This study examined the dynamics of an inter-organizational national disaster management organization (NDO) in the Caribbean. It sought to provide a better understanding of network structure, functions, and member relations, which provided a foundation for understanding member roles and leadership styles. This dissertation's primary research question was: How do members participate in the national disaster management network in the Caribbean? In personal interviews, network members identified the NDO as a semi-open network system, incorporating both hierarchical and collaborative characteristics. This analysis argued the network constitutes a dynamic system that shifts its governance structure to adapt to circumstances confronted during the disaster management cycle. This study also found network structure affects member positions and those views reciprocally affect how the NDO is organized. One participant clearly claimed a central network position and served as "network broker," while several other members formed two high density groups within the NDO. Network members played a range of formal and informal roles in the collaboration, including coach and coordinator. The central NDO member played several primary roles: fundraiser, change agent, manager, and informer. This analysis also suggested leadership styles shaped the network's hybrid governance structure: some members employed a directive or delegative style, while others relied upon a participatory approach. This mix of styles underscored the importance of shared leadership in a disaster context. The Saint Lucia government has endeavored to engage citizens in disaster management planning through an extensive NDO committee structure. This study yielded insights into that decentralized decision-making structure and process. The NDO, as a public policy network, has served as a "new governance" form of government action. At the national level, non-governmental organizations have used the structure to work to frame disaster management issues, while citizens active at the grassroots levels have participated in the nation's disaster preparedness and response planning processes. This new governance mechanism may be deemed participatory but not yet representative democracy. Overall, however, Saint Lucia's networked and engaged approach to disaster response and mitigation has encouraged deeper mutual awareness of shared challenges among government units, participating third sector organizations, for-profit entities, and the nation's citizens. / Ph. D.

Thesis advisor: Thomas H. Groome / The research question of the dissertation is: How to form partners in education to share in the common mission of Jesuit educational institutions? I craft the answer to this question by studying the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. I claim an analogy between the central dynamic of the thirty-day retreat, whose guidelines are in the book of the Spiritual Exercises, and four operative principles that ought to constitute the structure of formation programs for Jesuit schools' faculty and staff in the educational tradition, identity and mission of the Society of Jesus. The four operative principles are discernment, desire, diakonia and decision. Formation that aims at training partners in education to share in the common mission of Jesuit schools happens best when these four operative principles inform the curriculum design and when they interplay during the actual process of forming the educators who work in Jesuit schools. Discernment is the under-girding principle because the Society of Jesus is engaged in education to form women and men who can discern, that is to say, who can decide from their in-depth values, convictions and aspirations. Desire is the operative principle of the first movement of the Spiritual Exercises, which corresponds to the first week of the retreat. Diakonia--the Greek word for service--draws upon the second movement of the Exercises, which expands beyond the second week of the retreat into the third and fourth ones. This second movement is unified by the idea of being inspired by Jesus Christ or from "outside" of the retreatants. Lastly, decision is the third movement of the Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius invites the exercitants to make a personal choice of a state of life at the core of the second week of the retreat. But decision as operative principle accompanies the retreatants until the end of their thirty-day experience. The doctoral program of the Boston College Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry is in theology and education. The dissertation is an academic exercise in the field of pastoral or practical theology at the intersection of education, theology and the means of church education inspired by the Spiritual Exercises. Therefore, besides the analogical reading of Ignatius's work, my method consists of putting the aforementioned operative principles in conversation with a select review of literature in the fields of transformative and reflective adult education, developmental psychology, responsible and collaborative leadership, pastoral ministry and educational change. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

English Language Learners (ELLs) do not achieve sufficiently on standardized tests, as required by federal law. Fourth grade ELLs at a suburban elementary school in the Southern United States experienced similar problems in the failure rate on the state standardized test. Still, this school outperformed several of the schools in the same area of the county. In this sequential, explanatory study, teacher and administrator perceptions of school culture and its impact on the achievement of ELLs in a Southern elementary school were examined. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory provided the theoretical framework to ground this study, as culture within a school could influence student achievement. At the study site, 26 elementary teachers voluntarily responded to the electronic School Culture Survey during the quantitative phase. Analysis of these surveys yielded means, produced factor scores, and identified discrepant areas. Two administrators, five 4th grade teachers, and four ELL teachers were invited and were interviewed to collect and analyze data in the qualitative phase. The thematic coding of the data identified teacher collaboration, collaborative leadership and perceptions of school culture as deficient in the school. The subsequent project, a position paper based on the findings, informed school leadership of the results and potential benefits a regional examination of school culture could provide. Improving school culture can allow teachers and administrators to better serve an underachieving student population; an improved culture could consequently contribute to positive social change for these ELLs.

This study explores leadership dynamics in collaborative governance. The research features a collaboration case study of sixteen federal and state agency and NGO stakeholders. The collaboration is conducting a ten-year, basin-scale monitoring project of salmonid habitat restoration projects in the Middle Fork John Day (MFJD) River basin in Eastern Oregon. The monitoring project is known as an intensively monitored watershed (IMW), one of sixteen throughout the Pacific Northwest. The research is guided by the following question: How do leadership dynamics in the MFJD IMW collaborative governance structure facilitate effective collaborative process or create limitations to that process? This study uses qualitative research methods in evaluating multiple research sources. Insights from this study may prove valuable in providing guidance on effectively structuring and managing basin-scale collaborative habitat monitoring projects, including future IMW projects. This study further aims to contribute to research on collaborative leadership for the greater scholarship on collaboration.

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As the number of English learners (ELs) grows in the United States, so does the achievement gap between ELs and non-ELs. Research highlights the effective leadership of school principals who lead with instructional, social justice, and collaborative leadership styles. School leaders can close achievement gaps but the research on the field of school leadership for ELs is limited. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the specific leadership practices elementary school principals implement to support the academic and non-academic needs of ELs. The study was conducted in one school division in the Mideastern United States using semi-structured interviews. This study generated nine findings and nine implications. Among the findings, school principals communicated high expectations for ELs prioritizing ELs' access to core content, established structures to support ELs' English language development, used data to guide instructional outcomes, promoted collective teacher efficacy within the context of a collaborative learning team, and provided ongoing professional learning opportunities to staff. In addition, school principals cultivated an environment of inclusion and access and set up structures that increased family engagement, encouraged the collaboration of multiple stakeholders, and supported the socio-emotional needs of ELs. One major implication is for state and national boards of education to consider establishing professional standards that outline specific knowledge and practice expectations for effective leadership and successful outcomes of ELs and for school divisions and principal preparation programs to provide coaching, technical assistance, and support structures to address the identified findings. Other implications included the need for school division leaders to provide professional development for school leaders and instructional staff on effective instructional methods, strategies, and supports for ELs, as well as technical assistance for schools to disaggregate and analyze EL performance in their data discussions in collaborative learning teams, a professional space where the academic needs of ELs can be addressed. Additionally, other implications included for school division leaders to develop systematic processes for equity and access, supporting schools' structures to target socio-emotional needs of ELs, and providing and expanding opportunities for family and community engagement. / Doctor of Education / The achievement gap between English learners (ELs) and non-ELs continues to grow. Effective school leaders can close the achievement gap for ELs but need systematic and explicit guidelines and programs to support the growing numbers of ELs in their schools. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the leadership practices elementary school principals implement to address the academic and non-academic needs of ELs. Elementary school principals from a school division in the Mideastern United States were interviewed. This study generated nine findings and nine implications. One suggestion for further research is to replicate this study at the secondary level or with school divisions that have high academic performance of ELs in low incidence schools in order to develop comprehensive K–12 professional standards that outline specific knowledge and practice expectations for effective leadership and successful outcomes of ELs.

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abstract: The purpose of this study was to implement Tier 1 universal expectations and Tier 2 secondary preventions, using a School-wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) problem-solving framework with fidelity in a culturally and linguistically diverse urban elementary school. A mixed-method design was used to address the following three research questions. How can school leadership teams design and implement Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports with fidelity in an urban elementary school? In what ways can Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions, designed and created by a school leadership team, reduce disruptive student behaviors? How satisfied were staff members with implementation of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 preventions? Data collection was completed using office discipline referrals (ODRs), the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET 2.0), the Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ), staff surveys, and interviews to aid researchers and educational leaders in urban schools in identifying successes, pitfalls, and areas needing improvement in the implementation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports in urban schools. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

Although the Task Team on leadership and development (DoE, 1996) has introduced the notion of shared (collaborative) leadership as embodied among others in school management teams, considerable doubt remains about its practical implementation (DoE, 1996). It seems that there may be widespread failure to implement the idea of collaborative (shared) leadership (DoE, 1996). The problem this research explores is whether, in the opinion of school management team members, the traditional approach to leadership has changed (DoE, 1996). According to Grant (2006 in Grant&Singh, 2009), despite an enabling democratic policy framework the leadership at many South African schools seems to remain firmly entrenched within the formal, hierarchical management structure. During the period of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa government legislation perpetuated a society of inequality based on race, class and gender (Grant 2006 in Grant & Singh, 2009). To control and maintain this inequality, government policies promoted centralised, authoritarian control of education at all levels within the system (Grant 2006 in Grant&Singh, 2009). Today, within a democratic South Africa, the South African Schools Act (1996), the Government Gazette of the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000) and the Task Team Report on Education Management Development (DoE, 1996) challenge schools to review their management policies, which have traditionally been top-down, and create a whole new approach to managing schools where management is seen as an activity in which all members of education engage and should not be seen as the task of a few (DoE, 1996:27). According to Moloi (2002 in Grant&Singh, 2009), although our education policies call for new ways of managing schools, many remain unresponsive and retain their rigid structures because educators are unable to make a shift away from patriarchal ways of thinking. It is against this backdrop that I explore whether leadership has indeed shifted to become more participatory and inclusive. One form of leadership that would reflect this shift is termed collaborative leadership (Grant&Singh, 2009). This form of leadership is based on the premise that leadership should be shared throughout an organisation such as a school (Grant&Singh, 2009). This alternate form of leadership allows for the emergence of teachers as one of the multiple sources of guidance and direction (Grant&Singh, 2009). According to Grant and Singh (2009), collaborative leadership offers a radical departure from the traditional understanding of leadership because it deconstructs the notion of leadership in relation to position in the school. It constructs leadership as a process which involves working with all stakeholders in a collegial and creative way to seek out the untapped leadership potential of people and develop this potential in a supportive environment for the betterment of the school (Grant&Singh, 2009). The general aim of this research is to investigate school management teams’ understanding of the implementation of collaborative leadership in primary schools in Gauteng District 4 in Pretoria. In this research I discuss important issues relating to collaborative leadership. My findings reveal that schools management teams indeed understand and implement collaborative leadership in their schools but also that collaborative leadership is much more than just working together as a team. My argument is that there must be a radical reconceptualisation of the concept of collaborative leadership as well as an attempt to move towards more dispersed and democratic forms of it. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted