Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, History

Local civil rights organizations of Columbus, Ohio, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Columbus Urban League, and the Teenage Action Group, served as the engine for urban educational reform in the mid 1960s. Activists challenged the Columbus School District to create equality of educational opportunity for its black residents. But civil rights groups ran up against a socially conservative city and school district that had little interest in dismantling the unequal neighborhood school system. Racial tensions ran high as African Americans faced persistent discrimination in employment, access to public accommodations, housing, and schooling. Frustrated by an intransigent district, which spurned even moderate reforms proposed by the NAACP and continued with its unequal school construction policy, the Columbus Urban League presented a radically democratic proposal in 1967. The document reimagined the image of the city by simultaneously challenging both racial and class-based barriers, primarily through the concept of the educational park—large K-12 campuses consisting of centralized resources and thousands of students. The school board snubbed this new civil rights initiative as they had with all previous proposals and instead commissioned a report by the Ohio State University in 1968. The OSU Advisory Commission on Problems Facing the Columbus Public Schools presented incremental, targeted reforms to specific issues only and thus perpetuated the district's traditional resistance to reform. In essence, by drawing on legitimized social science professionals, the district manufactured support to maintain the city's historical unequal school system. In the end, although Columbus was a relatively economically stable city and did not experience the deindustrialization of its rustbelt brethren, meaningful school reform proved impossible despite the best efforts of several civil rights orga (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steven Conn PhD (Advisor); Daniel Amsterdam PhD (Committee Member); Kevin Boyle PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; American History; Black History; Education History; Education Policy; Land Use Planning; Public Policy; School Finance; Urban Planning

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

The intent of this qualitative critical incident study was to explore the interpretation of equity by White equity-trained suburban educators (WETSE) and minoritized parents (MP) in a Midwestern suburban school district to address and change inequitable student outcomes. WETSE and MP participated independently in focus groups. The research design used critical incident technique (CIT) as the methodology; focus groups as the data collection tool; and thematic analysis (TA) as the analytical tool. Zones of Mediation (ZONE) and Transformative Leadership Theory (TLT) were used to distill and categorize the research findings. WETSE and MP established an agreement on four themes thought to represent impediments to achieving equity in schools (implicit bias, White privilege, diversity, and power). Two divergent themes (WETSE—deficit thinking and MP—stereotyping) and one emergent theme (Equity Training) were generated. The singular stand-alone theme, assimilation, was a complete outlier, and it was generated by MP. All themes were categorized as “normative” or “political” elements of ZONE, demonstrating that technical changes are disconnected from WETSE and MP equity perspectives. Transformative leadership theory (TLT) is composed of eight tenets. WETSE and MP prioritized two of the eight tenets as essential to achieving equity. These findings indicate that changing mindsets (tenet #2) and redistributing power in more equitable ways (tenet #3) are central to achieving equitable school conditions. This study contributes to existing, albeit minimal, literature detailing longitudinal equity training's effectiveness at deconstructing beliefs and ideologies of White equity-trained suburban teachers and comparing them to minoritized parents' interpretation of equity using critical incidents. There is a disconnect between this study's findings and what researchers and practitioners are doing to achieve equitable school outcomes. This dissertation is available in open access at AUR (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Ladkin Ph.D (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre Ph.D (Committee Member); Carolyn M. Shields Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Education History; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Educational Leadership

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed in 2002 was the "most extraordinary expansion of federal power over public schools in American history" (Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). NCLB had two major impacts on educational policy. First, it legitimized and strengthened the federal government's role in both influencing and regulating state and local compliance with educational policy mandates. Second, it codified student performance on content-specific standardized tests as the most reliable and valid measure of how well those who lead and teach in public schools are preparing students for the workforce (Bracey, 2009; Pinar, 2012; Schneider, 2017; Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). Without much public debate, and no longer questioned, performance metrics reduce the purpose of schooling to raising test scores and preparing students for the workforce (Eisner, 2001; Pinar, 2012; McDermott, 2011; Schneider, 2017). NCLB also set in motion market-based reforms expanding school choice options which threaten the very sustainability of public education (Bracey, 2009; Manna, 2007; Pinar 2012; Schneider, 2017). Anderson and Cohen (2018) have suggested that we are a pivotal moment where it is possible to move into a post-reform era which should be led by educators to reclaim their professional agency and the legitimacy of public schooling by decentering performance accountability as the primary driver of educational policy. This interpretivist, case study was comprised of five district superintendents from central Ohio who participate in a collaborative group called the Hart County Design Team (HCDT). The study found that participating in the HCDT collaborative facilitated the ability of the superintendents to engage in leadership practices to counter, not just resist, the impacts of performance accountability on their professional agency, the districts they lead, and the communities they serve. The HCDT functioned as an alliance that created a space where the group could discuss shared va (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member); Joel Malin (Committee Member); Brian Schultz (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine how charter school authorizers conceptualize and navigate policy implementation as intermediary organizations. Through a phenomenological multi-site case study design, fifteen Ohio charter school authorizing staff across three organizations shared the ways in which they operate, navigate policy, access resources, and respond to the use of incentives and penalties in policy. With Honig's (2004) theory of intermediary organizations as a conceptual framework, I explore the role of charter school authorizers as mediating actors of state-level policy. Three major findings are shared: 1) while charter school authorizers largely conceptualize their roles to be innovators and gatekeepers, the demands of policy requires them to be more; 2) authorizers rely heavily on the state-issued performance rubric in determining their organizational priorities; and 3) authorizers access a variety of organizational processes and resources in navigating policy implementation. Additionally, findings indicate that authorizers are generally unresponsive to the promises of incentives but do modify behavior to prevent the receipt of penalties. The dissertation concludes with a discussion on the isomorphic pressures of policy on organizational structure, implications for stakeholders, and recommendations for future research.

Committee: Karen Beard (Advisor); Belinda Gimbert (Advisor); James L. Moore III (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Urban Educational Leadership

This study examined the unique partnership between Midwest Community College and Urban Public Schools' Urban Career Technical High School. The Urban Technical High School (UTHS) is designed to provide students interested in Tech Prep education a clear pathway from high school to college. Through collaboration, services were provided to assist high school students in addressing remediation needs, accessing college credit before high school graduation, and maintaining a college admission track. This study corroborates the findings in the literature. The stages of negotiation, as outlined by Gray (1989) were evident in the development of this partnership. The activities delineated in the problem setting stage, design stage, and implementation stages were discussed by the participants. Gray's conceptualization of the Negotiated Order Theory deals with the process elements of inter-institutional collaboration. Factors that motivate organizations to collaborate include declining productivity (declining achievement), economic and technological change (change in industry and employment needs) blurred boundaries (increased partnership to align curriculum), and shrinking funding (reduction of federal, state, and local funding). Issues of motivation, power, and influence are stated as factors that influence the movement through stages. These issues were verified as influences on the negotiation process. In spite of these issues, the perceived benefits and challenges, as revealed by the participants, provide a useful starting point for others interested in engaging in a similar strategic partnership.

Committee: James Koschoreck PhD (Committee Chair); Monica Posey EdD (Committee Member); Mary Brydon-Miller PhD (Committee Member); Roger Collins PhD (Committee Member); Nancy Evers PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Community Colleges

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Education : Educational Studies

Charter schools are the fastest growing reform effort in American educational history. In 1997, during the 122nd General Assembly, Ohio charter school legislation was passed. In Ohio public charter schools are known as community schools and in 2008 there are 315 of these schools with 76, 967 students enrolled. In Cincinnati there are currently 27 community schools. This dissertation is a socio-historical case study of an urban public community school in Cincinnati. It describes and details parent, superintendent, and sponsor representative perspectives in order to determine their interests. Interview responses were used to extract the educational goals, methodologies, and desired outcomes of the three aforementioned parties concerning youth attending Urban Public Community School. They were then critically analyzed using Derrick Bell's Interest-Convergence Principle as both a lens from which to view African-American educational history in Cincinnati (1950 to present) and as an application. This involved comparing and contrasting the points of view of interviewees to determine where their interests converged and where they diverged. Analysis revealed that the primary point of interests-convergence was that parents, the superintendent, and sponsor agreed that alternative options to traditional public education were necessary. Parents and the superintendent stated that the incorporation of culture and history in students…#8482; learning processes as necessary, where as the sponsor representative does not mention them. However, the superintendent and sponsor emphasized the importance of standardized test scores whereas, several parents felt that there was an overemphasis on passing standardized tests.

Committee: Leo Krzywkowski (Committee Chair); Roger Collins PhD (Committee Chair); Mark Gooden PhD (Committee Chair); Patricia O'Reilly PhD (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: African Americans; Education History; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Sociology; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, EDU Policy and Leadership

This phenomenological case study explored the experiences of 5 transformation coaches who led the implementation of a federal school improvement grant at four urban high schools in a public school district in the southern United States. The knowledge generated from this inquiry provided new insight into the role of the transformation coach. The research question driving this study was: What is the lived experience of the transformation coach during the first year of implementation of the transformation intervention model? Naturalistic inquiry was used to collect qualitative data through semi-structured interviews and document analysis including researcher field notes and learning community agendas. The data were explicated using open codes and memoing, then categorically coded leading to the identification of 5 themes represented as tensions: formal vs. informal authority; ambiguity vs. clarity of expectations; closed vs. open relationships; vision vs. reality; and turnaround vs. instructional leadership. The interpretation of these themes revealed 5 assertions that captured the experiences of the transformation coaches: (1) Holding a position of formal authority yet protected from conducting teacher evaluations is necessary for transformation coaches to provide receptive support and feedback to teachers; (2) Clear expectations and ongoing professional learning experiences are necessary for the preparation, support and alignment of transformation coaches; (3) Establishing strong, open, trusting relationships with teachers and students is essential for transformation coaches to overcome resistance to change and move the turnaround initiative forward; (4) A high degree of administrative and managerial skills including prioritization, documentation, and multi-tasking are required of transformation coaches to effectively and efficiently meet the demands of the school improvement grant; and (5) Instructional and turnaround leadership responsibilities are shared by trans (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Belinda Gimbert PhD (Advisor); Helen Marks PhD (Committee Member); Anika Anthony PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Educational Leadership; School Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, EDU Policy and Leadership

The purpose of this study was to describe Discovery Valley High School (DVHS) participants' involvement in the appreciative inquiry (AI) process to discover their positive core highpoint school-related experiences and how they use these highpoint experiences to develop a compelling vision of learning and teaching for the future. An embedded qualitative case study was used to tell a story of seven students, one administrator, one school counselor, and four teachers's involvement in the AI process. As a theoretical research perspective and methodology, AI was used because it brings an affirmative approach and the generative capacity for participants to interact and collaborate with each other (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005; Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2002a). An AI methodology typically involves four stages: Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny. For the purposes of this study, participants engaged with each other through the first two stages (Discovery and Dream). They shared stories of past highpoint experiences, talked of what they value in themselves and their school, and shared their dreams for the future of DVHS. Their involvement in the study resulted in their personal commitments to advance their compelling vision to create excellence in learning and teaching at DVHS. Participants shared personal stories throughout the study. Their stories were collected in the form of semi-structured paired interviews, focus groups, field notes resulting from direct observation, and through my role as a participant-observer (Yin, 2009). Data were analyzed using content analysis, thematic coding, pattern matching, and text analysis software (Glesne, 2006; Somekh and Lewin, 2005). This analysis led to two salient findings: (1) Stakeholders discovered a high level of bridging social capital between the teachers and students at DVHS, (2) Stakeholders discovered that there is a high level of resiliency among students at DVHS. Teachers and students in this study demonstrated high (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Raymond Calabrese EdD (Committee Chair); Antoinette Errante PhD (Committee Member); Maryanna Klatt PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Social Work

The importance of the principal has been found to be a critical factor in student and school success. School principal responsibilities traditionally encompass operations and management. However, many principals are unable to fulfill these expectations because of students' social and behavioral issues. Consequently, this qualitative study explored principals' perceptions, experiences, and resources needed to address non-academic barriers to learning. Tape-recorded semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, and a demographic questionnaire provided the sources for data collection. The purposive sample was comprised of 19 principals from urban and suburban schools. Grounded-theory methods and a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software program were used to analyze data. Following data analysis, four major themes emerged: (1) the hustle; (2) support from home; (3) it-factor; and (4) student baggage. Additionally, three sub-themes emerged: (a) relationship building; (b) the need for additional pupil-support services; and (c) university training. The findings revealed that principals believe that specific resources are needed to address non-academic barriers to learning, including: (1) additional pupil-support staff; (2) more parental involvement to bridge home to school; (3) collegiate courses on non-academic barriers; and(4)educator training on rapport-building skills. The results of this study provide information for educators to identify gaps in knowledge preparation to work more effectively with students and families. The results also inform educators of pupil-support service staff of appropriate methods for combating non-academic barriers to learning and providing resources in schools. This study is beneficial for school social workers for understanding the needs of education administrators, resource service gaps in school systems, and avenues to advocate for change with education reform policies. Recommendations for school social work re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gilbert Greene PhD (Advisor); Mo Yee Lee PhD (Committee Member); Antoinette Miranda PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; School Administration; Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Educational Studies: Hums, Science, Tech and Voc

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the roles of school counselors and the participation of students in CTE programs using data from an extensive survey of high schools in New Jersey. The roles of school counselors defined as the goals and activities they provided. Their activities were consisted of four areas: career services, post-secondary education selections, school and personal problems, and academic services. In addition, the extent to which specific subgroups of school settings, such as socio-economic status of school, school type, and school size and the characteristics of school counselors. This study is based on data from 401 high schools in New Jersey. The survey data for the study came from New Jersey state project, Profile and evaluation of career and technical education in New Jersey high schools. The project used four sources of data: administrative data (New Jersey high school report card, vocational education data system), mail survey of high school principals, and mail survey of high school counselors. The results of the study show that the goal of job placement promoted the outcomes of CTE and effectively impacted the services of school counselors associated with enrollment in CTE. Second, in the case of their activities the career and academic services enhanced the outcomes of CTE. The service of school and personal problems also is related to improve the outcomes of CTE. This study provides several significant implications for future study and the professional development of scholars, educators, and policy makers regarding career and technical education, career development, and workforce development. The first is high schools need to clarify the roles of school counselors. The second is that schools might need to arrange school counselor's roles to improve CTE outcomes with understanding their evolving roles in changing socio-economic surroundings. The third is that high schools should consider the district's c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joshua Hawley EdD (Advisor); Christopher Zirkle PhD (Committee Member); Christopher Wood PhD (Committee Member); David Stien PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2010, Educational Leadership

Although most high schools espouse school-wide literacy initiatives, few schools place equal emphasis on numeracy, or quantitative literacy. This lack of attention to quantitative skills is ironic in light of documented deficiencies in student mathematics achievement. While significant research exists regarding best practices for mathematics teaching, little research exists around best practices for leadership that supports student mathematics achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore a possible connection between school leaders‘ mathematics background and student mathematics achievement. Specifically, the study explores the potential importance of principals‘ attitudes and beliefs about mathematics, as well as knowledge of mathematics, as they impact a principal‘s ability to lead mathematics reform initiatives (i.e. the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). The study focuses on students and administrators at secondary schools. The study used mixed methods, employing quantitative research (survey questionnaire, data-base analysis) and qualitative research (interviews). The survey was administered to Ohio principals participating in the High Schools That Work (HSTW) network. Eight survey respondents participated in follow-up interviews focusing on indicators of mathematics program success and mathematics teacher strength, as well as emphasis on numeracy across the curriculum. While the study did not yield significant correlations directly linking a principal‘s background to student achievement data, interviews conducted in conjunction with the statistical analysis did produce interesting results. Findings include insights into how a principal‘s mathematical background impacts his/her approach to mathematics program evaluation and mathematics teacher evaluation. Principal interviews offered insights into views on equal access to rigorous mathematics courses, perceptions of emphasis on numeracy, and perspectives on the importance of content knowledg (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sally Lloyd Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Frances Fowler Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Steven Thompson Dr. (Committee Member); Kate Rousmaniere Dr. (Committee Member); Iris Johnson Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Mathematics Education; School Administration

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2010, College of Education

This study compares the succession of urban principals working under negotiated collective bargaining agreements and conferred “memorandums of understanding” with particular school boards in three of Ohio's major cities: Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo. Relying on the following information: tenure, licensure status, professional experience, and gender, as predictive indicators of individual principal movement, isolating common factors of those moved over a five year period, utilizing the Ohio Department of Education public access data base as the primary source of information to verify stability as one advantage of collective bargaining.

Committee: Harold Wilson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ann Shelly Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Larry Cook Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Shelly Ph.D. (Committee Member); James Van Keuren Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: School Administration

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2010, Leadership and Change

This dissertation examines the history and impact of color-blind educational reform in the post-Brown era on racial inequality of educational opportunities and outcomes in America's public schools. Through the lens of critical race theory and race critical theory, the dissertation employs a dual analysis. A macro analysis of the evolution and impact of colorblind educational reform on the national level is juxtaposed with a micro, case-study analysis of the history of color-blind educational reform at a historically Black high school. The historical analysis of the relationship between race and education encompasses intellectual and social aspects of education in the U.S. during the pre-Brown era, however, this dissertation's primary interest is on the past forty years, 1970 to the present. The dissertation draws on the work of traditional critical race scholars, critical race theorists in education, and critical theory pedagogues. Largely informed by document and policy evidence, the aim of the macro analysis is to reconstruct the history of education in the U.S. from a race-critical perspective. While archival evidence is very important to the microanalysis, the locus of analysis at the micro level centers on the narrative, antenarrative, microstoria, and lived experiences of the people most closely associated with the case study. By making the people its focus, the dissertation uncovered nuanced understandings and submerged interpretations that provide valuable insight into the relationship between race, education, and educational reform in the African American community. The resulting narrative exposed the racialized oppression of color-blind educational reform and the effects of internalized racism, and suggested the need for a counterhegemonic culture and emancipatory pedagogy in predominantly African American schools, thus revealing hopeful possibilities in the development of a race-critical twenty-first century conscientization. The electronic version of thi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Heather Andrea Williams PhD (Committee Member); George W. Noblit PhD (Other) Subjects: African Americans; American History; Black History; Education; Education History; History; School Administration; Secondary Education; Teaching; Vocational Education

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

School reform has long been a challenge in public education, with limited focus on the leadership qualities essential for successful reform implementation. This dissertation examined the role and impact of transformational leadership in navigating educational reform efforts within Ohio's school districts. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive study, it focused on the experiences and strategies of long-standing school district leaders. Participants included a diverse group of school leaders who have been instrumental in implementing reform initiatives. Through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, the study uncovered how these leaders describe and implement mandated reform efforts, highlighting the challenges and successes encountered. Results reveal key strategies for effective change management, emphasizing the importance of visionary leadership and community engagement. The conclusions drawn from this research offer valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and future leaders in education reform.

Committee: Jane Beese Ed.D. (Advisor); Charles Jeffords Ed.D. (Committee Member); Jake Protivnak Ph.D. (Committee Member); Patrick O'Leary Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership

EDD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Health Sciences

Scripted/narrowed curricula are tangled in the webs of school reforms and standardization. Teachers are experiencing a monumental challenge: the deprofessionalization of their roles as educators. I sought teachers' understandings of how scripted/narrowed curricula impact their curriculum autonomy, specifically, their professional responsibility and pedagogical artistry. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from K–12 public educators in Rhode Island using an adapted Curriculum Autonomy Survey and Curriculum Autonomy interviews. I analyzed the quantitative data using descriptive and inferential statistics, which provided a broader picture of the experiences of Rhode Island educators faced with teaching scripted/narrowed curricula, and a second group emerged: teachers who develop their own curricula. Interview questions asked teachers to reflect on their experiences with the curriculum. By coding and conducting thematic analysis, I analyzed the interview transcripts, and multiple themes emerged after the data proved consistent across the survey and interview. Teachers using scripted/narrowed curricula are experiencing a loss of their curriculum autonomy. Their professional responsibility is being challenged because they are no longer stakeholders in the curricular and pedagogical decisions or curriculum changes for their content areas. This lack of decision-making has led to questioning the equity of curricula and questioning the breadth and depth of subjects and topics in curricula. These educators are facing challenges to pedagogical artistry, meaning they cannot modify/accommodate student needs or create lessons to promote cultural and social learning opportunities, and they have felt a loss of creativity in building lessons to ensure students are learning skills to be citizens of the world.

Committee: Scott Courtney (Committee Chair) Subjects: Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Elementary Education; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

This dissertation presents a study of the gap between the “market story” that has been leveraged to justify market-based reforms, specifically charter schooling, in American public education and the process through which actually existing market-style arrangements are accomplished in their local contexts. In three separate articles, one theoretical and two based on an empirical case study, I problematize narratives that naturalize the formation of markets by addressing the unrealistic assumptions of the undergirding neoclassical economic theory and attending to the complicated, effortful political and technological work that goes into reformatting a city's educational infrastructure into something that approximates a market for schools. The case that provides the empirical grounding for my latter two articles is a study of Indianapolis educational reform over the past two decades, with a specific focus on the role of a local nonprofit called the Mind Trust. In the first article, I trace the origins of the market concept in the field of neoclassical economics and identify a set of attendant theoretical assumptions that are invoked when framing social arrangements as markets. Given that these assumptions can be readily observed to diverge from empirical reality, I argue that educators and educational researchers can understand the market as a normative rather than descriptive concept. In the second article, I analyze the early stages of school choice market-making in Indianapolis with a focus on the construction of an alternative governing coalition of actors that match the capabilities and functions of the traditional schooling infrastructure. I find that network-building is as important to the implementation of market-based policies as it is in the process of getting these policies passed. In the third article, I reframe markets as sociotechnical constructions and analyze several key market-making technologies that support the accomplishment of a market-like stru (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jan Nespor (Advisor); Bryan Warnick (Committee Member); Ann Allen (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

This dissertation used interpretive case study methodology focused on the story of rebuilding the national education system of Afghanistan destroyed by decades of conflict. The study documents the challenges and progress in preparing adequate and qualified teachers for the nation. The dissertation is based on critical analysis of available documents tracing events, policies, and programs. The research asks: What are the critical leadership strategies and organizational frameworks that promote or impede institutional change? What are the barriers to change in teacher education in a conservative Islamic society? The dissertation is unique in that this story of educational intervention in a small war-torn, socially fragmented, and politically fractured nation is documented by a participant observer who is both of the nation and from the nation. The study records the steps and missteps of the changes and leadership processes implemented by both international donor-advisors and national leaders to restore education to Afghanistan in a critical contemporary time. The story encompasses many aspects of education in Afghanistan, past and present, including urgent efforts to fulfill the promise of the new Constitution for universal nondiscriminatory and free education for all, not only of a population in residence but of the masses returning from exile expecting schools for their children. The central core of the dissertation is a focus on the national effort to recruit and train teachers, competent in subject knowledge and teaching methods. A basic and recurring theme is the education of girls and women and their role in this society. Although gender equity is a priority theme through the dissertation, the central message of the dissertation is the evolution of teacher training. This story is framed against the larger picture of historical traditions, the disruptions of conflict, and recent overall national education reconstruction, expansion, and reform. The record of cult (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Edna Mitchell PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Teacher Education

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, Geography

Neoliberalism has dramatically altered the landscape of urban education, in which public education is increasingly governed by private operators and market logics, facilitating the closing of 'failing' public schools and implicating education reform in broader processes of neoliberal urbanism. In 2004, Chicago's Board of Education launched 'Renaissance 2010' (Ren2010), a neoliberal reform which intended to revitalise the city's public schools, yet resulted in the disproportionate closure of neighbourhood schools in African American communities. This thesis employs Critical Discourse Analysis guided by Critical Race Theory to examine the dominant and counter discourses of Ren2010, by identifying how changes to educational opportunities are differentially framed and characterised by key stakeholder groups, prioritising the lived experiences and counter-stories of the African American community of Bronzeville. This research reveals how the Bronzeville community successfully disrupted neoliberal education reform and recontextualised the dominant discourse by invoking narratives of spatialised inequality and framing school closings as a racialised attack on the community. Critically, through the expansion of their spaces of engagement, the community rescaled the politics of Renaissance 2010 and situated the local injustice of an historic African American community in the national conversation on the fight for educational justice.

Committee: Damon Scott PhD (Advisor); Marcia England PhD (Committee Member); Denise Taliaferro Baszile PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Geography

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, to examine teacher and principal perceptions of three constructs: Superintendent Visionary Leadership, Digital Learning Vision, and Digital Learning Culture. Secondly, to examine the relationship between district academic performance and three constructs. This was a quantitative study that examined teachers and principals perceptions from 78 Ohio public schools with a total of 1244 individuals who participated in the study. This study used two questionnaires for data collection: an assessment of superintendent leadership indicators derived from the Ohio Standards for Superintendents (2008) and the Future Ready Gear Assessment for Empowered, Innovative Leadership (Collaborative Leadership, n.d.) derived from the Future Ready Framework. Descriptive statistics were conducted on the total scores for the Ohio Superintendent on visionary leadership, vision for digital learning, and culture of digital learning. Multiple Linear Regressions were conducted to examine the hypothesized relationship between district performance level and superintendent vision and digital learning. Regression analyses revealed that high performing districts was a significant predictor of teachers and principals perceptions of superintendent vision. The results also have important educational implications for current superintendents, boards of education, state organizations, and higher education institutions. The results provide guidance and support in the area of visionary leadership in the 21st century. This issue will continue to be increasingly pertinent if digital learning is a key to creating student-centered learning environments, which in turn is an integral component of transforming schools from the antiquated “factory model” to schools of tomorrow.

Committee: Rosemary Gornik Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Leadership Studies

The minority and socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement have brought much focus to urban schools; and while many efforts have been implemented to close these gaps, the discrepancies in academic outcomes remain, as existing research confirms. This study analyzes the impact of an urban district's CTAG (Closing the Achievement Gap) school based mentoring program on academic (GPAs and Ohio Graduation Test math and reading passage) and social performance variables (emergency removals, suspensions, expulsions, and juvenile court involvement). A causal-comparative approach was utilized to compare the outcomes of the three participating groups (middle school only participants, high school only participants, and participants who received both middle and high school CTAG services) in relation to their academic performance and reduction in exclusionary discipline practices that place students at a higher risk of school failure due to being excluded from class and school. This research sought to answer the question; "Is there a difference in academic and social performance based on the level of CTAG mentoring participation?" Quantitative procedures were utilized to compare the three groups, while also factoring in school attendance as a covariate in the analyses. The examination revealed that there was statistically significant evidence to conclude that students who participated in the CTAG program in both middle and high school were more likely to earn higher GPAs and pass the OGT reading and math, and less likely to exhibit chronic absenteeism, get expelled, or be involved with juvenile court.

Committee: Judy May (Advisor); Richard Anderson (Other); Patrick Pauken (Committee Member); Judith Zimmerman (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership