Browsing by Author "Sen, Anuradha"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Assessing the Role of Cyberbiosecurity in Agriculture: A Case StudyDrape, Tiffany A.; Magerkorth, Noah; Sen, Anuradha; Simpson, Joseph; Seibel, Megan M.; Murch, Randall Steven; Duncan, Susan E. (Frontiers, 2021-08-19)Agriculture has adopted the use of smart technology to help meet growing food demands. This increased automation and associated connectivity increases the risk of farms being targeted by cyber-attacks. Increasing frequency of cybersecurity breaches in many industries illustrates the need for securing our food supply chain. The uniqueness of biological data, the complexity of integration across the food and agricultural system, and the importance of this system to the U.S. bioeconomy and public welfare suggests an urgency as well as unique challenges that are not common across all industries. To identify and address the gaps in awareness and knowledge as well as encourage collaborations, Virginia Tech hosted a virtual workshop consisting of professionals from agriculture, cybersecurity, government, and academia. During the workshop, thought leaders and influencers discussed 1) common food and agricultural system challenges, scenarios, outcomes and risks to various sectors of the system; 2) cyberbiosecurity strategies for the system, gaps in workforce and training, and research and policy needs. The meeting sessions were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative methodology. The most common themes that emerged were challenges, solutions, viewpoints, common vocabulary. From the results of the analysis, it is evident that none of the participating groups had available cybersecurity training and resources. Participants were uncertain about future pathways for training, implementation, and outreach related to cyberbiosecurity. Recommendations include creating training and education, continued interdisciplinary collaboration, and recruiting government involvement to speed up better security practices related to cyberbiosecurity.
- Comprehensive Evaluation of DoDEA's Centers for Instructional Leadership: Final ReportKaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S.; Archibald, Thomas G.; Cash, Carol; Anderson, James; Sen, Anuradha (2020-02-28)Since 2016, Virginia Tech has been partnering with DoDEA to support the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) through professional learning delivery and evaluation. While activities of the cooperative agreement have been highlighted in prior reports, this report represents the final deliverable for the comprehensive evaluation of the CILs. The primary goals of this report include: 1. Inform decision-makers of the current state and stage of the program initiative, based on the desired long-term outcomes. 2. Evaluate the extent to which progress is being made on the intermediate goals of building instructional leadership capacity. 3. Based on the identified progress, provide recommendations and suggestions to continuously improve the program design to help attain the desired outcomes. This third and final phase of the comprehensive evaluation involved investigation of multiple sources of data, including 20 focus groups, 10 key informant interviews, and analysis of a wide array of documents. The report findings are structured around the following evaluations questions: ● To what extent do instructional leaders identify the CIL as a key resource for their growth and advancement as leaders? ● How is instructional leadership shifting as a result of CIL facilitation and support of system priorities? ● In what ways have the CILs facilitated learning networks that instructional leaders value? ● In what ways do the CILs share and scale innovative best practices through situationally-appropriate improvement strategies? ● Based on DoDEA’s definition and framework of ‘Instructional Leadership,” are the CILs truly serving as Centers for Instructional Leadership? The interviews and focus group sessions were an invaluable opportunity to advance our understanding of the CILs’ work, particularly among the four CIL functions: (1) Leadership Development and Support, (2) Development for Systemic Priorities, (3) Learning Networks, and (4) Innovative Best Practices. Although the CILs were formed before DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement, instructional leaders are recognizing the integral relationship between the work of the CIL and DoDEA’s priorities at large. The progress extends beyond isolated success stories. From a big picture standpoint, it is helpful to consider where DoDEA would be without the CILs: “Before the CIL existed, if we think about that, everything either came from Headquarters or through ISSs…. Now, there’s a regional, as well as district, and complex support; and we’re bringing not only the systemic priorities, but we’re modeling them.... I wonder if just the CIL itself—and that whole Theory of Action—brings innovation and life to the agency itself.” (focus group participant) Do the CIL efforts for improved instructional leadership result in improved student achievement? This question for long-term evaluation remains as important as ever, yet the influencing variables are constantly changing. Accordingly, a snapshot in time is never sufficient. While the work of the CILs is functionally removed from the classroom, the CIL Theory of Action presents a conceptual roadmap for the intended impact. In order for the CILs to maintain a viable role within DoDEA, they must demonstrate regular progress toward strategic initiatives outlined in DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement. This report concludes with recommendations aligned to the interconnected phases of AdvancED’s Continuous Improvement System: Learn and Share, Examine and Plan, and Act and Evaluate.
- DoDEA CIL Instructional Leadership ToolkitKaufman, Eric K.; Sen, Anuradha; Coartney, Jama S.; Anderson, James (2020-07-22)These are PDF portfolios of resources provided to the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) for use by the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) in their efforts to initiate and launch improvement cycles. The dynamic toolkit is designed to help regions, districts, and schools establish, grow, and maintain a culture of inquiry and data use that can inform decisions that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning in a region, district and school. The Toolkit is organized into four major sections. Section 1 of the Toolkit deals with concepts about change and its management to achieve desired outcomes. Section 2 borrows from adult learning theory and focuses on developing the capacity of yourself and others to work effectively in focused collaborations/professional learning communities. Section 3 provides models and skill aids for leading professional learning around facilitative leadership; coaching for learning; and assessing needs, action planning, and performance monitoring for change in practice. Section 4 focuses on data-driven decision making and will deepen your understanding of how a variety of data sources can be used to improve, increase and enhance teaching and learning in the region, district, school and classroom. Each section of this Toolkit has multiple professional learning opportunities designed to build new knowledge or reinforce existing knowledge. The Toolkit can be used by an interested individual, in teams, or school/region wide. Professional learning opportunities may include video clips to view and respond to, articles to read and respond to, case study to analyze, tools to try, templates to complete, checklists, infographics and more.
- The Relationship between Motivation and Evaluation Capacity in Community-based OrganizationsSen, Anuradha (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-11)Community-based organizations increasingly face the need to systematically gather and provide data, information, and insights on the quality of their services and performances to governments, donors, and funding agencies. To meet these demands, community-based organizations have identified the need to build their own evaluation capacity. Increasing the evaluation capacity of an organization requires evaluation capacity building at an individual level, which might be affected by other factors like employee work motivation. This quantitative study uncovers the relationship between employee work motivation and individual evaluation capacity using the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale and the Evaluation Capacity Assessment Instrument. I found that employees with higher intrinsic motivation have higher evaluation capacity, whereas, those with higher amotivation have lower evaluation capacity. Apart from that, this study also investigates the relationships motivation - evaluative thinking, and evaluation capacity - evaluative thinking, finding that individual evaluation capacity and evaluative thinking are closely related. This study elucidates the link between employee motivation, evaluation capacity, and evaluative thinking, which will not only benefit the organizations to better their practice of evaluation, but also help the employees to make progress in their career paths.
- Studying Leadership as Praxis: Experience With a Worldwide Education SystemKaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S.; Anderson, James; Mitra, Shreya; Sen, Anuradha (International Leadership Association, 2020-11)Leadership scholars have called for public leadership research to go beyond the traditional case study method, yet there is limited guidance on how to enact such research. This session will highlight praxis-oriented leadership research, through the lens of Raelin’s (2019) leadership-as-practice (L-A-P) framework. We will draw upon insights from a multi-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), as they worked to restructure and enhance the organization’s leadership. Reflection upon the experience yields a more clear vision for public leadership research that embodies mutual learning, deep understanding, and collaborative action—for the betterment of all involved.