Browsing by Author "Mirra, David R."

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    High School Teacher Perceptions of Empowerment
    Jacobs, Tricia Susan (Virginia Tech, 2014-05-08)
    As the responsibilities of principals become more complex and as accountability becomes more evident in K-12 cultures, it becomes increasingly important that high school principals be trained to empower teachers. This paper examined the research concerning the conditions of the empowerment of teachers. More specifically, it measured high school teachers' perspectives concerning their levels of empowerment by their principals based on the four domains of empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. This quantitative study was designed to answer three questions. First, how do high school teachers perceive their level of empowerment by their principals based on the four school conditions of empowerment: principal training, principal leadership, teacher leadership, and school culture? Second, what are high school teachers' perceptions of the degree to which they are empowered based on their understanding of the domains of empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact? Third, how do the conditions of empowerment relate to the domains of empowerment? The study modified an existing survey developed for measuring the level of empowerment of workers in corporations. The survey was used in this study as the basis for determining the perceived level of empowerment of high school teachers in three schools in a Mid-Atlantic suburban/rural school division. Analysis of the responses revealed that school culture was rated significantly higher than the other three empowerment conditions. High school teachers rated themselves significantly higher in the meaning and competence domains of empowerment. None of the four domains of empowerment related significantly to the meaning domain. The principal training condition was the only domain significantly related to the competence domain, and the condition of school culture was significantly related to self-determination. Additionally, the teacher leadership condition was significantly related to the impact domain only.
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    The Role of the School Superintendent as a Technology Leader: A Delphi Study
    Mirra, David R. (Virginia Tech, 2004-04-26)
    School superintendents have been thrust into the complex world of technology leadership often armed with little technology related training or expertise. District and school leaders are often faced with purchase decisions of costly equipment and software with minimum knowledge of what impact it will have on their organization or specific knowledge of how it will be used to meet curriculum goals. With continued local, state, and federal support and rapid advances in technology, school superintendents are expected to provide leadership in this fast-changing arena. The purpose of this study was to define the role of the school superintendent as an effective technology leader in terms of knowledge, performances, and dispositions. The research questions guiding this study were: • What does a superintendent need to know about technology to be an effective technology leader? • What actions should be performed by a superintendent to be an effective technology leader? • What are indicators of a superintendent's disposition as an effective technology leader? The study was conducted using a three-round Delphi with an expert panel composed of 29 stakeholders with diverse perspectives in the area of school technology leadership. The findings in this study showed a group consensus on 27 knowledge items, 27 performance actions, and 35 dispositional indicators of school superintendents as effective technology leaders. The study contains criteria that may be useful in the development of technology related preparation practices for school superintendents. The findings may also be of interest to those concerned with professional development for superintendents or to those involved in the selection of superintendents for technology leadership positions.