Browsing by Author "Walter, Glenda Powell"
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- Assistant Principals' Self-Reported Levels of Preparedness to Support Special Education Teachers and ProgrammingBurbic, Jessica Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-17)The purpose of this study is to identify assistant principals' self-reported levels of preparedness to support special education teachers and programming. "Special education is a federal mandate that is governed by state and local policies. For schools to provide a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities, school leaders must be competent in order to effectively lead these programs" (Thompson, 2017, p. 46). In Virginia, special education is the highest critical shortage category of the top ten academic disciplines identified in the annual survey and has been since the 2006 published report (Virginia Department of Education, 2020). This quantitative study, may help to identify strengths and areas for growth for assistant principals in one school division and guide professional learning experiences for administrators moving forward. The study will include a purposeful sample of school based, Pk-12 assistant principals. Participants were invited to complete a three-part electronic survey questionnaire. The survey tool, developed by the researcher, aligned with the Council for Exceptional Children Initial and Advanced Preparedness Standards (2015). Participants provided demographic information, a Likert scale rating of their perceptions of preparedness to support special education teachers and programming, when considering eighteen job related statements, and recommendations for professional learning. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and identify findings and implications. Results of the study indicated that assistant principals agree they are prepared to support all areas of special education teachers and programming with the exception of post-secondary transition planning for students with disabilities. Results also indicated that assistant principals with an endorsement in special education agreed at a higher rate that they are prepared to support special education teachers and programming. Assistant principals identified professional learning needs in the areas of post-secondary transition opportunities for students with disabilities, support in understanding and implementing new law and policy related to special education, and support in the area of development of new programs, supports and services for students with disabilities. Findings and related implications were discussed and recommendations for future research were identified.
- Discipline Disproportionality in an Urban School Division within the Commonwealth of VirginiaRansome, Jaraun Montel (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-11)The purpose of this study was to determine what change, if any, existed in the number and percentage of student discipline referrals and exclusionary discipline practices of students by race, gender, and those with disabilities after the introduction of a division-wide, systematic approach to discipline that aligned behavior, social-emotional wellness, and academics into one decision-making framework. This research used quantitative data with a nonexperimental descriptive design. The researcher sought to answer the questions: 1. What is the number and percentage of students receiving an office discipline referral by race, gender, and those with a disability? 2. What is the number and percentage of students receiving suspensions, both in-school and out-of-school, related to office discipline referrals for students by race, gender, and those with a disability? 3. How has the number and percentage changed for incidents over the three years of implementing a systematic approach that aligns behavior, social-emotional wellness, and academics into one decision-making framework for students of different races, genders, and those with a disability? 4. How has the number and percentage changed for consequences over the three years of implementing a systematic approach that behavior, social-emotional wellness, and academics into one decision-making framework for students of different races, genders, and those with a disability? This study included 39 schools (24 elementary schools, seven middle schools, five high schools, one middle/high school, one specialty high school, and one alternative school) of an urban school division in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The selected division leadership team established an outcome to decrease office discipline referrals (ODRs), In-School Suspension (ISS), and Out-of-School Suspensions (OSS) in order to increase instructional time in the classroom. The sampled schools had evidence of varying levels of implementation. This study examined the effects of a multi-tiered system of support on student discipline. This study found that the proportion of students receiving ODRs was not reduced by the implementation of a multitiered framework. Additionally, the number of ODRs increased for most subgroups over the period of the study. However, the study did find that the disproportionality for SWD decreased for ODRs. The study also found that the gap in proportions between Black students receiving ISS and White students receiving ISS increased. Despite the growing disparity between Black and White students, disproportionality for SWD receiving ISS decreased. Conversely, the proportion of Black students receiving OSS decreased over the 3-year period of the study. In conjunction to the findings related to ISS, the disproportionality of SWD receiving OSS decreased during this study period. Finally, the study found that the proportion of female students receiving LTS increased over the 3-year period of the study. This study did not include an analysis of the critical features of a multi-tiered system of support.
- Perceptions of Novice Elementary School Special Education Teachers Regarding the Impact of Professional Learning Communities on Teacher RetentionSchaefer, Catherine Irene (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-05)The retention of special education (SPED) teachers is problematic throughout the United States. Many SPED teachers are leaving education due to burnout which can be caused by feeling isolated and having a lack of collegial support. Studies suggest that collegial support is a main contributor to the retention of SPED teachers. Induction programs, mentoring, and professional learning communities (PLC) have been widely used; however, there is not much research showing how professional learning communities impact the retention of special education teachers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify novice elementary school SPED teachers' perceptions regarding PLCs. Specifically, this study examined how elementary school SPED teachers' perceptions of PLCs affect the retention of this group of teachers. Themes from this study may indicate what schools can do to make their PLCs more meaningful for the SPED teachers participating in them. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the perceptions of novice SPED teachers regarding professional learning communities and their impact on teacher retention? Twenty SPED teachers with between 0 – 5 years of experience participated in online focus groups. Data from the focus groups were analyzed and themes were developed. The results of this study indicated that SPED teachers stay at their current schools due to support provided by colleagues such as SPED teachers, general education teachers, and reading and mathematics specialists. In addition, SPED teachers are more likely to stay at their current schools if the PLCs they attend are relevant and are more likely to leave when they miss instructional time with their students due to attending mandatory PLCs. The results from this study may help school and division leaders implement PLC support for SPED teachers that will positively impact the retention of SPED teachers.
- Principal Self-efficacy as a Predictor of Student Achievement and Differences among Principals at Turnaround Versus Fully Accredited Schools in One Urban Virginia School DivisionWalter, Glenda Powell (Virginia Tech, 2017-05-01)The intent of this non-experimental correlational and comparative study was to determine the extent to which self-efficacy predicts student achievement as well as the differences between the self-efficacy beliefs of principals in turnaround and fully accredited schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in one urban Virginia school division. Principal leaders should be selected based on expertise related to their assigned school needs and challenges (Murphy, 2010a). Turnaround schools in the process of improvement present a distinct challenge and require individualized applications of effective leadership practices (Leithwood, Harris and Strauss, 2010). Principal self-efficacy is defined as, "...a judgment of his or her own capabilities to structure a particular course of action in order to produce desired outcomes in the school he or she leads" (Tschannen-Moran and Gareis, 2004, p. 573). Overall principal self-efficacy as well as efficacy for management, instructional leadership, and moral leadership were measured using the Principal Sense of Efficacy Scale (PSES) (Tschannen-Moran and Gareis, 2004). The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment results for reading and mathematics, specifically the overall school pass rates by subject, were used as indicators of student achievement. The researcher sought to examine the usefulness of measuring self-efficacy as a potential method for identifying and assigning principals to specific school contexts based on any relationships and differences revealed by the data. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to predict student achievement in reading and mathematics from overall principal self-efficacy and the three principal efficacy subscales while controlling for poverty. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the self-efficacy of principals at turnaround and fully accredited schools. Analysis of the predictive relationship between principal self-efficacy and student achievement in reading and mathematics failed to reveal significant findings. Comparative analysis of the mean self-efficacy for turnaround and fully accredited school principals further failed to reveal statistically significant differences. Calculated effect size of the differences between the groups indicated a medium effect. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were developed from the findings.
- The Relationship Between High School Teachers' Self-Reported Social and Emotional Competencies and Teacher Social and Instructional Teaching Practices and the Implications for Professional LearningDahl, Jill Danielle (Virginia Tech, 2022-03-14)The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among high school teachers' self-reported social and emotional competencies (SECs), social interaction teaching practices, and instructional interaction teaching practices. Yoder's (2014) research suggests to successfully implement social-emotional learning (SEL) practices, teachers must have strong social and emotional competency skills (Brackett et al., 2009; Jennings and Greenberg, 2009). This study included a quantitative descriptive method to examine the anonymous survey data collected. Additionally, the data were examined for possible correlations between social, and instructional interaction teaching practices to identify areas of strength or weakness and suggest professional learning options for teachers related to their scores. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the relationship among high school teachers' self-reported social, and instructional interaction teaching practices that influence students' social, emotional, and academic skills? 2. What is the relationship between educators' self-reported self-efficacy of their social and emotional competence and how it influences their ability to implement social, and instructional interaction teaching practices? 3. What is the relationship between teachers' overall social interaction score and their overall instructional interaction score? 4. What do the scores from the overall social interaction score and the overall instructional interaction score suggest about the professional learning needs of the participating high school teachers? High school teachers in this study who reported a higher self-efficacy in positive social interactions had a higher self-efficacy in social interactions influencing students' social, emotion, and academic skills. High school teachers with a high self-efficacy in Teacher SEC: Social Interaction Teaching Practices strongly correlated to a higher self-efficacy of Teacher SEC: Instructional Interaction Teaching Practices. Furthermore, high school teachers with a higher self-efficacy in their Overall Social Interaction to that of their self-efficacy of their Overall Instructional Interaction also strongly correlated. Conversely, high school teachers who reported higher self-efficacy with instructional interaction did not report the same level of self-efficacy of their social interaction, albeit the finding was deemed small. The study suggests division and school leaders could prioritize supporting teachers' development of their self-efficacy of their social and emotional competence.