The community school model is rooted in John Dewey's (1902) conceptualization of the public school as a hub for the community. This work has evolved over a hundred years and recently experienced prominence in the public eye as a fundamental component of New York City's school turnaround policy. This dissertation describes findings and…

A qualitative study was conducted to understand how building-level and world language department leaders characterize and respond to underperforming world language teachers, and how such leaders work together as a team to address this problem. Ten such leaders from Long Island, New York were interviewed as matched pairs and their responses were…

This multisite case study explored the perceptions of athletic department members of the important factors of organizational cultures in athletic departments at small Christian institutions in the Midwestern United States. The study comprised of site visits to three small Christian institutions in the Midwestern United States. At each site, six…

This qualitative dissertation examines how teacher preparation programs take up policy messages from two state agencies. These questions guided the study: (1) What are the messages about RTI and MTSS from the California Department of Education [CDE] and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing [CCTC]; and (2) How are RtI and MTSS taken…

This multisite case study explored the perceptions of athletic department members of the important factors of organizational cultures in athletic departments at small Christian institutions in the Midwestern United States. The study comprised of site visits to three small Christian institutions in the Midwestern United States. At each site, six…

This qualitative study investigated second semester undergraduate college students' perceptions of their levels of college readiness instilled and developed in them as graduates of a New York City High School. This study sought to determine the level of alignment of the criteria and definitions of college readiness between the New York City…

This qualitative study examined school administrators' perceptions of the James Stronge teacher evaluation system, one of five approved evaluation systems by the New Jersey Department of Education from the Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey Act (TEACHNJ) in 2012. Fourteen administrators from a suburban district…

Leaders new to academic departments that possess dysfunctional histories due to ineffective "management" face many difficulties in the transformation of department dynamics. Indeed, the challenge for transformational department leaders is fostering positive and proactive attitudes among faculty where previous management was hostile,…

Both history and education courses comprise a significant portion of certification requirements for prospective history teachers. Teaching ambitiously requires mastery of many practices and bodies of knowledge, including disciplinary, pedagogical, and pedagogical content knowledge, learned in that history and education coursework. However,…

This qualitative study sought to gain deeper insights into how English Language Heads of Department (H.O.D.) perceive their roles in teacher development and efficacy, what leadership styles inform their role enactment and the different skill sets and beliefs they take to their H.O.D. roles. The population was limited to selected schools in central…

The Georgia Department of Education requires students to earn 4 course credits in the area of mathematics in order to graduate from high school. Academic success for mathematics students in a school district in southern Georgia has been encumbered because teachers lack cultural competency in mathematics instruction, which has hindered minority…

This study addresses the lived experience of ESL department chairs in California community colleges. It adds to existing literature that aims to support these individuals who are serving in critical roles in institutions of higher education. Using phenomenological methods, four ESL department chairs were interviewed to explore their journeys…

College readiness refers to factors that both prepare students for college and that enable them to succeed in college. According to the research, the elements that lead to college readiness include institutional academic preparation (Conley, 2008; Pike & Saupe, 2002; Schomaker, 2011; Gewerts, 2009; Adelman, 2006; Rogers, 2010; Edmund &…

Adult education has been available so that immigrants can assimilate into American culture by acquiring the English language skills and vocational skills that they can use for employment. However adult education programmers encounter problems regarding student retention. Evening adult programs have had several problems. The Latino adult students…

This naturalistic study focused on the perceptions of leadership and student performance in science from campus leaders in three purposefully selected secondary campuses of ninth through twelfth grades. Each school had experienced an improvement in student passing rates on the science TAKS test that exceeded the state's percent improvement in…