<p> This qualitative inquiry of the experiences of six African American women high school principals, current and recently exited from east coast secondary schools, employs in-depth interviews and a focus group. Through interviews I explored these secondary school leaders&rsquo; personal and professional experiences to reveal their perspectives on the ways identity informs their ability to influence others, shape professional relationships, and enact leadership in their secondary schools. Identity was also an important influence on their ability to strategically navigate power relations within and beyond their school contexts. The experiences and perspectives of African American women school leaders in secondary settings have been under-represented in the educational leadership scholarship; this study seeks to contribute to an emergent body of literature in this area. As national demographics change and more school leadership vacancies emerge, African American women leaders represent a viable candidate pool. The experiences of current African American women school leaders are valuable perspectives for leader preparation programs. This study seeks to enrich and extend educational leadership discourse and leader preparation programs, which have not fully recognized this talent pool. The findings from this study point toward ways that can be used to shape leader preparation programs and leadership recruitment efforts. Finally, this study aims to generate and share information which may support the successful navigation of this growing population of leaders within metropolitan settings, as urban school leadership changes and new positions emerge.</p><p>

There has been concern for more than a decade that pupils do not have sufficient knowledge, skills and understanding of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the end of compulsory schooling. This research investigates approaches to the organisation of the ICT curriculum, teaching and learning, management, staffing and resources that are associated with high levels of ICT capability among 14-16 year olds in four secondary schools, each of which organised the delivery of the ICT curriculum in different ways. These were discrete or ‘centralised’ ICT, cross curricular ICT; and hybrids of these, the ‘skills core’ and ‘kick start’ models (NCET, 1996, p7). There are detailed case studies of each school, and a comparative analysis, which includes an assessment of the relative ICT capability of their pupils. The more and less successful schools are characterised, and there is discussion of the issues arising and those areas requiring further research. Features associated with high levels of ICT capability included: • ICT was taught as a discrete subject throughout key stages 3 and 4, and pupils were entered for GCSE ICT at the end of key stage 4 • There were well planned programmes of study for discrete ICT but the use of ICT across the curriculum was not planned in detail • ICT teachers were more aware of the differences between teaching ICT and other subjects • There was strong leadership by senior management; the HoD ICT was enthusiastic and approachable; and there were opportunities for all teachers to be involved in decision making • There was a management committee that included senior managers, the HoD ICT and ICT teachers; and a user group with representatives from other subject departments • Teachers of other subjects could not avoid using ICT in the classroom and for aspects of school administration • Schools valued their investment in ICT resources • There were significantly more specialist ICT teachers employed by the school • There was an adequate quantity of modern ICT resources • Higher levels of bid based funding were acquired

The modern and post-modern world has tried to attend to the factors that lead to effective schooling. The School Effectiveness (SE) movement investigates the characteristics of effective schools and how these characteristics may lead to improved pupil achievement. This study explores the characteristics of effective secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context, together with the effectiveness of their leaders from the perspective of these schools’ stakeholders, namely principals, teachers, students and parents. In particular, the main aims of the study are first to identify the key factors that contribute to effective schools in UAE secondary education and second to outline the strategies for improving schools and school leadership professional development requirements. The study employs a mixed-methods, sequential, exploratory strategy to understand the perceptions of UAE key education stakeholders. Firstly, 46 principals, 138 teachers, 136 parents and 142 pupils filled in questionnaires and then, for added validity and reliability, ten school principals were also interviewed in the second part of the study. What is striking about the study’s findings is that the two instruments – the survey and the interview – did not, in most cases, lead to the same homogeneous results, as the results deduced from the questionnaire did not totally corroborate those realised from the interviews. Key education stakeholders in the UAE proposed three strategies – vision, teamwork and school climate – in order to improve SE in Abu Dhabi. Induction leadership programmes, internal self-evaluation and external evaluation are not considered by the majority of principals and their subordinates to be salient and efficient strategies for improving schools. This is due, presumably, to the lack of logistical procedures and evaluation organisms in place through which schools can internally gauge their degree of effectiveness against lucid standards, indicators and benchmarks.

The phenomenon of bullying and, more recently, cyberbullying, continue to be of interest to scholars, practitioners and policy makers. To date, the vast majority of research into bullying and cyberbullying has been contained to compulsory education contexts, leaving a dearth of literature in post-compulsory education. This thesis explores cyberbullying in the context of post-16 education in England, considering, in particular, four research questions relating to prevalence, involvement of particular groups, reasons for cyberbullying, and consequences on feelings, learning, and social integration. Previous research on cyberbullying is considered, including a discussion of the definition and criteria of both bullying and cyberbullying. The main contributions to knowledge are the age group and context of this research, the use of phenomenology as a philosophical framework in the research design, data collection, and analysis, and how attribution theory is related to the reasons given for cyberbullying others and being cyberbullied. A mixed methods survey methodology was used to collect data; an online questionnaire was used to collect data from 5,690 students from 41 colleges, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect in-depth data from six victims of cyberbullying. In terms of prevalence, 7.9% of those aged 16–19 years old who study in colleges in England reported being victims of cyberbullying and 1.9% admitted to cyberbullying others. The findings also show certain demographic groups statistically more likely to be disproportionately involved as cyberbullies, such as boys and those who were offline victims at school, and as cybervictims, such as girls and those who had a physical disability. A range of reasons were reported for cyberbullying others, in particular the victim’s intelligence/ability and because of feelings of anger, and for being cyberbullied, in particular because of their physical appearance and friendship groups. Various consequences for being a cybervictim were revealed, in particular on they way they felt and on their mental health/wellbeing.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the influence of the athletic health care team on urban secondary school student-athlete physical health, academic engagement, and academic success. Limited and inconsistent research had been identified that linked student-athlete physical health to academic engagement and success at the time of research. In question is how the presence of an athletic health care team influenced student-athlete health, academic engagement, and academic success. A qualitative intrinsic case study using a face-to-face responsive interview model was deployed for data collection. The population was identified as all student-athletes, coaches, and parents/guardians involved with one urban secondary school district athletic program. Five male student-athletes, two male and one female parent, and three male coaches voluntarily participated in the research study. Data analysis occurred through an iterative process beginning with manual transcription of audio recordings into a Microsoft Word document that was uploaded into the NVIVO 11 computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software for organizing further coding and theme development. A conceptually clustered matrix was further used for data analysis to help identify themes among student-athletes, their parents, and coaches to triangulate responses. The athletic health care team in this research study was found to directly influence student-athlete health, have a minimal influence on academic engagement, but have indirect influence on academic success according to participants. The athletic trainer was the key athletic health care team member contributing to student-athlete physical health, while coach was identified as most dominant figure on academic engagement, with coaches and parents being most powerful on academic success. Additional research is needed to fully understand the collaboration between athletic health services and general health services for the secondary school student-athlete. The variability between health care programing offers an opportunity for standardization that can be replicated and then studied across different settings, such as rural versus urban, or among diverse socioeconomic groups. Future research collaboration between health care and education is also needed specifically in the area of athletic health care team implementation at the secondary school level to fully understand the positive educational impacts that may be achieved. Extending health services beyond than the traditional student and into the extracurricular environment may be a powerful tool that offers additional academic engagement and success opportunities.</p><p>

<p> As more opportunities abound for students to accelerate their learning during middle and high school, research is limited in the relationship between accelerated learning and the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents. This explanatory correlational research study provided additional empirical evidence of the relationship between accelerated studies, psychosocial adjustment, and the coping strategies adolescents utilize. Participants were 93 eighth to twelfth grade students enrolled in accelerated learning courses in a northwestern state in the United States. Students were administered instruments measuring their perceptions of: stress, life satisfaction, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, suicidal ideation, academic beliefs and task values, school climate, and coping strategies. Correlation coefficients determined relationships between psychosocial adjustment, age, number of accelerated learning program classes, gender and coping variables of students participating in accelerated learning programs. Results suggest that additional research is needed in the exploration of the relationship between a number of accelerated learning program classes adolescents participate in and their psychosocial adjustment. Gender had few significant relationships to other variables and grade level correlated with psychological factors, life satisfaction, motivation, school climate, and grade point average. There were statistically significant, strong to weak correlations amongst psychosocial adjustment variables; and in particular, an intricate association between psychological indicators of possible mental health issues, stress, life satisfaction, school functioning, age, and coping strategies.</p><p>

<p> Data from recent national studies indicate teacher job satisfaction is decreasing. Currently, accountability-propelled media coverage is overwhelmingly critical of the educational system, in which teachers feel less appreciated, less motivated, and less satisfied. Principals can positively influence teachers&rsquo; job satisfaction when they promote growth and autonomy through increased empowerment in educational settings. As principals work with teachers in their schools, they must understand how their own leadership style impacts their teachers&rsquo; job satisfaction. This study examined the extent to which teachers&rsquo; perceptions of their principals&rsquo; servant leadership behaviors correlate with teacher job satisfaction. The population included all high school teachers in the state&rsquo;s 144 public and 18 private high schools. The final sample size consisted of 76 teachers. </p><p> The study utilized two separate survey instruments to collect perceptions of principal servant leadership characteristics and of job satisfaction data. Servant leadership characteristics included accountability, authenticity, courage, empowerment, forgiveness, humility, standing back, and stewardship. Questions investigating teacher job satisfaction were broken into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic. </p><p> Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to analyze the relationship between principal servant leadership behaviors and job satisfaction of teachers. Data from the surveys were evaluated for statistical significance at the .01 level. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between South Dakota principals&rsquo; perceived overall servant leadership behavior and overall teacher job satisfaction. Data also show statistically significant relationships between each of the eight servant leadership characteristics and overall teacher job satisfaction. Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) items that focused on extrinsic job satisfaction indicated statistically significant relationships with overall servant leadership and each of the eight servant leadership characteristics. MSQ items that focused on intrinsic job satisfaction also indicated statistically significant relationships with overall servant leadership. </p><p> However, only seven of the eight dimensions of servant leadership indicated statistically significant relationships with MSQ items that focused on intrinsic job satisfaction. Finally, none of the demographic factors of teacher gender, years in education, years working with same principal, highest degree held, or school size suggested statistically significant relationships with teacher job satisfaction.</p><p>

Doctor Of Philosophy / Department of Secondary Education / Diane McGrath / How does collaborative software help in the formation of a learning community? This study looks at the experiences of students in a first level Computer Science class as they use Manhattan Virtual Classroom (MVC). Although this case study began with the assumption that a learning community would form, it quickly became obvious that student participation in the MVC was a larger issue. The course chosen for this study was CSC-150 - Foundations of Computer Science, as taught in the Spring 2004 semester at a Midwestern university. Two traditional (face-to- face) course sections were given access to Manhattan Virtual Classroom for the purpose of discussions, comments, questions, and virtual office hours. Many students did not take advantage of this collaborative tool. Several reasons are considered, the reluctance of freshmen to participate (Goldberg, 1997; Carlson et al., 1996), professor teaching style, and student perceptions of their own contributions to the class. Several conclusions are drawn from this study how to increase student participation. These include better training in the use of the software, use of smaller groups within the Manhattan Virtual Classroom environment, clearly stated professor expectations, and a general adoption of this technology for other classes.

<p> The ultimate goal of teaching history to young people is to create effective, responsible citizens (Fallace, 2009). Despite such ambitious goals, the traditional teacher-centered method of instruction has not proven to have engaged students. As a result, students often rank history as their least-liked subject, particularly at the secondary level. One instructional strategy that may ameliorate this problem is the incorporation of primary sources. Identifying the inhibitors and inducers of primary sources, the researcher in this study explored and described the elements of successful primary source use in the secondary American and world history classrooms of three teacher participants in a qualitative, semester-long case study. Student and teacher perspectives of the impact of primary sources were also considered. In contrast to some of the existing literature, primary sources can be employed successfully and consistently in the secondary history classroom as demonstrated by the three teacher participants in this semester-long study in a large suburban Atlanta, Georgia, school district.</p>

<p>Political initiatives in response to government reports have focused on students? preparation for higher education and their future careers, and students fall short. School districts and school programs give attention to the application of instructional practices to ensure students? college and career preparation, providing professional development in various instructional methods that address Language Arts and Math skills development, and students fall short. Teachers work tirelessly to use instructional strategies that develop students? critical and computational thinking, communication, collaboration, and creative skills, and students fall short as research indicates that students entering higher education continue to require remedial classes before beginning their college degree programs. This qualitative study design?s purpose was to analyze the effective practices that early college high school principals employ that influence the academic achievement of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Thirteen (13) research participants? responses to leadership style, challenges, and solutions in program planning, development, and implementation with their recommendations yielded sixty themes of practices and strategies employed by early college high school principals. This study?s results corroborate the literature on effective educational leadership practices that affect student achievement and inform educational leadership practice for underrepresented student populations in higher education. Implications for further research address the academic needs of other underrepresented student populations in higher education, including students with moderate to severe educational needs, foster youth and homeless youth.