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Greenleaf's servant leadership model has been described as an innovative vision in which the leader performs duties of service as the focal point of a mission for social change. Although the servant leadership model has been widely implemented in business and religious organizations, its effectiveness in educational settings has not yet been widely explored. Therefore, the purpose of this explanatory correlational study was to examine the prevalence and effectiveness of servant leadership among a random sample of 156 of New Jersey's school superintendents. Subjects completed the Self-Assessment of Servant Leadership (SASL) and the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) that assesses 5 functional attributes of best practice leadership including modeling, inspiring, challenging, enabling and encouraging. A median split of raw SASL scores created a dichotomous classification as servant or non-servant leaders which was employed in chi-square analysis that demonstrated no significant links connecting SASL classification with gender, ethnicity, academic degree or experience in education or administration. However, independent sample t-tests revealed that servant leaders demonstrated significantly more best-practice decision-making across all 5 LPI attributes than were observed for non-servant leaders. These results led to the conclusion that the servant leadership model aligns well with the role of the school superintendent, and that servant leaders may possess advantageous characteristics that allow them to facilitate systemic reforms in organizations. This study represents an important contribution to the existing literature and can enhance social change initiatives by informing the professional development of educational leaders that will ultimately benefit student achievement.

My first year as an educator has followed a tumultuous pattern. Not only was I exploring who I was becoming as an educator, but I was also a full-time graduate school student. I attempted to collect student data through a variety of ways, including formal and informal assessments and listening to student anecdotes, which proved to be more difficult than anticipated. When I began writing this narrative, I had yet to step foot into a classroom and work with children. I had a different idea and perspective than I did after becoming a teacher of record. Throughout the year, my mental and physical health was altered multiple times. There were times when I let my own school work suffer in favor of my work with my students and vice versa. There were times when I fantasized about dropping out of graduate school and quit my job, and there were times when I thoroughly enjoyed working on my homework and going to work. This narrative is a reflection of those ups and downs and tracks the progress of myself and the students I have interacted with. What follows is a yearlong exploration of myself, my environment, and my students who have proven to be simultaneous sources of stress and comfort.

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescent learning increases with a proactive type of student-teacher relationship. However, due to the lack of common expectations for a positive student-teacher relationship, a disconnection occurs for some students, who then may become disengaged at school and may not reach their full potential academically, socially, or developmentally. This mixed method sequential, exploratory design focused on a Midwestern secondary school of approximately 250 students. The disconnection between students and teachers was addressed by investigating positive student-teacher relationships; student achievement; and the connection between student-teacher relationships and achievement. Qualitative data were collected using focus groups of students and teachers who explored characteristics of positive student-teacher relationships and of student achievement. These data were then analyzed using data reduction that selected, focused, simplified, abstracted, and transformed the data as they appeared in field notes. Quantitative data were then collected using a survey that examined student perceptions of student-teacher relationships and their potential effect on student achievement. Descriptive analysis of survey data revealed themes that were then contrasted against the qualitative data. The overarching theme that emerged from the triangulated data suggested most students perceived that a relationship existed between student achievement and relationships they had with teachers, while most teachers' perceptions were in contrast to the students' perceptions. The research demonstrated that if students and teachers connect in the classroom with a more unified approach to building and sustaining positive student-teacher relationships, a more-prepared individual emerges contributing to the community, the workforce and society at large.

Bill 160 in Ontario removed administrators from teachers' federations creating an unhealthy gap between groups and a lowering of morale for both. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between perceived effects of teachers' union actions on administrators' and teachers' roles and morale. Learning and organizational theories provided a theoretical framework for this quantitative study. Voluntary participants included teachers and administrators from Canadian Education Association and administrators from Ontario Principals' Council. Questionnaires addressed three hypotheses, which dealt with level of morale between participants, correlation between the morale score and the learning environment score, and difference in morale between teachers and administrators when the learning environment was controlled. Two measures standardized through a panel review and pilot study were used: Teacher/Administrator Morale and Learning Environment questionnaires. A continuous scale measured the dependent variable, morale and the independent variable, learning environment whereas a categorical scale measured the independent variable, role. Two-sample t test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis analyzed the data. Significant findings indicated that learning environment scores affected the morale of administrators more than teachers. Results will fill the gap between research and practice, suggesting a need for further knowledge on teachers' morale. Social change is accomplished through student achievement, a result of administrator/teacher collaboration and resultant increased morale. Social change might also occur if teachers had the option of belonging to a teachers' union in Ontario as in the United States.

Across the United States, student achievement is a concern. The local district under study is not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP), a standard initiated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which schools are expected to attain to avoid sanctions. The district's students are performing lower than state average on the state's standardized test, and the district wants to increase teachers' knowledge and use of differentiated instruction (DI). The purpose of this study was to describe teachers' DI practices, create a project that may increase the implementation of DI, and recommend further study to seek correlations between teachers' use of DI and student performances. A quantitative approach included analyzing archival survey data from the district's teachers to describe how frequently teachers reported practicing differentiated instructional strategies. Data were analyzed through analysis of variance to compare elementary, middle, and high school teachers' responses. Findings indicated teachers employ simple strategies often, while more complicated strategies are seldom initiated. Also, elementary and middle level teachers in the district utilize strategies more frequently than high school teachers. A wiki was created to enhance teachers' knowledge, understanding, and application of strategies to potentially improve student outcomes. Implications for positive social change include providing teachers with a tool to increase professional collaboration regarding student learning, knowledge of differentiated instruction, and practice of strategies for the purpose of improving student learning.

An educational problem facing high schools in 2 Midwestern school districts is that few local contextual experiences exist for developing professional learning communities that contain research-based characteristics. Identifying such experiences is important to school leaders and teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine 2 local high school professional learning communities to identify research-based characteristics such as practice-based discussions and a focus on learning and results. Constructivism and social change theory provided the theoretical foundation. A single research question sought the presence of research-based characteristics. The characteristics formed the conceptual framework and emerged from many voices in the field. Qualitative case study research methods guided the study; each high school served as a case. Interviews with 10 educators, observations of 4 team meetings, and examination of artifacts from the sites were conducted to collect data. Data analysis included coding information from interviews, meetings, and artifacts; developing individual case narratives; and constructing a cross-case analysis. A key finding was that all research-based characteristics were present in each school. One conclusion reached was that strong administrative leadership contributed positively to the presence of characteristics. Another was that operating from a learning model (e.g., AIW [Authentic Intellectual Work] or DuFour) contributed positively as well. Several recommendations are included and focus on following a model under strong administrative leadership. Given the findings, positive implications for social change include more effective teaching, more authentic collaboration in schools, and a culture of teacher excellence.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 93-96). Also available in print.

The primary problem of this study was to evaluate the post-high school plans component of a high school counseling program. The intent was to determine the effectiveness of the program component in relation to the purpose it was designed to serve: providing information and guidance for high school students who were making decisions about what they would do after graduation from high school. Secondary problems were the choice of an approach to evaluation and the methods to be used to implement that approach. A humanistic approach, which would give access to qualitative information, implemented through intensive interviewing and participant observation, was selected. The method of intensive interviewing was implemented through an open-ended interview format which asked for both information and opinions from respondents. Participant observation was carried out during both formal program activities and informal events which occurred relative to the program component studied, and involved counselors, teachers, students, administrators, and parents. Ninety-eight of the 107 students in the 1982 graduating class of Douglas High School participated in interviews conducted between December 1, 1981 and March 15, 1982. Observations of formal program events took place throughout the academic year during which the study was conducted. Informal observations had occurred throughout the four years during which the researcher had been a member of the professional staff of the institution in which the study occurred. Major findings included support for the efficacy of the methodology employed as well as evaluations of the program component. As regards methodology, the interview and observation techniques revealed material unlikely to emerge in more objective (rating scale, management-by- objectives, or classic research design) methods. Students in interviews explained their reactions to program events, providing qualifications that more objective but less sensitive methods would obscure. The interviewer clarified questions to be certain students understood what they were answering, a procedure impossible with an objective rating scale. Observations of activities revealed the nature of relationships which existed in the institution, variations in relationships over time or changing situations, and the influence of relationships on the effectiveness of program components. As regards evaluation, the program component was weak in the following areas: counseling services were inadequately publicized; students were inadequately informed of career options in the military (specifically, in military academies and through Reserve Officer Training programs); scholarship information was poorly organized for student use and inadequately publicized; and career guidance beyond the freshman career exploration class was insufficient. The program component showed positive strengths in such areas as annual pre-enrollment of students; keeping students informed of progress toward credits for graduation; providing informational workshops in preparation of scholarship applications, financial aid, and the Scholastic Aptitude Test; providing access to military recruiters at student request; maintaining a library of college and career information; responding to student and parent requests for assistance; and exhibiting concern for and providing counseling services for individual students. / Graduation date: 1983

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.