This dissertation served to answer the over-arching research question: How do stakeholders describe effective leadership? In addition, two sub-questions were answered: 1) what dimensions do teachers use to describe effective principal leadership, and 2) why do teachers identify those dimensions as relevant? This study was conducted in a Northern…

The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive study was to gain perspective of Louisiana public school leaders' perceptions of their levels of preparedness to effectively integrate technology into their schools as a major component of their educational program. This research was guided by two overarching questions: (1) What is the perceived…

This qualitative case study explores college and career aspirations of rural Black and Latinx middle school students in a community- and youth-based leadership program and how various forms of social capital help cultivate and sustain the aspirations of students. Data include student focus group interviews with a total of 14 rural Black and Latinx…

This article provides a national overview of women owning woodlands (WOW) networks and the barriers and successes they encounter. Qualitative interview data with key network leaders were used for increasing understanding of how these networks operate. Network leaders were all connected professionally, and all successful WOW networks involved…

This article identifies key strategies for selecting and training chaperones for youth programs. Although substantial research on volunteer core competencies and training exists, very little has been written to specifically address volunteers who serve in a chaperone capacity. We surveyed chaperones who had participated in an international youth…

For middle schools to fully achieve their goals, it is important for them to be staffed with teachers who understand the unique developmental needs of young adolescents and are specifically prepared to meet those needs. Middle school leaders have long been advocates of specialized teacher preparation and licensure; however, the current terrain of…

This qualitative study was undertaken as part of the ISLDN global study of social justice leaders, focused on the leadership stories of the respondent. This study is framed in authentic leadership and examined the leader's self-awareness, authentic behaviors, and relationships, which both communicated and solidified the authenticity of the leader.…

Students are coming to school with myriad issues that teachers and schools cannot address alone. Ecological systems theory posits that the environments with which a child comes into contact, either directly or indirectly, can impact her or his development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). With the support of community partner organizations in the local…

This essay revisits college presidents during the early 1960s to investigate the long history of how academic leaders manage racial unrest on college campuses. Throughout time, the concept of a welcoming and inclusive climate for black students on majority-white campuses has functioned as an illusion alongside the prevailing reality of racism on…

This article describes how one strength and conditioning youth development program implements the teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) framework with a portfolio-based system. Some scholars have noted that using portfolios helps connect assessment to instruction by promoting individualized learning for students. The purpose of this…

Retaining students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields has been a challenge in the United States (U.S.). More startling is the lack of diversity across most of the STEM disciplines. Underrepresented minority groups majoring and graduating in STEM are reported to be far below the national benchmark, and it is not…

Data on 4,016 peer leaders from 49 four-year institutions across the United States were used for this quantitative study. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the impact of different forms of compensation on the skills development, institution interaction, academic commitment, employability outcomes, and academic performance of peer…

Current achievement-based evaluation systems of school leaders have led to deficient methods of assessing the needs of today's schools to develop the next generation of citizens for a postmodern and socially just society. The need to evaluate school leaders performance beyond the narrow framework of student achievement becomes significantly…

With support from the Fremont Street Fund, a national nonprofit philanthropy dedicated to catalyzing and scaling educator-led innovation in public schools, the authors of this report embarked on a research effort to understand the underlying causes that drove teachers to adopt new teaching practices--such as blended learning, mastery-based…

Time and collaborative learning experiences are key to successful implementation of literacy standards. Leadership is just as important. What do system and school leaders do that teachers value most and identify as most helpful in their efforts to ensure high-quality literacy and standards-based instruction for all students? According survey…