li> adds value to the existing body of knowledge on instructional leadership and the central role that it plays in improving the achievement levels of learners in the National Senior Certificate; and </li><li> clarifies the fact that "leadership" is not a semantic substitute for "management and administration", but rather an independent construct which is capable of interacting with the latter in the practice of education. </li></ul> / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The Nigerian banking industry has recently witnessed a major scandal resulting from financial impropriety of some corporate leaders in the industry. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) invested the sum of N620 billion ($4.1 billion) as part of a direct bailout package to 8 banks, and removed top executives of those banks for gross leadership ineptitude. The leadership ineptitude is an indication of the need to better understand effective leadership practices in the Nigerian banking industry. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore bank leaders' effective leadership practices used to sustain bank growth in Nigeria beyond 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 5 Nigerian bank CEOs, direct observation, and document reviews. During thematic analysis, 4 themes emerged including establishing a direction, inspiring and motivating employees, raising other leaders, and developing and using leadership competence. The implications for positive social change include the potential for bank leaders to identify sustainable leadership practices, improve profitability, create more job opportunities, and ease unemployment problems in the community.

Researchers have noted that educational manager and instructional leadership roles are vital to achieving sustainable student achievement. Ineffective leadership practices may decrease students' academic success and are a continuous concern for educators, especially for those of urban charter schools. The purpose of this study was to explore practices that leaders of urban charter middle schools have implemented to advance their schools from a priority school to a focus school designation. This multiple case study sought to identify and clarify leadership practices of successful leaders in urban charter middle schools. Leithwood and Riehl's core leadership practices model served as the basis for understanding successful leadership practices in 3 Midwestern urban charter middle schools that progressed from a priority school to a focus school category. Data included semistructured interviews with 3 principals, 3 focus groups with a total of 16 teachers, and a review of relevant documents at each school. Data analysis entailed coding and theming significant statements for emerging patterns related to successful leadership practices until reaching data saturation. Emerging themes included leadership practices, professional development, student academic achievement, parental involvement, and redesigning the schools. Findings from this study resonate with Leithwood and Riehl's leadership model and indicate the efficacy of core leadership practices to meet state and national guidelines. Positive social change comes from providing school leaders in urban charter schools with leadership practices that may more effectively offer students with educational preparation to compete in a global society.

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