Each year, thousands of aspiring school administrators attempt to impress the sitting principal of a school in order to be rewarded with an opportunity to lead. When these future leaders interview, do they have the same priorities and values as the sitting principal who will hire them? This study investigated the possibility that there is a…

Sport has the unique ability and power to develop leadership skills in athletes. However, scarcely has research focused on how the lived experience of being a collegiate student-athlete shapes one's leadership identity. The purpose of this phenomenological study centers specifically on the leadership identity development of Division I…

This quantitative causal-comparative study examined the impact of formal leadership training programs on educators possessing an administrator license within the public school systems of Tennessee. The investigation explored potential associations between program participation and elevated self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and retention rates. Data…

This study examined the alignment of the UMT Educational Leadership Program with the Tennessee Administrator Evaluation Rubric, the extent in which its graduates felt prepared to meet each standard of the Tennessee Administrator Evaluation Rubric, and its impact on graduates' preparedness for leadership. Using a mixed-methods design, the…

K-12 principals are held increasingly accountable for school success, yet their direct impact on students is negligible. Principals must thus work to positively impact teachers in order to indirectly impact student achievement. Transformational leaders are able to utilize intellectual stimulation in order to impact those who work under them. The…

This qualitative research study investigated the perceptions of successful turnaround school leaders regarding factors attributing toward success, barriers thwarting success, and strategies that assisted in minimizing barriers. This study specifically investigated the perceptions of African American school leaders in urban turnaround schools in…

This mixed-methods study was designed to determine the impact of attendance in the professional development series of the school leaders' organization for school leaders and leadership capacity in Tennessee public schools. The areas of focus of the study included leadership practices, instructional practices, and school culture as perceived by…

This mixed-methods study was designed to determine the impact of attendance in the professional development series of the school leaders' organization for school leaders and leadership capacity in Tennessee public schools. The areas of focus of the study included leadership practices, instructional practices, and school culture as perceived by…

This mixed-methods study was designed to determine the impact of attendance in the professional development series of the school leaders' organization for school leaders and leadership capacity in Tennessee public schools. The areas of focus of the study included leadership practices, instructional practices, and school culture as perceived by…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the continuous improvement of the leadership program on the outcome of graduate students. The study compared the SLLA Praxis scores obtained prior to the redesign of the 31 leadership competencies of the leadership program to the data retrieved after the program design. The practices of the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of principals who serve as mentors for an internship program for aspiring principals at East Tennessee State University. Each mentor was interviewed to gather information about the internship program, the benefits of mentoring in the program, and what the mentors may have learned about their…

This study addressed how the ability to manage change affects leadership style. The problem addressed in this project was the natural human tendency to resist change and how the inability to mange this tendency can interfere with the development of leadership skills. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how an individual's change…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine perceptions of East Tennessee State University (ETSU) cohort members on the experience of redesigning the leadership preparation program requirements. Particularly, cohort participants in the "Greene-King" cohort were chosen by an admission process to participate in a grant…

Within the construct of No Child Left Behind, training future educational leaders has become more important to universities and school systems alike. Educational leadership programs have begun to analyze ways to adequately prepare future leaders to be effective in all aspects of leading including the emotional areas. The purpose of this study was…

In higher education, the dissertation is the traditional capstone experience through which the student presents research findings in support of a doctoral degree. This dissertation explores the non-traditional capstone experiences utilized in Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) programs at three highly-selective research universities. Higher-education…