This quantitative dissertation examined the leadership practices of educational leaders in South Georgia schools, with the purpose of identifying effective strategies that contribute to student success and a conducive school environment. Utilizing the Leadership Practices Inventory self-survey, the researcher meticulously examined the practices of…

Leader awareness has been acknowledged in leadership literature as a predictive factor for effective leader behavior and followers' leadership emergence. A gap in the literature existed regarding the leaders' awareness of self and others in the context of leader-member relations. The problem explored in this study was the lack of knowledge about…

The role of school principals in shaping school culture is well recognized, yet barriers often prevent them from effectively influencing this critical aspect of educational leadership. This project investigates the perceptions of elementary principals regarding the barriers and behaviors that influence school culture. Using qualitative research…

Fullan (2001) states that leading in a culture of change means creating a culture, not just a structure, of change. In the study, the researcher sought to describe a phenomenon in answer to the following research questions: What are perceptions of the attributes of a Cultural Change Principal in building culture in an urban K-5 public school…

Learning Agility (LA) is catapulting our understanding of the relationship between the measurement of LA and leadership success, a critical component for succeeding in a volatile, uncertain, complex (VUCA) environment. While the business sector has benefited from the research and practice around LA, this exploratory study takes an initial look at…

In this era of educational accountability, achieving and maintaining high levels of student academic performance is the goal of every school. State accountability models serve as the measure to determine if school districts are successfully educating students, and the responsibility of student academic success rests on the principal of each…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how Higher Education Administrators described how they used LMX practices and strategies to build high quality relationships through trust, respect, and mutual obligations to support organizational outcomes in higher education institutions located within the Southeast Region of…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to determine the leadership actions, behaviors, and practices of effective school leaders in Blue Ribbon Schools in South Texas who resulted in the schools receiving the distinction by the U.S. Department of Education of being a Blue Ribbon School. Data were collected through a series of…

This case study explored leadership behaviors that are perceived to have significant impact in the integration of technology at the secondary level in a Southwest Kansas school district. The study focused on the identification of leadership methods in the supervision, management, and evaluation of effectively integrating educational technology…

Students who are classified as minority and living in poverty generally experience a gap in academic achievement when compared to their white and more affluent counterparts. This gap has affected this population from as far back as the early 1800's. The achievement gap is compounded with the effects of living in poverty which have devastating…

Over the past twenty years, shootings and other violent incidents, acts of terrorism such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, and natural disaster events such as hurricanes or floods have occurred with increasing frequency. Situations like these pose significant challenges for school administrators when a normally-peaceful educational…

This study examined the effect of various district and site level conditions that influence the frequency of teacher data-driven decision-making behaviors. This study is motivated by four research questions: 1) Among various kinds of data available to teachers and principals in making data-driven decisions: a. What is the relative level of…

In North Carolina, charter schools that serve whites and non-economically disadvantaged students have doubled in the last fourteen years, whereas schools that serve economically disadvantaged students have closed at higher rates (Ladd, Clotfelter, & Holbein, 2015). Stories of school leadership that successfully promotes equity and excellence…

Unlike the principalship of yesteryear, today's principals are under great pressure to improve academic achievement for "all" students. Recent literature describes the need for principals to become instructional leaders whereby they can lead change and improve student achievement. However, a lack of quality principal preparation…

Identifying specific leadership behaviors of elementary school principals that create conditions for positive change is critical to implementing educational reform. The purpose of this research is to identify specific leadership behaviors of principals that have positively impacted the implementation of the Common Core State Standards through the…