School districts are grappling with the problem of an alarming number of certified principals who are choosing not to enter the principalship. In many cases those who do enter are exiting only after a few years of service. Principals cite the long hours, low pay, and the stress of accountability as major reasons they are leaving the profession.…

A growing number of demographically diverse, globally-conscious students demand instant access and flexibility when it comes to formal learning. Institutions of higher education are hard pressed to respond, and often cling to old delivery methods and pedagogy. Learner-directed use of Web 2.0 applications to locate, organize, and evidence…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the influence a simulated virtual team learning experience had on business school students' leadership competencies. The researcher sought to discover the relationship between filling the leadership role in the simulated virtual environment and developing leadership competencies. A…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of principals leading schools noted for African American male achievement and examine the factors that led them to successful educational outcomes for this group of students. The research design is a phenomenological study that utilizes narrative inquiry through structured interviews and…

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to identify, investigate, and describe factors that contributed to the academic success of Phelps High School, a rural, isolated, Appalachian high school in Pike County Kentucky. The academic index of the school in 2000 was 48% and in a six year period the academic index of the school improved to 94%.…

An extensive research literature in education and psychology demonstrates positive effects of perspective-taking on various forms of learning. Until recently, perspective-taking has been limited to the mental simulation of how someone with different beliefs, knowledge, physical location, etc., perceives an object or event. Over the last decade…

The research for this study describes the organizational characteristics and the personnel behaviors distinctive to high-achieving rural school districts. A comparison between two rural school districts, one high-achieving and the other low-achieving was completed using a survey instrument. The Baldrige National Quality Program instrument was…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the principal in shaping a school culture that fostered academic achievement of students with high incidence disabilities. Research was conducted by means of a qualitative case study approach with data courses of informant interviews, parent focus group, observations of the daily workings of the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the reported level of special education knowledge of Utah charter school principals/directors. In order for charter schools to provide a learning environment that is accommodating, accepting, and promotes the success of children with special needs a systems change may be in order. For the change to be…

Approximately 50% of teachers leave the profession within five years. A disproportionate number of those who leave are secondary mathematics teachers. Teacher retirements, policy changes, teacher turnover, and teacher requirements contribute to the mass departure from the teaching profession. This phenomenological qualitative study examined…

Young people in Ghana who grow up in poverty and to families with little or no education endure limited early learning opportunities, underfunded educational systems, and more health and mental health problems compared to their peers from more privileged backgrounds. A significant body of literature addressing the relationship among risk,…

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the effects of a residential learning community and enrollment in an introductory engineering course to engineering students' perceptions of the freshman year experience, academic performance, and persistence. The sample included students enrolled in a large, urban, public, research university…

The purpose of this study was to promote an ethic of care and justice through the examination of the manifestations of whiteness within student affairs on a Jesuit Catholic university campus. To achieve this purpose a qualitative, exploratory case study was used to examine a student affairs division at Western Jesuit University (pseudonym), an…

This dissertation is a narrative study of the professional developmental experiences of women who were becoming clinical psychologists in midlife. The role of gender in professional identity development as described in gender socialization, the social construction of gender and developmental theories formed the conceptual basis for the study. I…

The contexts in which language teaching and learning occurs have changed significantly in the last decade. The challenges and opportunities inherent in these shifting contexts necessitate substantive changes in the typical practice of many world language educators. However, the "explain, train, and maintain" approaches commonly used in…