<p> This paper argues the right to an adequate and valued educational experience adds to the prosperity and stability of a society as it increases the social and cultural capital of the students, which enhances their probability of becoming productive adult citizens. Research shows that a key element in achieving a valued educational experience is the learning environment should be both creative and meaningful where staff and students feel both safe and secure. Many inner city urban learning institutions, K-12 public and private, are not safe and have a well-entrenched criminal element of behavior that has shown itself in extreme acts of violence on and in the school campuses. Arguably, both law enforcement and educational leaders have been less than effective in their approach to exterminate the criminal element while maintaining the creativeness of the learning environment through tactics and policies of a zero tolerance approach. Funds of Knowledge, another innovative approach to educational and security needs, has been tried with some positive results. Findings from this study suggest that an essential element to implement a creative and meaningful environment, educational leader(s) must demonstrate a strong style of leadership that is fair, honest, and not adverse to the politics of personal and professional risk. They must be willing to be risk takers for the right reasons.</p>

<p> Collaboration in Professional Learning Communities and development of teacher efficacy and trust in Alabama schools was studied. The purpose of the study was to examine how Professional Learning Communities are used in North Alabama schools to foster collaboration and to develop teacher efficacy and trust within school settings. The participants in the study were kindergarten through fifth grade educators employed in North Central Alabama schools. The methodology consisted of the <i>Teachers&rsquo; Sense of Efficacy Scale</i> (TSES), a survey by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) and researcher-developed interviews. The surveys were used to identify patterns and themes about teachers&rsquo; beliefs. Purposeful interviews were conducted to assess the perceived levels of trust and effectiveness gained as a result of participating in collaborative activities. Data from the <i> Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale,</i> a survey used to assess teacher efficacy in student engagement, teacher efficacy in instructional strategies, and teacher efficacy in classroom management, were analyzed and paired with themes that emerged from interviews surrounding the establishment of trust. Interviewees viewed these emerging themes as being a result of their participation in collaborative activities in professional development settings. Results indicated that teachers who were involved in ongoing, job-embedded professional development centered on dialogue and collaboration reported a higher sense of efficacy and were more willing participants in dialogue on teaching and learning in perceived risky environments.</p>

<p> This study examined how an Early Head Start and Head Start grantee, the Institute for Human and Social Development (IHSD), implemented the Office of Head Start&rsquo;s research-based Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework. This study also evaluated IHSD&rsquo;s performance and determined whether the organization accomplished its set intention of fostering family engagement in support of positive child development and education outcomes. </p><p> This formative, outcome-based program evaluation utilized qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate IHSD's systematic implementation of engagement. Parent survey data, interview transcripts, and a review of existing agency data provided a parent-oriented perspective on the IHSD&rsquo;s engagement outcomes relative to the PFCE Framework. </p><p> Participants included parents of children in each of IHSD's five program options during 2012&ndash;2013 or 2013&ndash;2014. They participated by completing either a parent survey (<i>n</i> = 842) or an interview (<i> n</i> = 12) regarding engagement-focused services, focusing on the parents&rsquo; perspectives of the services&rsquo; implementation and outcomes. Results from the surveys and interviews were analyzed with available IHSD data related to family services as well as child outcomes, including gains in social-emotional development and language and literacy development within the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP). Results indicate that the children made improvement gains within the DRDP domains investigated. Parents surveyed and interviewed identified the program environment as engaging and named the staff&rsquo;s helpfulness as responsible. Among the aspects of the program they were asked to rate, parents identified the strategies of parent training, parent leadership council membership, home activities, home visits, parent meetings, and volunteerism as ideal in meeting their needs. </p><p> In general, IHSD is a high-quality agency providing early childhood education that engages families and grows parent engagement by teaching parents to be their children&rsquo;s advocates and teachers. The results of this study indicate that if IHSD continues to effectively implement strategies and incorporates feedback from these findings, the organization&rsquo;s child development programs will likely continue to excel.</p>

<p> Children today are growing up in a technology-saturated world and yet early childhood teachers do not typically include technology in their classrooms, or if they do, they include it inappropriately. The literature states that integrating technology in early education can yield many benefits, but many teachers of young children avoid using technology because they do not know how to incorporate it appropriately. This dissertation is an exploratory observational study of early childhood teachers (preschool through third grade) who integrate technology in their programs in developmentally appropriate ways.</p><p> This study involved three classroom teachers who were identified as model teachers at integrating technology in their classrooms: a preschool teacher and two kindergarten teachers. The study was guided by the recommendations from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children&rsquo;s Media at Saint Vincent College (2012) position statement for early childhood teachers in the appropriate use of technology and digital media in the early childhood classroom.</p><p> In this exploratory collective case study, visits to the classrooms were conducted several times and observations were performed. Checklists and field notes were used to record the findings. The teachers were interviewed before and after the observations to create a clearer picture of the classroom practices. This resulted in three cases that can serve as examples for teachers on how to integrate technology in the early childhood classroom in a developmentally appropriately way for young children. This study also provides recommendations for teachers who want to provide children with digital learning tools that can extend, enrich, and scaffold their learning. This study contributes four conclusions and five recommendations to guide teachers in integrating technology in a developmentally appropriate way for young children.</p>

<p> Dr. Shirin Ebadi was the first female Muslim judge to practice in Iran, is a human rights activist, and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize (Ebadi, 2003). At times called a &ldquo;woman of steel,&rdquo; Ebadi risks her life and freedom as she diligently promotes peace, democracy, and human rights particularly for women and children, through her voice in Iran and throughout the world. Ebadi received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts related to protecting the rights of individuals and groups trapped in a system of power stemming from Islamic law (Davis &amp; Selvidge, 2006; Ebadi &amp; Moaveni, 2006; Stiehm, 2006).</p><p> Ebadi is a female world leader as evidenced by her life&rsquo;s work and being awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. To date, however, there is no scholarly literature focused on an in-depth comparative analysis of Ebadi&rsquo;s leadership style, specifically in documented studies utilizing the theoretical framework of the Trait Approach and Skills Approach leadership styles (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, &amp; Fleishman, 2000a; Zaccaro, Kemp, &amp; Bader, 2004).</p><p> This dissertation was a qualitative case study to determine the leadership style of Ebadi through a comparative analysis of the Trait Approach and Skills Approach leadership styles (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al., 2000, Zaccaro et al., 2004) as the theoretical framework. Publicly-available information was qualitatively analyzed using descriptive coding (Salda&ntilde;a, 2013) to determine her leadership style.</p><p> Based solely on the number of occurrences of characteristics alone, Ebadi&rsquo;s leadership style falls under the Skills Approach, however, there was a significant number of leadership characteristics occurring under the Trait Approach that could not be overlooked in terms of importance. Therefore, it was determined Ebadi exhibited significant characteristics under both leadership styles, and her leadership style was found to be a hybrid of the Trait Approach and the Skills Approach.</p><p> Much can be learned from studying Ebadi&rsquo;s leadership style and related characteristics. First, findings could serve to benefit other female leaders attempting to advance social causes. Second, findings contributed to the overlooked area of documented research on Ebadi&rsquo;s leadership style and complement existing literature on leadership in the areas of Trait Approach and Skills Approach styles. Third, as a practical application, organizations may use the findings of this study to implement trait and skills&rsquo; assessment practices in the workplace to determine characteristics important for employee leadership positions.</p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the influence of experiential learning (i.e., leadership simulations) on student-athletes&rsquo; self-efficacy regarding their potential as future leaders. More specifically, the researcher sought to understand the &ldquo;lived experiences&rdquo; of NCAA Division I student-athletes in a models of leadership course. The following primary research question provided the focus for the study: To what extent, if at all, do leadership simulations and teaching about leadership models enhance student-athletes&rsquo; perceived self-efficacy regarding their potential for future leadership? </p><p> The study focused on 12 NCAA Division I student-athletes at a land-grant university in the Northwest who were enrolled in a sixteen-week leadership models course that incorporated experiential leadership simulations. Data were gathered through semi-structured, open-ended, in-depth interviews with the student-athletes. Interview questions focused on how student-athletes make meaning of their simulation experiences in a models of leadership course and how those experiences influence their perceived potential as future leaders. </p><p> The analysis of interview data revealed enhanced self-efficacy in three areas: (1) <i>Expanding Awareness of Self, Others, and Contexts for Leadership; (2) Finding a Voice;</i> and (3) <i>Increasing Knowledge and Skills.</i> More specifically, four dimensions of Expanding Awareness were noted: understanding strengths and weaknesses, increased self-confidence, clarification of core values, and leaders and leadership redefined. Three dimensions of Finding a Voice were noted: speaking with authority, maintaining power, and confidence in personal leadership style. Lastly, two dimensions of <i>Increasing Knowledge and Skills</i> were noted: improved techniques and strategies and greater understanding of leadership models. </p><p> The results of this study can be used to improve leadership development pedagogy and opportunities for emerging student-athlete leaders in academia as well as in the community. Results also provide a framework for colleges and universities that aspire to create and deliver leadership development programs. Understanding how student-athletes experience leadership development programming can contribute to the design of educational programs that enhance the learning and growth of all students in higher education, regardless of their participation in athletics.</p>

<p> Student participation in online classroom discussion fora is becoming an increasingly important subject to examine and analyze because of the potential implications participation can have on student performance and persistence. The objective of this study was to determine if a student&rsquo;s participation level in online course discussion fora at a fully online institution serving more than 110,000 students was, associated with the grade earned in the course and the likelihood that the student would reenroll for additional courses within a three-month time frame. An analysis also was performed on data collected from a survey administered to a sample of students; the survey asked for their perceptions of their own participation as it related to the online courses they recently completed. This study was unique compared to other studies addressing student participation in the online classroom because the sample of data analyzed consisted of more than 91,000 unique students, 433 unique courses, more than 16,000 course sections, and more than seven million discussion forum posts consisting of more than 1.2 billion words. However, the results of this study were not unique and mirrored other studies&rsquo; results in that, students who had higher participation rates in the classroom, as measured by the size and number of discussion forum posts, tended to earn higher grades and enroll in additional courses. Results from the survey showed that students more strongly agreed that they participated in the discussion fora on a regular basis than spending time doing things such as helping other students or having fun in other classroom conversations.</p>

No description available.

Most institutions of higher education utilize First Year Experience (FYE) coursework to facilitate college adjustment and student retention. FYE courses are designed to support the college transition by introducing freshman to campus resources that can help them achieve their educational and career goals; however, there is much variation in instructional design across college campuses depending on students' needs and institutional goals. This dissertation examined the differences in student outcomes based on enrollment in either academic content-specific or broad introductory FYE coursework. The first study used a qualitative method to examine resilient Honors students' perceptions of how their introductory FYE course impacted their college transition at the end of their first semester. The second study utilized several quantitative models to longitudinally assess the difference between FYE course enrollment and students' cumulative GPAs, retention, and perceptions during their junior year of college. Thematic analysis of questionnaire responses revealed that the resilient Honors students believed their broad introductory FYE course supported their social and academic transition to college by relieving stress that is commonly associated with the beginning of higher education. The quantitative study found that students who were enrolled in academic content-specific FYE courses had higher grades, retention, and scored higher on college success strategies and first-year satisfaction factor scores, compared to students who were enrolled in the broad introductory FYE courses. These findings were discussed in relation to the current literature on college adjustment, followed by a discussion of the implications for academic units, limitations of the study, and future directions for research in this area.

No description available.