<p> One of the primary the missions of colleges and universities is dedicated to student success. Traditionally, helping academically probationary students has been challenging for all educational institutions, because there are a multitude of factors involved for the schools and the students including, for example, demographics, socioeconomic issues, student motivation, and student time-management skills. The complexity introduced by these various factors creates obstacles in developing effective programs to aid and assist these students. At the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), there exists a course entitled Insights on Success that is designed as an intervention step to improve individual academic performance through self-discovery. The Insights on Success curriculum also works with students on several of the factors that are found in the current literature discussing academically probationary students and examining the factors that contribute to their poor performance, but this study focuses on the effectiveness of the Insights on Success course, itself. Effectiveness of the course for this study was determined by the improvement of the GPA scores of the probationary students who attended the class versus a control group of students who did not attend the class. </p><p> This research study evaluates the effectiveness of the Insights on Success course on the academic performance of probationary students attending baccalaureate degree programs within RIT's College of Applied Science &amp; Technology. This study presents the research design, discusses strategies for engaging the students, and explains the metrics that were assessed to determine the success or failure of the intervention.</p>

<p> School district calendars built around a four-day week have been in existence for decades. Early research cited savings in energy and transportation costs prompting the increase in schools adopting the four-day week. In recent years, studies have focused on the instructional benefits of making the switch from a five-day to four-day school week. Effective use of time as an instructional resource plays a meaningful role in educational leadership activities of school district superintendents. </p><p> This multisite case study sought to describe the perceptions of 10 South Dakota superintendents employed in school districts using a four-day calendar regarding the quality of their professional development programs. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview based on the McREL Professional Development Audit. Additional data gathered by the researcher included school district demographics, professional development planning documents, school calendars, and district websites. </p><p> Superintendents believed the four-day school week calendar provided the time to make a positive impact on the vision and goals, planning, design, resources, and evaluation components of a high quality professional development program. The study supported current research that district planners should provide professional development time that is organized, structured, and purposefully driven. Common themes among respondents included (a) articulate and set as a strategic goal during the calendar adoption process the importance of implementing a high quality professional development program for teachers and set specific dates within the calendar assigned for professional development (b) incorporate student remedial activities into the calendar (c) provide fiscal resources to support the professional development program, and (d) demonstrate effective administrative leadership to ensure fidelity in the design and implementation of the district's professional development program.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the manner that directors and teachers define ideal leadership practices of Head Start programs. Specifically, this study focused on understanding leadership practices through the lens of transformational leadership. This study was guided by the following three research questions: (a) What are the perceptions of Head Start directors on ideal practices of leadership (b) What are the perceptions of Head Start teachers on ideal practices of leadership and (c) How do the perceptions of directors compare and contrast to the perceptions of teachers.</p><p> The research methodology was a qualitative approach to understanding the perceptions of the participants through their experiences and perspectives of working in the Head Start setting. Data were collected by means of interviews and completion of a demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). The use of interviews allowed participants to reflect on their experiences and share their perspectives regarding what they consider ideal leadership practices in Head Start. Data were collected from 15 participants who currently work in various Head Start programs throughout Southern California.</p><p> The findings revealed ideal leadership practices in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. Directors described ideal leadership practices to include a clear vision, collaboration, Head Start-specific knowledge, and staff motivation. Teachers described ideal leadership practices to include visibility ofthe director at the classroom level, leading by example, encouragement, transparency, and professional development opportunities. The results of this study are critically important with the shifts in policy to increase quality of and expand access to early childhood education programs for all children. The shift in policy has resulted in greater accountability being placed on Head Start programs to deliver quality services in order to avoid losing funding. Ideal leadership practices are vital to meeting the needs of the changing expectations of Head Start programs.</p>

<p> In recent years, concerns over the future of community college leadership have intensified because of the looming retirements of college presidents who started their careers in the 1960s and 1970s. With senior administrative turnovers continuing to rise at the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Academic Officer levels, community colleges are looking for ways to prepare for leadership transition and succession in order to continue to operate effectively. Although the middle managerial position is often used as a stepping stone for senior administrative positions, little is known about the mid-level administrators and their roles. With little research on mid-level administrators, their roles, and the processes in which they develop their leadership skills, community colleges are not equipped with resources to tap into this potential and abundant leadership pool successfully.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of mid-level administrators in California community colleges, the challenges they face in their positions, and more importantly, to explore the learning process that mid-level administrators engage in to cultivate their leadership skills to address those challenges. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) What are the leadership and managerial challenges that California community college mid-level administrators face in their positions? (2) How do community college mid-level administrators develop and cultivate their leadership skills to address leadership and managerial challenges in California community college settings? (3) What leadership skills, knowledge, and competencies do mid-level administrators believe they need in order to be effective in their position as well as their career overall? And (4) What leadership development resources and support do mid-level administrators feel they would need in order to advance to the next administrative level position? </p><p> The research methodology was a qualitative approach to understanding their leadership experiences. Data were collected by means of one-on-one interviews and a brief questionnaire. Data were collected from 12 participants who currently work as deans or directors in community colleges in southern California.</p><p> Findings revealed that challenges to the mid-level administrators include managing employees, campus politics, and an increasing workload. The findings also highlighted the importance of leadership mentoring and training for mid-level administrators so they can be effective in their current position and to prepare them for career advancement. Recommendations for policy and practice include adding new language in accreditation standards to focus on effective leadership and implementing ongoing managerial and leadership trainings for mid-level administrators.</p>

<p> This dissertation study documents in-depth the exploration of the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) between the Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) and their industry partners as well as the establishment of a framework for evaluating and assessing PPPs. The public-private partnership agreements were studied in order to answer the over-arching research question: How is an effective public-private partnership established, assessed, and evaluated in education? A descriptive case study methodology was used to study DRSS' public-private partnership agreements to determine if goals and objectives were established and whether or not the partnerships met those goals and objectives. This case study also included the development and testing of a proposed evaluation framework that will allow for consistent, systematic inquiry that can produce defensible assertions regarding the assessment and evaluation of public-private partnerships in education. </p><p> Results of the case study support the findings that utilization of an evaluation framework can serve to make public-private partnerships more successful. Results also indicated that establishment of goals and objectives enable effective evaluation for informal partnerships but could not be definitively stated for formal partnerships due to the lack of data points. The data from this case study revealed many emergent themes that should be considered in the development of future public-private partnerships. Overall this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge for public-private partnerships in education. </p>

<p> The purpose of the current study was to understand if there are any longitudinal behavioral or academic effects for boys who are the youngest in their class, who have birthdays near or at the cutoff date for starting school and enter school at the beginning of the succeeding semester. The current study compares retention rates, behavioral records, and grade averages of boys who were born in the months of June, July, or August and are the youngest in their class in a state where the cutoff date for school enrollment is September first to those same variables in boys whose birthdates are in all other months of the year. The current study addresses whether boys who began school at a younger age ultimately struggle with academics or behavior once they are in high school, ninth through twelfth grade. The current study adds to the body of knowledge that currently exists regarding the practice of holding students back a year, known as academic redshirting. The current study employed non-experimental quantitative research methods using <i>ex post facto </i> analysis of existing data. The results of the current study show no significant longitudinal behavioral effects for boys who are the youngest in their class; however, there may be longitudinal academic effects for boys who are the youngest in their class. The results of the current study show non-summer born boys had a statistically significantly higher mean overall grade average than the summer born boys. Since the academic effects found in the current study were slight, the results of the current study support the argument that the phenomenon known as academic redshirting is not necessarily a useful practice when the decision to hold the child back is based solely on the student's summer birthdate.</p>

<p> High School students in a local school district were having reading-related difficulties in certain subject areas and were at risk of failing high school courses. Success in reading is important because students must read the content within the End of Course Test in core content subjects, and their success on this test determines their eligibility for high school graduation. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a Response to Intervention (RTI) reading class designed to improve reading skills for at-risk high school students. The constructivist learning theory was the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions addressed how teachers conceptualized RTI as it applied to students' performance in the reading intervention class and the benefits and challenges of the reading class. The research design was a qualitative instrumental case study with the reading class serving as the case. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 7 educators, reading work samples, and RTI data from the school. Data were analyzed via open coding techniques to determine emergent themes. The findings indicate that the reading class was not effective in improving students' reading. Recommendations include creating reading resources, promoting a professional development plan for teachers, and designing or refining a reading curriculum. The implications for positive social change include better mastery of grade-level content reading, improved instructional practices and RTI intervention, improved students' scores on state assessments, and higher numbers of high school graduates.</p>

<p> This study examines presidential response to human-induced crises on public university campuses. The goal of the research was to understand specifically what actions and behaviors leaders in crisis take; what kinds of teams they assemble and the ways those teams function; how the leaders communicate--both to their teams and their institutional communities; and the ways their actions, behaviors and communications are understood by stakeholders of the campus. </p><p> A review of current literature on crises in higher education supports the research, and aided in the formulation of the four sets of research questions. Specifically, the compilation of research in crisis and crisis management; the role of the president in higher education; leadership and communication in crisis; and sensemaking and social cognition theory highlighted several gaps in understanding about leader behavior in crisis. The research questions, therefore, were structured to explore presidential actions and behaviors, teams and team function, intentional messaging and communication, and stakeholder perceptions in crisis. </p><p> Presidents at three large, public, research universities were the focus of the case studies. The findings emerged out of site visits to the campuses, personal interviews and review of historical documents and media coverage. While the leaders and the crises differed at each site, several common themes surfaced and the study revealed some important revelations and implications for both the literature and leaders in practice today. For instance, the findings demonstrated the significance of active, engaged leadership in crisis, highlighted the roles teams play in helping leaders to manage and resolve crises, and exposed the ways trust&mdash;both of the sort leaders bring to crisis and the kind they afford others with whom they work&mdash;influences leader actions and stakeholder perceptions. Ultimately, the research elicited a list of guidelines that presidents--as well as those who hire, support, or work with presidents&mdash;might consider as they prepare for and encounter crisis. </p>

<p> The following explores the phenomenon of perceived organizational culture change resulting from involvement in the establishment of program-level student learning outcomes assessment at colleges and universities. The goal of the research was to understand what elements of organizational culture may have changed on the part of the faculty and administration during the assessment development and implementation process, and how the combined effects may have shifted elements of organizational culture. </p><p> Two primary research questions guided the exploration of perceived organizational culture change. The first question focused on how the process of developing and implementing plans to assess student learning at the program level influences the attitudes, behaviors, values, and practices of faculty. The second question considered ways in which the assessment initiative changed or affected the program's organizational culture. </p><p> Critical to answering these research questions for each program studied was an understanding of the assessment development and implementation process. Further, it was important to identify and comprehend those decisions perceived most influential on the organizational culture of the program's faculty and administration. </p><p> The review of current knowledge supported and focused on research from the following four areas: 1. a basic history of assessment and the role of accreditation; 2. perceived cultural conflicts associated with assessment; 3. institutional interpretations of assessment; and, 4. research on organizational culture and the change process most relevant to higher education. </p><p> The researcher used the qualitative method of case study analysis and focused on efforts at three private liberal arts institutions. Selected from each institution were two programs of study that have successfully established learning goals and methods to measure student learning. </p><p> Across the three institutions and six programs studied, common themes and unique features emerged relative to the process of assessment development and the elements indicative of organizational culture change. Further, general assertions emerge concerning how the program's efforts affect attributes of organizational culture. </p><p> Both faculty and administrators may benefit from the conclusions of the research. Individuals charged with demonstrating academic integrity as well as those involved in the decision-making process regarding measuring student learning may also find the research valuable.</p>

<p> Single mothers increasingly seek college degrees at community colleges in order to provide economic security for their families (Wei et al., 2009); however, they often face a number of barriers that prevent or disrupt their education (Cox &amp; Ebbers, 2010; Smith, 2010). Campus services help students persist to degree completion, yet serving the population of single mothers can be particularly challenging for practitioners when confronted with students' numerous internal and external influences (Austin &amp; McDermott, 2003). Single parents who do persist have an important story to share with practitioners and policy makers in higher education.</p><p> This quantitative study explored the perceptions of the experience of Mattering as a motivator for persistence among single mothers in higher education. Mattering is defined as "a personal belief, whether right or wrong, that we matter to someone else and this belief acts as a motivator" (Schlossberg, 1989, p. 3). This study explored Mattering by investigating the following research questions: 1. To what extent and in what manner can academic persistence be explained by the student's perception of Mattering? 2. What is the relationship between self-perceptions of Mattering and selected demographics?</p><p> This research utilized a quantitative correlational design (Creswell, 2009). Participants (<i>N </i>= 53) included single mothers enrolled in a program at two community college sites (<i>N </i>= 2). An adaptation of The Mattering Scales for Adult Learners in Higher Education was used to measure the participant's self-perception of Mattering to their institution (Schlossberg, Lasalle, &amp; Golec, 1990).</p><p> Results indicated high alpha reliability for the data, but no significant relationships between a single mother's academic persistence and their perception of Mattering to the college emerged. Furthermore, while students' demographics indicated a range in diversity, their perception of Mattering to the college remained consistent. This research may inform community college practitioners regarding ways to help single mothers stay motivated in their quest for degree completion, which will ultimately influence a new generation of college students. The results may be significant in shaping policy, support services for similar programs, and contribute to the economic futures of single mother households.</p>