The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate East Tennessee State University graduate student perceptions on the effectiveness of internship experiences as students explored the implementation of ISLLC Standards and the role of mentor support as they prepared for the principalship. The participating university for this study is located in Johnson City, Tennessee. Participants obtained their administrative license from 2005-2010 and worked in one of 19 northeast Tennessee, North Carolina, and southwest Virginia school districts. Specifically, this research assessed the perceived value of the 540 hour internship experience, implementation of ISLLC Standards, and the perceived value of the site based and university based mentors as interns completed their activities in multiple settings. Research reinforced the view that internship experiences supported through site based and university mentors are necessary components of an effective aspiring principal preparation program. Two data measures were analyzed: 25 survey questions measured on a 4 point Likert scale and 3 open-ended questions. Nine research questions guided this study and quantitative data were analyzed using one-sample t tests. Results indicated that ETSU program completers from 2005-2010 agreed internship experiences and mentor support received through the ETSU Administrative Endorsement Program facilitated real world application of the ISLLC Standards while preparing for the principalship.

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of self-reported leadership practices using the Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices Inventory between high school principals in North Carolina who were coaches with those principals who were not coaches. This quantitative study was conducted using a survey-design method in which all 368 public high school principals in North Carolina were given the opportunity to participate. A Principal Demographic sheet along with the 2003 edition of Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Self- Form was used to gather information regarding the principals' perceptions of their leadership practices. The response rate was 64.9%. This study determined that for the research question: Do the Kouzes and Posner mean scores (for the five dimensions) differ between principals who have been coaches and those who have not, no significant difference, as measured by η2 (< .01) was reported in any of the five dimensions. This study established that North Carolina high school principals reported significantly higher levels on each of the 5 leadership practices than did those individuals in the Kouzes and Posner study. In addition, a positive relationship was found between the number of previous years of coaching experience and 3 of the 5 leadership practices. The study determined that there was little difference in the mean scores between male and female North Carolina principals.

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With a focus on leadership, this study examines the leadership characteristics of principals in schools that are recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the United States Department of Education. This mixed methodology study utilizes the causal comparative method to compare what teachers consider to be effective leadership characteristics of principals in National Blue Ribbon Schools to those of principals in matched sets of selected Non-Blue Ribbon Schools in Pennsylvania. The Audit of Principal Effectiveness is used to collect quantitative data and a survey protocol is used to identify confounding factors and extraneous variables. The research revealed significant findings in nearly all areas of the Audit of Principal Effectiveness. Principals in the selected matched-set schools were ranked higher than principals in National Blue Ribbon Schools. Additional analysis using a multiple regression showed that teachers perceive their principal as effective if the principal has good relations with them, employs and evaluates staff effectively, has high expectations, and does not exceedingly involve the community in the life of the school. / Educational Administration

Countless research has identified that a good leader is crucial to the success of an organization. This is no different when looking in the school setting. Good leaders are paramount to the success of schools. In schools, the absence of good leadership, and more specifically a consistent leader itself, can be detrimental to the achievements of students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders. Even though schools across the nation and the world are experiencing frequent principal turnover, there is little research into how this turnover is perceived by the stakeholders. This study focuses on the frequent turnover of leadership in one rural middle school where there had been eight principals in the past ten years, and how stakeholders made sense of this turnover. Framed by Turbulence Theory, this study details the importance for incoming leaders to recognize the impact that turnover has on stakeholders of the school. The study also identifies the need to identify and find ways to work with the stability factors present during a period of frequent turnover. / Educational Administration

The academic performance of African-American, Hispanic and low-income students is an ongoing national problem, as these students are not making the same academic gains as their White, Asian, and more socio-economically privileged peers. Schools across the country are striving to close this achievement gap, especially in light of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2002 (more commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act), which states as its main objective "to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility and choices so that no child is left behind" (Public Law 107-110, 107th Congress, 2002). Research on effective schools shows that schools can positively impact student achievement--especially the achievement of minority and poor students (Andrews & Sonder, 1987; Edmonds, 1981). Moreover, research shows that very few elements account for more inconsistency in student achievement than school leadership (Leithwood, 1994). Principals' behaviors and practices impact student achievement (Edsource et al., 2005; Powell, 2004; Waters, Marzano & McNulty, 2003). Hence, the purpose of this study was to use Powell's (2004) five domains of effective principal leadership behaviors and practices (e.g., vision, mission and culture; curriculum and classroom instruction; collaboration and shared leadership; family and community involvement; and effective management) as a lens to identify, compare and contrast, from the perspective of teachers, the leadership behaviors and practices of principals in predominantly minority elementary schools deemed effective and principals in predominantly minority elementary schools deemed marginally effective. The sample consisted of 20 schools (e.g., 10 effective and 10 marginally effective) in a mid-Atlantic state. Data were collected using a 76-item survey questionnaire developed by Powell (2004). / Ph. D.

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to describe experiences of building-level administrators in one urban school division in Virginia regarding preparation for having a role in retaining teachers and their perceptions of how well prepared they feel for that role. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with 15 administrators, representing 21.4% of all administrators in the subject-site division. The study investigated three research questions: (1) What beliefs do building-level administrators have regarding their role in the retention of teachers? (2) What experiences have building-level administrators undergone to prepare them for a role in retaining teachers? and, (3) How well prepared do building-level administrators perceive themselves to be for their role in retaining teachers? The study asked participants to consider principal preparation programs, principal professional development, and on-the-job experiences. Findings indicated that participants believed their role in teacher retention to be important; however, they tended not to have experienced explicit preparation for teacher retention. Though participants reported experiencing some preparation for creating workplace conditions favorable to retention, there was a notable diversity in viewpoint and few workplace conditions listed by participants aligned with those noted in prior research. Participants reported that their preparation had been acquired primarily through on-the-job experiences. Findings indicated that participants did not feel they had been well prepared for a role in teacher retention. This study proposed implications to be considered by those who develop and provide principal preparation and principal professional development, state and local educational agencies, and building-level administrators who seek skills and knowledge that promote the retention of teachers in their buildings. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to describe preparation experiences of school administrators in one urban school division in Virginia relevant to having a role in retaining teachers, as well as their perceptions of how well prepared they believe they have been for that role. The researcher interviewed 15 administrators, representing 21.4% of all administrators in the division, to answer three research questions: (1) What beliefs do building-level administrators have regarding their role in the retention of teachers? (2) What experiences have building-level administrators undergone to prepare them for a role in retaining teachers? and, (3) How well prepared do building-level administrators perceive themselves to be for their role in retaining teachers? The study found that participants believed their role in teacher retention to be important; however, they tended not to have experienced explicit preparation about retaining teachers. Though participants reported experiencing some preparation for creating workplace conditions favorable to teacher retention, there was little agreement among participants about which workplace conditions do so. Few of the workplace conditions listed by participants in this study matched those noted in previous studies by other researchers. Participants reported that their preparation for having a role in teacher retention had been acquired primarily through on-the-job experiences. Participants reported that they did not feel they have been well prepared for a role in teacher retention. This study proposed implications to be considered by those who develop and provide principal preparation programs and principal professional development, state and local educational agencies, and building-level administrators who seek skills and knowledge that promote the retention of teachers in their buildings.

Principal Academic Optimism is an hypothesized latent construct that has strong theoretical foundations in both educational research and educational psychology. Academic Optimism derives from research on school academic optimism and teacher academic optimism, which originated via Hoys, Tarters, and Woolfolk Hoys (2006a; 2006b) merger of school climate research with research on learned optimism, stemming from Martin Seligmans (1998, 2006) research on positive psychology. Principal Academic Optimism expands upon discoveries of School Academic Optimism and Teacher Academic Optimism. The theoretical framework of Principal Academic Optimism is built upon a strong research foundation of the organizational health model, social capital theory, social cognitive theory and positive psychology. The purpose of this research is to revise Riegel's (2012) Principal Academic Optimism Scale, thereby creating and testing a comprehensive measure of Principal Academic Optimism. The questionnaire used to accomplish this goal was a revised version of Riegel's Principal Academic Optimism Scale and Tschannen-Moran's and Gareis's (2004) Principal Trust Scale. By incorporating a measure for principal trust in faculty with a measure of principal trust in clients (parents and students), a more comprehensive measure of Principal Academic Optimism was validated and found reliable (α = 0.908). Perhaps the most compelling finding of the study was the significant negative relationship between principals' perception of trust in clients whose schools have high percentages of students receiving free and reduced price lunches (r = -0.444; p < 0.05). Principals with high percentages of free and reduced price lunch rates explained 72.203% of the variance in principals' self-reported perception of trust in clients. Principals of schools with 61%-80% or 81%+ percentages of free and reduced price lunch rates reported lower levels of trust in clients (parents and students). / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate East Tennessee State University alumni's perceptions of the effectiveness of internship experiences as students learned the PSEL and TILS standards and the role of mentor support as they prepared for principalship. The participants obtained their administrative license and worked currently with an administrative license that is current in the state they reside. This research focused on the perception of the PESL and TILS standards, the effectiveness of the 540-hour internship experience, and the value of the site based and university mentor as the participants completed their activities in multiple settings. Findings supported that 16 out of the 17 ideas investigated had a strong positive significance, indicating they were highly supported by the data. These findings highlight the effectiveness of various aspects within aspiring principal preparation programs. Particularly noteworthy is the significance of internship experiences, which are guided by mentors from both the educational institution and the site of practice. This underscores the pivotal role these mentorship arrangements play in shaping future educational leaders. Findings revealed that participants in the program facilitated the practical application of the PESL and TILS Standards in preparation for assuming the role of a principal. Findings also supported the positive experience when participating in the 540 hours of internship hours required by the program.