732 research outputs found
Sort by
Mini 05: The Art of the Final Interview
No full textAs a follow-up to their session The Art of the Interview, doctoral students will actually participate in the Final Interview as candidates for their dream job. While you have made it through paper screening and first round interviews, you won’t want to miss the finale…..what do I say, how do I come across, and what are the secrets to convincing the decision-maker that I am the right person for the job. It doesn’t matter if your dream job/next job is Principal, department manager, executive director, or assistant superintendent, there are practical things you can learn to do to secure that big promotion. The presenters have made those final employment decisions for more than 35 years each; moreover, like you, they learned what to do and what to say to get that next big promotion
A Singular Paradigm for Understanding the Necessary Skills, Mindsets, and Attitudes of Effective Schools, Leaders, and Educators in the New Normal of Today
No full textIt was thus that a Spring Faculty Retreat became a collaborative meeting-of-the minds where experts and expert practitioners in credentialing, mastery practitionership, and leadership examined, deconstructed, and juxtaposed relevant research, expert opinion, and theory. This resulting work culminated in presentations to the entire faculty on recommendations for crucial skills, aptitudes, attitudes, and actions, for Brandman SOE faculty and students (mostly P-12 teachers and administrators) and the greater educational community across the United States. Upon further examination, what emerged was the unexpected identification of a corresponding concept: Reciprocal Altruism (Trivers, 1971). Further exploration of this construct led to the creation of a new paradigm that potentially offers a unique insight for guiding the future thoughts and actions of educators across a spectrum of academic foci and responsibilities: Professional Reciprocal Altruism in Education
Perceived Political Styles of School Board Members and the Strategies Superintendents Employ to Work With Them
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to identify and describe perceived political styles of school board members and the strategies superintendents employ to work with them.
Methodology: This explanatory sequential mixed methods study analyzed quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to answer the research questions in regard to the political styles of exemplary rural elementary superintendents and school boards and the political strategies superintendents use to engage with their school board members.
Findings: Examination of mixed methods data from the five school districts participating in this study indicated a variety of findings. The major strategies exemplary rural superintendents of elementary school districts used to work with the political styles of board members were categorized into four themes, including communication, relationships, governance training, and personal mastery.
Conclusions: It is concluded that rural elementary superintendents who communicate by establishing regular contact, listening actively and strategically, and anticipating the needs of board members are more effective. Additionally, rural elementary superintendents who build relationships by showing respect and being honest and transparent build more trusting relationships with board members. Providing learning opportunities for board members to understand their roles, responsibilities, and governance practices and policies will result in more efficient working relationships between the superintendent and board members. Finally, rural elementary superintendents who implement strategies to manage their emotions through reflection are better positioned to negotiate conflict, allow time for processing, and allow board members to lead.
Recommendations: Further research is recommended to understand the scope of research conducted in the political styles thematic; understand political styles from the perspective of board members; understand the most effective ways to implement this research through professional learning opportunities; differentiate findings by setting (urban, rural, and suburban); and identify strategies specific demographics such as female leaders or superintendents of county offices of education use
Expert Teachers Practices to Aide in Student Achievement
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the activities expert mathematics teachers in comprehensive high schools that employ Professional Learning Communities and structured academic intervention use with respect to school culture, classroom culture, interventions, differentiated instruction, and first best instruction to make every student in their classroom more successful in mathematics at the end of their term regardless of where the student began.
Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California. Of this target population, purposeful sampling was applied to identify participants that were rich with information and that met specific criteria and 12 high school expert mathematics teachers were identified. The researcher collected and coded data from in depth interviews; interview protocol directly correlated with the research questions of this study. A variety of related artifacts were additionally gathered and analyzed for the generated codes to triangulate the interview data.
Findings: Examination of qualitative data from the 12 comprehensive high school mathematics teachers were organized by research sub questions, identifying the impact of the five variable recognized in the study: (a) school culture, (b) classroom culture, (c) intervention, (d) differentiation, and (e) first best instruction has on student learning and teaching practices.
Conclusions: The study supported the conclusions that school culture is a major factor in a school\u27s ability to have an impact on teaching practices and student learning. Furthermore, the findings from this study lead to the conclusion that classroom culture or the role of the teacher in the classroom is paramount to the ability of students accessing the curriculum. Additionally, the findings from this study lead to the conclusion that having planned and structured intervention embedded into the regular school day is vital for student success. Finally, the findings from this study lead to the conclusion that teachers must be trained in methods that are effective in intervention and can be differentiated from the original lesson
Recommendations: Six areas of further research were recommended to increase the body of literature related to these variables
Political Styles and Strategies of Suburban Unified School District Superintendents and Board Members: A Mixed Methods Study
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to understand the political styles of suburban unified school district superintendents and school board members as perceived by superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify and explain the political strategies suburban school district superintendents use to work with the different political styles of board members.
Methodology: This explanatory sequential mixed methods study served to identify political styles of suburban unified school district superintendents and board members. The collection and triangulation of data included digital survey responses, face-to-face interviews, artifacts and observations. The quantitative and qualitative data was then analyzed.
Findings: Survey and interview data from five exemplary suburban unified school district superintendents resulted in some major findings: (a) Superintendents strengthen communication with school board members by utilizing multiple methods; (b) Superintendents work to bridge individual relationships with and between each school board member; (c) Superintendents focus on listening skills in order to fully comprehend school board member priorities and concerns; (d) Superintendents prioritize building trust with school board members by utilizing a variety of approaches; (e) Superintendents meet the needs of school board members by valuing their opinions, concerns, and priorities and political responsibilities as elected officials; and (f) Superintendents differentiate their strategies to match the styles of their board members.
Conclusions: It can be concluded, based on the findings of this study, that politically intelligent suburban unified superintendents must differentiate their strategies to match the styles of their school board members. To accomplish this, they must focus on using excellent, attentive, listening skills in order to fully comprehend school board member needs, priorities, and concerns.
Recommendations: It is recommended that meta-analysis research be conducted to compare the findings of studies completed by all 10 thematic dissertation team members. It is also recommended that a replication of this study be conducted with superintendents in the central region of California and other states to examine differences in how superintendents work with board member political styles
Emotional Intelligence: An Essential Ingredient for Principals to Successfully Implement the Big Picture Learning 10 Distinguishers
No full textPurpose. The purpose of this mixed methods descriptive case study was to explore and describe the importance of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management EI characteristics as perceived by principals when implementing the 10 learning distinguishers of Big Picture Learning (BPL) schools’ conceptual framework in order to support the academic success of ninth- to 12th-grade students attending BPL alternative education schools in the Southwestern United States.
Methodology. This mixed methods research design used qualitative and quantitative data to analyze the research questions regarding the importance of EI characteristics when supporting student academic success according to alternative education principals. The study combined 2 methods, surveys, and interviews in a sequential manner. The population for the study included current principals of BPL alternative education schools.
Findings. Through their surveys, principals rated all 4 EI traits as essential or important when implementing the 10 distinguishers but prioritized them in the following order from most to least important: self-management, relationship management, social awareness, and self-awareness. In contrast, principals elaborated on the importance of the 4 EI traits during their interviews in the following order of most frequently to least frequently: social awareness, self-awareness, relationship management, and self-management.
Conclusions. Principals perceive all 4 EI traits (i.e., self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management) as essential or important when implementing the BPL 10 distinguishers. However, the EI characteristics of self-confidence, integrity, knowing how to read an audience, and cultivating purposeful relationships surfaced as the most essential above all others within their respective EI trait areas.
Recommendations for Action. Alternative education school leaders in general and BPL school leaders in particular must use the research presented in this study as a comprehensive reference manual specific for the undisclosed leadership responsibilities inherent within their job. Researchers should replicate this study in other Big Picture regions around the country to compare the principal perceptions on the importance of EI characteristics in those regions with the perceptions of principals within the Southwestern United States or other types of alternative education schools
Interagency Collaboration in Local Partnership Agreements: A Qualitative Case Study Identifying and Describing the Perception of Preparedness of Transition Specialists Working in WorkAbility I Projects
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify and describe the preparedness of transition specialists working in WorkAbility I (WAI) projects as perceived by transition specialists using Kohler’s Taxonomy for Collaborative Transition Programming. In addition, its purpose is to explore the perceptions of transition specialists regarding interagency collaboration in local partnership agreements (LPAs).
Methodology: This qualitative case study identified and described WAI transition specialists’ perception of transition programming and interagency collaboration. It employed the use of semi-structured interview questions consisting of open-ended questions. Using this methodology promoted the extraction of high quality information from the transition specialists.
Findings: Information received prepared transition specialists for their position. Cross agency professional development contributes to preparedness of transition specialists. The lack of interconnecting data systems across all agencies is a barrier to collaboration. Interagency collaboration coalesces all agencies into a group of like-minded members for the benefit of members. Networking and relationship building is the initial stimulus that creates a collaborative effort. Cross agency professional development is a critical element of LPAs. Local partnership agreements are critical to identifying lead agencies and establishing roles and responsibilities. It is important to use several methods of communication to disperse information among service providers.
Conclusion: When transition specialists are not provided professional development, participation in programs with adult agency partners will not succeed. Local partnership agreements are critical to sharing of information and resources. Transition specialists who lack knowledge of education and education laws will fail at transition programming. Transition programming resulting in successful employment outcomes must connect with adult agency providers. Agreements between local partnerships that lack formal agreements that distinguish roles and responsibilities of the partnership will fail.
Recommendations: Create an evaluation tool for collecting quantitative data of the effectiveness of LPAs. Create a state level certification requirement for transition specialists in the preK-12 system. Data collected from LPAs must track the successful transition of individuals from special education to adult competitive integrated employment. Changes in policies and procedures must be brought about through stakeholder involvement and local level movement