Rosemarye T. Taylor

The Retention Index of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE): How Meaningful Is It?

Institutional and student level data from the Florida Community Colleges were examined to explore the Retention Index of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). A simple correlation and regression analysis was conducted to determine if the CCSSE Retention Index could be used to predict the institutional retention rate calculated for the state accountability measure. Student level data were used with a nested ANOVA to examine if there were mean differences in the CCSSE Retention Index scores of males and females of different racial groups when accounting for the potential influence of the institution attended. Mean differences were examined since differences in retention rates of these groups have been documented.

Using Literacy Leadership to Improve the Achievement of Struggling Students

Ramon sits quietly in his seat. He lets his mind wander as the teacher stands in front of the class talking about yesterday’s homework assignment. He likes where he sits in the first row, fifth seat because the teacher almost never looks in his direction, and he can just blend in to the class. He notices his classmates begin to clear off their desks and sees that they are taking out their World Cultures textbooks. Ramon begins to worry that the next assignment is to read from that dreaded book. His worst fears are confirmed when his teacher tells the class to open their books to Chapter 6 for group reading. He has heard this before and he knows the routine. Each student will read one paragraph out loud as they go in order through the class. Maybe today she will begin on the other side of the class. No such luck as she tells the first student in his row to begin. With a lump in his throat and beads of sweat forming on his brow, he quickly scans down to the fifth paragraph, hoping that it will not be too long or too hard. His heart sinks when he sees the first word of the paragraph, Mesopotamia. As he looks over the paragraph, he also encounters Egyptian and pyramid. A sense of panic surges through him as he tries to figure out a way of avoiding reading out loud in class. He thinks about pretending he is sick or asleep. Finally he decides to go for a sure thing so he reaches over and punches the boy next to him on the arm. The boy screams and Ramon is relieved to know that he will not have to read in class today. (Blasewitz & Taylor, 1999, p 33) Ramon’s story is not unique. Older, struggling readers repeat over and over again the coping mechanisms they have developed to either avoid reading and writing or to hide their lack of literacy skills. Most often, they act out to disrupt the class in some way, and are thus seen as discipline problems. By the time these students reach fifth or sixth grade they know they read below their peers and believe that that is just how it is. No matter how hard they try, they do not believe that they will become readers and writers. Their self-defeating beliefs result in poor school related self-esteem. These factors lead to such great academic frustration that, when coupled with the developmental need of young adolescents for peer approval and independence, a downhill slide often escalates into a crisis. These crises of misbehavior can be avoided through literacy leadership, that is, leadership that focuses on ensuring developmentally appropriate literacy learning for young adolescents.

Leaders, critical friends, and the education community

Purpose – Professional practice doctorate programs’ purpose is to prepare practitioners in the industry to lead and solve current and future complex problems with the application of research. The authors aim to argue that leadership, critical friends, and engagement of the education community together have the potential to assist in enhancing professional practice doctorate graduates’ outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – From three case studies of redesign and implementations of Ed. D. programs associated with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, the authors discuss how distributed leadership and implementation of contemporary motivational concepts within a university empowers and incentivizes faculty to develop and enhance effectiveness of professional practice doctorates.Findings – The concept of critical friends, those who are not invested in a specific situation, can provide objective and fresh insight and is applied as a reform strategy. Engaging the industry, that is, the education com...

RISE: Service and Learning Combine.

Abstract Bringing student reading up to grade level is possible with the right kind of intervention—and without additional expenses.

Ethical Leadership while Making the Grade.

Ethical leadership has been called into question as a result of the great pressure to raise test scores and to be accountable for student achievement in very challenging times. The survey research conducted in both Florida and Georgia (USA) lead to conclusions that both teachers and administrators value ethical decision making. Teachers report that they have not changed their decision making, although their daily work has been restricted. The former group perceives that accountability has impacted decision making of the latter group. However, administrators report that they have not changed their decision making to a great extent

Desirable Qualities of Modern Doctorate Advisors in the USA: A View through the Lenses of Candidates, Graduates, and Academic Advisors.

ABSTRACT Desirable qualities for modern doctorate academic advisors in the USA that provide for successful completion were explored. In this mixed method study, both interview and survey data were collected. Interviews took place with 13 academic advisors and 18 doctoral candidates and graduates. Thirty-eight academic advisors and 151 candidates and graduates in the USA completed the survey. Participants were from 33 states and represented disciplines of physical therapy, nursing, health, education, and business. Findings across academic advisors, doctoral candidates, and graduates indicate that participants preferred structure in the advising process, helpful and timely feedback, regular communication, emotional support during the doctoral research journey, and a professional relationship that transitions from hierarchical to collegial as the candidate moves to completion of the modern doctorate process. Implications for preparation of academic advisors for modern doctorate candidates may be helpful in supporting their successful completion.

Literacy coach effectiveness: the need for measurement

Purpose – Literacy coaches can play a valuable role in the improvement of student learning outcomes. The authors’ purpose is to describe their time use, student learning, and principals’ understanding leading to advocacy for development of literacy coach effectiveness measures.Design/methodology/approach – By analyzing four related studies, the authors use quantitative and qualitative methods to develop five themes and the need for measures of effectiveness. Areas of role and use of time, principals’ understanding, and need for empirical, rather than perceptual research are explored.Findings – Findings on the relationship of use of time and student reading outcomes, and perceptions of impediments and enhancements to impact on effectiveness are discussed and lead to the identification of the need for effectiveness measures.Research limitations/implications – Limitations include the singular US region where the four studies were conducted and the small samples. The four studies did not use precisely the sam...

Science and Mathematics Mentees and Mentors: Who Benefits the Most?

The purpose of our study was to determine the extent to which differences in a mentor model for science and mathematics teachers accounted for variances in mentoring effectiveness and persistence rates of teachers. School district designee, mentor, and teacher perceptions of mentoring support were collected through the use of interviews and surveys and analyzed using the grounded theory approach and open coding. Findings revealed that teachers and mentors recommended that future mentor models provide strong support and more face-to-face meetings. The most common change mentors made was that they incorporated new strategies into their teaching. Findings offer insight for structuring mentor models to increase effectiveness and persistence of teachers and build the capacity of mentors.