<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> Forty years after Kramer's (1974) seminal work, Reality Shock, new graduate nurses continue to have difficulty transitioning to the registered nurse (RN) role. The purpose of this phenomenological study explores the lived experience of new graduate nurses who completed a Veterans Affairs externship program in their senior year of nursing coursework and its perceived impact on their successful transition into the practice role 3-24 months following graduation. Benner's (1984) Novice-to-Expert Model, Karmer's (1974) Reality Shock Theory, and Selder's (1989) Life Transition Theory support a framework for this study. Twelve telephone interviews were conducted using van Manen's (1990) method for researching the lived experience. One overarching theme "feeling confident" and three main categories, "transitioning to the RN role," "making decisions," and "interacting with professionals," were identified from the data. Externship programs assist the student to comfortably and smoothly transition as a new graduate nurse by offering additional clinical and practice experiences. Given the complexity of today's health care environment, there is a growing need to better prepare the graduate nurse for their transition into nursing practice. Externship programs can serve this purpose. </p>

<p> There are countless books, articles and journals written about leadership, whether the discussion centers on traits, characteristics, beliefs, values or the development of said leadership. All in all, the proliferation of information on the subject matter is vast (Northouse, 2013). This is afforded due to the nature of the cultural and political climate of the United States. As a democratic capitalist society, it is afforded the protections of the first amendment therefore, you are able to write about and conjecture on what leadership is. Leadership is cultivated in a variety of ways, through action, education, or as some might argue, through birth. </p><p> Success of Iranian Americans in the US can be attributed to the level of importance that education has for the Iranian community. Iranian Americans hold leadership roles in a variety of fields. Because of their standing when first immigrating to this country, Iranians have added advantages that other immigrant groups do not. It stands to reason that the success of these leaders is based on a variety of factors; it is thought that their success is based on socio-economic and demographic status as well as to their leadership style and decision making approach (Miramontes, 2008). </p><p> Iranian Americans are doing more business in Iran as the opportunities develop due to globalization. To be adequately prepared, an understanding of Iranian American leadership and decision making is needed. A better understanding of Iranian leadership can be developed by looking at the characteristics and assumptions associated with Iranian American leaders. This study focused on successful Iranians in the US and was meant to identify characteristics and assumptions that inform decision-making and leadership practices and how the demographic characteristics correlate. </p><p> Survey responses were used to identify characteristics and assumptions that inform decision&shy;making and leadership practices. The most common decision making preferences were soloist and conductor while the most common leadership styles were coaching and democratic. Most of the correlations (95 of 108 correlations, 88.0%) were not significant at the <i>p</i> &lt; .10 level that compared either the decision making preferences with the demographics or the leadership styles with the demographics.</p>

<p> This study explored middle managers' lived experience of exercise-induced reflection to understand if the meaning they ascribed to the lived experience could address their practical problem of not being able to reflect in time-constrained work environments. The study also explored if the lived experience could be linked to another model of reflective learning that does not appear to exist within the study's theoretical framework at the intersections of leadership and reflection, reflection and aerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise and leadership. </p><p> To understand the meaning participants associated with their lived experience of exercise-induced reflection, ten employed middle managers were recruited to participate in a series of thirty face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Analyzing the data through the phenomenological processes of grouping, reducing, clustering, thematizing, and textural-structural synthesis led to the discovery of six core themes. The core themes were the following: the age at which participants first experienced the phenomenon, the aerobic activity that evoked exercise-induced reflection, reflective states, reflection topics, reflection during exercise is productive, and applied learning. These themes revealed how the lived experience of reflection through exercise manifested into three major meanings: a productive haven for reflective thinking, a mind-body connection that stimulates reflective learning, and a therapeutic sanctuary for well-being. </p><p> Understanding the meanings participants ascribed to exercise-induced reflection expanded upon the literature within the theoretical framework of the leadership, reflection, and aerobic exercise disciplines. Additionally, the meanings addressed middle managers practical problem of reflection in the time-constrained workplace. </p><p> Findings from this transcendental phenomenological study provide a baseline understanding of exercise-induced reflection for future research. Augmenting the baseline findings through mixed methods and medical research studies could provide a deeper understanding of exercise-induced reflection. A mixed methods study could help explore and explain the relationship of exercise-induced reflection to workplace performance and leadership styles. A medical study could expand upon knowledge about the relationship of exercise-induced reflection to human neuro-physiological changes.</p>

<p> Little has been written about Mary Easton Sibley, the founder of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, which until its acceptance of men in the mid-20^th century was the oldest women's college west of the Mississippi River and stands today, a thriving private coeducational institution, as the second oldest college west of that demarcation. This dearth of literature seemed unwarranted since Sibley was as progressive as her more famous East Coast contemporaries (Mary Lyon, Catharine Beecher, et al). All were motivated by the socially progressive Protestant evangelical movement known as the Second Great Awakening and by the founders' quest for an enlightened citizenry. Sibley particularly embraced the founders' notions of a useful, practical education. She was a strong-willed and generally admirable educational leader who founded a long-lived college during a cholera outbreak and in the face of criticism (for teaching young women to be independent and also for educating slaves at the St. Charles Sabbath School for Africans). </p><p> This study shed new light on Sibley's educational leadership through a comparative analysis using her spiritual journal and a book titled <i> Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge</i> (1985, 2007) by USC professors emeriti Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus. The researcher examined whether evidence of Bennis and Nanus' four leadership strategies or competencies could be found in Sibley's journal, which she wrote primarily during the founding of Lindenwood (circa 1831), the rationale being that if contemporary leadership theory was evidenced nearly 200 years ago, it would likely be relevant 200 years hence, and therefore could be considered valid for today's educational leaders. The analysis required the creation of decontextualized researcher statements that enabled the iii coding of an historical document using contemporary theory. The study showed strong evidence of most of the researcher's statements (e.g., Leaders are singularly focused on their agenda and produce results, Leaders know what they want and communicate that clearly to others, Leaders challenge others to act, etc.) There was moderate evidence of competencies involving an awareness of strengths and weaknesses, and evidence of social scaffolding was weak, largely because of the nascent state of the college during the period studied.</p>

<p> As school leaders continue to attempt to integrate technology into today's classrooms, 1:1 laptop initiatives are becoming increasingly more prevalent and certainly more affordable than ever before. School leaders must be able to justify the expenditure by the direct impact the integration of the laptops make on classroom instruction and learning. Preparing and supporting teachers to teach and facilitate learning with these new technological tools is a necessity that cannot be overlooked in ensuring the success of 1:1 laptop initiatives. This study examined the impact of various professional development preparatory factors on the instructional change that occurred immediately after implementation of a 1:1 laptop initiative within three high schools. Significant differences were observed between the teachers' perceived value of different types of professional development activities, including learning to use hardware, software, content management and instructional delivery platforms, as well as learning to integrate technology into instruction. Significant changes were also observed in each of 11 different instructional activities when comparing teacher practice pre-1:1 laptop initiative implementation and during implementation. Correlations between the amount of time teachers had access to their own laptops prior to the 1:1 implementation and the change in frequency of use of the instructional activities indicated limited significant results, as did the correlations between the length of professional development preparation designed to prepare teachers for the 1:1 laptop initiative and the change in frequency of use of the 11 instructional activities. The final correlations between the teachers' perceived value of the four professional development activities and the change in frequency of use of the 11 instructional activities also yielded limited significant results.</p>

<p> "Efforts to improve our school system must start with equity" (Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission, 2012). This study is a statistical analysis of the 2003-2012 Minnesota K-12 pubic school general education (foundation) formula in regard to fiscal equality and wealth neutrality. The analysis utilizes a longitudinal approach to compare the findings of previous equity studies to current relatable data as it pertains to the State of Minnesota. A number of modifications have been imposed on the original Minnesota funding formula over the past decade. This study tests the equity level of a selected number of revenue sources and reviews previous studies to determine how equity has or has not been improved as a result of the modifications. </p><p> Fiscal neutrality is described as the wealth of the school district and should be a function of the wealth of the state as a whole, not of the wealth of the local school district. This study analyzed the fiscal neutrality of 333 public school districts in Minnesota in terms of variance, permissible variance, coefficient of variation, and Gini Coefficient. The analysis was based upon three research questions: 1. Based on an analysis of the 2003 to 2012 general education formula, what were the fiscal equality and wealth neutrality characteristics of Minnesota's school districts? 2. Based on an examination of like data elements from the four major Minnesota fiscal equality and wealth neutrality studies, what trends can be observed? 3. Based on the recommendations of previous studies, what legislative impact did they have? </p><p> The findings of the research show that overall the disbursements of revenue through the Minnesota funding formula do meet the standards of wealth neutrality. However, there are categories of the formula that remain inequitable and the reliance of local taxpayers on the referendum revenue source has increased over the years studied.</p>

<p> Some Christian churches approach the majority of their faith expression with a 'go to the community' dynamic, while other churches focus primarily on attracting the community to 'come to them.' The problem is that there is a growing population of religiously unaffiliated people in the United States for whom traditional forms of faith expression are not meaningful. A new way of thinking about communal faith expression is needed if the church seeks to reach people who are spiritually curious but not interested in the attractional church model. The journey towards organizational change, even for churches, often begins with a commitment to ongoing personal transformation. This study demonstrates how discipleship can serve as a catalyst for personal transformation in the Christian faith. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the leaders of Mission City in regard to how they foster personal transformation in the participants of the Faith in Action (FIA) program. In-depth interviews and collecting documents were the two primary research strategies for this qualitative case study. Faith in Action leaders foster personal transformation in the program`s participants in a dynamic fashion through a process that is built on spiritual formation and connected to a learning process that results in organic growth patterns. The FIA process involves a personal transformation journey rooted in spiritual formation that connects participants with God so that God can bring the transformation that leads to missional living. God`s presence coupled with transformed perspectives enables participants to become catalysts who mobilize other Christians to become the functioning body of Christ in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and third spaces to serve the poor, the marginalized, and those in need. This study indicates that fostering transformational discipleship will require church leaders to engage in a comprehensive overhaul of their current discipleship practices. This process will also require them to challenge their teaching and leadership assumptions, inventory their worldview, examine their leadership approaches, and create systems and structures that enable collaborative leadership. </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> The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide insight to the perspectives of leaders and individuals in authority within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles system of Catholic parochial schools regarding current models of governance, levels of authority, and decision-making processes. There is a lack of clearly-defined levels of decision-making authority from the bishops to the Archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools down to the individual schools. </p><p> The pastors, principals, and Department of Catholic Schools personnel shared their perspectives of current governance structures and elements of three emerging alternative governance models. Data were analyzed through a factor analysis of the survey items to explore the strength of the three categories of the governance models represented by the three groups of questions. Next, the descriptive statistics of the specific questions relating to each of the three governance models and community voice were compiled. A Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each group of questions to measure internal consistency. </p><p> In order to explore relationships between perceptions among the three independent variable groups (pastors, principals, and Department of Catholic Schools personnel), a Chi-square analysis was run for each of the questions on an ordinal scale. </p><p> The study showed significant differences in participant responses between the three groups surveyed. However, there was agreement that community voice must be incorporated into governance, but only in a consultative manner. There was also agreement that a strong governing presence at the central office would be beneficial.</p>