<p> The percentage of students entering postsecondary education has steadily increased and college participation rates are currently reported at nearly 42% for persons age 18-24. However, the demand for a college-educated workforce continues to increase and various programs have been introduced to increase student success in college. One of those programs is termed "Dual Enrollment." The purpose of this study was to determine if a dual enrollment program implemented between the Anderson Union High School district and Shasta College increased students' perceptions of their own college readiness for reading, writing, and class participation. The results of the student assessment are compared with that of their peers who did not participate in the dual enrollment program. The participants were requested to complete a 20-question survey developed by the researcher. In the survey, participants were asked to assess their preparation in reading, writing, and class participation as well as provide responses to open-ended prompts. Participants were also asked to rate their overall preparation for college level work and to provide information related to outside factors that may affect college success. Finally, students' high school achievement data were used to provide background information related to student success. With a response rate of 31%, 92 of 301 students, the survey revealed that students who participated in dual enrollment assessed themselves as more prepared but in specific areas. Dual enrolled students felt more prepared in writing and an even greater difference for assessing themselves was revealed in their preparation for class participation.</p>

<p>After seventeen years since the apartheid education system was abolished in Namibia, the education system remains stagnant. The governmenthas been spending big budgets on Education. The Ministry of Education introduced various educational ploicies and innovations aimed to change the Education system. Yet, the quality of education remains poor. Although there are seemingly various reasons why the quality of education system is poor, education policies are not implemented effectively to bring about the desired quality of education and the desired quality of educationand continuous improvement of schools. There is a lack of commitment and culture of learning, which are said to be the preconditions for educational change. And practitioners seem to lack the urgency required to implement policies. Notwithstanding this, there seem to be another reason why policies are not iplementedeffectively in schools. This research study argues thatprofessional preparation of principals to implement educational policies is done intensively and rigorously. Hence, such professional preparedness of the school leaders is noot impacting effectively on their leaadership and management in schools.</p>

This study focused on exploring professional doctorate candidates' and recent graduates' perceptions of their doctoral supervision experience. Candidates from across the United States, in various academic disciplines, were surveyed and 255 total responses were gathered. The literature search focused on doctorate supervisory practices, doctoral supervisors' characteristics, and unique differences of academic disciplines. This was a mixed-methods study. The data were analyzed by quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (chi square test and Kruskal-Wallis test). Qualitative responses were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Respondents identified the most important competencies of a doctoral supervisor as having good communication skills and to understand the doctoral process. The most important ways of supervision were indicated to be honest dialogue and relationship of trust. Five emerging themes developed from the qualitative analysis, including engagement and commitment from supervisor, feedback, emotional support, supervisor experience and expertise, and supervision structure. The results demonstrate the importance of communication and relationship development between supervisor and candidate, as well as setting clear expectations for supervisors to take for an individualized approach to supervision. This study identified the following opportunities that professional doctorate programs and supervisors could focus their efforts on: providing or attending supervisory training and approach supervision with a planned framework, facilitate a coaching and mentorship relationship with advisees, and set clear expectations that are reiterated throughout the entire duration of the doctoral experience.

<p> As a popular co-curricular activity, forensic participation is considered as an effective educational tool in sharping students&rsquo; logic thinking abilities (Allen &amp; Berkowitz, 1999; Bellon, 2000; Lieberman, Trumble &amp; Smith, 2000). However, in China, compared with the growing enthusiasm in debate among the Chinese students, research in this field is relatively thin. Therefore, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of how forensic participation influence students&rsquo; critical thinking abilities, I conducted this multiple case study which was grounded in the Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking.</p><p> My respondents are three national or regional champions from a well-known forensic team in Eastern China. My major data collection include three one-on-one interviews with the respondents, some secondary interviews with their coach and teachers, observations on their debate training, and some online data such as the official blog of the team, my e-mail correspondence with the students and information culled from their personal social networking sites. </p><p> My two research questions are &ldquo;How does college students&rsquo; thinking change as a result of participating in forensics?&rdquo; and &ldquo;What features of forensic participation support students&rsquo; development of critical thinking?&rdquo; In terms of research question one, I have found that first, as a result of forensic participation, my respondents&rsquo; questioning, critical reading, analyzing and evaluating skills have improved. Second, they developed some intellectual traits that are indispensable to their critical thinking abilities. Third, forensic participation has to some extent helped them to get rid of ego-centric and socio-centric thinking, which paved the way for them to become an accomplished and responsible thinker.</p><p> As to research question two, I found that both the educational and epistemic features support students&rsquo; development of critical thinking.</p><p> I also found out motivation plays such an important role in students&rsquo; critical thinking development that it could be added into the framework of Paul&rsquo;s Model of critical thinking. My recommendations include improving the instruction methods in debate courses and enhance both the quantity and quality of the intercollegiate and national competitions.</p>

<p> Understanding why some individuals trust the organization, why other individuals do not trust the organization, and how trust influences action and culture is an important organizational tool. For organizations, the relationship between these three concepts helps select, place, and manage employees.</p><p> This research examined the National Testing Site (NTS) in Mercury, Nevada during the Cold War as a total institution environment experienced by service members who were involved in the development and testing of thermonuclear weaponry. The intersection among the forces of trust, duty, and organizational culture, and how they affected a soldier&rsquo;s professional and personal actions, were the study&rsquo;s essential constructs. This study was guided by the following research questions: What role, if any, did the relationship among trust, duty, and organizational culture play as the service members experienced their environment? To what extend did the cultural imperatives of trust, duty, and organizational culture (including rank) influence the organization from the perspective of the service members at the NTS?</p><p> This research examined the service members&rsquo; sense-making processes related to their experience of their environment using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Three sources of historical documents were analyzed: oral histories, court documents, and personal memoranda and letters.</p><p> Findings indicated self-identity determined the degree in which the individual trusted the command structure or scientific data and that self-identity predicted the object of the individual&rsquo;s trust and the degree of influence duty had in compliance with the organizational culture. Findings suggested both trust and distrust were evident in service members&rsquo; experience of the NTS. However, distrust was a fluctuating construct and occurred in tandem with trust and in isolation from trust. Finally, analysis revealed no direct references to patriotism, a remarkable finding in the Korean War and McCarthy Cold War era on a military base. These findings provided support for the understanding of organizational culture as dynamic, interlaced with individual identity, and as key factors in the relationship with trust and duty.</p>

<p> Greater New Orleans, Louisiana (GNO) is a highly marketized school environment. The purpose of this study was to examine how marketization informs GNO academic high school leaders&rsquo; managerial decisions. While much had already been written on areas in this topic&rsquo;s periphery, nothing readily available in the theoretical knowledge base had sufficiently answered this question with respect to GNO high schools. This non-probability qualitative study provides rich descriptions of how a diverse range of GNO academic high school leaders&rsquo; experiences are affected by marketization. Participants were gleaned from GNO public high schools via expert sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the constant comparative analysis method (Merriam, 2009: <i>Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation</i>). To this end, following each interview, the recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed. After Interview 1, the responses from the remaining participants were compared to look for trends and consider additional questions. The overall findings from these responses indicated that academic high school leaders inform their managerial decisions in light of competitive school marketization. This is evidenced in working strategically to ensure full enrollments, from creating school-based teams and creating exciting, school-specific experiences, to the purported use of unethical and illegal practices.</p><p>

<p> This study sought to investigate and explain how a mentoring program influenced the academic experience of Black males at a predominately white institution (PWI). Nine research participants were selected based on the following four criteria: self-identified as Black males, completed their undergraduate degrees from Northern Illinois University (NIU), were alumni of the Black Male Initiative (BMI) program, and were willing to participate in the study. The following two research questions guided the study. What are participants&rsquo; perceptions of the BMI program and its impact on their academic experience at a PWI? What are the factors that influence these perceptions? A qualitative methodology and case study research design was utilized to collect data. Critical Race Theory is the theoretical framework that informed this study. Key processes from case study analysis were used to triangulate the date collected from interviews, field notes, and a reflective journal. Pattern coding and theme identification for each research participant case was conducted. Cross-case comparison of the coded and themes for the nine research participants were used to draw conclusions. There were three themes that emerged from the data related to the two research questions. These themes included: 1) the role and function of BMI, 2) characteristics of BMI advisor, and 3) university life outside of BMI. The role and function of BMI encompassed the following subthemes: academic support, brotherhood, community outreach, building a network, and promoting a positive image. The second and third theme did not encompass subthemes. </p><p> The findings associated with these themes and sub-themes suggested that the BMI program had a direct positive and long-lasting impact on the educational experiences of the research participants. The limitations of this study can be found in the small number of participants that were included in this study. The implications and recommendations regarding future research are included.</p><p>

<p> Black students are persistently underserved by public education and have had significant gaps in performance, as compared to their white counterparts, on established assessments and measures of educational attainment regardless of socio-economical background (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Milner, 2012; P. Noguera, 2013; Steele, 1992). A great deal of education policy-making at the national level in the United States is aimed at decreasing gaps in achievement between students of color and white students (Barton &amp; Coley, 2010; Berlak, 2001; Carter, 2009; Gardner, 2007). The federal government adopted this role with the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1964 and was codified through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. </p><p> Education reforms embedded in and promoted by federal policies are, at times, both embraced and shunned by members of the Black community (Murtadha &amp; Watts, 2005; Scott, 2011; Warren, 2005), whose children are most readily affected based on the demographics of urban, rural and low-income communities. To cultivate equity in inputs and lasting, sustainable improvement in outcomes, members of those communities and leaders from those communities seeking to represent the voices of their community members should be involved at critical decision-making points in creating and implementing policies (Beabout &amp; Perry, 2013; Leonardo, 2003; Warren, 2005). </p><p> Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Dixson &amp; Lynn, 2013; Ladson-Billings &amp; Tate IV, 1995; Lynn &amp; Parker, 2006) I set out to conduct a qualitative study targeted at identifying opportunities for Black people to have effective levels of influence in national education policy-making which heavily impacts their communities. I interviewed leaders active in the national education reform socio-political landscape in order to gauge their perspectives on leverage points in the process of federal education policy-making and the presence of Black voice and leadership at those critical points in the process. </p><p> CRT calls for exploration of phenomenon to the extent it can illuminate strategies to improve the conditions of a race of people (Delgado &amp; Stefancic, 2012; Ladson-Billings, 2013; Lynn &amp; Parker, 2006). Identifying ways in which race impacts education policy-making through examination of the narratives of those doing the work to influence those policies, can shed a light on gaps and opportunities for developing more thoughtful policies. Through inductive thematic analysis, this study mines strategies from the information shared by study participants, highlighting ways in which members of the Black community can be most effective at influencing federal education policies.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation examines the efficacy of a remedial education program on placement outcomes. Specifically, it asks whether exposure to a Preparing for ACCUPLACER Workshop in a large community college system impacts placement outcomes for students who have attended the workshop. While focused on a narrower pilot program, this question is answered within the broader theoretical context of the relevance of preparatory programs on performance on standardized tests, a locus that enjoys a long tradition of scholarship in education research. That is, do preparatory programs improve performance on standardized tests? Beyond this theoretical imperative, the research is also relevant to the question of educational access. Students who cannot score high enough on standardized tests but are placed in regular classes may encounter motivational problems, which may imperil perseverance and retention, and lead to school dropout. The dissertation explores the impact of test preparation by examining preparation in conjunction with other demographic and foundational factors known to impact performance, such as ethnicity, gender, grade point average (GPA), socioeconomic status (SES), age, and quality of school.</p><p>

abstract: The phenomenon that prompted this study was the increasing number of teens with cell phones and the issues, both legal and nonlegal, that permeate to schools. The trend among teens called teen sexting is receiving national and local attention. Sexting typically involves teens using texts to send cellular messages that may include naked photographs or shared videos containing sexual content. This study reviewed 4 main issues (a) the policies for student use of cell phones on campus to regulate teen sexting issues, (b) whether teen sexting awareness and prevention curriculum is being implemented, (c) the extent to which teen sexting is perceived as a problem by school leaders on campus, and (d) the degree to which there is a need for curriculum about teen sexting awareness and prevention. School district policies for student cell phone regulation were accessed online and their content analyzed. The search for curriculum was done through telephone calls to school district curriculum and instruction department leaders. Questionnaires were administered to principals, assistant principals, school counselors, and school security leaders. Their responses provided data for the study of leadership perceptions on the sexting issue. The purpose of this study was to present the research findings and provide recommendations for cell phone policy and suggest the development of effective curriculum about cell phone safety. The findings of this research showed that school district policy considers teen sexting as a student offence of a sexual nature using electronic devices for bullying, intimidation, threats, harassment, and defamation. Currently, there is limited curriculum for teen sexting awareness programs in Arizona schools. Few incidents of teen sexting get reported to school leaders; however, when they do, the consequences for teen sexters are both legal and nonlegal. The results of this study provide insight for schools leaders and school policy makers regarding issues and response options for student cell phone use, specifically teen sexting issues, and suggest the direction school administrators should take in creating effective teen sexting awareness curriculum for students. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2010