<p> Research indicates a shortage of principals by the year 2012 (NASSP, 2002). While graduate schools indicate an increase in the number of graduating candidates in school administration, many of these candidates are choosing not to enter the profession (Grogan &amp; Andrews, 2002). Existing principals are leaving their positions prematurely (Battle &amp; Gruber, 2010) which leads to the overarching question guiding this study: Are school administrators prepared to lead in the 21st century? The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to determine individual members of school leadership teams' perceptions of the level of their application of identified skills deemed necessary to lead in the 21st century educational system; (2) to determine the teachers' perceptions as compared to the principals' perceptions as to utilization of these recognized skills by their principal. </p><p> A quantitative study of principals' and leadership teams' perceptions of the use of identified skills and the teachers' perceptions of the principals' use of the identified skills deemed necessary for success in the 21st century (NASSP, 2011) was conducted. The <i>Leadership Skills Self-assessment </i> (NASSP, Reed, 2013) and the <i>Leadership Skills Observer Assessment </i> (NASSP, Reed, 2013) were utilized to survey principals, leadership teams, and teachers of a southeastern Louisiana school district. The current study differed from NASSP's original use of the instruments. Results were statistically analyzed using descriptive, factor analysis, correlational, and analysis of variance. Analysis of the data resulted in five major findings. </p>

<p> In this study, the perceptions of educational leaders of incentive pay programs, including Missouri's Career Ladder Program were examined. A mixed-methods design provided a process by which student achievement, professional development, and the retention of high quality and effective teachers were viewed through the lens of Marzano's (2003) Teacher Level Factors that influence student achievement. The population for the study consisted of educational leaders and educators in Missouri. The sample group was comprised of four public school superintendents, four professional development chairs, four leaders in professional education organizations, four Missouri public school board presidents, and approximately 83 Missouri public school teachers. Interviews and survey data were collected and analyzed. Four themes emerged from the study: the effectiveness of Missouri's Career Ladder Program as related to increasing student achievement, the effectiveness of incentive pay programs as related to increasing student achievement, the components of an effective professional development program, and motivation for teachers. Findings indicated positive perceptions of incentive pay programs, including Missouri's Career Ladder Program, which were thought to enhance professional development, the retention of high quality and effective teachers, and ultimately increased student achievement. Even though details of incentive pay programs vary greatly, teacher motivation and increased student achievement were consistent findings among participants. The perceptions of educators from this study may serve district and state educational leaders in future decision-making and implementation of incentive pay programs.</p>

<p> The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has begun the transition to the Missouri Educator Evaluation System devised of seven Essential Principles of Effective Evaluation. This study considered superintendents' perceptions of readiness levels for each essential principle in order to understand continued needs to assist the transition. A web-based survey was electronically sent to 92 superintendents in the Southwest Missouri region. Descriptive statistics methods of mode, mean (M), and frequency distributions were utilized, determining the two essential principles receiving readiness levels of developing processes and documents were differentiated levels of educator performance and use of measures of student growth. The other five essential principles, implemented with fidelity, were research-based, clear expectations; probationary period; meaningful feedback; evaluator training; and use of evaluation results. Contrasting readiness levels were discovered within many survey statements, implying these principles may not be implemented as consistently as perceived by the mode. These varied readiness levels within the survey statements confirmed the need for additional professional development within each essential principle except probationary periods and meaningful feedback; however, the research emphasized effective feedback was lacking in evaluation systems. Each district should review the feedback to confirm it is effective in promoting teacher growth. The lowest readiness level of incorporating measures of student growth determined by total mean (M) rank order needs the most attention with professional development and district planning for the developing of processes and documents for successful implementation.</p>

<p> This descriptive research study was conducted to determine the state of perceived teacher morale and student academic performance as measured by fourth-grade reading and math scores among four elementary schools defined by the servant leadership score of each principal in this Florida elementary school district. While related research from other geographical areas was identified and published, the aim of this study was to describe the current state of these variables in the southeastern United States. Four elementary principals and 153 elementary teachers participated in this study. The Revised Servant Leadership Profile 360 survey (RSLP 360) was used to obtain the principals' perceptions of servant leadership based on the criteria from the survey to categorize the four schools as servant or non-servant leadership-led schools, and the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire survey (PTO) was used to collect the teachers' perceptions of morale. Fourth-grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores in mathematics and reading were retrieved from the Florida Department of Education database and used as the third variable in this study. The intent of this research was not to define relationships between servant leadership, teacher morale, and student test scores, but to describe the extent to which these variables existed based on the perceptions of the survey participants and state test scores for this school district in Florida. The results from this study may be used for future research and practices to further examine the active and potential status of servant leadership, teacher morale, and student academic performance outcomes in PreK-12 education.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> servant leadership, teacher morale, student performance outcomes, public education</p>

<p> The dissertation, "Perceptions Of The Leadership Practices Of Principals In A High Performing School District," explores the understandings of leadership practices from the perspective of parents, teachers, and principals in one high performing school district. The study addressed the leadership practices deemed important by the stakeholder groups, the external factors that influence the leadership practices, and the amount of time the practices require. The study revealed that the three stakeholder groups agree on six specific practices as being very important to school leadership in the district. In addition, external factors focused on relationships between stakeholder groups were found to have impact on the leadership practices. The principals also perceived three specific practices as taking much time and attention.</p>

<p> This study explored perceptions of Public Relations (PR) among graduate higher education publics regarding distance learning as contrasted with face-to-face learning contexts. The research questions assessed student, faculty and administrator perceptions of characteristics of PR: trust, communication, quality, respect and rigor. </p><p> Participants included students and professors who had experienced both online and face-to-face learning, as well as administrators from two private universities. The larger of the two schools was in the Midwest region of the United States, and at the time of this study, was relatively new to online instruction. The smaller school was located in the Southeast region and offered an established online instruction program. Survey responses were collected from 69 students and 108 faculty, staff, and administrators. Out of those surveyed, six students, seven faculty, and six administrators were interviewed. Furthermore, I interviewed three human resources administrators from educational establishments who had experience hiring people with graduate education degrees. In addition, I analyzed student evaluations of courses taught both online and face-to-face at the smaller university. </p><p> Following completion of qualitative coding of interview data, examination of numeric descriptive trends within survey responses, and analysis of course evaluations, the findings revealed overall positive perceptions with strengths identified in online communication, respect, and rigor and weaknesses in trust and quality. Recommended improvements included strengthening academic integrity efforts through the consistent use of anti-plagiarism software and implementation of a rigorous culture of ethical enforcement. There is also a need for proactive provision of professional development for online teaching to provide the most student-efficient distance learning environment. Additionally, results of this study indicated a need for restructure of student evaluations of teaching to ensure assessment of the unique dynamics of online coursework. </p><p> The significance of these findings is two-fold: First, the data can potentially help university administrators effectively connect with internal and external publics and possibly foster collaboration between administration, faculty, and PR staff. Secondly, the insights reported from the analyzed data may be useful in rationalizing institutional beliefs and subsequent needs when writing departmental or institutional strategic improvement plans.</p>

<p> In this study, the factors that influence special education teachers to remain in their profession for at least five years were identified and analyzed. The study involved a mixed-methods design including a survey and interviews with experienced special educators. The survey items and their categorizations as relational support or organizational factors were based upon Billingsley's (2004) landmark research. The population consisted of special educators who remained in their current teaching positions for at least five years. The sample group for the survey included 35 veteran special educators from eight school districts in Missouri, and the stratified interview sample of five educators was gleaned from the survey participants. Survey and interview data were collected and analyzed. Quantitative findings indicated no significant difference existed at a 5% probability level between the response data modes for relational support factors and the response data modes for organizational factors. The four most influential retention factors included enjoyment gained from job, ability to make a difference in the lives of students, support of district-level special education administrators, and support of fellow special education teachers. Four themes emerged from the interview data gathered: making a difference was of utmost influence, relational support factors were more influential than organizational factors, and the actions of both building-level and special education administrators promoted an increase in special education teacher retention. The data collected in this study may assist administrators as they address influential teacher retention factors in order to increase the retention of experienced and qualified special education teachers.</p>

<p> Outcome-based report cards represent teacher judgments about student progress as determined by comparing the student's work against curricular outcomes. The outcome-based report card has become an important tool for student assessment, evaluation, and reporting. Because parents have an important role to play in supporting student learning, parental support and understanding of this new educational tool is critical. In 2009, the Yellowknife Education District No.1, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in Canada implemented the outcome-based report card to report assessment data of students in kindergarten to Grade 8. This qualitative research single case study explored parental support for and understanding of the outcome-based report card in this rural Canadian educational district. Data was collected using four focus groups, each made up of 4-6 parents of students in Grades 4-8. To confirm and validate the results, data from focus group process was triangulated with relevant historical/archival descriptive summaries and qualitative data retrieved from parent surveys in Yellowknife Education District No.1. Results of this study show that parents have a desire to know about the outcome-based report card and how it connects to formats of which they were more familiar (like the letter grade or percentage systems). Parents described a need for plain language alternatives for complex educational terms, phrases, and references. Parents expressed the need for personalized comments to describe individual student capabilities, and they desired grading level system that indicates student progress. Results from this study converge on a number of recommendations, including one that encourages leaders within the Yellowknife Education District No.1 to support additional research on the parental acceptance of the outcome-based report card once the recommendations for the practical applications of this case study have been acted upon. Further research could focus on the application of the outcome-based report card to engage students in self-assessment, increase motivation, and goal setting. This case study on the topic of parental support for and understanding of the outcome-based report card could be considered the starting point for future studies around how to realize the full benefits of formative assessment as it relates to grading and reporting.</p>

<p> This study focused on the California State University system's enrollment management activities. For schools in California who rely on state funds, managing enrollment has to be balanced with competing campus priorities, limited resources, volatile economic times, and the primary mission of the system which is serving students whose goal is to achieve a college degree.</p><p> Hossler and Bean (1990) defined enrollment management as the activities a campus conducts and how it organizes itself in order to influence student enrollment. Enrollment management components consist of marketing, admissions and recruitment, academic advising, career planning and placement, academic assistance programs, institutional research, orientation, financial aid, retention programs, and student services and activities (Hossler, 1984).</p><p> Individuals in leadership roles ranging from the presidents to administrators in various academic and student affairs areas were invited to participate in the study. A survey that inquired about campus enrollment management activities and perceived effectiveness of those activities was distributed through the campus system with support from the Chancellor's Office. Responses were received from each of the 23 campuses with a range of 1 to 6 respondents per campus. </p><p> A total of 90 surveys revealed the most prevalent enrollment management activities included the use of current students in the recruitment process, campus visits by prospective students, and the use of recruiters making visits. Also, the utilization of professional advisors in the advisement of students was used at a majority of campuses. Almost all the campuses had academic assistance programs in reading and study skills as well as used student tutors. Orientation activities were prevalent amongst all the campuses though student dropout follow-up, services addressing non-traditional students, and programs focused toward commuter students were found to be inconsistent amongst the campuses. </p><p> From this study, the following conclusions were determined. Certain components of enrollment management, such as recruitment and institutional research, could be standardized. Enrollment management components such as academic advisement and learning assistance must stay within the choice of campus so they can have the latitude to meet the needs of the students they serve. Enrollment Management activities focus on the goal of student retention and persistence </p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic research was to study the culture and experiences of coaches who practice the blended coaching model through the lens of transformational leadership. The study strived to discover the coaches' perceptions regarding their coachees' skills in each of the 10 domains of transformational leadership and sought to understand which domains were impacted the most as a result of participating in the coaching process. This qualitative study was designed from an ethnographic perspective. It included focus group and one-on-one interviews, and observations of coach meetings and trainings. Artifacts were collected to provide a rich understanding of the coaches' culture. As a tool to fill the gap in information gathered through the interviews and observations, coaches completed the Transformational Leadership Skills Inventory regarding the leadership skills of their respective coachees. The findings revealed that coaches who utilized the blended coaching model supported their coachees' development of many of the transformational leadership skills. The coaches focused primarily on personal and interpersonal skills, communication, and collaboration skills. Coaches viewed that communication skill development was most impacted by coaching and that anticipating obstacles was the skill area in which the coaches provided the most coaching. Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that coaches who utilize the blended coaching model tend to support the development of transformational leadership skills in their coachees and emphasize the development of personal and interpersonal skills, communication skills, and collaboration skills. Coaches who practice the blended coaching model also support their coachees' relationship-building skills. It appears that coaches focus their coaching on the situational needs of the coachee. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that to ensure school leaders develop the transformational leadership skills needed to lead 21st-century schools, funding for leadership coaching is prioritized, coaches are provided to support all school leaders, consortiums of districts form professional learning community groups to help coaches deepen coaching skills and transformational leadership development skills, and coaches receive up-to-date professional development in current critical issues facing school leaders.</p>