This capstone project focused on the role of servant leadership and the need for school leaders to embrace this leadership style. As part of this capstone project, a professional development series on servant leadership was developed for school administrators to use in guiding their staff, students, and communities toward positive outcomes. There…

Novice clinicians often start their careers in community and agency settings without a comprehensive understanding of how counseling theories are developed, tested, and applied in the real world (Smith et al., 2024, under review). This can lead to feelings of academic and professional underdevelopment and self-doubt about their preparedness and…

This qualitative study explored secondary-level building administrators' preparedness to supervise and support special education programming. It investigated knowledge gaps, needs, and the role of induction programs. Interviews with twelve administrators were conducted, transcribed, coded, and analyzed through grounded theory methodology. Findings…

The intent of this study was to understand the impact of rapid changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic on graduate students' professional socialization, Due to the recency of the pandemic, few published studies have examined the extent of the pandemic's impact on the experiences of graduate students seeking degrees throughout 2020 and 2021.…

Continued professional learning is a consistent focus of attention for the field of student affairs within higher education. Yet, very little research has been conducted on the factors that influence the motivation of student affairs professionals to pursue continued professional learning, especially professionals within community colleges. This…

This dissertation advocates for improved succession planning in educational leadership, particularly in the public sector, where it often receives insufficient attention. It proposes a robust leadership pipeline program within school districts to enhance the capacity of aspiring assistant principals by providing hands-on experiences, mentorship…

This dissertation investigated the interplay between learning and professional development, job satisfaction, and employee retention within the Customer Service and Administration Departments of a pest control company. Guided by three research questions, the study explored the predictive relationship between learning and professional development…

Effective teacher professional development is abundantly important for teacher learning and for meeting the needs of students. With many forms of professional development, districts seek to get high-quality professional development to stretch their school budgets. The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of members of regional…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore assistant principals' leadership readiness levels and the relationship between a district-provided administrator development program (ADP) and those levels. The study took place in Lovely Independent School District, which is in southeast Texas. Research questions focused on perceptions of…

The spiritual environment in America has transformed due to demographic shifts, disaffiliation, and political polarization, forcing religious organizations and ministers to adapt their practices. Ministers often face challenges as a result of inadequate training and a lack of preparedness for complex ministry demands, leading to burnout and…

Minimal research has been focused on the role of school monitors in the public-school setting. This study explored the perspectives of school monitors on preparation, training, communication, and feedback. The study looked to examine if these aspects contribute to the overall role of school monitors and to identify specific areas where they…

The purpose of this study was to explore through the Value Creation Framework (VCF) how selected school leaders socially constructed value in the TeleED professional learning environment. Merriam and Tisdell's (2016) case study methodology guided the research design as it encompassed a qualitative case study. Social constructivism was used as the…

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…

Due to current teacher shortages, there is renewed interest in mentoring beginning teachers for induction. Induction is an intellectually rigorous process of enculturating novice teachers into the professional teaching community (Carver-Thomas et al., 2020). Induction programs build on novice teachers' experiences in university teacher preparation…

Many Library and Information Science program students state that they are not interested in management positions. Many would prefer to focus on a subject specialty or technical services. When students are interested in management, there is no clear course of study. To understand what motivated some librarians to choose to become managers, and what…