<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if student housing gender-type is significantly related to student alcohol consumption at North Dakota State University. The researcher examined whether the residence of students in coeducational residence halls or single-gender residence halls was related to the rate they consumed alcohol in an average week or the frequency they engaged in binge drinking. </p><p> NDSU researchers allowed the researcher of this study to add an institutional question to the biannual Student CORE Alcohol and Other Drug Survey that gathered demographic information about what residence hall gender-type participants lived within. For the first time, this provided the opportunity to quantitatively compare alcohol consumption of students living in coeducational residence halls against those living in single-gender residence halls at NDSU. At the time of this study the NDSU on-campus population was particularly hospitable for such research since the multi-thousand person population was evenly distributed between single-gender and coed residency. </p><p> Using this preexisting data set regarding student alcohol behavior and residence hall demographics, the researcher analyzed the data through descriptive statistics, bivariate correlational analysis, and analysis of covariance while controlling for the effect of age and gender. Results revealed that there was no significant relationship between NDSU student alcohol consumption and their residence hall gender-type. </p><p> Recommendations for future research included adapting the national CORE Alcohol and Other Drug Survey to include residence hall gender-type to allow for further analysis.</p>

No description available.

<p> School principal preparation programs have the obligation to ensure administrators are ready for the challenges that face them on a regular basis. This study investigated the effectiveness of school principal preparation programs. The purpose was to determine specific areas for which K-12 administrators are unprepared and the role school principal preparation programs play in helping administrators feel prepared for their roles, responsibilities, and duties. Administrators are expected to lead a diverse population of students and staff members while maintaining a budget, meeting state and federal requirements, understanding education reforms, implementing technology, and being responsible for daily operations of a school. Through the use of a mixed-study, there were several areas participants identified as weaknesses in their principal preparation program. This study surveyed and interviewed administrators who were within their first three years of being an administrator. The most prepared responsibilities identified in this study were knowledge of school law, establishing and maintaining a vision and focus on a core set of organization goals, implementing research-based school improvement, maintaining a safe school, and developing high expectations for student learning. The least prepared responsibilities identified in the survey were dismissing staff members, developing the master schedule, developing the school calendar, and scheduling parent/teacher conferences. Interviewed participants identified creating a vision of learning, ethics, importance of diversity and equity, collaborating with stakeholders, creating a school culture, and addressing facilities/maintenance as the six ISSLC standards they were most prepared to handle. The five least prepared ISSLC standards were evaluating teachers to increase student achievement, using technology to increase student achievement, managing human resource and personnel, preparing a budget and managing finances, and evaluating curriculum and best practices. </p>

This dissertation is composed of three manuscripts, all of which focus on the role of followers in leadership. Manuscript 1 investigates followers’ preferences for leader characteristics. Guided by social identity theory and the similarity-attraction paradigm, followers’ preferences were examined using a vignette-type approach. The results show that follower self-worth moderated the relationship between leader-follower similarity and follower preference for leader characteristics. Under conditions of low self-worth, followers preferred leaders whose characteristics were opposite from their own; conversely, under conditions of high self-worth, followers preferred leaders whose characteristics were similar to their own. Despite the importance of leaders, attention is drawn towards followers’ cognitions about themselves. Manuscript 2 argues that followers are equal exchange partners with their leaders, thus actively contributing to the nature of their relationships with their leader. Consistent with social exchange theory, there was a significant relationship between followers’ pro-social behaviors associated with secure attachment style and conscientiousness and leaders’ pro-social behaviors such as helping and trust. In addition, anti-social follower behaviors begat anti-social leader behaviors; followers’ fearful attachment style predicted abusive supervisory behaviors. These findings contrast leader-centric notions, and they emphasize that followers can participate in determining the nature of their relationships with leaders. Manuscript 3 evaluates bidirectional influence between leaders and followers on three work values: humanistic beliefs, organizational beliefs, and work ethic. Although there was no support for upward influence, the short-term nature of the study may have limited the opportunity for sequential bidirectional influence to occur. There was, however, a significant downward influence upon followers’ organizational beliefs. These results suggest that leader influence may be particularly effective, or followers may be particularly vulnerable to leader influence on some dimensions (e.g., the importance of the collective) versus others (e.g., individualism at work, and the extent to which work fulfills people). Finally, in the general discussion, directions for future research are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-05 17:20:43.173

<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>

Our fast-paced and seemingly ever-changing world is reflected in the transformations that are occurring in our school systems. Meeting the dynamic needs of all stakeholders in a school building’s ecosystem falls on the shoulders of the school principals. Employing capable leaders in this role is vital yet many countries do not require candidates for the position to have special qualifications. In addition, training programs that do exist have been subject to much criticism. Recently, suggestions for reform have been implemented and this study explored a newly mandated school leader training program to assess its perceived effectiveness. This qualitative research study contributes a missing link to current research into educational leadership training programs world-wide which tends to focus on educational reforms in Canada, the United States and Australia. Twelve Hungarian school principals, or directors as they are termed in their native land, were interviewed for this research and asked to share their personal formal and informal pre-service preparation and training experiences. The directors were also asked to provide their opinions regarding the relative value of different components of their compulsory School Leaders’ Training program. Findings support the theories presented in existing literature regarding effective school leader training programs using methods specifically targeted toward adult learners and add to the call for mandatory school administrator training and preparation.

<p> This study investigated a district magnet program that required high levels of actual parental involvement. The district that houses this program uses Epstein's framework of parent involvement to reach out to all families. The research sought to match parent responses with the magnet program expectations and the Epstein framework. Interviews were conducted and completed with twenty-four participants including diverse backgrounds. Particularly sought after were parents from different ethnic groups and gender within two separate middle schools. The research also endeavored to learn how the district school choice program forced parents to navigate their child's enrollment, whether at the elementary school or middle school levels. </p><p> My findings suggested that the parents in this study fit into more than one framework. During the study, two more frameworks emerged that better place parent engagement with the student choice program along with that of Epstein. My working hypothesis was that a "one size fits all" parent involvement framework does not exist for parents who chose this magnet program. </p><p> My study suggests that school districts need to reach out to all parents in whatever form works for both parties: the parents and school programs. School districts are charged with developing the flexibility needed to meet families where they are and provide support necessary to sustain higher levels of parent involvement. This action will lead to more success in the familial journey through their child's educational experience.</p>

<p> The purpose of this interpretive, qualitative study was to explore how the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) changed teacher perceptions regarding instructional and collaborative practices at one underperforming middle school located in Southern California. Twelve middle school teachers participated in the study. Instruments used to collect data consisted of an online teacher questionnaire, teacher interviews, and artifact analysis. Bandura's theory of social learning and the response to intervention framework served as the conceptual foundation of the study. Data analysis included calculation of descriptive statistics for the questionnaires. Interview transcripts were analyzed with Tesch's process led to the identification of five themes. Theme 1 showed RTI frameworks and structures were critical to the implementation of RTI at this middle school. The second theme focused on the efficacy of implementation. Collaborative practices and teacher knowledge and understanding of the RTI process needed more reinforcement and consistency. Theme 3 focused on student achievement. Teachers indicated varying opinions about how the implementation of RTI had influenced student learning. Teachers felt students in Tiers I and 2 were not mastering grade level standards after two years of implementation. Theme 4 showed that teachers were positive about RTI and believed that all students can learn. Theme 5 showed teachers felt RTI had changed their instructional practices and use of data. Implications of this study included the identification of key processes and documents for consistent training and support for sustainable RTI implementation. Further research is recommended on the topic. </p><p> Key words: Response to intervention, middle school, student achievement </p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and opinions of school administrators surrounding workplace stress, its causes, and coping strategies selected to combat stress. This study was designed to elicit responses pertaining to why and how individual administrators experienced and coped with stress factors in the work setting. The study's major findings included: (a) Administrators reported that experiences and or issues pertaining to time management cause the most work related stress, (b) School administrators reported emotional strategies as the most utilized technique to combat stress, and (c) The demographic factor with the most influence on stress and the type of coping strategy utilized is years of experience. The major findings produced implications for current administrative practices as well as future research. Current trends related to stress implies a need for additional professional development, and education on how to cope with stress in a healthy manner for administrators to maintain longevity in the school administrator role. </p>

<p> The percentage of students entering postsecondary education has steadily increased and college participation rates are currently reported at nearly 42% for persons age 18-24. However, the demand for a college-educated workforce continues to increase and various programs have been introduced to increase student success in college. One of those programs is termed "Dual Enrollment." The purpose of this study was to determine if a dual enrollment program implemented between the Anderson Union High School district and Shasta College increased students' perceptions of their own college readiness for reading, writing, and class participation. The results of the student assessment are compared with that of their peers who did not participate in the dual enrollment program. The participants were requested to complete a 20-question survey developed by the researcher. In the survey, participants were asked to assess their preparation in reading, writing, and class participation as well as provide responses to open-ended prompts. Participants were also asked to rate their overall preparation for college level work and to provide information related to outside factors that may affect college success. Finally, students' high school achievement data were used to provide background information related to student success. With a response rate of 31%, 92 of 301 students, the survey revealed that students who participated in dual enrollment assessed themselves as more prepared but in specific areas. Dual enrolled students felt more prepared in writing and an even greater difference for assessing themselves was revealed in their preparation for class participation.</p>