Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS OF COLOR: AN EXPLORATION OF TRENDS IN AND PREDICTORS OF REPRESENTATION, AND INFLUENCE ON SCHOOL-LEVEL OUTCOMES(2017) Green, Meghan Rebecca Finney; O'Neal, Colleen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)U.S. public schools are changing and becoming more diverse, but principals and educators are still largely White. As the number of students of color served by public schools grows, the continuing disparities in outcomes between students of color and their White counterparts is an area of increasing concern. Some research indicates that teachers of color may support positive outcomes for their students of color, but far less research examines principals of color, their representation, and their effect on student of color outcomes. This study aims to address this gap by exploring trends in the representation of principals of color, predictors of change from a White principal to a principal of color, and effects of change to a principal of color on student outcomes using three collection waves of Schools and Staffing Survey data (2003-2012). Descriptive analyses are used to explore the percentages of principals of color and change over time and in schools with different characteristics (e.g., SES level, size, etc.). Logistic regression is used to determine which school-level predictors significantly predict change from a White principal to a principal of color. Finally, schools that experienced change from a White principal to a principal of color are matched with “control” schools that experienced continuing White principals using propensity score matching, and ANCOVAs were completed to compare outcomes between the sets of schools. Results indicate that principals of color are still best represented in urban schools with high percentages of students and teachers of color and students receiving free and reduced meals. However, this trend is shifting with more principals of color serving in suburban schools with fewer students and teachers of color. The percentage of students of color predicts change from a White principal to a principal of color. While schools that experience change from a White principal to a principal of color have fewer suspensions than schools with continuing White principals, other school-level outcomes appear similar for the groups.Item Principal and Teacher Reports of Principal Leadership: An Examination of Congruence and Predictive Validity(2015) Green, Meghan Rebecca Finney; Strein, William O; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Principals influence school characteristics including morale and teacher turnover, but the utility of different methods of measuring principal behavior is unclear. Using data from public schools in the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, I examined relations between school-level teacher reports and principal self-reports of leadership, which better predicted student-reported rule clarity and fairness, and whether agreement or congruence between reports of principal leadership predicted school morale, organizational focus, and teacher turnover. The data used are from 263 schools and thousands of respondents; limitations of the study include the measures of principal leadership used, which are not strictly parallel and the age of the data used. I hypothesized that correlations between teacher and principal reports would be small and positive, that teacher reports of leadership would better predict rule clarity and fairness, and that congruence between reports would predict better school morale, better organizational focus, and lower teacher turnover.Item Walking the Labyrinth: Examining the Intersection of Spirituality Among Senior Student Affairs Administrators(2013) Riera, Jose-Luis; Jones, Susan R.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As senior student affairs administrators (SSAAs) seek to lead effectively in higher education, some SSAAs consider spiritual resources to enhance leadership practice. Yet, empirical literature on the intersection of spirituality and leadership in higher education is relatively absent and needs to be deepened and broadened. The purpose of this study was to examine the intersection of spirituality and leadership among SSAAs. Guided by a constructivist epistemology, this grounded theory included the following research questions: (1) what can be learned about how spirituality influences the leadership practices of SSAAs when the intersection of spiritual and leadership development is considered; (2) what are the critical influences on the process by which spirituality informs the leadership practices of SSAAs; (3) how, if at all, do the spiritually-guided leadership practices of the SSAAs in this study influence the organizational environments of their institutions; (4) how, if at all, are the spiritually-guided and value-laden leadership practices of the SSAAs in this study challenged by the socio-cultural environment of the academy pertaining to values, spirituality, and religiosity? Data sources included two interviews with a sample of 14 SSAAs. The grounded theory, Walking the Labyrinth: The Process of Leading with a Spiritual Orientation among Senior Student Affairs Administrators, emerged from the data analysis. One core category and four key categories emerged from data analysis. The core category, leading with a spiritual orientation, describes the pervasive nature of spirituality within the leadership process, and the relationships between spirituality, values, and leadership, which form a "core" that facilitates congruency in decision-making for spiritually-oriented SSAAs. The first key category, sustaining a spiritual outlook, describes how spiritually-oriented SSAAs develop a spiritual outlook on life and apply this outlook to their leadership. The next two key categories describe characteristics of leading with a spiritual orientation: catalyzing spirituality to maximize leadership capacity and prioritizing people in leadership practice. The last key category, "managing your identity": navigating the academy's socio-cultural environment describes the context for the process of leading with a spiritual orientation. This grounded theory has implications for future research and theory development, for SSAAs, and for student affairs practice.Item The Instructional Consultation Facilitator: A Job Analysis(2012) Vaganek, Megan Michelle; Rosenfield, Sylvia A; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teams have become a primary vehicle for problem solving and decision-making in schools, but research on team leaders in schools is weak. Instructional Consultation (IC) Teams is a team-based early intervention program aiming to improve student achievement through changes in teacher beliefs and enhancement of teacher practices. The leader, or IC Facilitator, is a driving force of the program, responsible for team training and maintenance. A job analysis, conducted using a review of IC literature and training materials (known as a content analysis) and interviews with 12 facilitators, resulted in a comprehensive list of statements regarding tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities and attributes, and performance standards that characterize the job. Interview-generated statements are consistent with those outlined in training materials. Facilitators in this study also reported participation in additional tasks, outside of the expected role. Implications for training and recruitment and, limitations and directions for future research were explored.Item Socially Responsible Leadership: The Role of Participation in Short-term Service Immersion Programs(2012) Skendall, Kristan Cilente; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between short-term service immersion programs (STSI), such as Alternative Spring Break (ASB), and socially responsible leadership as measured by the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS). Participation in STSI programs have been growing exponentially since 2006 (Bohn, 2009; Break Away, 2009, 2010). Despite the dramatic growth in STSI program participation, there is limited research on outcomes of STSI participation, particularly leadership capacities. This study provides insight into the profile of STSI program participants as well as promising findings as to the relationship between STSI participation and socially responsible leadership. The Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL) served as the dataset for this study. A sample of 9,553 seniors who indicated participation in leadership education and training programs was analyzed to understand the demographics of STSI participation as well as its relationship with socially responsible leadership. Using an adapted version of Astin's (1991, 1993) Inputs-Environments-Outcomes (IEO) college impact model as the conceptual framework for this study, three hypotheses were tested to assess the relationship between STSI participation and socially responsible leadership. Independent samples t-tests and one blocked, forced-entry, hierarchical regression were used to analyze data. Although the findings from this study did show that STSI participants scored higher on the socially responsible leadership outcome than those with no STSI, STSI participation did not significantly contribute to socially responsible leadership when controlling for pre-college variables, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and other environmental variables, which included: participation in community service, study abroad, internships, and socio-cultural conversations. Further analyses supported extant literature affirming a connection between community service participation and socially responsible leadership as well as the connection between participation in socio-cultural conversations and socially responsible leadership. Post hoc analyses exposed a relationship between STSI participation and higher scores on the socio-cultural conversation scale. Socially responsible leadership is influenced by the included environmental variables and more than 9% of the total variance explained in this study was explained by the high-impact practices (Kuh, 2009) included in the study. These findings fill a gap between research and practice and provide support for the development STSI programs on campus.Item A Case Analysis of a Model Program for the Leadership Development of Women Faculty and Staff Seeking to Advance Their Careers in Higher Education(2011) Calizo, Lee Scherer Hawthorne; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this case study was to explore a model of leadership development for women faculty and staff in higher education. This study is significant because it explored the only identified campus-based program open to both faculty and staff. The campus-based Women's Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) program at the University of Cincinnati evolved over a few years and became a regionally-based program subsequently called the Higher Education Collaborative (HEC). These two programs at the University of Cincinnati served as the foci of this case study research. Using methods consistent with case study research, I interviewed six past participants of the programs (three from each), plus the program coordinator, and several other campus administrators. Document reviews were conducted on marketing materials, progress reports, websites, budgets, status of women reports, and other documents found in university archives. A focus group was conducted with the primary informants of the study as a way to check identified themes with the participants. Findings suggest that elements of the leadership development programs did have influence on the participants in terms of their leadership self-efficacy, career aspirations and career paths. A comparison of the WILD and HEC programs suggest that the regionally-based HEC provided a solid opportunity for skill development and training, while the campus-based WILD program excelled at providing opportunities for participants to develop meaningful relationships and gain insights into the operations of the University. Participants in the HEC program engaged in the experience to learn about ways to advance in their careers, unlike the women in WILD who participated in order to be better in their current positions. WILD alumnae had changed positions, taking on more responsibilities and in some cases higher ranking titles since participating in the program. It was too soon to tell the career path implications for the HEC participants. Other universities wishing to create a pipeline for women to advance into leadership can learn from the University of Cincinnati. Elements of both the WILD and HEC programs serve as valuable models for creating effective leadership development opportunities for women. Making sure women understand the purpose of an all-women experience is an important component that was missing from the UC programs.Item A STUDY DETERMINING SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN TERRANOVA READING AND MATH SCORES BETWEEN EIGHTH GRADE AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN STUDENTS(2011) Smith, Barriett Jackson; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The participating school system's minority population, notably African Americans, ranked in the top five school systems in academic performance in reading and math when compared to other states and other African American populations across the United States. These measurements were taken from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether there was a significant achievement gap between races across system-wide assessments on a yearly basis. Results of the multivariate analyses of reading and mathematics scores indicated there were significant differences in both areas at the p <.05 level on the TerraNova, Third Edition. These significant differences lend support to the results of the NAEP testing in 2007 and again in 2009 that demonstrated the gap. Discussion of the implications of this gap for the school system was presented.Item EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLECTIVE RACIAL ESTEEM AND LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY AMONG ASIAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS(2011) Lee, Douglas Henri; Jacoby, Barbara; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explored whether collective racial esteem was a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for Asian American college students. The subjects of the study were undergraduate students from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership who identified as Asian and United States citizens. An aggregated Asian, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian/Pakistani samples were drawn from the MSL in order to study the diverse Asian American population. The aggregated Asian sample included all the ethnicities in addition to the three samples. The hypothesis was tested using a modified Input-Environment-Outcome model as an organizing framework and hierarchical multiple regression as the statistical method. Collective racial esteem was observed as a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for the aggregated Asian sample, the Chinese sample, and the Indian/Pakistani sample. The null hypothesis was rejected for these three samples. The null hypothesis failed to reject for the Filipino sample. The study's findings offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.Item EFFECTS OF A CO-TEACHING TEAMING PROGRAM ON THE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES OF HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS(2011) Bond, Stephen Phillip Gorton; Burke, Philip J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Co-teaching is widely used as an option in the delivery of special education services to students with disabilities in accordance with their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Students with learning disabilities frequently struggle in learning specific content areas, a factor representing a significant challenge to providing instruction in the least restrictive environment. Co-teaching is an option that serves to foster an instructional environment in the general education classroom that is inclusive and supportive of students with disabilities and those who require specialized assistance. It holds the potential to effectively combine the talents and skills of both the general and special education teacher, thus maximizing their ability to effectively teach students who present the most significant instructional challenges. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of a co-teaching program on the instructional practices of six high school teachers assigned to co-teach. A multiple probe design targeting the teaming behaviors across three dyads of teachers was used. The participating teachers were trained using the Teaming Instructional Procedures Program developed by the author and based on the teaming approach as outlined in Friend (2007). The classes were digitally audio recorded during baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions. The recordings were analyzed using time-sampling and a teaming behavior checklist to determine the occurrence of teaming behaviors by the special education teacher. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program positively impacted the teaming behaviors of the special educators. The occurrence of teaming behaviors increased for each dyad, with increases being sustained during maintenance probes. The educators found the training program useful and user friendly and indicated they would recommend the training to other co-teachers. Most teachers found the co-teaching teaming approach useful, if not ideal for every situation and reported improvements in student engagement and performance, with no reports of detrimental effects. Responses from students confirmed the majority enjoyed having two teachers in the room, and they believed their engagement and performance benefited from the situation. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program proved to be a socially valid means of training teachers to employ a specific co-teaching approach. The results of this study provide evidence to justify the allocation of time and resources to the formal training of teachers entering a co-teaching situation and the need for the development of a more comprehensive training program addressing more approaches to co-teaching.Item The Effects of a Systematic Training Package on Secondary Special Education Teachers to Teach Self-Determination Skills to Students with High Incidence Disabilites(2011) Bond, Marcy Beth; Kohl, Frances L.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There has been increased interest in and concern about the level of self-determination with which secondary students with disabilities leave high school. While educators acknowledge the importance of teaching such skills, researchers have documented a lack of self-determination instruction occurring in the secondary school setting. When teaching self-determination skills to students with disabilities, two barriers most frequently cited by educators are they feel unprepared to teach self-determination skills and they are unsure how to prepare students to be active participants in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process which determines a student's future. The purpose of this study was to determine whether secondary special education teachers could provide self-determination instruction to students with high incidence disabilities having been given systematic training opportunities. A multiple probe single subject design across three special education teachers was used. Teachers were systemically trained on the ChoiceMaker's Self-Directed IEP Curriculum™. Direct observation of self-determination instructional procedures were conducted across baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions for three teachers during self-contained secondary special education classroom settings. The results of the study confirmed the author's hypothesis that secondary special education teachers can effectively use the ChoiceMaker's Self-Direct IEP Curriculum™ to teach self-determination skills to students of high incidence disabilities after receiving systematic training. Furthermore, IEP committee members, including the students, parents, general educators, special educators, and administrators noted an increase in active student involvement and self-determined behavior at IEP meetings. The results contribute to the self-determination knowledge base addressing teachers' preparation and confidence in teaching self-determination skills to students with high incidence disabilities.