Special education leadership is a rewarding, dynamic, and complex field; and for those individuals who choose to lead special education programs, the field can also be extremely challenging. Effective special education leadership demands a multi-faceted approach guided by professional standards to meet the challenges of educating students with…

Nonprofit organization Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) bring their unique experiences to their executive positions but are often unprepared for new responsibilities and challenges, which require a broad skill set. The problem identified was the gap in professional development in unexpected and acute areas. This study aimed to explore the…

As an administrator, it is essential to understand the varying theoretical perspectives and frameworks surrounding leadership and organizational development that support employee and student success. After conducting the first two cycles of action research, it was confirmed that there was a need for an intentional focus on the employees'…

The focus of this study was to examine the impact of professional development on the leadership practices of Head Start program directors in the Southwest United States. The research sought to understand how professional development influences the leadership practices of these directors and aimed to provide practical insights into leadership in…

This dissertation examines how a team of five elementary mathematics teachers and their administrators engaged in the iterative process of Lesson Study for professional development over the course of a year. I use Andzaldua's conception of conocimiento, reimagined for math teacher learning by Gutierrez, to analyze data and understand the ways this…

The majority of states have laws in place that require teacher evaluations and many states are tying teacher evaluations and teacher effectiveness to tenure and dismissal policies. Historically, the teacher evaluation process has been conducted by the school principal and has commonly been disconnected from the teacher development processes that…

Chief fundraising officers at technical colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia face complex challenges, including scarce resources, small staff sizes, and a lack of formal training. The purpose of the study was to understand how chief fundraising officers use self-directed learning experiences and learning projects to build…

Instructional coaches support teacher professional improvement and subsequent student learning through their instructional leadership; however, individual interpretations of district-wide instructional goals influence the work each instructional coach carries out at different school sites. This leads to a lack of systemic focus to ensure the work…

This study examines teacher professional development as part of the required K-12 continuous school improvement process. Through semi-structured, open-ended interviews and data (school improvement plans, PD agendas), this qualitative case drew from organizational theory to identify and describe information to better understand the role teacher…

Living and working in a boarding school for students with learning disabilities is a challenging way of life. One concern is the mental fatigue that accompanies long hours, living on campus and adapting to an unconventional lifestyle. The result can be a lackluster educational experience for the staff and students. The literature surrounding…

This qualitative grounded study investigated professional development, pre-service and in-service that 7 high school principals, 3 assistant principals, and 2 directors in New York State received to build their instructional leadership capacity. The researcher conducted 12 interviews via Zoom video conferencing to ascertain how preparation…

This study examined next generation business officers' (NGBOs) perceptions of their readiness for assuming the chief business officer role (CBO). Originally created in 1920, the CBO role has changed over the decades in response to changes in the higher education landscape. Once thought of as the person in the back office keeping the books, the CBO…

Schools and districts face continuing pressure to implement educational reforms that will bring about improved academic outcomes for all students. Successfully implementing these needed reforms requires individual administrators to distribute leadership activities throughout the network of leaders present at the site and district level, more…

Workplace mentorship for aspiring leaders has been shown to improve job satisfaction and performance by providing opportunities for professional advancement. To date, few published studies have explored mentorship for college and university professional staff, with such staff defined as higher education employees who are not faculty or classified…

The intent of this study was to examine how school leadership influences teachers' instructional capacity using action research cycles. Understanding leadership roles and how best to meet the needs of teachers through school-level support and professional development can assist in building teacher capacity. In an adequate leadership capacity,…