Providing employees of all classifications with the opportunity to develop as leaders is a critical component in the successful attainment of organizational goals and competitive organizational advantage. Effective leadership development programs offer the tools, experiences, and resources needed to cultivate the important skills and abilities…

This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study explores how elementary teachers made sense of their experience in the National Writing Project's Summer Institute and how it influenced their teaching of writing. Many elementary teachers have not received writing methods as a stand-alone course during their teacher preparation. Furthermore, the…

The principal purpose of this program evaluation was to determine how the 2010-2019 alumni of the William & Mary (W&M) D.C. Summer Institutes (DCSI) perceived their participation helped them achieve career readiness. Existing literature on experiential learning methods and practices has suggested great value in such opportunities, but less…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact of the Indiana Principal Leadership Institute (IPLI) on principal effectiveness and school culture, measured using the School Culture Survey (SCS). Principals who completed IPLI in one of the first three cohorts and their current staff members were invited to participate in the…

The purpose of this study was to understand how Puente Project community college faculty experience and conceptualize carino in the Puente Summer Institute training context and how carino is enacted with students. In this research, I used a grounded theory approach informed by culturally relevant and carino pedagogies as conceptual frameworks to…

The purpose of this research was to examine the perceived leadership frames of Thomas Lakin Institute graduates. This study sought to determine if the independent variables, demographic characteristics (gender and age) and academic experiences (academic discipline and years of administrative experience) relate to the perceived leadership frames…

Superintendents are the leaders of school districts across the nation, but very few states offer any type of formal leadership development once a person attains the superintendent position. During the 2014-2015 school year, 28 superintendents across the state of Ohio were chosen to participate in the Ohio School Leadership Institute (OSLI), which…

Adult learners often have difficulty reaching high proficiency levels in a foreign language, and curriculum experts are on a constant quest for innovative practices in foreign language learning. The problem addressed by this study was that even with the implementation of different pedagogical approaches, including immersion and technology…

In this dissertation, I present a strategy to develop indigenous teams of leaders at the International Bible Institute (IBI) in Cambodia. The study was prompted by the need for learners at IBI Cambodia to work as a team. In part I, I recount the history of educational development in Cambodia and research instructional design (ID) models to create…

Teach For America is the largest supplier of novice educators in the United States as well as the largest postgraduate employment provider in the country. It is renowned for its unorthodox approach to teacher education, with the Summer Institute at the heart of its training model. The five-week, accelerated program is designed to prepare new…

This study of four case studies looks at how secondary math, music, science, and social studies teachers' attitudes and classroom practices were affected by their participation in the Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP) summer institute. Participant interviews, observations, and artifacts were analyzed by looking at themes for effective…

The meaning of literacy has drastically transformed over the past two decades, and it continues to evolve. Literacy extends beyond the traditional reading, writing, listening, and speaking. "Multiliteracies" was coined by the New London Group (1996) and includes digital literacy, new literacy, visual literacy, computer literacy, and…

This research analyzed the effects of teacher professional development and lesson implementation in integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) on: (1.) Teacher self-efficacy and their confidence to teach specific STEM subjects; (2.) Teaching outcome expectancy beliefs concerning the impact of actions by teachers on student…

The objective of this study was to determine if Learning-Focused Strategies (LFS) implemented in high school science courses would affect student achievement and the pass rate of biology and physical science Common District Assessments (CDAs). The LFS, specific teaching strategies contained in the Learning-Focused Strategies Model (LFSM) Program…

Teachers are continually confronted with meeting the needs of all students and preparing them to be successful on state end-of-course assessments while changing or evolving to be more of a facilitator of student-centered. Lessons are to be relevant for the students, engaging them so they are active participants in their learning. However, many…