The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the vision of a selected school district and practices it has undertaken in the area of instructional supervision in two schools. The school district was identified through a reputational survey process as one having exemplary instructional supervision practices. This case study used qualitative techniques drawing upon principles of naturalistic inquiry. Semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and observation, with accompanying field-notes, represented the major forms of data collection. <p>Interviews were conducted with the Superintendent, the Director of Education Services, the Board Chair, the Coordinator of Human Resources, an Area Supervisor, two principals, and seven teachers (representing the two schools). Observations were conducted at the school sites and district office. District level and school-based documents were analyzed. The data collection process began in the schools and subsequently moved to system-level investigation.<p>A conceptual framework based upon the policy perspectives of Guba (1984) guided the study. Vision as meta-policy (Downey, 1988), policy-in-intention, policy-in-action, and policy-in-experience were used as a frame for the analysis of policy and practice.<p>There was a low level of awareness of the expressed vision of the district among the respondents. Most of the respondents identified only one or two elements in their description of the vision. Paradoxically, all respondents seemed to feel that they were working in harmony with the vision of the Board. Implied vision was used to describe the interpretations placed by school personnel on the actions and words of the board and senior staff. This phenomenon presented a vision different from the expressed vision of the system. The implied vision seemed to suggest a clear direction to those in the organization, but it was not necessarily consistent with the expressed vision. An examination of the relationship between the elements of the vision and the formal instructional supervision program (the PPP) revealed congruency on four of six elements. The examination of policy-in-experience showed that the PPP was operationalized as it was espoused in the policy, but from different perspectives, and with different levels of detail from school to school. More important, the implementation of the PPP seemed to depend on the actions and the direction of the principals, who had adapted the formal policy to their own styles and to current trends. The leadership provided by the principal emerged from the data as critical to the success of the supervision process in both schools. The term policy-alive was suggested to describe the impact on student learning and professional growth that a principal can have through the instructional supervision process. <p>The findings highlighted the need for communication and ongoing dialogue to maximize congruence among vision, policy, and practice. This process should be planned to avoid the drift to multiple interpretations or implied vision.<p>A heuristic was presented, integrating vision, policy, and outcomes. The heuristic tied together some of the learnings from the study and gave a visual representation of the systemic functions of vision and instructional supervision.

The research literature is replete with information about the teacher shortage. The connection between teacher shortages and teacher classroom effectiveness with student achievement substantiates the need for interventions. Research has identified the potential of developmental mentoring and supervision programs for increasing teacher effectiveness, teacher retention, and student achievement. The purpose of this study was to develop and to analyze the psychometric properties of the Conceptual Level Teacher Behavior Observation Tool (CLTBOT). The purpose of this study was important because the development of the CLTBOT filled a void in the literature for an observation tool that would evaluate teacher behaviors in the conceptual domain. The potential use for these data is tied to mentoring or supervisory practices designed specifically for the teacher’s current need for structure, as well as for showing evidence of growth resulting from program activities. This study was organized into three steps. Step one focused on the development of the CLTBOT. Step two, of this study, explored the validity of the first draft of the CLTBOT in a pilot study. The pilot study indicated a moderate association between an adapted version of Hunt’s Paragraph Completion Method (PCM), the established measure for conceptual development, and the CLTBOT, the focal instrument of this study. The pilot proved an essential step in the process of developing and analyzing the CLTBOT as revisions were made following the results. Step three was the research study designed to answer the research questions. Research question one required an item by item analysis of the CLTBOT. Cohen’s kappa coefficients of between .699 and .867 demonstrated that the two raters’ scores were consistent. Research question two was answered with evaluations of the CLTBOT by two experts who awarded high ratings for the items based on relevance and clarity. A Cramer’s V coefficient of .56 revealed a strong relationship between the CLTBOT and the PCM, establishing evidence for concurrent validity and answering research question three. The results provided preliminary validity and reliability evidence for the use of the Conceptual Level Teacher Behavior Observation Tool (CLTBOT).

No description available.

Zugl.: Koblenz, Landau (Pfalz), Universiẗat, Campus Landau (Pfalz), Diss., 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

An exploratory study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of the Metaphoric Case Drawing (MCD) method of case conceptualization in the context of counsellor-trainee supervision. Supervisors and trainees reported a significant increase in understanding in five core counselling areas: increased understanding of the client, the counsellor's role, the client-counsellor relationship, counselling goals, and case presentation effectiveness. Statistical and qualitative data further confirm the effectiveness of the MCD method in providing a more time-efficient means of case presentation (compared with the traditional Verbal Case Debriefing method). The MCD was found to be particularly useful in case presentations in which the clinical material included themes of depression, suicide, relationship problems, and manipulative clients. Based on the present exploratory study, the MCD method provides a vigorous, stimulating tool for the effective supervision and training of counselling students in a crisis intervention and suicide prevention setting. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The main purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to examine the current practices of developmental supervision in Saudi Arabia. This study focused on the three approaches of developmental supervision which are, directive informational approach, collaborative approach, and nondirective approach. The data were collected through a self-administered web-based survey on a 4-point Likert scale and subsequent semi-structured interviews. The sample contains male and female teachers from Makkah schools who have different levels of education and teaching experiences. A t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used to compare the participants’ responses. Coding method was used to analyze the qualitative data. The findings indicated that elementary school teachers in Saudi Arabia perceived their supervisors’ practice of developmental approaches to supervision as follows. Supervisors sometimes practiced the directive and collaborative approaches but rarely practiced the nondirective approach. Moreover, gender and years of teaching experience had no impact on participants’ responses regarding the three approaches to developmental supervision. Level of education also had no impact on their responses regarding the directive approach but did appear to affect responses about the collaborative and nondirective approaches. In qualitative phase, the themes were organized within the three approaches under study. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative results, which indicated that the most common supervisory practice has a directive nature. Recommendations were made for future research and for policymakers to establish an appropriate climate to effectively implement developmental supervision or other contemporary approaches to supervision.

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of large group supervision, small group supervision, and combined group and individual supervision on counselor trainees. Specifically, instruments were used to measure the progress in counselor efficacy and counselor development. Analyses of Covariance revealed that all supervision formats produced similar progress in counselor effectiveness and counselor development. Large group supervision, small group supervision, and combined group and individual supervision appear to be equivalent in their effectiveness.