The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Lindsey Lawrence Brady

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

July 6, 2015 at 2:00 pm

405 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Science, Special Education, The University of Memphis

Master of Science, Educational Leadership, Christian Brothers University

Advisory Committee

James Meindl, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, Committee chair

Neal Miller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Todd Whitney, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Laura Casey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Major Field of Study

Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Period of Preparation: 2011 – 2013

Comprehensive Examination Passed: October 2013

Effect of Social Stories on attention maintained inappropriate behaviors

Abstract

Social Stories are narratives written to explain a social situation, social skill, or concept to individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis or developmental disabilities. Although the main goal of a Social Story is to increase the individual’s understanding of the targeted situation, skill, or concept, this intervention is commonly implemented by to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate behaviors. Researchers have investigated Social Story efficacy when applied to both increasing appropriate and decreasing inappropriate behaviors. Results to date have been contradictory with some research supporting Social Stories and other research showing the intervention to be ineffective. These conflicting results could be related to the many procedural variations across studies. Additionally, few studies conducted either a functional analysis or functional behavior assessment prior to implementing a Social Story intervention when attempting to decrease behavior. This may also contribute to the contradictory evidence. It is possible, for example, that a Social Story could possibly serve as an abolishing operation for attention maintained inappropriate behaviors. By providing attention prior to the emission of the attention maintained inappropriate behavior, the value of attention could decrease and the likelihood that the individual will engage in the behavior that produces attention could decrease. This might suggest a Social Story was effective when it was the noncontingent provision of attention that produced the effect. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a Social Story could serve as an abolishing operation for attention maintained inappropriate behaviors if read prior to the problem behavior. Five participants were identified as engaging in inappropriate behaviors that were possibly maintained by attention. The participants were exposed to an alternating treatment design that manipulated the temporal location of the Social Story. The latencies of the targeted behavior were measured. Shorter latencies were present in baseline indicating that the individuals were quickly engaging in the behaviors that produced attention. The latency of the target behavior was increased for only one participant indicating that they were no longer engaging in the attention maintained target behavior, but it is unclear what variable was responsible for this change. For the other four participants, latencies varied greatly with no discernable patterns across conditions. These findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Brooke Bennett Lubin

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

July 2^nd, 2015 at 2:30

123 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Arts, Economics, The University of Texas

Masters of Science, Secondary Education, The University of Memphis

Advisory Committee

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

Louis A. Franceschini III, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

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

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

Major Field of Study

Educational Leadership

Period of Preparation: 2009 – 2015

Comprehensive Examination Passed: October 2013

Principals as Leaders of Teacher-Followers: An Exploratory Analysis of High School Teachers’ Followership Style and Motivations

Abstract

Decades of research suggest that leadership holds the reins of an organization. More current research, however, identifies followers as possessing the primary influence within an organization, not leadership. This study takes a follower-centric approach to leadership by surveying and analyzing high school teachers’ followership styles and corresponding motivations to inform principal-leaders. Differentiation of leadership styles builds capacity for enhancement of interdependence and interrelations among the educational environment between teacher-followers and principal-leaders. Specifically, affiliation, autonomy, dominance and achievement are the dominant motivators from which the teacher-followers were categorized, and those motivators were correlated with followership styles as alienated, conformist, pragmatist, passive, and exemplary.

This study quantitatively examines teacher-follower followership styles and motivations from survey item analysis and comparisons between groups. The results of item means, standard deviations, and statistics revealed that despite having a sample of 145 respondents that was skewed by style of followership, with far too many “Exemplary” followers than the instrument norms would suggest, links were observed between a respondents’ dominant style, their age categorized, and such age-related concerns as years of teaching and years of formal education. Across all types of teacher-followers, the need for Achievement was most pronounced, followed by the need for Autonomy. Compared to these two needs, those for Affiliation and Dominance were significantly less in evidence, but neither of the latter two needs was more or less in evidence than the other. Across groups, “Exemplary” followers express more need for Achievement, Affiliation, and Dominance, but not more need for Autonomy.

Understanding teacher-followers’ followership styles and motivations can be used as a framework for assisting principal-leaders in recognizing what leadership styles might appropriately motivate teachers within their school.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

       Ricky Dale Catlett

for the degree of

   Doctor of Education

       July 7 at 11:00 am

123 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Arts, Communication/Public Relations, Lambuth College

Bachelor of Science, Health/Physical Education, Lambuth University

Master of Education, Administration Supervision, Trevecca Nazarene University

Advisory Committee

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

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

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

Charles H. Clark Jr., Ed. D., Adjunct Professor, Department of Leadership

Major Field of Study

Leadership and Policy Studies, Educational Leadership

Period of Preparation: 2012 – 2015

Comprehensive Examination Passed: April, 2014

The Relationship Between Affective Teaching and Teacher Effectiveness in Rural Teachers in Tennessee

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between affective teachers and teacher effectiveness among teachers in rural Tennessee. The philosophical belief of the study is embedded in the classical conditioning theory where the classroom is perceived as the instructional construct, which is characterized by the generation of stimuli and responses. A sample of 259 rural teachers in Tennessee located in elementary, middle, and high schools participated in the study. Data was collected using a survey containing elements of motivation, emotionality, planning, stability, commitment, and competence. Data was analyzed using regression analysis, descriptive statistics, and correlations. Results showed that teachers motivate students using strategies which include: drive to learn, passion to succeed, passion to learn, and appreciation. Results also showed that teachers utilize emotionality to build relationships with students using strategies which include the following: concern, kindness, compassion and listening. These findings have implications for classroom management, instructional design, assessment, delivery of instruction, creating friendly teaching environments, instructional leadership, student growth and achievement.