Faculty facing challenges of teaching students in a post-Katrina environment used learning-centered approaches to restore educational opportunities to its populations of hurricane-displaced students, the growing population of Hispanic students, and the business community. The study sought to determine if the faculty members had made progress toward implementing learning-centered activities and strategies into the classroom after attending seminars and workshops that covered the learning-centered principles. Additionally, the research sought to determine if there were differences among academic disciplines in the implementation of the learning-centered principles in the classroom at the college. The study used quantitative research methods. To collect the quantitative data, the researcher used a learning-centered rubric along with specialized worksheets. The rubric assessed the five learning-centered principles: (a) function of content, (b) role of the instructor, (c) responsibility for learning, (d) purpose and processes of assessment, and (e) balance of power. Participants had the option to assess themselves at four levels of implementation for each of the learning-centered principles. The four levels were (a) the use of learner-centered approaches, (b) higher level of transitioning, (c) lower level of transitioning, and (d) the use of instructor-centered approaches. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the faculty members were at the higher level of transitioning for four of the learning-centered principles. The study indicated that the majority of faculty members were at the lower level of transitioning in implementing the balance of power. The findings also indicated that there were differences in the way faculty members implemented the learning-centered principles across three disciplines.

The goal of this research was to determine the balance of a collaborative learning relationship between an institution and its employees. A review of the literature examined learning-centered theory to determine the necessary tenets of a learning-centered professional staff development program. In addition, various staff development components were examined to ascertain their role in a learning-centered program. The literature findings guided this research to conduct a study to determine if relationships existed between employees' perception of climate and two variables: (a) employees' locus of control and (b) employees' job satisfaction. Additionally, the three factors were assessed together in a linear regression to determine what percentage of variance could be accounted for by each of the factors. The extent to which the institution had sufficiently set the stage for learning to take place was determined by assessing the institution's climate utilizing the PACE©. Locus of control and job satisfaction were two audience components utilized to determine appropriate program selection. Findings from the correlation procedures revealed a moderate relationship between both the employees' locus of control and their job satisfaction and their perception of the climate. A multiple regression revealed that 43% of an employee's climate perception could be accounted for by locus of control and job satisfaction. Results of this study indicated that locus of control and job satisfaction were two factors that an institution needs to consider with regards to their staff prior to embarking on a staff development program or in re-designing an existing program. In addition, the results indicated the necessity in establishing a baseline climate perception to ascertain if the environment was conducive to staff learning. Lastly, an institution needs to be willing to inquire of its staff as to their needs and preferred learning delivery methods. By examining itself objectively, and engaging workers in a collaborative learning process, an institution can begin to establish the foundation for a learning centered staff development program.

Principals are increasingly held accountable for student achievement outcomes. Existing research has found principal leadership indirectly affects student achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). Principals face a problem when they are accountable for achievement outcomes and are dependent upon others and other variables to achieve those outcomes. Consequently, principals will benefit from a richer understanding of how their leadership indirectly affects student achievement. Using the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) measurement of principal learning-centered leadership (Goldring, Porter, Murphy, Elliot, & Cravens, 2009) and the Omnibus T-Scale measurement of faculty trust in the principal (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 2003), researchers sought to better understand the relationship between the perceived learning-centered leadership of principals and faculty trust in those principals. Teachers from 59 schools in a suburban district in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States were surveyed to measure their perception of the learning-centered leadership of their principal and the faculty's trust in their principal. The data from these surveys were analyzed using bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses to determine relationships between these two variables and other significant control variables. Principal learning-centered leadership was significantly and positively related to faculty trust in the principal; principals in this study with higher learning-centered leadership scores had higher faculty trust in principal scores. The R2 was .609, indicating that approximately 60% of the variance in faculty trust in the principal was attributable to the principal's learning-centered leadership, school grade, and principal gender. Additionally, for the principals in this study every unit increase in perceived learning-centered leadership scores resulted in a 1.11 increase in faculty trust in the principal scores. The significance of the relationship was even stronger in schools with a C academic achievement grade. In C graded schools, every unit increase in principal learning-centered leadership scores resulted in a 2.31 increase in faculty trust in the principal scores. Principals with higher levels of learning-centered leadership were rewarded with higher levels of faculty trust. The influence of learning-centered leadership on faculty trust in the principal was even stronger in schools labels lower in academic achievement. Principals seeking to influence the trust their faculty places should engage in those leadership practices associated with learning-centered leadership.

School leadership is a complex and challenging endeavor, especially in an era when school principals are held accountable for student achievement outcomes. Research on school leadership has shown that a principal’s influence on student achievement is indirect and significant. Over the past three decades, research on school leadership has developed conceptually and now offers more concrete descriptions of the actions and behaviors leaders can utilize for learning-centered leadership. The developers of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) evaluation framework sought to create a school leader assessment tool that measures learning-centered behaviors, instead of measures that focus on the knowledge, dispositions, or personal characteristics of school leaders. In 2014 the VAL-ED, principals within a large school district in the Rocky Mountain region of the Western United States participated in the VAL-ED school leader assessment. For this study, a sample of 16 of the principals who earned the highest ratings on the VAL-ED survey responded to open-ended questions during an in-person interview, in which they described their actions and/or behaviors related to learning-centered leadership. Responses were coded utilizing attributive and axial coding methods. Principals in this study identified specific actions of school leadership related to the VAL-ED defined key processes of learning-centered principals and core components of learning-centered schools. A comparative analysis was conducted to discover if a difference existed between elementary and secondary references to the VAL-ED key processes. No notable difference between elementary and secondary was found, however, principals identified 4 themes of learning-centered leadership not directly associated with the VAL-ED processes or components. A comparative analysis of the new themes revealed differences in elementary and secondary references within two of the new themes. The findings revealed that distinguished learning-centered principals purposely exert their influence to improve student learning by being informed of the needs of their students and teachers and by understanding the school culture. They adapt to the needs of their schools and actively take measures to support and motivate teachers. Learning-centered principals understand that the way in which they can most directly influence student learning is to support and engage with their teachers because teachers have the most direct influence on students.

The research shows that school leadership influences school management resultsin general, and it particularly impacts student learning. This article presentsand analyzes the VAL-ED (Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education)as a school leadership assessment tool that is based on the research on learningcentered leadership. / La investigación indica que el liderazgo educativo afecta los resultados de la gestiónde los centros educativos en general, y en particular, incide en los aprendizajes delalumnado. Este artículo presenta y analiza el VAL-ED (Vanderbilt Assessment ofLeadership in Education) como un instrumento de evaluación de la gestión, apartir de la investigación sobre liderazgo centrado en los aprendizajes. / A pesquisa indica que a liderança educacional afeta os resultados da gestão dasescolas em geral, e em particular afeta a aprendizagem do aluno. Este artigoapresenta e analisa o VAL-ED (Avaliação Vanderbilt de Liderança em Educação)como uma ferramenta de avaliação da gestão, a partir de pesquisas sobre liderançacentrada na aprendizagem.

abstract: The theory of learning centered academic advising states that the purpose of advising is to teach undergraduate students about the logic and purpose of their education. Previous scholarship on learning centered advising has focused on the theoretical or on implementation by faculty at small colleges and universities. Methods for supporting learning centered advising in other contexts are lacking. This mixed methods, action research study investigates the efficacy of FaculTea, a professional development program designed to promote learning centered advising practices among professional academic advisors at a large state university. The study also measured frequency of learning centered advising and student perceptions of learning centered advising. Participants were 57 academic advisors in a liberal arts and sciences college at a large state university, who reported on their advising practices. In addition, the investigator interviewed four advisors, and observed them during 15 advising appointments. Also, six students were interviewed to determine their response to learning centered academic advising. Results showed the FaculTea program model was effective in promoting learning centered advising. In addition, advisors used learning centered advising to a moderate extent, depending upon the context of the appointment, the developmental level of the student, and experience level of the advisor. Student responses varied. These findings suggest learning centered advising can be incorporated into various academic advising contexts and structures and that FaculTea is an excellent model for learning centered academic advisor professional development. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Leadership and Innovation 2013

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Abstract In the 1980s, academic assessments called for "the ability of individuals and groups to talk, listen judge, and act on issues of common interest" (Morse, 1989, p. 30). More recently, corporate research findings, Are They Ready to Work? Employers' Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce (The Conference Board, Inc., Partnership for 21st Century Skills, The Corporate Voices for Working Families, & Society for Human Resource Management, 2006), report the workplace is seeking college graduates with skill in collaboration (e.g. build diverse relationships, negotiate, manage conflict). While the interest in collaborative learning has expanded in higher education and business, "sparse application" is reported in the college classroom. In academia, collaborative learning has been dependent on cooperative learning research focused on quantitative student achievement outcomes while faculty perceptions of a nonfoundational social constructivist view of collaborative learning is reported as "hardly begun." Along with an increased ambiguity in the terms collaborative and cooperative learning, a comprehensive understanding of collaborative learning and its potential uniqueness, if any, has been skewed. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain collaborative learning from the perspective of selected classroom practitioners representing multiple academic disciplines at a learning-centered institution. The exploratory questions guiding this qualitative case study were: (a) what elements constituted community college collaborative learning practitioners classroom experience and (b) what variables influenced the elements. The theoretical framework undergirding this dissertation is social constructivism nested in constructivism. A purposeful sampling of four instructional criteria indicative of a nonfoundational socio-constructivist concept of collaborative learning guided the participant selection process. The limited candidate list consisted of 31 faculty (20 females, 11 males) at the field site, a learning-centered community college with an FTE near 30,000 for the 2009 - 2010 school year. From 22 initial responses, seven faculty participants (6 female, 1 male) were selected and participated in two semi-structured in-depth interviews. The data collection included interviews, institutional and practitioner documents, the researcher's reflective journal, and field notes. The male participant was removed from the study because he did not submit all requested documents. Therefore, though unintended, six case studies of female instructors were analyzed over an eight month period and reduced to four when saturation was reached, no new information was elicited. All four participants fulfilled all four specified instructional criteria. The central finding able to help the college classroom is the strong identified practice of the defined collaborative learning concept with the articulated understanding limited and term interchange and confusion profound. Thus, the value of this study is the lack of definitional clarity in the terms collaborative and cooperative learning within academia which may offer one possible explanation for the reported sparse application in the college classroom. Supporting this major finding the single most defining attribute of this sophisticated or challenging concept of collaborative learning is the instructional criteria of distributed authority. Manifesting itself in students teaching students the faculty participants high level of consistent classroom application in concert with intellectual negotiation, consensus building, and student ownership of learning constitutes the collaborative learning skills sought by the work force. This study contributed to all three research attributes reported as minimal in the literature, qualitative research from a faculty perspective on the specified concept of collaborative learning. A comprehensive participant selection process was not conducted. In view of the central finding and the existing gaps in the literature, a priority recommendation for future research would be a more intentional expansion of candidate recruitment to potentially increase identification of classroom instructors practicing the particularized concept of collaborative learning. Other research recommendations would include a more focused study of the defined concept of collaborative learning in relationship to: (a) the learning-centered institution, (b) disciplines with a high density of foundational knowledge, (c) student and faculty resistance, (d) lines of authority, and (e) personality, gender, teaching styles, and learning styles.

Through prior learning assessment (PLA) programs, students' professional and life experiences are evaluated to determine if they equate to college program courses-removing the need for the student to complete traditional college courses to earn a postsecondary degree. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of faculty at the study site on the academic preparedness of nontraditional students. Knowles' andragogy theory guided the research questions on the academic preparedness of students earning prior learning credits and what characteristics of PLA programs faculty believe contribute to the academic success of these students. Thirty-six participants completed a survey where they provided narratives that were coded to determine overarching themes. The findings of this case study suggested that faculty believed that nontraditional students who earned credits through PLA are independent, motivated, and knowledgeable, but whether or not they are academically prepared seemed to vary by academic program. The findings also suggested that, while PLA programs have limitations because of student perceptions that may conflict with reality and the limited usability of PLA across academic programs, PLA programs provide a time benefit to students by allowing a shorter time to degree. The study supports positive social change by providing a resource for future development and growth of PLA programs to expand student access and options in obtaining postsecondary credentials while also lowering postsecondary education cost.

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