<p> One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was the assurance that parents would be actively involved in the education of their children. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act was eventually reauthorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title X, Part C of NCLB legislation. A result of this reauthorization was a standard of quality that focuses on the parents of homeless students being active participants in their child&rsquo;s education in a meaningful manner. In order to implement this particular standard, one recommended strategy was a focus on parent engagement in early literacy related activities with their child.</p><p> Leadership practices in schools are of major importance when educating homeless students. Educational leaders also play a vital role in interpreting and implementing components of national educational mandates and legislation that focus on specific at risk student populations. Professional development and training opportunities are essential for school site staff to meet the challenge of possible preconceived perceptions regarding the involvement of parents of homeless students.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of parental involvement by school administrators and teacher leaders in relation to fostering of early literacy development in homeless students. This study used a qualitative research design via a case study approach employing semi-structured interviews with theoretical underpinnings based on Bioecological Systems Theory. The findings of this study shed light on educational administrators and teacher leaders&rsquo; views of parental involvement in the attainment of early educational milestones of homeless students.</p><p>

<p> There has been a strong movement since the reauthorization of PL 94-142 in 2004 and 2006 toward inclusionary practice for students with disabilities to receive instructional and social opportunities in the general education classroom Proponents of inclusionary practices believe that in order to provide an authentic least restrictive environment (LRE) for the growing population of identified students with disabilities, the learning environment needs to be a culture of inclusionary practice. Inclusion advocates assert that inclusion is a civil rights issue. Those rights include equal access to educational opportunities. This change in education involves various moving parts; thereby increasing the challenges for school district leaders.</p><p> School districts continue to grapple with special education service delivery models that best fit the special education students&rsquo; needs within a legal and educational context. A continuum of special education services is provided by school districts to meet the needs of special education students. Inclusion is a delivery model that is federally mandated and requires principal leadership, vision, and collaboration. The importance of educational leaders to transform educational settings for students with disabilities is crucial in preparing them to acquire the skills necessary to be college and career ready (Billingsley, McLesky &amp; Crockett, 2014).</p><p> This qualitative study focused on district administrators representing 13 districts that have experience and knowledge in inclusive settings for students with disabilities. This study examined the process of inclusionary practices by exploring district administrator perceptions on the challenges district administrators face in the adoption, implementation, and sustainability incorporating inclusionary practices in district schools.</p><p> This study was based on a conceptual framework that synthesizes two theories: Fullan&rsquo;s educational change theory and Schein&rsquo;s organizational leadership theory. Together, these two theories provide a contextual lens to examine the experiences of district administrators who have developed and sustained inclusionary practices.</p><p> Data from this qualitative study included district administrator interviews. Participants in the study were 13 district administrators, who had knowledge and experiences with the district&rsquo;s special education program. The participants interviewed had more than 3 years of administrative experience and were involved the development and success of inclusionary practices.</p><p> Analysis of this data yielded significant findings and recommendations in relation to the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of inclusive environments. Findings for this study confirm that in order for inclusion to be implemented teacher and principal participation is key. Administrators expressed professional development and time for collaboration as essential for sustainability. This study also contains recommendations for successful implementation of inclusion through the methods of collaboration, professional development, and communication.</p><p> The need for sustaining successful inclusive environments is a critical finding that will continue to apply to school districts as they continue to grapple with special education service delivery models that best fit the special education students&rsquo; needs within a legal and educational context.</p><p>

<p> Increasing a correctional offender's mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy can be accomplished through the efficient use of technology within correctional education. Correctional facilities that employ the use of technology have the capacity to provide offenders with a tool that will serve them while they are incarcerated and again when they are reintroduced into society. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach which allowed for an in-depth examination of the impact of technology on an offender's mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy. The theoretical framework of Carol Dweck was woven throughout this study to appraise the three research questions providing the foundation for this study. While using technology in a correctional education setting, offenders were given a self-reflective mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy survey instrument that provided quantitative data. Outcomes from an analysis of means demonstrated that correctional offenders established significant growth in mindset and self-efficacy, but did not express significant growth in resilience. Also, phenomenological interviews were collected that revealed themes related to the influence of technology on correctional offenders. Furthermore, themes from the interviews also highlighted a newfound confidence in the future and the ability to attain a new set of goals. Technology was proven to be a vehicle that can potentially catapult correctional students into higher levels of accomplishment. Correctional education was also proven to be able to provide a needed means to academic and future success for offenders. This study helps to fill the gap that currently exists in the literature concerning the impact of technology on offender mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy, as well as, the impact technology has on success measures for correctional offenders. </p><p>

No description available.

<p> Research shows that out-of-school factors potentially have a greater impact on student outcomes yet our interventions remain focused on in-school factors. This thesis proposes that education reform efforts should learn from the widely accepted social determinants of health framework. The social determinants of health framework has lead to great strides in health equity in the us. Us education however remains deeply rooted in inequitable origins despite centuries of efforts to improve outcomes. Through a literature review of the impact of social forces on educational outcomes a &ldquo;social determinants of education&rdquo; framework is proposed. The social determinants of education are proposed to be economic, food, physical environment, social environment, and health. This framework aims to coalesce education reform conversations around a common language of equity.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of concern of Illinois principals regarding the adoption of an evaluation system modeled after Charlotte Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching. Principal demographics and involvement in the use of and professional development surrounding Charlotte Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching were studied for their impact on the concerns of principals. Finally, the concerns of principals were determined using both the Stages of Concern Questionnaire and the Open-Ended Statements of Concern. </p><p> The study used a quantitative research design to identify the levels of concern of principals in the adoption of a new innovation, Charlotte Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching as the basis for evaluating teaching practice. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to provide insight into principals&rsquo; concerns implementing Danielson&rsquo;s Framework. The target population was the 2960 K-12 public school principals in Illinois, excluding principals working for Chicago Public Schools. The online survey was completed by 313 principals. </p><p> The results of the study found that the implementation of Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching has raised concerns for principals including the amount of time, paperwork, and inability to perform other duties. In addition, gender and the average number of teacher evaluations per year influenced the concerns of principals. Finally, the variables studied included: years of experience using Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching, principal self-rating of knowledge of Danielson&rsquo;s Framework for Teaching, and the number of professional development activities also impacted principals&rsquo; concerns. Based on the results and the current literature, recommendations for educational practitioners and for future research were made.</p><p>

<p> Looking at education globally and identifying the role school leaders play in providing access to education, this research conceptualizes education utilizing a framework for school leadership that takes into account comparative and cultural understandings to teaching and learning. This stand-alone case study investigates the work of two women from North America who founded the first and only secondary school on Blue Cove Caye in Belize, Central America and their role as school leaders for social justice in providing equitable access to secondary education. Through the development of an innovative informal curriculum, these school leaders provide students with &lsquo;windows of opportunities&rsquo; designed to close the opportunity gap and prepare students to contribute to the island&rsquo;s eco-tourist economy.</p><p>

<p> Institutions of higher education are increasingly faced with global forces. Consequently, colleges and universities must internationalize in order to stay relevant when faced with global forces. One means by which post-secondary institutions are internationalizing is by offering students international service-learning experiences. During these experiences, students acquire intercultural competencies and a more in-depth understanding of the educational content delivered throughout their educational career. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the acquisition of intercultural competencies by twelve participants attending the University of Montana and Montana State University. Participants were interviewed, utilizing questions about the understanding of intercultural competencies, the acquisition of said competencies, institutional preparation for and follow-up of international service-learning experiences, and the impact of international service-learning experiences on subsequent coursework. The results of this study show that participants&rsquo; home institutions offered very little preparatory and follow-up intervention. Despite the lack of institutional intervention, participants acquired six intercultural competencies associated with this study and utilized self-guided reflection exercises to make sense of their shared experience after having returned to their home institution, which resulted in a more robust post-experience education. Additionally, participants re-evaluated professional and academic ambitions based on their exposure to social inequities and drastically different gender norms from those of their native cultures. The results of this study have implications for colleges and universities wishing to facilitate international service-learning opportunities for undergraduate students. Despite a lack of institutional interventions, participants were greatly impacted by their international service-learning experience, suggesting that the impacts might be more profound with additional institutional intervention.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the mentoring culture at USAFA in terms of selected mentor and prot&eacute;g&eacute; motivational and effectiveness characteristics of faculty and administrative personnel (referred to as permanent party members) (mentors) and cadets (prot&eacute;g&eacute;s). Results offer evidence which support the presence of a somewhat healthy culture in that those who indicated they were currently mentoring cadets were more generative, altruistic, and wanted to mentor cadets more compared to those who indicated they were not mentoring cadets. However, those who were currently mentoring cadets did not necessarily possess better emotional intelligence compared to non-mentors. Also, cadets who indicated they were currently being mentored wanted to be mentored more and possessed more of all selected motivational (locus of control and self-esteem) and effectiveness (job involvement, career planning, and learning goal orientation) characteristics compared to cadets who were not being mentored. In addition, a large number of cadets indicated they wanted to be mentored but were currently not being mentored. This group of cadets differed from those who wanted to be mentored and were being mentored in that they were younger by class year, had more of an external locus of control, and less of a learning goal orientation. Future research should focus on three aspects of mentoring at USAFA: assessing effectiveness, training motivated mentors to improve their emotional intelligence, and intervening with mentoring resources for freshmen cadets who possess motivational and effectiveness characteristics.</p><p>

<p> Autism spectrum disorder rates are climbing in the United States. Because this population is growing, research is needed to understand how to assist these individuals in pursuit of postsecondary educational and employment opportunities. The purpose of this qualitative study, as reflected in the central research question, was to investigate how a career and technical education program impacted the preparedness of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder for educational and employment opportunities beyond high school. The conceptual framework was based on Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s ecological perspective of human development, Zhao and Frank&rsquo;s ecological perspective of technology, and Song&rsquo;s research about distributed cognition. This study used a single case study design, and the case was a career and technical education program at a high school located in Southwestern state. Participants included one program administrator, three career and technical education teachers, and two special education teachers. Data were collected from multiple sources, including individual interviews with participants and program documents. Data analysis included line-by-line coding and category construction to determine themes and discrepancies. Key findings indicated that the CTE program prepared ASD students for postsecondary educational and employment opportunities, differentiated instruction to meet the individual needs of ASD students, technologies such as computers helped ASD students prepare for postsecondary educational and employment opportunities, helped ASD students learn technical skills, life skills, and job skills. As a society we need to recognize ASD students are impacting the paradigm associated with special needs students as they attend universities, work study programs, technical schools, and other opportunities which have evaded this population.</p><p>