<p> This dissertation study examines how cable television executives are able to experience the phenomenon of candor with their teams. The research used a phenomenological research framework to gain an understanding of how cable executives are able to experience candor. Face to face interviews was the method and tool used to obtain the data. The cable executives were purposefully selected from the researcher&rsquo;s professional network to participate. </p><p> The research analyzed the data to reveal any common themes or undertones in how the phenomenon of candor is experienced. The research discovered that cable executives do experience candor and the environment to foster candor is a determining factor. Further analysis unveiled areas where the cable executives can influence the environment by building relationships, trust, and modeling the desired behavior. The environment influences feedback and employee performance. The research did find that cable executives do implement a level of discretion when dealing with confidential information. Discretionary candor varies and is dependent on the nature of the information in terms of the level of disclosure and nature of the relationship. </p><p> The research provides areas that warrant further research; how leaders create the environment and atmosphere that foster candor; is there a difference in how male and female leaders create an environment for candor; what are the human characteristics of leaders that accelerate the atmosphere and environment that foster candor; what are the human characteristics, emotional or mental state that followers and team members need to have to accept and contribute into a candid environment; and how candor contributes to employee retention. The areas for further research can assist new or existing managers and leaders accelerate the creation of the environment conducive to experiencing the phenomenon of candor.</p>

Effective school leadership has become one of the top priorities in education policy agendas in many countries. This is due to the suggestions that effective school leadership is fundamental to school success. However, an examination of the extant literature shows that school leadership in most African countries is given less attention (Bush & Oduro, 2006; Mulkeen et al, 2007). Malawi is one of the African countries where school leadership is less pronounced. On the whole, little or no research exists on school leadership in Malawi. The current study was therefore aimed at exploring and understanding the experiences and perceptions of school leaders, particularly secondary school headteachers, in Malawi. It was anticipated that knowledge of the headship experiences and perceptions would help to ascertain how the headteachers operate,how they can be supported and how the headship can be strengthened to significantly contribute to improving the quality of educationin Malawi. This qualitative study was conducted in the Central West Educational Division and 12 headteachers constituted the sample. The headteachers‟accounts were captured via semi-structured interviews. The headteachers‟accounts were analysed case by case and the analysis waslargely informed by an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA is one of the contemporary qualitative phenomenologically based research approaches which explore how people ascribe meaning to their own experiences. It offers both a methodological and an analytical approach oriented towards exploring and understanding the experience of a particular phenomenon. The IPA analysis allowed the researcher to capture both the explicit and implicit dimensions of the headteachers‟ narratives. The study shows that the headteachers‟role has become more complex and the range of tasks they are required to undertake has increasedsignificantly. While the demands placed on the headship have changed, the headteachers are ill-prepared and inadequately supported to meet those demands. The study reveals that headship professional preparation and development requires more attention. The current professional preparation and development programmes for headship lack rigourin that they are not coherently organised,practice-oriented,context-sensitive and there is an apparent misalignment between the programmes‟ content and the headteachers‟ professional needs. The study also observed limitations in the recruitment and deployment procedures of headteachers. Structurally, the findings suggest that the education systemis generallyconstrictive and rigidsuch that it does not give schools the autonomy to take important pragmatic decisions. Furthermore, the study shows that leading and managing schools using the values inherent in the indegenous knowledge systems like „umunthu/ubuntu philosophy‟ can enhance the effectiveness of headship in Malawi. Policy and practice implications and recommendations on how the headship can be supported and strengthened are discussed. The study also makes suggestions regarding further research on the role of school leadership in Malawi.

<p>The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the Student School Uniform Survey, developed by Sanchez, Yoxsimer, and Hill (2012) for the purpose of collecting data on student perceptions of the benefits of wearing a school uniform. A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate relationships among responses based on student membership in the demographic groupings of gender, ethnicity, and grade level. This quantitative study utilized existing, de-identified data that related to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students at three middle schools in northern Nevada. The data were collected in each school at the conclusion of the first year of a mandatory school uniform policy. A factor analysis was conducted on 32 of the survey items which revealed 13 of the items contributed to three meaningful factors: Factor 1&mdash;Safety and Behavior of Others, Factor 2&mdash;Acceptance and My Behavior, and Factor 3&mdash;Ease of Going to School. Internal reliability of the survey items was assessed using Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha coefficient (a), which indicated the 13 variables that related to each of the identified factors had a high degree of reliability (&alpha; > . 70). To check the factors for reliability, a Pearson&rsquo;s product moment correlation was conducted. In all cases the identified factors had a high degree of reliability. Finally, three multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) were conducted to determine if demographic groups identified by gender, ethnicity, and grade level had discrepant response patterns on the three identified factors. Where significance was found, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated and the factor means were examined to identify which groups responded higher on each factor. The results revealed that seventh grade students responded higher on Factors 1 and 3, Hispanic/Latino respondents responded higher on Factors 2 and 3, and there were no differences in response patterns by gender. </p>

<p> In this mixed methods study, the researcher investigated whether or not Missouri school administrators were prepared to meet the creative leadership demands of the 21st century by measuring their creative capacity, creative styles, and their current creative leadership practices. A convenience sample of Missouri K-12 public school administrators and teachers completed the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, the Creativity Styles Questionnaire &ndash; Revisited and an original Organizational Creativity Survey; two homogenous small focus groups discussed their experiences regarding creativity and creative leadership within school organizations. </p><p> Whereas teachers were statistically significantly more creative than the normed adult population, administrators did not stand out from the normed adult population in this study; the weak sample size and mortality effect suggested that they may have even been less creative than the data suggested. The researcher noted administrator trends toward low risk propensity, high conformity, and a deficit of creative leadership. Findings further suggested that demographic factors and career attributes such as age, gender, school level, job level, job embeddedness, and work experience were not significantly related to creative capacity. Researchers should expand upon these findings with longitudinal mixed-methods studies of larger random samples of administrators. Teachers were a wealthy source of creative performance and leadership while school administrators tended to daily managerial tasks and the political constraints of their positions. The researcher recommends that schools further investigate the creative leadership potential of teacher leaders.</p>

<p> Although there is a growing body of knowledge concerning service-learning in professional nursing education, nursing research reports minimal studies that sufficiently address the effects of service-learning strategies on baccalaureate nursing alumni in promoting self-efficacy toward long-term civic engagement or development of professional practice. The purpose of this predictive, correlational study was to determine if a relationship existed between participation in the service-learning experience and self-efficacy toward civic engagement as a long-term outcome of professional nursing education and the development of professional practice in nursing alumni. Spearman's Rho was used to correlate the independent variable of service-learning with the dependent variables of civic engagement and professional practice. Multiple regression analysis indicated that service-learning had less than a 4% effect on civic engagement attitudes and a 6% effect on community service hours (behavior). The Social Cognitive Theory, specifically self-efficacy coupled with the construct of practical reasoning provided framework for the study. Results concluded that service-learning had a low to moderate relationship with both long-term civic engagement and the development of professional nursing practice.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine whether equity for students could be measured in high schools located in a large urban school district using publically accessible quantitative data. The motivation for the study was a seemingly inequitable distribution of resources in the district, which employed Student-Based Budgeting.</p><p> In the 22 high schools studied, no schools were found to be more over-resourced than expected compared to a normal distribution of schools. However, some schools were under-resourced.</p><p> Multiple regression analyses indicated that the variables best predicting student scores on achievement tests in math and reading were two sociodemographic variables: percentage of students in special education (statistically significant for both reading and math) and percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch (statistically significant for reading). After controlling for the sociodemographic variables, the variables used to measure equity were entered into the regression equation. It was found that the higher the nonpersonnel expenditures per student, the lower the students&rsquo; achievement scores. This result was statistically significant for reading scores, and approached statistical significance for math scores. Also, the higher the student-teacher ratio, the students&rsquo; math achievement scores (this result approached statistical significance). The results for the equity variables, taken together, might indicate a profile of larger schools with better achievement scores than smaller schools; correlations among the equity variables showed that the larger schools had higher student-teacher ratios and lower nonpersonnel expenditures per student than smaller schools. Note that smaller schools tend to be poorer than larger schools.</p>

<p> During the past 50 years, the landscape of education shifted from a rank order model to a system where all students are expected to achieve at a minimum level. This led to reforms in the way schools operate and teachers teach. One change to teaching is the use of data to inform instructional practices and student groupings. The need for teachers to increase their data use and change their instruction has prompted the need for professional development practices to be more effective. Coaching has been shown to be an effective professional development strategy to help teachers transfer new skills into their practice. This mixed-methods study examined one urban school district&rsquo;s two-year attempt to implement a data informed decision-making model of instruction in 20 schools through the use of instructional coaches. The study used two data sets&mdash;archival literacy benchmark scores and coach surveys&mdash;to identify a purposive selection of interview participants. The interviews were conducted to determine what structures and factors increased the implementation of the data informed decision-making initiative. Findings indicate professional development and leadership structures were needed for successful implementation of the data initiative. Results of this study showed the factors of trust, focus, coach-principal relationship, and assessment literacy contributed to the coaches&rsquo; ability to implement the data initiative successfully. </p>

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the instructional leadership tasks that are performed by assistant principals in Clayton County Public Schools. This study tested ten null hypotheses to determine if statistically significant relationships existed between the assistant principalship and Krug’s instructional leadership tasks. A modified questionnaire was used to obtain responses to address the research questions posed in this study. Questionnaires were mailed to every elementary, middle and high school assistant principal in the Clayton County Public School System. The questionnaire asked respondents to identify what instructional leadership tasks they performed. Results of the questionnaires were compiled and coded for the purpose of statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics were used to facilitate a more basic and comprehensive analysis and presentation of data. To explore the relationship between variables, the Pearson r was used. The findings indicated that there were no significant relationships between defining the mission, managing curriculum, supervising teaching, monitoring student progress, and promoting the instructional climate and the assistant principalship. Also, the findings indicated that there were no significant relationships between defining the mission, managing curriculum, supervising teaching, monitoring student progress and promoting the instructional climate and the assistant principalship as they relate to age, educational level, race, gender and school type. Assistant principals’ roles should not be one of chief disciplinarian. As the instructional role of the assistant principal continues to unfold under the current reform efforts, it is essential that principals assign tasks to assistant principals that are directly related to instruction.

This study chronicled the perceptions of African-American female superintendents about their career ascendancy. This study identified factors that impact career ascendancy patterns as identified by African-American female superintendents. These factors included personal factors, educational factors, career factors, sociopolitical factors, and mentoring. The study created a linkage between African-American female administrators and the factors involved in the ascension to the superintendency. The research design selected for this study was a qualitative, descriptive design to identify the experiences and perspectives of African-American female superintendents. The Robison (1992) interview guide and Winthrop 2001 interview guide were the primary instruments. The researcher found that there are some important elements in the ascendancy pattern of African-American females to the superintendency: African-American female superintendents persevered through problems that related to their gender and race, educational factors, occupational factors, and sociopolitical factors. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that African-American female superintendents were more likely to be between the ages of 50-59, married, Protestant, hold a terminal degree, and were more likely to be appointed rather than elected to a district with 1,001 to 3,000 students. African-American female superintendents were more likely to choose a male mentor over a female mentor, who as it appears, was largely influential for the success of the African-American female superintendent. The majority of African-American female superintendents viewed their leadership role as a service. The majority of African-American female superintendents spoke about the role of private life versus career. This is consistent with traditional gender socialization. Many African American female superintendents perceive it difficult to ascend in the superintendency if they are confronted with the problem of mobility.