Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations

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    A PORTRAIT OF PARENTAL MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN A POSITIVE DISCIPLINE WORKSHOP
    (2010) Kee, Leslie A.; Mawhinney, Hanne B.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This qualitative research study describes and explores perceptions of 5 parents and their decisions to participate in the school-linked parent-education workshop, the Power of Positive Discipline, POPD. The parent-education workshop was offered at a diverse school in an east coast suburban school district. The methodology of portraiture was used to analyze and present parent participants' motivations. The interview questions were derived from a conceptual frame created by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997). The research revealed the parent participants' desired knowledge and expected benefits ultimately motivated the parent participants to attend the POPD workshop. Their desired knowledge and expected benefits were informed by a series of factors that revealed a cycle. The motivational cycle began with the parent participants' experiences, followed by their decisions to accept or reject what their experiences taught them. The decision to accept or reject what they learned informed the qualities they desired to possess as parents and the qualities they wanted their children to embody and exhibit. The qualities served as the foundation to what the parents wanted to know. The parent participants believed that having knowledge about how to achieve these desired qualities would yield specific benefits for their children. The knowledge the parent participants acquired validated their actions and served as motivation to attend future workshops on discipline. The act of attending the workshop became a part of the parents' experiences and contributed to the cyclical nature of parental motivation for participation in the POPD workshop.
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    The Role of Academic Space Management at Research Universities and Academic Medical Centers
    (2008) Watt, Catherine E; Schmidtlein, Frank A.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Facilities represent the greatest financial investment for most institutions, yet they remain largely ignored from a management perspective. Improving academic facilities information would provide institutional leaders with an additional tool to improve institutional planning and resource allocations. Academic Space Management (ASM) is a construct that suggests how space management can be more detailed, web-based, and utilized for planning and decision making. This project reports on a case study of three research-focused institutions and the institutions' interest in and use of space information. Results suggest the importance of senior leadership, trust among participants, the practical nature of the space database, and understanding the role that institutional culture plays.
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    An Analysis of One School District's Implementation of Professional Learning Communities in its Elementary Schools
    (2009) Smith, Myra Jean; Dudley, James J.; Parham, Carol S.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AN ANALYSIS OF ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S IMPLEMENTATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN ITS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Myra J. Smith, Doctor of Education, 2009 Dissertation directed by: Dr. James J. Dudley, Professor Emeritus Department of Education Leadership, Higher Education and International Education This mixed method study was designed to investigate the extent to which the professional learning community (PLC) program has been fully implemented in two groups of elementary schools in one county school district and whether that implementation has sustained a culture of a PLC in two groups of elementary schools. One group of elementary schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and the other group of schools achieved AYP through the provisions of safe harbor and/or the confidence interval. The study sought to assess the perceptions of elementary school principals, staff development teachers, and 5th grade team leaders from the two groups of schools regarding the five domains of the PLC: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice, and supportive conditions--relationships and structures (Huffman & Hipp, 2003). According to Hord (2004), the PLC domains are not isolated, but are intertwined as each dimension affects the other in practice. These data were gathered through the use of a survey to answer questions 1 through 3 and individual key informant interviews to answer the fourth research question. A survey instrument was sent to principals, staff development teachers and 5th grade team leaders from the two groups of elementary schools. The survey was designed to solicit their perception of the PLC implementation in their schools. The individual interviews were held with key district leaders. There was a statistically significant difference that favored principals and staff development teachers in the schools that achieved AYP and no statistical difference for 5th grade team leaders with respect to the five PLC domains. The researcher conducted a one-way analysis of variance of differences between principals, staff development teachers, and 5th grade team leaders' judgments of these leaders' perceptions of the five PLC leadership domains for both groups of schools. This study has implications for training, policy, and practice for elementary school principals and other leaders in the school. Hord (2004) suggested the principal is the key to the creation and existence of a PLC. This study provides a shared leadership model for principals and other leaders operating schools as high-performing professional learning communities. It is expected that this research will assist school districts in their efforts for district-wide reform.
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    Teacher Sense-making and Policy Implementation: A Qualitative Case Study of a School District's Reading Initiative in Science
    (2009) Quinn, John Rory; Mawhinney, Hanne; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In response to No Child Left Behind federal legislation and Maryland's Bridge to Excellence Act, a school district created a strategic plan that included a program initiative for improving reading in secondary schools. The initiative involved the implementation of Reading Apprenticeship, a program that required content teachers to infuse reading instruction into their practice by modeling reading behaviors and utilizing tools designed to promote metacognitive conversations with their students. This qualitative case study used a cognitive perspective to explore the sense-making of a team of middle school science teachers who received training and sought to implement the program in their instructional practice during the 2004-2005 school year. The findings revealed that policy implementation varied for the different members of the team and was adversely affect by other policies and resistance by students. At the same time, policy implementation was enhanced by teacher participation in the communities of practice associated with the initiative. Implications from the study advocate that school districts actively engage in sense-giving activities and support the communities of practice that are established when new policy measures are introduced. The study calls for further research on how students respond to policy initiatives and how they shape their teachers' sense-making. This study contributed to the sparse body of literature in this new field of education policy implementation research.
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    Teaching The Sacred: A Phenomenological Study of Synagogue-School Teachers
    (2009) Nagel, Louis Alan; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This dissertation is a hermeneutic phenomenological study of synagogue-school teachers of Jewish sacred text. The phenomenological question that orients this study asks, What is the lived experience of teaching sacred text in a Conservative synagogue-school? This study takes place in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. The writings of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Max van Manen, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Emmanuel Levinas, among others, orient the study philosophically and methodologically. This investigation of the challenge of making relevant to 21st century American youth an ancient tradition is grounded in sacred texts as well as the author's life experiences, and is metaphorically explored in the encounter with natural landscapes. Eight third through seventh grade synagogue-school teachers of Torah and Hebrew prayer are engaged in individual and group conversations to explore the personal meaning they make of their engagement in this service to the Jewish community. The review of recorded conversations, verbatim transcripts, essays, and notes taken during classroom observations reveal existential philosophic themes that are brought forward in the writings of Heidegger, Sartre, and Levinas. In particular, the existentials of being present, relationship, discourse, and the Other, emerge as powerful openings of the phenomenon in question. The narrative of this lived experience is the exercise of Buber's I-Thou relationship, one of profound moments of encounter with the sacredness of the text and of the student; time and timelessness; and boundaries to be respected, tested, and breached. At essence the synagogue-school teacher is seen as taking on the responsibility of perpetuating connection to a sacred community, acting in the role of both the prophet as teacher, best represented by Moses, and in maintaining connections that link to Biblical accounts of encounter with God and with divine messengers. Synagogue-school teachers are seen to demonstrate independence, genius, responsibility, and deep spirituality in a unique educational landscape. These teachers reveal the nature of the synagogue-school as an island of Jewish time, a period rich in engagement with community and sacred text, set in the synagogue environment. A challenge is for the learnings that take place in the synagogue-school to be extended to Being beyond the boundaries of that sacred space.
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    Exploring the relationship between school leadership and middle school mathematics achievement: an examination of leadership practices of principals
    (2008-04-22) McLeod, Nelson; Parham, Carol S; Weible, Thomas; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This mixed-method study was designed to investigate the extent to which leadership practices differ in middle schools identified as at risk of not meeting state standards in mathematics and in schools identified as meeting state standards in mathematics. This study sought to understand the school leadership practices of middle school principals. The theoretical framework of Powell (2004) guided this research project. Powell (2004) identified five domains of effective principal leadership behaviors and practices. According to Powell, these domains contribute to effective school leadership. The domains include: (1) vision, mission, and culture; (2) curriculum and classroom instruction; (3) collaboration and shared leadership; (4) family and community involvement, and (5) effective management. Powell (2004) designed a survey and interview questions based on the five domains. These data were gathered through the use of a survey and focus groups to answer the four research questions. A survey instrument was mailed to 33 principals, 33 mathematics resource teachers and 190 teachers from 15 middle schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in mathematics and 18 middle schools at risk of not making AYP in mathematics. The survey was designed to solicit judgments about school leadership behaviors. Focus group interviews were held with principals, mathematics resource teachers and mathematics teachers to identify curricular issues between the two types of schools. These data provided insight regarding successful leadership practices for schools meeting standards in mathematics. The descriptive and inferential analysis identified few mean differences between principals, mathematics resource teachers, and mathematics teachers across Powell's five domains in the two groups of schools studied. The researcher conducted a one-way analysis of variance within each group of schools. Results showed very few differences between principals, mathematics resource teachers, and mathematics teachers in schools meeting state standards. There were important differences between principals and mathematics teachers in the at-risk schools. This study has training and practice implications for middle school principals. It provides a shared leadership model for identifying leadership practices in mathematics. It is expected that this research will assist school systems in their efforts to support state accountability efforts.
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    A Narrative Analysis of Four African American Women's Work Experiences Across Four Diverse Fields and the Meaning Constructed at the Intersection of Race and Gender
    (2007-12-10) Saunders, Elnora V.; Mawhinney, Hanne B.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    African American women have been disparaged in the workplace because of their embodied characteristics - race and gender. It is a little understood phenomenon how African American women have put forth the public agency to become pioneers in the workforce within this context. The purpose of this study is to explore how African American women, who are perceived as pioneers within the workforce of banking, education, law, and organized religion, construct self-defined standpoints. The study is guided by the research question - what do the narratives of African American women, who work in the domains of banking, education, law, and organized religion, reveal about how they construct meanings of self-valuation, self-definition, and standpoint from their workplace experiences? The compatible methods of constructivism, feminist interpretive, and narrative inquiry research are employed to collect the data. Four professional African American women comprise the purposeful sampling. The participants construct and articulate self-described workplace experiences, which they consider discriminatory or oppressive at the intersection of race and gender, and their responses to the experiences. The 60-90 minute dialogic interview sessions were recorded and transcribed. Excerpts from the text were coded, identified according to emerging themes and categories, and reconstructed to reflect the described experience. Analyses and interpretation of the reconstructed statements were accomplished, using narrative analysis, constant comparison analysis, and a qualitative data analysis software. The findings reveal: 1. An emerging pattern illustrates one way that the four African American women develop a self-defined standpoint (worldview). 2. The participants expose religion/spirituality, role models, and mentors as the components of their support systems. 3. None of the four participants commits acts of public activism to address incidents of discrimination or oppressive structures at their job sites. 4. The relationship between the experiences of the Black women leaders and their consciousness is reciprocal; experiences and consciousness inform each other. 5. The four participants link aspects of their self-valuation and self-definition to their leadership attributes. 6. Participants speak in terms of how they 'felt' when they describe their experiences related to discrimination and oppression. Yet, race consciousness appears to be more intense than gender consciousness.
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    A Case Study of the Influence of Family on First-Generation College Students' Educational Aspirations Post High School
    (2007-11-26) Acker-Ball, Shawna Lynn; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study is to examine how factors in the home environment (hereby referred to as habitus) (Bourdieu, 1977) impact the educational aspirations of first-generation college students who are participants in an academic achievement program designed to meet the needs of first-generation and underrepresented students (Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program). This study examined family characteristics such as educational and cultural practices, academic awareness, social class position and parental expectations to determine if they have an impact on student aspirations. The primary research question to guide this study is, "What is the influence of family on first-generation college students' educational aspirations post high school?" This study sought to determine how families that were from traditionally underrepresented populations (low SES, ethnic minorities, single parent home, etc.) in post-secondary education were able to influence the aspirations of their children to attendcollege. Put differently, the study sought to understand the amount of exposure that each student had to the collegiate experience, the arts, financial information, and other cultural and social events. This study focused on what happened in the homes of the participants that provided the requisite skills, attitudes and behaviors that would serve as a source of motivation to aspire to college.
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    Supports for Principals' Sensemaking: Lessons from the Institute for Learning's Instructional Leadership Program in Baltimore, Maryland
    (2007-11-21) Ikemoto, Gina Schuyler; Honig, Meredith I; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Current federal, state, and local policies increase demands on school principals to take an active role in leading instructional improvement within their schools. For many principals "instructional leadership" (IL) represents a fundamentally new set of knowledge, skills, and practices. Accordingly, principals need assistance in engaging in IL. However, research on IL and principal professional development generally has not elaborated what such assistance might entail or how to implement it. This study addresses this research gap. First, it frames the problem of assisting principals' engagement in IL as in part a challenge of supporting their sensemaking about what IL involves and how to exercise it in ways relevant to their local contexts. Then it elaborates how concepts from socio-cultural learning theory help reveal features of assistance that support such sensemaking processes. Data come from an in-depth case study of the Institute for Learning's (IFL's) Instructional Leadership Program (ILP) in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) and include interviews, observations, and artifacts. The ILP provided an important case for this inquiry because it deliberately aimed to support principals' sensemaking about IL as a cornerstone of its strategy for engaging a cohort of seventeen elementary school principals in IL. Findings reveal that the extent to which the IFL actually supported principals' sensemaking was inhibited by such district conditions as limited time and resources and political distractions. Despite these conditions, principals responded to some IL ideas in ways that reflect reformers' intentions. Principals were more likely to do so when the ILP offered several different types of support for their sensemaking and less likely to do so when the ILP offered a limited number supports for their sensemaking. When the ILP provided a moderate number of different supports for sensemaking, principals' responses to the ideas tended to be more varied; in those cases, other factors including district conditions, school conditions, and principal background seemed to influence their responses more strongly than supports provided by the ILP. Implications address how policymakers, professional development providers, and researchers can support principals' engagement in IL.
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    Exploring the Relationship Between Moral Reasoning and Students' Understanding of the Honor Code at the University of Maryland
    (2007-08-03) Goodwin, Andrea Corradini; Milem, Jeffrey F; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: Exploring the Relationship Between Moral Reasoning and Students' Understanding of the Honor Code at the University of Maryland Andrea Corradini Goodwin, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed By: Jeffrey F. Milem, Ph.D. Department of Education Policy and Leadership This mixed methods study explored the relationship between moral reasoning and students' understanding of the honor code at the University of Maryland. The Defining Issues Test, version 2 (DIT2) was administered to 400 students residing in University housing in order to assess students' level of moral reasoning. Based on their scores on the DIT2, students were divided into three groups; those who scored high, medium, and low. Fifteen students were purposefully selected to participate in qualitative interviews to explore their understanding of the honor code. Data from the individual interviews illustrated that students understood the honor code in various ways including how they made meaning of the honor code, how they interpreted the honor code, and their attitudes towards the honor code. Specifically students at the highest level of moral reasoning believed that the honor code was common sense and therefore did not differentiate between the honor code and the honor pledge because the principle of academic dishonesty is evident in both. Students who scored in the middle of the other two groups believed that students' behavior was influenced by their values and judged the morality of actions by comparing their actions to actions that were socially acceptable. They focused on the importance of following the honor code because of its importance to the community. Finally, students who scored lowest on the DIT2 believed that the honor code was necessary so that students would not cheat. The meaning they made of the honor code was based on the honor code as a set of rules. They defined right behavior, in this case following the honor code, by what was in their own best interest. Students' attitudes toward cheating also emerged as a result of the analysis of the interview with students. Despite the differences found between students in this study, there were several findings that were consistent across all three groups of students. Students in the study had a favorable attitude toward the honor code and reported that they did not engage in academic dishonesty while in college. However, students in all three groups reported that they did not believe that the honor code directly impacted their behavior or the behavior of their peers at the University. They believed that faculty and peer behavior were more influential in their decisions regarding academic integrity than the honor code. Students in the study were reluctant to report their peers for academic dishonesty and many of the students focused on the importance of grades.