<p>ABSTRACT Autism continues to be an intriguing condition, and perhaps the most efficiently researched of all child psychiatric disorders (Wolff, 2004). Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorders that entail vital social focused deficiency and behavioral obstinacy. Autism is the ultimate form of ASD and includes substantial deficiency in interaction skills. Treatment of ASD is intricate and comprises an inclusive instructive interventional plan (Cauffield, 2013). The history of autism yields numerous lessons regarding both effective and ineffective teaching strategies for addressing autistic students. Initial beliefs viewed autism as possibly a result of bad parenting and secondly, as an early form of childhood schizophrenia (Rutter, 2001). Rutter (2001) initially purported the symptoms of autism as secondary to developmental receptive language disorder. Research focus eventually transitioned to developmental issues, clarifying similarities and differences between the developmental process distortions (Wolff, 2004). The overarching question for this study is: What are common experiences of teachers in addressing the needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Charles E. Heerman / Employers want to hire students with the appropriate skill set for the job. These skills include communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills (Billing, 2003; Shivpuri & Kim, 2004). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether students perceive themselves to be transferring employability skills learned in the Fort Hays State University (FHSU) Leadership Studies Certificate Program to the workplace. The Leadership Studies Certificate Program consists of three academic leadership courses; Introduction to Leadership to Leadership Concepts, Introduction to Leadership Behaviors, and Fieldwork in Leadership Studies. Three groups were created for the purpose of the study. Group one served as a control group and consisted of participants who had not taken a leadership course at FHSU. Group two consisted of a sample of students who had completed one or two courses out of the Leadership Studies Certificate Program. Participants who had completed the entire Leadership Studies Certificate made up group three. The study sought to evaluate the participants’ perceptions with regard to the level of importance of identified employability skills, as well as their level of competence in performing each of the employability skills. The study also sought the supervisors’ perceptions of the study participants in each of the three groups. Employability skills studied were problem-solving skills, communication skills, teamwork skills, change and innovation behaviors, ability to manage self, and being civic-minded. Study participants and their supervisors both perceived the ability to manage self as the most important skill in the workplace. Findings showed no differences between participant groups with respect to the perceived importance and competence levels on each of the six employability skill constructs. Supervisors of Leadership Studies Certificate recipients deemed communication skills as more important to their employee’s job than supervisors who employed students who had never taken an FHSU leadership course. No differences were found between supervisor groups with respect to perceived importance and competence on the remainder of the employability skills. Further research should be conducted on the Leadership Studies Certificate Program to understand its impact on students’ development of employability skills. Upon conclusion of this analysis, possible curriculum modifications should be considered.

<p> To comply with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, parents of high school students taking college classes as part of a dual enrollment program have to employ alternative monitoring practices to remain informed about their students&rsquo; academic progress. This quantitative research study explored how parents&rsquo; perceptions of access to student academic progress information correlated with their students&rsquo; academic performance based on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college classes. Credit-based transition programs (CBTP) and parent monitoring theory provided the framework. All 867 parents of students under age 18 enrolled in the dual enrollment program at an urban community college in a western state during the winter quarter 2015 were asked to respond a 10 question survey instrument, modified from Stattin and Kerr (2000) and six demographic indicators. The results of 59 returned questionnaires were linked to GPAs of students using descriptive and correlational statistics. A small response (6.8%) limited the ability to correlate parental perceptions and dual enrollment success in college courses. No significance was demonstrated; however, when cumulative GPAs and parent responses on the survey instrument were correlated using split-cases with demographic indictors, six significant correlations appeared. These indicated that parents do appear to play some significant role in supporting their dual enrollment student&rsquo;s success in college courses. As a result, colleges may want to find mechanisms for parents of dual enrollment students to stay engaged without compromising the FERPA regulations.</p>

<p> Changes in recent federal, state, and local legislation have added increased scrutiny of and pressure on the evaluation systems of educators across the nation. This scrutiny and pressure have prompted significant changes to both the systems and processes for determining and reporting the effectiveness of teachers and principals. One of the most substantial changes is the use of student growth goals in determining evaluation outcomes for educators. This qualitative study examined the practice and impact of student growth goals created by principals. How do principals describe the impact of evaluative student growth goals on their leadership practice? In what ways are teacher-created student growth goals reflected in the student growth goals that principals set?</p><p> To examine these questions, the researcher interviewed ten principals and analyzed the data using an open coding and thematic organization of the results. Several themes that emerged from the participant interviews included: (a) principals view improved evaluation as a crucial leadership practice; (b) principal level (i.e. elementary or secondary), rather than experience, is a critical factor in goal-setting effectiveness; and (c) principals must have expertise in collaborative leadership to effectively develop meaningful student growth goals.</p><p> The implications of these themes suggested that policymakers and practitioners increase professional development designed to improve the level of learning-focused conversations of teachers and principals, target increased professional development to secondary principals, develop student growth measures that are useful at the secondary level, and find ways to create time in the system for teachers, principals, and their evaluators to engage in these evaluation conversations. </p>

<p> This study explores teacher perceptions of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs in the classroom, with a focus on teacher use, student equity of access, and student ability to use their devices as learning tools. While one-to-one laptop programs (students assigned identical school-owned laptop or tablet) has an extensive body of literature behind it, BYOD has relatively little peer-reviewed research. </p><p> A framework was developed to guide this research that related teacher technology use, equity of student access, and student ability to learn to use the devices they brought. Two instruments were created to collect data: (a) an anonymous online survey to collect information from 108 teachers already incorporating BYOD into their classes, (b) a semi-structured interview with eleven teachers who volunteered after completing the first instrument. </p><p> Findings suggested that teachers with constructivist compatible beliefs were likely to have more positive perceptions of BYOD, as were those who worked in schools with a more positive atmosphere. Very few teachers (12%) thought that BYOD programs were inherently inequitable, although 25% thought the programs in their own school was inequitable. Teachers were concerned that all students have access to an effective device when the student did not bring one and they primarily looked to school-owned technology to be available. Teachers also reported that students could learn to use their individual devices by working with other students and through working on assignments, while teachers had specific techniques they used to support this learning. Teachers overall did not view themselves as being responsible for providing technology support to students, and instead expected students to resolve their own technology problems. Many teachers (42%) liked that students had different types of devices. </p><p> A key advantage of BYOD is the knowledge the students bring when they bring their own device. These results provide tentative support for Bring Your Own Device programs as a viable, cost- effective way for students to use their own technology for learning.</p>

<p>In 1983, the <i>A Nation at Risk</i> report stated that our educational institutions in the United States and especially in urban areas were not meeting the educational needs of our students. Since <i>A Nation at Risk</i>, elected school boards in urban areas were under fire from the media, parents, other civic and community leaders, and voters due to fiscal irresponsibility and poor student achievement. In selected urban cities across the nation, elected school boards were replaced in favor of mayoral control (e.g., Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC) and appointed school boards (Wong et al., 2007). In 1999, the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) was taken over by the state of Michigan in an effort to reform the district. In 1998 prior to the state takeover, DPS had 261 schools, 167,000 students enrolled in the district, and a $93 million budget surplus. In 2014 after several years of state control, DPS had 97 schools (&minus;62%), 47,000 students enrolled (&minus;71%) in the district, and a $232 million budget deficit (&minus;349%). During this same time period, DPS had eight different district leaders under three different school governance models. This qualitative historical case study developed an understanding of the overall impact of school governance reform on the institutional progress in DPS from 1999&ndash;2014. <i>Institutional Progress</i> examines the overall functioning of a school district in the areas of: leadership, educational programs, finances, personnel, community support and political support. This study also described the external and internal barriers preventing DPS from making institutional progress. This qualitative study utilized four data sources: interviews of current and former Detroit Public School personnel (i.e., school board members, central and building administrators, teachers, parents and community activists), Detroit Board of Education meeting minutes reports, daily newspaper coverage of DPS from the <i>Detroit Free Press </i> and the <i>Detroit News</i>, and city of Detroit archives on the annual <i>State of the City Address</i> given by Detroit mayors to determine whether or not institutional progress was achieved in DPS from 1999&ndash;2014. The findings of this study were the following: 1.) there was a lack of institutional progress in Detroit Public Schools; 2.) school governance reforms in DPS did not have a positive impact; and 3.) internal and external barriers prevented DPS from making institutional progress. </p>

<p> This qualitative research study discovers, investigates and explores how selected Latinas make meaning of their high school experience. This study also examines whether there are any resources and/or factors that contributed to their success. The 14 participants are currently enrolled as full time students at a post-secondary institution. The researcher conducted one in-depth, semi-structured interview with each participant. Qualitative research methods (Merriam, 2009) were used to analyze what participants shared. Social capital theory was the theoretical perspective that provided the lens for this study (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). A concept map containing four categories, self, family, school and community, along with a constructivist outlook were included in the overall approach to interpret how Latinas made meaning of their experience. Results from analysis of the data revealed five main themes: (a) Self Identity, (b) Family Influences, (c) Educational Experiences, (d) Advocacy, and (e) Community Connections. These themes and the categories in the concept map are interrelated and were found to have an impact on how Latinas access, acquire, network, and build upon social capital. The conclusions, along with the implication to theory, inform the implications for practice in school systems and policy.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine Latinas' access to Advanced Placement/Honors courses in a Catholic female single-sex high school and to examine their experiences and perspectives when they are granted or denied access into an AP/Honors course. This study also aimed to explore how the Catholic single-sex high school is aligned with the Catholic, single-sex, and Advanced Placement advantage for Latina students who have been granted or denied access to an Advanced Placement/Honors course. The case study focused on one Catholic all-female high school in the Western United States and participants included Latina current students and alumnae (n=11), the high school principal (n=1), and teachers (n=2) from the school. Data was collected via document review, the gathering of descriptive data, as well as participant interviews. The theoretical framework used to analyze this data was a blend of Critical biculturalism, Chicana feminist theory, as well as the principles of Catholic social teaching. Findings highlight a fairly exclusive AP/Honors placement process with unclear guidelines to be followed in order to appeal a decision. Latinas' experiences range from feeling like outsiders and being made to feel not good enough, to feeling competitive and being resilient. Their perspectives on why they decided to appeal the decision of their placement had to do with their feeling that they had the capacity for advanced work, their driven nature, and their desire to be exposed to more learning. Further, perspectives also emerged concerning the school's sisterhood and its influence on issues of race and class. In regards to alignment with the Catholic, single-sex, and AP advantage the data illustrates that while participants seemingly agree that there are advantages, they are also cognizant of other factors that overshadow these advantages.</p>

<p> Principals are increasingly responsible for ensuring an equitable learning environment in their schools. The development of a disposition to meet this responsibility is an under-researched area. This study was a qualitative narrative analysis of the stories of five white, female, elementary principals from the same suburban school district who were interviewed to understand where their disposition may originate and how their disposition manifests itself in their self-reported decisions and actions. The following question became the focus of the research: What do principals report are the factors that support or challenge their decision-making regarding students and families with diverse characteristics? A qualitative inquiry method with an emphasis on narrative analysis was used to identify themes. These themes were illuminated using the lens of Bourdieu's sociological theory of habitus and field. Principal narratives of equity fell into two broad thematic areas of capital and management. Principals who participated in this study build social capital, which is then used as a currency to create and support equity with the other habitus and structures on the field. According to the analysis of the data, the stances principals take to provide equity include a managerial orientation. The analyses of the narratives reveal that where principals stand for equity is evident through the stories they tell rather than their statements of what they believe and value. This study suggests that building upon the stories of personal experiences may be a good starting point for professional development around issues of equity. These opportunities could strengthen a principal's ability to both understand and articulate a concrete set of self-expectations for equity. Additionally, Bourdieu's theory of habitus and field presents a way to understand a principal's actions and intentions on their field of work. </p>

<p> This body of work presents the summary of findings; explanation of implications; discussion of conclusions; and recommendations about practice, policy and future research regarding principal leadership in school districts recognized as national Baldrige Award winners. This study widened the scope and definition of quality management in education by dissecting the roles of principal leadership as defined by the 21 Leadership Responsibilities (Marzano et al., 2005) of school leadership. These Leadership Responsibilities served as a vehicle for educators to report their observances of how principals express their roles in the context of their work. The study began with a dominant phase of quantitative data collection followed by a qualitative phase. The quantitative segment purposively sampled groups of employees, principals and their building staff, concurrently through electronic survey. The second, qualitative portion, consisted of interviews of principals who participated in the survey. To summarize, the quantitative data defined the "what" of building administration's work in a Baldrige system and the qualitative portion illuminated the "how" or the application of the 21 Leadership Responsibilities. Statistical analysis determined that principals reported expressing all 21 Leadership Responsibilities in their work. Staff observances correlated and supported the data reported by the participating principals. As a result of the principal interviews further observations were made regarding the work of Baldrige building level leaders. Considerations included innovation through shared leadership and process management to improve learning and services for students and staff. Principals appeared to express particular clusters of Leadership Responsibilities more than others to increase the student growth and school improvement. Participants included principals and teachers from Iredell-Statesville Schools, NC; Jenks Public Schools, OK; and Montgomery Public Schools.</p>