<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto design research study was to determine the impact of a teacher leadership professional development academy on teacher leaders&rsquo; use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership behaviors as measured by the Leadership Practices Inventory. </p><p> <b>Methodology</b>. The research was a quantitative ex post facto design. </p><p> <b>Findings.</b> The results of the analysis revealed a significant difference in teacher leadership behaviors before and after participation in a transformational leadership professional development academy. </p><p> <b>Conclusions.</b> This study responded to the call to provide teachers, administrators, districts, policymakers, and researchers new insights on transformational teacher leadership, which was deemed important to assist and develop teachers to lead or co- lead through this time of great change in education. Understanding the difference in leadership scores before and after participation in a teacher leadership professional development academy could assist teachers, administrators, districts, policymakers, and researchers to develop and set expectations for transformational teacher leadership professional development. </p><p> <b>Recommendations.</b> Provide teacher leaders, administrators, superintendents, and pre- service teachers with transformational leadership development on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. Provide opportunities for 360-degree feedback with the use of the Leadership Practices Inventory in conjunction with the use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. </p><p>

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / For any country to accelerate or even maintain normal growth, the optimum utilisation of all its manpower is imperative. Manpower implies people and children are people. Educational authorities like the Transvaal Education Department, have as one of its goals, the optimum development of the potentialities of every child entrusted to it. To ensure optimum development, every possible action has to be considered in order to reduce, and if possible stop, all early school-leaving and drop-out tendencies at secondary school level. With this aim in mind, all possible areas which may promote manpower loss, have to be identified and eradicated. In terms of the existing system of differentiated education, every effort is made to get as many pupils as possible to attain the Std X level, while taking cognisance of ability and aptitude, and endeavouring to maintain a standard. An area in which the seeds of future early school-leaving or dropping out may be sown, is that revolving around the transition from primary to secondary school. For the purpose of this investigation, the problems revolving around the transition from Std V to Std VI in the specific area of relationships, were investigated. By means of questionnaires answered by Std VI pupils and their teachers, the opinions of the pupils and teachers were amassed on issues regarding relationships, which may have an influence on the transition from primary to secondary school. 115 teachers and 1659 pupils were included in the investigation. Questions were set in five categories, namely, pupil/school relations, pupil/pupil relations, pupil/teacher relations.

<p> Social media and the ways in which educational leaders choose to utilize it their schools is at the forefront of professional development throughout numerous districts across Long Island and nationwide. While many districts have incorporated various models of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram into their standard communication practice, many more are hesitant to venture into this type of contact with the school community for a variety of reasons. Historically, school leaders relied on letters to parents sent home either by US mail or in their child&rsquo;s backpacks to convey times and locations of meetings and to send important messages (including, but not limited to school practice and policies and dates for upcoming events). In the past ten years, school leaders have begun using websites and email to send important messages out to the school community. This study involved an in-depth examination of the literature surrounding the importance of the home-school connection and how school leaders are using the social media platform of Twitter in an effort to strengthen this relationship. Further discussion included how the ideals of branding a business are beginning to emerge in the school setting in order for the leader to have the ability to tell their own school&rsquo;s story rather then having others tell it for them. Three school leaders currently engaged in the daily use of Twitter were interviewed, as well parents and teachers in the school community. Pertinent documents were reviewed, including school district policy on the use of social media and an analysis of the &ldquo;tweets&rdquo; sent out by the school leader. The findings of this study revealed how school leaders use Twitter to engage the school community and &ldquo;brand&rdquo; their school by having the ability to control the information that is shared with the public</p><p>

<p> The literature on childhood learning has shown that numerous factors lead to student achievement. A student must access personal resources to successfully navigate their educational and social world. This study sought to determine if intervention promotes students&rsquo; social, emotional, and behavioral self-regulation, as well as implications for readiness to learn. The study&rsquo;s sample was comprised of 75 kindergarten students in a general education public school setting that received 90 minutes of intervention weekly in their natural classroom environment. The 10-week intervention consisted of direct instruction within the classroom for 30 minutes twice weekly by the teacher and researcher, with three 10-minute &lsquo;check-in&rsquo; periods throughout the week to provide feedback and reinforcement. Several qualitative and quantitative tools were used to analyze the impact of the intervention, including the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS), teacher surveys, a post-intervention teacher focus group, home program, researcher&rsquo;s observations, and parent reports. The major findings included a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-test results following intervention. Consistency and teacher support were reported as contributing factors. Teachers, parents, and students indicated that the researcher&rsquo;s lessons and intermittent reinforcement made a significant impact on the positive outcome of the intervention program. The results showed that students demonstrated the use of tools and terminology related to self-regulation in their school and home environments. Additional analysis suggested that three quantitatively identified &ldquo;at risk&rdquo; students, who consistently participated in the home program, were no longer in the at risk range, following intervention. Based on the Grounded Theory Framework, unique components of an effective self-regulation program emerged to provide implications for practice and further research recommendations. </p><p>

<p> Preparing more students for success in college, career, and civic life is of critical importance, particularly for traditionally underserved students. Improvement science represents promising ideas and practices for how to achieve greater outcomes for students, particularly at scale. In this dissertation, two projects were undertaken related to college, career, and civic readiness, one to reduce chronic absenteeism and the other to increase Cal Grant award rates. Using improvement science methodology, chronic absenteeism was reduced by up to 85% across three schools and Cal Grant award rates increased from 35% to 46% across five high schools. These projects were written up according to guidelines for reporting on improvement projects taken from healthcare. </p><p>

<p> The rate of youth suffering from untreated emotional and behavioral problems has risen in recent years. Various barriers to treatment utilization of youth and their families have been identified in the literature, including logistical factors (i.e. transportation, lack of child care), financial barriers, and system barriers, such as inadequate education on mental health difficulties within the school system and poor provision of empirically-derived tools for teachers to manage these difficulties. In order to narrow the gap between treatment need and utilization, a psychoeducational program for teachers of school-aged children has been developed. A mixed methods study was conducted as a means to gain teacher impressions of the program&rsquo;s effectiveness in disseminating evidence-based classroom strategies that can be used by teachers to manage common childhood problems. Qualitative data analysis procedures based on grounded theory were undertaken to code collected data from narrative interviews. Major themes that emerged included a demonstrable need for the psychoeducational program, high teacher demands as a barrier to implementation of the program, and preference for integration of the program with existing professional development initiatives. Quantitative data analysis revealed that teachers perceived the program as effective for teachers and school staff at increasing knowledge and skill related to childhood emotional/behavioral (E/B) functioning. Limitations, strengths, and recommendations for future directions are discussed.</p><p>

<p> The current study assesses the use of a story-mapping intervention, both with and without performance feedback, in addressing student writing deficits. Three, make, elementary-aged participants were subjected to baseline, story-mapping, and story-mapping with performance feedback conditions in an adapted alternating treatments design.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze evidence of connection between an outperforming nontraditional urban school and minority students&rsquo; high academic achievement. The factors examined were instructional practices, leadership practices and school culture.</p><p> An outperforming nontraditional urban high school was selected based on four criteria: a consecutive graduation rate above the California state average for the last three years, an A-G completion rate above the California state average, a drop-out rate below California state average and a consecutive passing rate for the school&rsquo;s California High School Exit Exam above the California state average for last three years.</p><p> This qualitative study examined organizational practices that narrow the achievement gap at an outperforming nontraditional urban school. Identified in the study are the efforts to address the achievement gap along with the impact the achievement gap had among diverse populations and the solutions to these issues. The study analyzed high school completion rates, various test scores, and A-G course completion to determine outperforming criteria. Data were collected via surveys, staff interviews, document analysis, and classroom and campus observations. The data were triangulated to identify organizational practices that narrow the achievement gap through the lens of instructional practices, leadership practices, and school culture. </p><p> The results of the study addressed the following research questions: (1) what instructional practices exist in outperforming nontraditional schools; (2) what leadership practices exist in outperforming nontraditional urban schools that address the achievement gap; and (3) what is the school culture in outperforming nontraditional urban schools. The study used qualitative methods because the researcher needed to identify ways in which the information was interconnected and the manners in which the three focal points interacted with one another. The study revealed that outperforming nontraditional schools pay special attention to creating a culture that is student centered, where every stakeholder takes into account how any instructional, cultural, and leadership decision will impact the academic outcome of students. In addition, outperforming nontraditional urban schools have sustainable and consistent systems of communication for all stakeholders; a relevant and timely system for offering appropriate professional development for their educators, and a culture that fully supports a career and college ready mentality, where every stake holder has identified themselves as a long-life learner.</p><p>

<p> School leaders at an urban public high school implemented the Check and Connect (C&amp;C) program to improve student engagement outcomes for at-risk students in 2010&ndash;2011. No formal program evaluation of C&amp;C had been conducted in the 2012&ndash;2013, 2013&ndash;2014, and 2014&ndash;2015 school years to show whether the program was effective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between successful school completion and participation in the C&amp;C program. A quantitative, quasi-experimental program evaluation was conducted to determine whether C&amp;C&rsquo;s student-related variables including cohort, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and truancy predicted students&rsquo; successful school completion. Archival data of students eligible for graduation (<i>N</i> = 668) were analyzed using chi square tests and logistic regression. Results showed that the model, including C&amp;C participation and all student-related variables, was significant in explaining the variance for successful school completion. Follow-up analyses revealed that C&amp;C participation for the 2013 graduation cohort only, females, and low truancy students were significantly more likely to complete school, suggesting a need for further investigation of the program&rsquo;s implementation strategy. An evaluation report was developed with recommendations to evaluate C&amp;C for implementation fidelity and to consider the use of observable indicators to recruit students for C&amp;C participation who may require targeted or intensive interventions for successful school completion. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change by informing stakeholders of C&amp;C&rsquo;s effectiveness, helping leaders make future decisions about how to approach program implementation and evaluation, and increasing successful school completion. </p>

<p> Report cards and standards-based assessing, grading and reporting continue to be relevant topics of focus for educators. This qualitative study is based on a problem of practice in a school district in northern Illinois that recently implemented standards-based report cards (SBRCs). This study developed while I was a principal of an elementary school during initial implementation of SBRCs. This dissertation expanded from the initial focus on understanding parental perspectives of SBRCs to better understanding the communicative value of SBRCs and professional development that could help parents and teachers. </p><p> The research question that informed this qualitative study is: How do parents perceive the strengths and weaknesses of SBRCs? The parents in this study provided insight about strengths and challenges of SBRCs and explained why different teacher communication during the SBRC process provided them with a more comprehensive understanding of their child&rsquo;s academic performance in school. Effective implementation of SBRCs should maximize comprehensive communication throughout the entire process to enhance parent understanding. Findings from this study can be used by school districts to focus their efforts, knowledge, and professional development on standards-based assessing, grading and reporting that will directly impact the teaching, learning, assessing and communicating in schools.</p><p>