<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of the rural school district superintendent as instructional leader. Specifically, the study focused on rural superintendents who were known as effective instructional leaders and explored their understandings of and motivations for their instructional leadership work, how they fulfilled this work, and how this work was affected by recent federal and state policy initiatives. The study addressed these questions: (a) what are rural school district superintendents&rsquo; understandings of their role and responsibilities as instructional leader?; (b) what are rural school district superintendents&rsquo; perspectives on the various facets of instructional leadership?; (c) what do rural school district superintendents actually do to fulfill their roles as instructional leaders?; (d) what are rural school district superintendents&rsquo; perspectives on their preparation for instructional leadership and their need for continuous professional development?; and (e) how has recent federal and state legislation affected the work of the rural school superintendent as instructional leader? Data were collected through open-ended, phenomenologically oriented interviews with four rural school district superintendents in northeast Washington State. Analysis of the qualitative data resulted in the unearthing of seven major themes: (a) setting direction, (b) supporting the instructional growth of the district, (c) the superintendents&rsquo; direct involvement with the classroom, (d) acquiring resources for the instructional program, (e) the superintendents&rsquo; work developing principal instructional leadership, (f) the self-development of the district instructional leader, and (g) challenges faced by rural school district instructional leaders. Each theme also discussed the impact of the rural district context on that theme. Four conclusions were drawn from the study: (a) rural school district superintendents communicate a focus on improved teaching and learning by being heavily engaged in the classrooms observing teaching; (b) rural school district superintendents engage with other rural districts to provide aligned and collaborative professional development; (c) superintendents rely heavily on one another to lead instructionally; and (d) the remote context provides rural school district superintendents with additional and unique challenges to instructional leadership. My hope is that this study will inform effective rural superintendent instructional leadership and lead to discussions regarding policy and research to support superintendents facing rural contextual leadership challenges.</p>

This study examines the integration of technology into teaching and learning mathematics for nontraditional adult-learners, in a public 2-year technical college environment. The study was based on comparing the impact on student outcomes of three teaching methodologies: traditional face-to-face, internet based on-line, and a new composite methodology combining the components of face-to-face and on-line called web-enhanced. The researcher found no significant difference on the impact of student achievement. However, a positive impact on attrition and persistence was observed. The conclusion drawn from these findings support implementing web-enhanced methodologies in educational institutions with a majority non-traditional student population.

This study examines students' perceptions in relationship to School-to-Work initiatives in a major metropolitan Atlanta school district. This study was based on the premise that education works best and is most useful for future careers when students apply what they learn to real life, real work situations. The researcher found that students who participate in School-to-Work initiatives appear to show an improvement in their persistence in school, show an improvement in the first time passing of the Georgia High School graduation Test in math and English; however, students show minimal to no improvement in academic achievement. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that proponents for School-to-Work initiatives must continue to lobby support for the program. At all levels, advocates must engage in discourse and further study to ensure program continuity.

The purpose of this research was to determine if parental selection criteria identified in the research literature were confirmed in a large metropolitan public school system that has a choice program. Further, the study investigated the relationships between demographic and institutional factors and choice of schools. The sample of the study consisted of 278 parents enrolling their children in a magnet school program for the first time during the 1993-94 school year. The population for the study consisted of Atlanta parents. Correlational statistical analyses of the data were conducted to determine relationships between the variables and choice of schools. Of the thirteen factors analyzed in the study, only four were significantly related to parents' choice: school size, magnet theme, reputation of staff, and friends' opinions. Using stepwise multiple regression analysis, choice was treated as the dependent variable. School student body size (GSIZE), the independent variable, entered the regression equation on Step 1. Theme and emphasis of the magnet school program (ATHEME), the independent variable, entered the regression equation on Step 2. Reputation of staff (DREPUTE), the independent variable, entered the regression equation on Step 3.

No description available.

This study reviewed the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAI), in the form of the Prescription Learning (PL), in combination with basal-based instruction (BBI), on the 1987-1988 class of low SES and non-low SES Atlanta Public School second graders. The goal of this study was to inquire whether CAI, in combination with BBI was more effective at teaching low SES African-American student than BBI alone. To determine whether PL was an effective teaching tool with both low SES and non-low SES second t ratios and One Way ANOVA F ratios were conducted. The t and the F ratios indicated that PL did not promote the academic achievement of the 1987-1988 second graders.

As a result of low student achievement in a large school district in Georgia, the decision was made to implement a comprehensive school reform (CSR) model in each failing school so as to enhance the capability of teachers to increase student achievement. This study examined the extent to which student achievement was improved by a comprehensive school reform (CSR) model used in a large, independent school district in Georgia when controlling for selected school and teacher variables. A questionnaire was administered to 266 teachers at the schools that were implementing the CSR model. The dependent variable in the study was student achievement as measured by the extent to which a teacher rated the number of students who made gains as compared to where they started in reading and math skills and obtained an “A” or “B” grade. The major finding from the Pearson correlation analysis was that teacher experience was significantly related to thirteen independent variables in the study. The findings also suggest that experienced teachers with a record of three or more years of successful student outcomes should be used as teacher-leaders, model lead teachers, reading specialists and facilitators, math specialists and facilitators and in other roles as instructional support staff and should be allowed to conduct math, reading and classroom discipline professional development workshops for their local schools and for the school district.

The purpose of this study, a comparative analysis of selected characteristics, was to determine any similarities or differences in the career profiles of females who have been appointed college/university presidents within the past twenty years. Further, the secondary purpose of this study was to formulate a suggested career development model for women, especially women of color, who aspire to become leaders of institutions of higher learning in the 21st century and beyond. The data from the questionnaire were collected and coded to compare the relationship, if any, among the selected personal and situational variables by the calculation of means, percentages and frequencies, relative to the three research questions and hypotheses. Tables were used to display the data.

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships and differences among the dependent variable of the intent to pursue a career in teaching and the independent variables of opportunities for career advancement, the perceived image of the teaching profession, financial resources available for initial teacher training, expected salary, incentives and benefits, ability to motivate, student discipline problems, and teacher competency tests. Participants in this study (N=150) included high school students who attend different Georgia public schools, and college students who were within their first three years of study in Atlanta University Center schools. Data were secured using the Teaching Interest Survey, developed by the researcher. The design used for this research was nonparametric statistics which included the use of descriptive statistics and Chi Square Contingency. The 0.05 level of significance was used to test the null hypothesis. The major findings for this study were: (a) no significant relationship exists between the intent to pursue a career in teaching and the perceptions of the following: opportunities to advance, image of the teaching profession, expected salary, incentives and fringe benefits, ability to motivate students to learn, discipline problems, and teacher competency tests; (b) a significant relationship was found to exist between the intent to pursue a teaching career and available financial resources for initial training; (c) perceptions of the professional image of teaching were influenced by home town size; (d) the higher the level of education, the more positive the perception of teaching; and (e) perception of teaching as a profession is positively influenced when one has a favorite teacher. The following recommendations were made: (a) early recruitment/intervention programs for young Black students should be incorporated in schools; (b) organizations should be reactivated or created for teacher recruitment; (c) additional resources for initial teacher training should be made available; (d) teachers and organizations should lobby legislators for salary increases; (e) partnerships should be created between school systems and colleges; and (f) a parent volunteer program should be incorporated in schools.

This study examines administrators’ and teachers’ perceptions regarding the impact of Project GRAD on school success in the Atlanta Public School systems Cohort I of GRAD schools. The major focus of the study addresses the perceptions of administrators and teachers in K-8 schools Cohort I, which is comprised of 11 schools. These schools were identified to implement Project GRAD, a comprehensive school reform initiative, (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) based on historical data reflecting poor academic achievement in each of the schools. The Comprehensive School Reform Teacher Questionnaire (CSRTZ), developed by Dr. S. M. Ross of the University of Memphis, was used to survey 57 administrators and 416 teachers. The survey questionnaire contained 28 items that were divided into six school success factors. Respondents used a 5-point Likert scale to indicate their level of agreement to each item. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to summarize the data collected in this study. The following statistical procedures were used: Frequency, Anova, Factor Analysis, and Multiple Regression. The findings were that administrators had a more positive perception of Project GRAD’S impact on school success than did teachers. Teachers were generally more neutral in their perceptions. An analysis of the findings led to the following conclusions that when the dependent variable of effective teaching strategies, professional learning communities, shared decision making, professional development, parental involvement, and shared vision interacted simultaneously with the moderating variable, gender, age, years of experience, and group membership, the administrator has a significant influence on predicting school success. Additionally, the data further indicates that there is some significant relationship between school success, group membership, and age.