Missouri State University (MSU) began developing a strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan at the beginning of the fall 2019 semester and completed this initiative in December 2020. The impetus of the plan was a changing landscape in enrollment and recognition of the need to respond with intentionality. The university approached the plan by…

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore through personal interviews the pathways to superintendency of Missouri district leaders with varying teaching and leadership experiences. The central questions guiding this research were the following: (a) How do Missouri public school superintendents with varying building-level…

The purpose of this mixed method sequential design research study was to examine the relationship of primary leadership styles of superintendents with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Annual Performance Report (DESE APR) scores. The role of the superintendent has traditionally been viewed as one of manager instead of…

The discriminatory practices against African Americans during the Jim Crow era in St. Louis, Missouri did not deter Dr. Ruth Harris, the first African American female president of Stowe Teachers College (STC) in St. Louis, from accepting the challenge of leading the African American teachers' college from 1940 to 1954. Her appointment to President…

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII, or the Center) in 2011. NCII's mission during the first five years of funding was to build the capacity of local education agencies (LEAs) to support schools, practitioners, and other stakeholders in the…

This report describes a policy analysis project examining principal evaluation instruments, policies and processes in the fifty United States, the state of Missouri, and 15 Kansas City, Missouri area school districts. Since current research demonstrates that the principal plays a critical role in the success or failure of improvement initiatives,…

How do a school and a community interact? This question guided this dissertation examining one rural school and community. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the relationship between the rural Marceline R-V School District (a K-12 school system) and its community, Marceline, Missouri. The framework for this study included the…

Pupil transportation is an essential part of the overall school program, which requires constant supervision and direction. Perhaps no other phase of the school program is more closely observed by the public or has a greater tendency to mold public opinion about the schools than the school bus system. The success of any school district pupil…