Browsing by Author "Abbott, Christine"

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    Educational Leadership In Independent Schools
    (2022-10-18) Moen, Tracy Elizabeth; Smith, Julia; Klein, C. Suzanne; Abbott, Christine
    Independent schools provide a unique environment from other educational systems. By circumventing state and federal funding, they are able to cultivate autonomy for curriculum choices, management decisions, and independence not known in public schools. The educational leaders of independent schools may require different leadership skills than other school settings due to these additional possibilities and responsibilities. Through a phenomenological lens, the study uncovered skills utilized by four experienced independent school heads. The study used full-range leadership theory to further interpret the lived experiences of the school heads. The purpose of the inquiry is two-fold. First, according to the review of literature, most independent school leaders felt unprepared to lead when they accepted their first leadership position. Graduate level leadership programs tend to prepare leaders for the majority of positions in public schools. The preparation of independent school leaders could impact the sustainability of these schools. The second reason for the inquiry is the lack of research that has taken place in independent school leadership. This study uses qualitative methods of interviews to gain a rich description through a phenomenological lens of the journey of an independent school leader as well as insight into the skills needed to lead an independent school. Emerging themes such as constancy of purpose, relational approach, personality, and decision making that drove the ability to perform many of the transformational leadership skills. Keywords: Full-range leadership, transformational leadership, independent schools, head of school, constancy of purpose, relational approach, educational leadership, experienced school leadership
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    Effective Instructional Practices: Secondary School Teachers View about Teaching Secondary Mathematics with Technology
    (2024-01-01) Sandhu, Surinder Kaur; Smith, Julia B.; Nidiffer, Jana; Abbott, Christine
    The study explores the integration of technology in teaching mathematics, providing current secondary mathematics teachers with effective practices and guiding future mathematics teachers toward a technology-pedagogical approach. In this study, I focused on effective teaching practices with technology in teaching mathematics to current secondary mathematics teachers to guide future mathematics teachers in adopting a technology-pedagogical approach. This research addressed secondary mathematics’ preparedness level to implement effective teaching methods in the digital age. A district from a Midwest state was used to collect data using a sequential explanatory method; a survey was sent to the secondary mathematics teacher with an option for those who wanted to participate in the interview. The results indicated that current teachers have some knowledge of technological tools but not to the full extent that they can integrate them into their daily instruction. The study suggested that current secondary mathematics teachers require ongoing professional development to enhance their technological knowledge and use it effectively.
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    Understanding The Role Of Curriculum Pacing In Relation To At-Risk Student Locus Of Control
    (2022-11-16) Welsing, Percy Reginald; Smith, Julia; Solomonson, William; Abbott, Christine
    The purpose of the study was to explore the possibility of mitigating school drop out of at-risk students by self-pacing of curriculum in an alternative institution. To accomplish this goal, I interviewed seven students and five staff members comprising three teachers and two administrators, a total of twelve interviewees to solicit their opinions on the issues at hand. Purposeful sampling was used to identify participants who were "information rich" to conduct my interviews. I used a qualitative case study to research the causes of failure of at-risk students and the solutions to at-risk student school dropout. Participants were asked to tell the impact of self-pacing on students' locus of control, and if there was any relationship between at-risk students' use of self-pacing and their experience of test-taking. They were also to explain if there was any relationship between at-risk student self-pacing and their feelings about school dropout. The responses revealed five themes; the barriers to academic success which included childbearing/nursing mothers, law enforcement issues, behavioral issues, homelessness, and jobs/employment. Another theme that emerged was that the students saw the alternative school as the last opportunity for them to succeed. That alternative schools offer many options and levels of support and there is variability of success in alternative schools. The final theme was what I called intervention synergism, meaning that when several options or treatments are prescribed, there is a likelihood that one or two of the options would be able to address the issues confronting the students at-risk.