The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Virginia Meadows McNeil

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

November 6, 2014, 1:00 PM

Ball Hall 123

University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education, Memphis State University

Master’s Degree, Education, Administration and Supervision, University of Memphis

Advisory Committee

Larry McNeal, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Leadership, Committee Chair

Reginald Green, Ed.D., Professor, Department of Leadership

Charisse Gulosino, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

Louis Franceschini III, Ph.D., Senior Research Consultant, Center for Research in Education

Policy

Major Field of Study

Leadership and Policy Studies

Period of Preparation:  1992 – 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: October 2008

An Investigation of the Perceptions of Elementary and Middle School Teachers Regarding their Participation in Distributed Leadership and Decision Making

McNeil, Virginia Meadows, Ed.D.  The University of Memphis, December 2014.  An Investigation of the Perceptions of Elementary and Middle School Teachers Regarding their Participation in Distributed Leadership and Decision Making.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which elementary and middle school teachers perceived they were being treated as leaders at their schools and were being provided with a substantial role in making school decisions. With respect to their perceived leadership status, elementary and middle school teachers differed only in their assessment of the effectiveness of teacher leadership at their institutions, with elementary teachers offering statistically significant but only slightly more positive ratings than their middle-level counterparts (c²(1) = 6.30, p = .012, f = -0.04).

In examining the perceptions of subgroups of elementary and middle school teachers, teachers’ years of experience and their tenure at the school were both observed to mediate their responses to particular teacher leadership items but the effects were small and not directionally consistent. Much more frequent, however, were statistically significant differences in the size of the role that elementary and middle school teachers perceived they played in school decision making. While more middle-level than elementary level teachers held that their role was moderate to large in decisions involving devising teaching techniques (c²(1) = 7.81, p = .005, f = 0.05) and setting grading and student assessment practices (c²(1) = 16.90, p < .001, f = 0.07), more elementary than middle school teachers claimed a substantial level of influence with respect to such matters as the content of professional development (c²(1) = 6.17, p = .013, f = -0.04), student discipline procedures (c²(1) = 9.36, p = .002, f =- 0.05), the selection of teachers new to this school (c²(1) = 6.80, p = .009, f = -0.05), and school improvement planning (c²(1) = 14.83, p < .001, f = -0.07).

Analyses of these decision making issues, by subgroups of teachers, indicated that, at both levels of schooling, more years of experience and longer tenure at a school tended to interact with the level of schooling and to expand the teacher’s perceived role. Consistently evidencing the most robust effects by experience and tenure was teachers’ perceived level of involvement in school improvement planning.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Herbert N. Ene

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

November 10, 2014 @ 10:00 a.m.

Ball Hall 123

University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Philosophy, Philosophy, Seat of Wisdom Seminary Owerri, Nigeria.

Bachelor of Theology, Theology, Saint Joseph Major Seminary Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria.

Master of Education, Education, Christian Brothers University Memphis, Tennessee.

Advisory Committee

Larry McNeal, Ph.D., Professor, & Chair, Department of Leadership, Committee Chair

Reginald Leon Green, Ed.D, Professor, Department of Leadership

Mitsunori Misawa, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

Charisse Gulosino, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

Major Field of Study

Leadership & Policy Studies

Period of Preparation:  2010 – 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: November 2013

AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY ABOUT THE ASPECTS OF IGBO CULTURE THAT INFLUENCE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES OF FEMALE AND MALE 12TH GRADE STUDENTS IN THEIR CAREER CHOICES IN ENUGU STATE SCHOOLS, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This qualitative study seeks to obtain an in depth understanding of aspects of Igbo culture that influence educational practices of female and male 12th grade students in their career choices as they approach their graduation from high school in Enugu State Schools. The study will be based upon previous researches that held that Igbo culture limits choice of careers among female 12th grade students in Nigeria. It will answer the overarching question that inquires to explore those aspects of Igbo culture that influence educational practices of female and male 12th grade students in their choice of careers in Enugu State Schools. The research design that will be used in this study is focus group interview. Purposeful and snowball samplings will be employed in the choice of participants to be interviewed. This is to enable the researcher to select only those that have expert knowledge of the Igbo culture. The population for the study will be thirty one, comprising of the traditional ruler of the town and ten members of his cabinet that formed the first focus group, and ten men and ten women village representatives that form the second and third focus groups respectively. The interview will be both individual and focus groups semi-formal and semi-structured audio taped. Transcription will be made. The analysis of texts from the transcribed audio tapes and the archival documents comprised of coding, categorizing and themes. Also the data were analyzed within the context of the three main historical periods in Igbo culture, namely; the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial. Tracing the relationship in the historical development of some cultural factors over the time between these three periods in Igbo culture, the researcher expressed some key cultural factors that were involved. Conclusions will be developed from “ground up” rather than from “top down” so as to determine that the study’s aims are met. Ways of overcoming the cultural barriers or empowering female students will be of interest for further studies.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

 Calvin Lacy

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

November 10, 2014 @ 1:00 p.m.

Ball Hall 123

 University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Science, Educational Psychology, Alcorn State University

Master of Science, Educational Leadership, University of Memphis

Advisory Committee

Larry McNeal, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Leadership, Committee Chair

Reginald Green, Ed.D., Professor, Department Of Leadership

Charisse Gulosino, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

Donald Hopper, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Leadership

Major Field of Study

Educational Leadership

Period of Preparation:  2008 – 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: October 2012

An Examination Of Urban Teachers’ Perception Of Evaluation And Its The Relationship Between Teacher Leadership, School-Decision Making And Professional Intentions

Abstract

Lacy, Calvin, Ed.D., The University of Memphis, December 2014.  An Examination of Urban Teachers’ Perception of Evaluation and Its Relationship Between Teacher Leadership, School-Decision Making and Professional Intentions. Major Professor: Dr. Larry McNeal, Ph.D.

The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers perceive the quality of their evaluations and the relationship of these perceptions to others involving their sense of themselves as “teacher leaders,” their self-assessed level involvement in various types of school decisions, and their future intentions as pedagogical “stayers” or “leavers.”  The perceptions of these teachers will be compared to individual outcomes, i.e. teacher leadership, school-decision making, and professional intentions.  The importance of their perceptions and impact it can have on teachers’ intentions to leave or remain in the profession are tantamount to stabilizing the profession in the 21^st century.

Among the four variables and six relationships studied, statistically significant correlations were observed both for the sample of over 4,500 teachers as a whole as well as for subgroups of teachers by educational level, total years of teaching experience, and years of experience at the teacher’s current school. While these grouping variables were not always seen to impact the strength of these relationships, the relationships that were consistently affected involved teachers’ perceptions of their decision-making roles. A teacher’s educational level as elementary or secondary was observed to mediate the relationship between perceptions of teacher role and perceptions of teacher evaluation (Z = 2.42, p < .05) and perceptions of teacher role and perceptions of teacher leadership (Z = 2.73, p < .01). Likewise did a teacher’s overall years of years of teaching experience appear to impact the linkage between both the former pair of perceptions (Z = 3.30, p < .001) and the latter pair of perceptions (Z = 5.65, p < .001). At the same time, when tenure became the grouping factor, no such impact was seen either on these two or any of the other four relationships that this study investigated.

In sum, the results of this study would appear to indicate that teacher leadership can be abetted and teacher tenure attenuated to the extent that teachers see themselves as being evaluated in an objective, consistent, and instructionally helpful manner.  Mitigating factors such as the number of years at present school, the total years of teaching and the educational level being taught were studied and compared to the original research question.  Hence, if a teacher feels vested by time and a part of the educational decisions of the school, the more likely they are to remain in the profession.  Data for this research was analyzed using statistical computational methods.  The results from the data analysis determined that level of school being taught (elementary and secondary) and the total number of years has the most significant impact on teachers’ perception of evaluation.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Adrian N. Murray

for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

October 29^th, 2014 at 9:30 am

103A Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelors of Arts, Psychology, Wake Forest University

Masters of Arts, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Ball State University

Advisory Committee

Suzanne H. Lease, PhD, Associate Professor, Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, Committee chair

Sara K. Bridges, PhD, Associate Professor, Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research

Sha’Kema M. Blackmon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Counseling , Educational Psychology and Research

Ryan Williams, PhD, Senior Researcher, American Institutes for Research

Major Field of Study

Counseling Psychology

Period of Preparation:  2011-2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: August 21^st, 2013

Taking a cue from the heart: A meta-analysis of mindfulness-based interventions for healthcare providers

Abstract

As the need for healthcare professionals continues to increase, the issue of improving provider self-care becomes ever more salient. One category of approaches to self-care, termed Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs), has been proposed as particularly well suited to addressing the issues of impairment and self-care for healthcare providers. This study sought to synthesize, using meta-analysis, findings from the wealth of recent literature in this area in an effort to provide valuable information about the overall effect of such interventions, as well as the timing and structure necessary to receive benefit. Included are 32 studies that fulfilled the following selection criteria: (1) examined the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, (2) utilized a sample of healthcare providers, (3) reported results from outcome measures for at least one aspect of positive functioning and/or one aspect of negative functioning, and (4) obtained baseline and post-intervention scores for each participant, finding change across time in comparison to a control group. Studies in which authors examined the effect of an MBI on participants at baseline and post-intervention without comparison to a control group were included if enough information was available to calculate an effect size and the correlation between pre- and post- intervention scores. The results of treatment effects from baseline to post-intervention (positive outcomes d = 0.372, negative outcomes d = -0.403), baseline to follow-up (positive outcomes d = 0.483, negative outcomes d = -0.438), and sensitivity analyses excluding a subset of studies based on methodological concerns (positive outcomes d = 0.396, negative outcomes d = -0.408) support the notion that healthcare provider participation in Mindfulness-Based Interventions is associated with substantial improvements on both positive and negative outcomes. Future research will benefit from further examining the effect of various moderators and comparing MBIs to other self-care approaches as the literature base grows.