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Browsing by Author "Russ, Jonathan Duane"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Instructional Coaches' Perceptions of Principal Support in a K-12 Public School Division
    Stewart, Angela Lyn (Virginia Tech, 2022-02-01)
    Administrative support of the instructional coach is critical to the success of instructional coaches in each building (Hall and Simeral, 2008; Knight, 2011; Sweeney, 2018). Effective instructional coaches support the transfer of new skills into practice to positively impact student learning outcomes (Costa and Garmston, 1994; Desimone and Pak, 2017; Knight and Cornett, 2007; Kraft, Blazar, and Hogan, 2019; Showers and Joyce, 1996). The purpose of this study was to identify instructional coaches' perceptions of principal support and the factors that contribute to those perceptions. The study aimed to address the following research questions: 1) What do instructional coaches perceive as principals' knowledge of the role of the instructional coach? 2) How do instructional coaches perceive the actions of principals in support of their work? This descriptive study examined instructional coaches' perceptions of principal support given to instructional coaches in one large, suburban school division in Virginia. Data were collected through an online survey and optional participation in focus groups. Findings included a misalignment between the instructional coaches' knowledge of the role of an instructional coach and that of the principal. Findings indicated the instructional coaches perceived support from the principal as including a shared knowledge of the role of the instructional coach, including the instructional coach in the vision for the school, maintaining regular communication and meetings, following up with teachers after a professional development led by the coach, providing professional development opportunities for the instructional coach, providing access to instructional resources, providing feedback on the work of the instructional coach, and building a relationship with the instructional coach. Implications outlined in the study identify specific actions principals can take to positively impact the instructional coaching in schools.
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    Parent, Teacher, and Administrator Perceptions of Effective Family Engagement in a Rural Title I School
    Slaney, Sean Patrick (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-05)
    Family Engagement is an imperative practice to ensure sustainable success in schools. Extensive research has been conducted on the effectiveness of family engagement practices in schools. Family Engagement's successes have been acknowledged: however, upon deeper examination of the research, it can be concluded that many family engagement practices are not effective in all schools. This is due to the demographic profile of the schools where research was conducted. This basic qualitative study was conducted at a diverse and rural Title I school. The following research questions guided the study: what family engagement practices do parents, teachers, and administrators indicate the school is implementing? What practices are perceived by parents, teachers, and administrators as effective family engagement practices? What else do parents, teachers, and administrators indicate the school should be doing to support family engagement? Parents were stratified into groups based on their declared race, while teachers were stratified by experience. Two administrators were also interviewed. Data from the interviews were coded and reviewed to see what the stratified groups perceive as successful family engagement practices. Findings from this study indicated that one-and-done family engagement events were the most prevalent method of family engagement. School leaders should consider the variety of these events and involve parents in the planning of such events. Parents also identified communication and relationship building as the basis of strong family-school partnerships. Leaders need to ensure that many opportunities for relationship building exist and a proactive approach is taken regarding communication with families. Participants identified that accessibility to family engagement events was necessary. Leaders must consider the scheduling of such events and increase the variety of times they are scheduled. Participants also identified communication as the most significant need from Country Elementary School. Leaders need to ensure multiple methods of communication are used and language barriers are eliminated.  
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    Perspectives of Mentors and Mentees on the Teacher Mentor Program and Teacher Retention in a Small Urban School Division in Virginia
    Russ, Jonathan Duane (Virginia Tech, 2018-03-23)
    Many school divisions throughout the U.S. are having a difficult time retaining teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Ingersoll, R. M., 2004). 'High levels of attrition, estimated to be nearly 8% of the workforce annually, are responsible for the largest share of teacher demand' (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, and Carver-Thomas, 2016, p. 2). According to Ingersoll and Strong (2011), Ingersoll and Perda (2011), and Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2016), reasons as to why teachers decide to leave the profession or change teaching locations include: job satisfaction, school demographics, student discipline, lack of administrative support, lack of teacher autonomy, and new teacher mentor programs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify mentor and mentee teachers' perceptions about the current mentoring program and their recommendations for future revisions that will increase teacher retention. An urban, central Virginia school division was selected for this study. Participants selected for this study have served as a mentor teacher for new teachers hired into the selected division or have recently been hired into the division. The division has approximately 260 full-time teaching professionals. From the beginning of the 2013-14 school year to the conclusion of the 2015-16 school year, 125 teachers were replaced. The attrition rate of the selected division is approximately double the attrition rate in the Commonwealth of Virginia (Pitts, 2017). Mentoring programs appear to be among the prominent approaches to teacher retention (McCann and Johannessen, 2010). The researcher sought to determine perceptions of mentor teachers regarding their suggestions for improvement in the current mentor program as a determining factor in whether teachers decide to remain in their current positions. This study yielded eight findings and six implications.