The objective of this study was to describe the perceptions of the support and professional development activities for and needed by novice school administrators (NSAs) in southwestern Virginia. A qualitative methods research design was used to collect and examine data. The researcher interviewed 22 NSAs from 11 different public school divisions in the Virginia Department of Education's (VDOE's) Regions 6 and 7 in southwestern Virginia. An interview protocol consisting of 15 questions was used to collect data on the perceptions of the NSAs. From the research collected, a list detailing the support and professional development (PD) activities for NSAs in southwestern Virginia was created. The support and PD activities were grouped into the categories of (a) support and PD activities provided for NSAs, (b) effective support and PD activities provided for NSAs, (c) support and PD areas of need for NSAs, (d) support and PD activities that the NSAs provided for themselves, (e) factors limiting the support and PD of NSAs. The data collected from this study were strategically placed into a design of seven NSA support and PD areas that school divisions could utilize to create a program, or further develop a program for NSAs. Those areas correlated with the study's primary research question and the five primary sub-questions of the study. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of the support and professional development (PD) activities for and needed by novice school administrators (NSAs) in southwestern Virginia. Twenty-two NSAs from 11 different public school divisions in southwestern Virginia were interviewed for the study. From the research collected, a list detailing the support and PD activities for NSAs in southwestern Virginia was created. The support and PD activities were grouped into the categories of effectiveness, and factors that limited the support and PD of NSAs. The data collected from this study were strategically placed into a design of seven NSA support and PD areas that school divisions could utilize to either create a program, or further develop a program for NSAs.

The problem of this study is to describe and analyze faculty attitudes toward administrators in an urban junior college district. The purposes of this study are to ascertain the attitudes of junior college faculty toward campus-level administrative positions and to determine what relationship existed between general and specific measures of faculty attitude.

Whether or not to provide post-high school education for the farm youth and adult is a highly controversial issue facing many school administrators and teachers of vocational agriculture in Utah today. If one is to start farming and make continuous progress until he becomes a full-fledged farmer in requires several years of training beyond the high school vocational agricultural period. This is because of a lack of maturity and lack of time, during the high school period, when the individual must and should get a general education.

abstract: Although racial minorities are heavily represented in student bodies throughout the United States, school administrators who work with minority children have been overwhelmingly White. Previous research by race scholars has demonstrated that systems of racial dominance in the larger society are often replicated in schools. However, the role of White school administrators in perpetuating or disrupting racism has not been documented. This study examined the racial attitudes and resulting professional practices of White school administrators who worked in a unique environment. These administrators lived and practiced their profession in towns that lay just outside the borders of the Navajo Nation, a large Indian reservation in the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Termed border towns, these communities were populated by a large majority of Native Americans, with a heavy representation of Hispanics. This placed White school administrators in the uncommon position of living and working in a place where they were a numeric minority, while simultaneously representing the majority culture in the United States. Twelve White border town administrators in four different communities agreed to participate in the interview study, conducted over a two-month period in 2010 and 2011. Using a semi-structured interview format, the researcher gathered data on participants' racial attitudes and analyzed responses to find common themes. Common responses among the interviewees indicated that there were clear racial hierarchies within border town schools and that these hierarchies were sometimes atypical of those found in mainstream American society. These racial hierarchies were characterized by a dichotomy of Native American students based on residence in town or on the reservation, as well as deferential treatment of White administrators by Native American constituents. The intersectionality of race and socioeconomic class was a key finding of the study, with implications for school administrators' professional actions. Racial attitudes also impacted White border town administrators' actions and sometimes reinforced institutionally racist practices. Finally, results of the study supported several established models of race relations and White identity formation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2011

Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka och analysera vilka diskurser om inkludering som blir synliga i skolledares tal om begreppet. Från en socialkonstruktionistisk utgångspunkt användes Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys på en text bestående av fyra transkriberade intervjuer med skolledare. Sammanfattningsvis har studien sett sex diskurser om inkludering framträda. Dessa var en gemenskapsdiskurs, en diagnostisk diskurs, en dialogisk diskurs, en expertisinriktad diskurs, en individualiseringsdiskurs och en förmågediskurs. Inkluderingen beskrevs på skiftande sätt, vilket stämmer väl överens med skiftande definitioner även inom forskningen. De diskurser inom vilka språkanvändandet minst stämmer överens med forskning om inkludering var den diagnostiska diskursen och förmågediskursen, där det lätt blir att barnet sätts som bärare av problemet. / The object of this study is to examine and analyze which discourses concerning inclusion become apparent when school administrators speak of the concept. Fairclough critical discourse analysis was used, from a social constructionist premise on four transcribed interviews with school administrators. In conclusion, six discourses became apparent about inclusion. These included a community discourse, a diagnostic discourse, a dialogical discourse, an expertise oriented discourse, an individualization discourse and an ability discourse. Inclusion was described in varying ways, which corresponds well with current research. The discourses where language use least corresponded with research about inclusion was the diagnostic discourse and the ability discourse, wherein the child is easily portrayed as the carrier of the problem.

With the increased demands on principals and a shortage of qualified, acceptable candidates, school districts that have to replace principals are in a difficult position. These factors, combined with the importance that the principal role has in relation to student achievement, make the identification of potential administrators and the hiring process for new administrators a top priority for all school districts. This study answered the following two major questions; a) what characteristics or talents, as identified by the StrengthsFinder profile, did Orange County Public School principals in 2007 look for in identifying potential school administrators and b) what differences, if any, exist within the existing variables (school level, certification, gender, and prior experiences). The Clifton StrengthsFinder Profile was utilized to identify the strengths or talents of a group of 61 teachers within Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) who were identified by their principals as potential school based administrators. Of those 61 participants in the Aspiring Leader Academy, the following five strengths were most commonly identified: a) Relator (45.9%), b) Achiever (37.8%), c) Responsibility (37.7%), d) Learner (36.1%) and e) Maximizer (25.9%). In comparing talents across demographic data, the talents identified for participants at all levels (elementary, middle, and high) were not statistically different, supporting the notion that talents principals looked for in identifying potential administrators were relatively the same at all three levels.

No description available.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Be Stoney / David C. Thompson / This qualitative case study explored the role of leadership in a mentoring program designed to work with students of color. Specifically, an instrumental case study was used to explore the leadership of the “Can We Talk” mentoring program. Utilizing the framework of Critical Race Theory and themes related to the current status of students of color along the with the concept of school culture, the purpose of this study was to explore the leadership of a program “Can We Talk” designed to work with students of color in a majority White high school located in the Midwest. This purpose was also driven by the rationale that districts and schools due to increased accountability measures have to incorporate different strategies to meet the academic and social needs of all students. Mentoring programs are one of the strategies gaining momentum in education, especially for students who come from marginalized socio-economic, ethnic, and racial groups. The findings indicated that the “Can We Talk” program was implemented into this school setting based on interest convergence. The principal needed the program in order to meet accountability measures such as adequate yearly progress. The founders of the “Can We Talk” mentoring program had an interest of increasing the academic and social opportunities for the students of color at this school setting. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the “Can We Talk” program was successful based on the mentors being able to share their experiences with the mentees, attract students from other gender, ethnic and racial groups, and increase the academic and social opportunities of the mentees by creating a shared voice. The implications of this study includes questions about the ways mentoring programs for students of color are implemented and maintained in majority White school settings. Therefore, this study raises the question about the role of school administrators, founders of mentoring programs, teachers, and the rest of the school community in terms of implementing, maintaining, and supporting programs designed to support the needs of children of color.

No description available.

Alors que les gouvernements cherchent à améliorer le rendement des systèmes scolaires qu’ils financent, l’intérêt des dirigeants porte sur les résultats des élèves mais aussi sur le rendement des professionnels de l’éducation, dont les directions d’école. Cette étude a pour but de contribuer au développement de la connaissance sur l’évaluation du rendement de ces dernières en répondant à la question : Comment les directions d’école perçoivent-elles la pratique réflexive dans leur processus d’évaluation? La recension des écrits montre que les directions qui ont le plus de succès jouent un rôle actif dans leur amélioration et que la pratique réflexive accroît la pertinence du perfectionnement professionnel et par conséquent le rendement de la direction. L’étude propose un cadre conceptuel qui tient compte du perfectionnement professionnel, de l’évaluation axée sur l’apprentissage et de la pratique réflexive. Cette recherche suit une méthodologie mixte afin de déceler les tendances et les perceptions quant aux pratiques à l’étude. D’abord, un questionnaire à choix de réponses a été administré sur Internet et les réponses de 65 directions d’écoles de langue française de l’Ontario ont été traitées de façon quantitative. Ensuite, des entrevues semi-structurées avec dix des répondants ont permis d’approfondir le sujet par une méthode qualitative en offrant l’occasion aux participants de partager leur vécu. Les résultats dévoilent que le perfectionnement professionnel occupe peu de place dans l’évaluation du rendement bien que les participants se servent d’objectifs de croissance professionnelle. La pratique réflexive est souvent déclenchée par un inconfort, par un succès ou par une occasion de perfectionnement ou est provoquée par des situations extérieures transposées à la situation de l’école du participant. Les échanges structurés et les discussions franches entre collègues et avec le superviseur favorisent la pratique réflexive. La rétroaction spécifique du superviseur donne des pistes d’amélioration appuyées d’un soutien. Les participants reconnaissent qu’ils jouent un rôle actif dans leur évaluation et recherchent un encadrement orienté vers l’amélioration. Les participants perçoivent que la pratique réflexive occupe une grande place dans leur processus d’évaluation, qu’ils soient encadrés par le superviseur dans un processus axé sur leur amélioration ou qu’ils s’auto-évaluent quand le processus est flou.