Browsing by Author "Davis, Brenda K., 1971-"
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Item How do they know what they know? : a qualitative multiple case study to explore how pre-kindergarten paraeducators develop professional skills during their careers.(May 2023) Carr, Kristina L., 1984-; Davis, Brenda K., 1971-Paraeducators are an essential component of the workforce in many classroom settings, including early childhood and special education (Abbate-Vaughn, 2007; Bagawan et al., 2022; Stockall, 2014; Walker et al., 2021). Although the classroom responsibilities can look very similar to those of a credentialed lead teacher, requirements for paraeducators across the country are not the same as the prerequisite training for a teacher, and often paraeducators are not required to have background knowledge on instructional practices or behavior management strategies (Bagawan et al., 2022; Dennis et al., 2021; Mason et al., 2020). Paraeducators are a large subset of educators contributing to the success of students. Understanding how they determine and address their professional needs is an important area of study. This study aimed to provide an in-depth look at the experiences of paraeducators in their day-to-day professional responsibilities, their relationships with their teachers and administrators, how they identify their own professional needs, and determine a course of action to address those needs. The questions posed in this study examined the self-directed learning characteristics of pre-kindergarten paraeducators in Ravenswood Schools and how those characteristics influenced career development choices. The following research questions guided this study: 1. How do pre-kindergarten paraeducators’ stages of self-directed learning influence the ways in which they determine and address their professional needs? 2. What experiences are most valuable to pre-kindergarten paraeducators for their professional development of skills related to their job responsibilities? The research design for this study was a qualitative multiple case study with six participants who were all pre-kindergarten paraeducators. Data sources for this study were one-on-one interviews, a questionnaire, and participant resumes. Seven findings came from this research. The findings were (a) collaboration, (b) education, (c) self-directedness, (d) traditional learning experiences, (e) movement across the stages of SDL, (f) family, and (g) undervaluing of paraeducators. The findings of this study determined that pre-kindergarten paraeducators are self-directed in their learning and have several implications for three distinct stakeholder groups: pre-kindergarten paraeducators, pre-kindergarten teachers, and school and district administrators.Item Influences on academic talent development of Black females : systematic review and case study.(2020-09-24) Davis, Brenda K., 1971-; Johnsen, Susan K.Although Black females are the majority of the Black population in colleges and universities, Black women are still underrepresented in advanced degree programs. Moreover, Black females are underrepresented in other areas such as research, K-12 gifted and advanced education programs, and higher-paying jobs. Few studies explore how high-ability Black females manage to attain advanced degrees despite the intersections of race, gender, and ability. For this reason, this project encompasses two studies. From a growth perspective, the first paper examines the literature related to the intrapersonal and environmental influences on the academic talent development of Black girls. A systematic protocol determines the selection of 43 scholarly articles for this review. Through the thematic analysis from each of the article's Results and Findings sections, findings suggest five major themes related to Black female academic achievement. Specifically, academic identity, racial identity, aspirations and expectations, relationships, and academic institutions can influence the talent development of Black girls. Further, to explore the lived experiences of Black females, the second paper investigates three high-ability Black females who have advanced degrees. In particular, this paper uses a developmental approach to talent development to explore the intrapersonal and environmental influences that each participant experienced during their K-12 schooling. Results indicate that several environmental influences such as access to advanced programs and activities and strong family and church support systems encourage academic growth. Additionally, these environmental influences combined with intrapersonal influences such as positive academic and racial identity, intrapersonal motivation, and an ability to self-advocate appear to promote Black girls’ academic talent development.Item Principal and teacher perspectives on cultivating fit in Catholic high schools : a multiple case study.(May 2023) McCarthy, Daniel E., 1987-; Davis, Brenda K., 1971-Schools routinely struggle with retaining teachers each academic year. In Catholic schools, when teachers leave, the school seeks to hire a teacher who understands and supports the educational and religious mission found within the school. However, this is not always practical, thus causing Catholic schools to select individuals who might satisfy only part of the dual mission. Hiring less mission-oriented teachers requires the school to provide further professional development on the school’s mission. This study used a qualitative multiple case study to explore three Catholic high schools’ processes for hiring and cultivating fit in their mission-driven environments. I used the theoretical framework of person-organization fit theory (Chatman, 1991) to answer the research questions on how Catholic high school administrators cultivate fit in their school and the faculty’s experience of fit within the educational and religious mission found in these private schools. I used purposive sampling to select three schools which served as the cases in this study, the principals and teachers of each school served as embedded units within each case. I conducted semi-structured interviews with each high school principal and received permission to distribute questionnaires to their faculty. From this questionnaire, I purposively selected five teachers based on their questionnaire responses. These five teachers then participated in a focus group interview. Data analysis consisted of coding, identifying themes, within-case analysis, and cross-case analysis. The findings of this study indicated that Catholic high school principals cultivate fit through beginning-of-the-year retreats that provide religious mission onboarding for faculty and an emphasis on the use of prayer during gatherings. Findings also showed that during the hiring process, school principals rely on supplementary fit of the individual’s values and ability to fit within the cultural norms of the school. Catholic school principals could use these findings to create instruments that more precisely address an applicant’s ability to fit within the culture present at the school and in planning intentional mission development experiences beyond one-time experiences for faculty.Item The perceptions of organizational culture in the community corrections profession : a quantitative study.(May 2023) Hernandez, Deana, 1986-; Davis, Brenda K., 1971-Despite efforts to implement and adopt effective supervision practices that construct long-term sustainable and effective community corrections systems, agencies struggle with internal organizational factors that impact the effectiveness and, subsequently, public safety (Baker et al., 2015; Kras et al., 2021; Viglione, 2019; Wilson et al., 2022). Too often, leaders overlook the organizational factors that formed the current organizational culture, which leads to ineffective staff behavior norms. In researching this problem, I discovered two main concerns. The first concern is the need for more research and acknowledgment to study organizational culture in the community corrections profession. The second concern is the disconnect between management and non-management staff perceptions of the expected staff behaviors and the organizational culture factors that led to the creation of a passive defensive operating culture. I used a causal-comparative quantitative research design with the How Culture Works theoretical framework in this study. The theory asserts that the different perceptions of organizational factors develop the expected behavior norms staff adapt to fit in and succeed in the organization and that the development of different expected behavior norms leads to defensive cultures. Therefore, I used the Organizational Culture Inventory to focus on three determinations. First, to determine the current organizational culture style of the participants. Second, to determine the current organizational culture style by organizational level, management, and non-management. Finally, to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the perceptions of the current organizational culture between management and non-management participants. Descriptive analyses showed that the primary organizational culture style for the sample of participants is passive defensive. In addition, the primary organizational culture style for management participants was also passive defensive. However, the primary organizational culture style for non-management participants was constructive. Thus, the comparative analyses showed a statistically significant difference between management and non-management perceptions of the constructive, passive defensive, and aggressive defensive culture styles. Implications of these findings relate to governing bodies, professional leaders, and researchers associated with the community corrections profession.Item Understanding the roles of psychological safety, team learning, and functional backgrounds for cross-functional product development teams : a convergent mixed methods study.(May 2023) Underwood, Cristen Jonassen, 1980-; Davis, Brenda K., 1971-Cross-functional teams in new product development bring together members of different departments and functional backgrounds to improve efficiency, collaboration, and speed-to-market (Majchrzak et al., 2012; Slepian, 2013). The evidence shows that for members of multidisciplinary teams, psychological safety facilitates effective problem-solving and the opportunity for members to learn from mistakes (Edmondson, 2019; Harvey et al., 2019). Product development requires innovation and creativity, and the combination of psychological and team learning behaviors allows for team members of diverse backgrounds to work together to effectively complete the product development process (Cauwelier et al., 2016; Han et al., 2019; Kark & Carmeli, 2009; Liu & Keller, 2021). This convergent mixed methods study focused on understanding the roles of psychological safety, team learning behaviors, and functional backgrounds on cross-functional product development teams. I collected data using the questionnaire variant of a convergent mixed methods design; the participants (n = 52) were all in the product development field with cross-functional team experience. The questionnaire contained three quantitative instruments with open-ended qualitative questions that coordinated with the construct measured in each instrument. I present the quantitative instrument data first, then the qualitative, open-ended question data, and finally, the mixed methods integration. I found a strong correlation between psychological safety and team learning, a moderate correlation between psychological safety and functional backgrounds, and a weak to moderate relationship between team learning and functional backgrounds. I also found that the duration of time that the participants were at their companies did not significantly affect their instrument scores. In investigating the open-ended questions, I created codes and categories from the data. From the categories, 11 themes emerged that influenced the development of psychological safety, team learning, and functional background understanding for the study participants. Finally, I present the integrated data to enhance knowledge of group members’ experiences within cross-functional teams.