The Level of Emotional Intelligence in Principals of Recognized and Acceptable Schools

The future of our democratic society depends on a strong and vibrant educational system. The 90s brought us accountability and high stakes testing and our new millennium promises to demand even more sacrifices from teachers, students, and principals as expectations rise and pressures increase for educational improvements. Quality leadership from school principals will be crucial in creating schools capable of producing students who can excel and compete in today’s challenging global economy

Mastering Critical Thinking Competencies In Online Graduate Classes

Many colleges of education have embraced online course delivery as an expeditious means of delivering graduate programs. It behooves us to ensure that this delivery method does not compromise our ability to provide these students with necessary critical thinking competencies. This research was designed to determine the degree to which participants in online graduate courses value critical thinking and the degree to which they developed these skills. The results indicated that students both valued understanding, judgment, caution/skepticism, originality, and reflection/action, and developed them in their online classes. The implications confirm that online platforms allow for the development of critical thinking competencies

PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AND MATHEMATICS PASS RATE IN JAMAICAN HIGH SCHOOLS

This research was intended to explore the degree to which leadership practices impacted Jamaican schools’ mathematics achievement. More specifically, the researchers examined Jamaica’s high school students’ CSEC mathematics performance in relation to principals’ instructional leadership behaviors as measured by teachers’ perceptions, using Kouzes and Posner (2003) Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). Data were gathered from 2-4 teachers from 42 high schools in Jamaica. The results indicated that those principals who had high LPI scores also lead schools with higher mathematics pass rates than those principals who had low LPI scores. More specifically, “enabling others to act” was established as the leadership practice most associated with high mathematics performance. Finally, we discovered that the traditional Jamaican high schools were more likely to experience satisfactory mathematics pass rates

Enhancing the cultural competency of prospective leaders via a study abroad experience

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether an experiential learning opportunity, specifically a study tour experience, would improve the cultural intelligence of prospective educational leaders and would challenge them to expand their own cultural understanding and behavior. Several prospective leaders who enrolled in a graduate program in Educational Leadership volunteered to attend a study abroad program that was intended, in part, to enhance their cultural competence. They were then asked to complete a survey that measured the four domains of cultural intelligence, namely metacognition, cognition, motivation and behavior. They were also asked to respond to prompts about how the experiential learning experience impacted their own cultural understanding and behavior. The results indicated that the study tour participants were cognizant of their cultural intelligence and that they compared and contrasted the norms of their own culture and those of the study tour country. In essence, participants acquired substantial cultural intelligence and reflected on how their leadership behavior should change to meet the needs of others

Enhancing the Cultural Competency of Prospective Leaders via a Study Abroad Experience

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether an experiential learning opportunity, specifically a study tour experience, would improve the cultural intelligence of prospective educational leaders and would challenge them to expand their own cultural understanding and behavior. Several prospective leaders who enrolled in a graduate program in Educational Leadership volunteered to attend a study abroad program that was intended, in part, to enhance their cultural competence. They were then asked to complete a survey that measured the four domains of cultural intelligence, namely metacognition, cognition, motivation and behavior. They were also asked to respond to prompts about how the experiential learning experience impacted their own cultural understanding and behavior. The results indicated that the study tour participants were cognizant of their cultural intelligence and that they compared and contrasted the norms of their own culture and those of the study tour country. In essence, participants acquired substantial cultural intelligence and reflected on how their leadership behavior should change to meet the needs of others

Factors that Contribute to the Disparity in Academic Achievement of Students from Southern Belize

Standardised assessment is no new to the education systems of developed countries and likewise true in developing countries. Accordingly, in both developed and developing countries, standardised assessments are mandated at the national, state, regional, and/or district levels in order to gather data about students’ achievement over time and to hold educators and students accountable for educational outcomes. The assumption is that education is a social investment that ought to produce the human capital requisite for a functional and progressive society; and indeed, it is. When education is neglected and/or not transformative, the results are adverse to a society, as we have experienced in Belize where, as Minister of Education Patrick Faber has noted, “the long-standing challenges of crime, violence and poverty . . . have continued to plague us for many years now”. However, as Faber advances, [E]ducation can be truly transformative and so the challenge is not so much about investing more as it is about doing things differently! Therefore, education in Belize will be truly transformative only if we transform education. That means not investing in a more expensive status quo but changing the status quo. Any additional investment in education must be aimed at changing the status quo