Professional Training of Secondary School Principals
in Nigeria: A Neglected Area in the Educational
System
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73-84 |
M. Olalekan Arikewuyo, Ph.D.
Institute of Education Olabisi
Onabanjo University
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[PDF] |
The paper examines the professional training of Principals of secondary schools in Nigeria. The study
observes that teaching experience appears to be the major yardstick that is being used currently to promote
teachers to the rank of school Principals in the country. After drawing experiences from some other
countries on how Principals are trained and appointed, the paper concludes that teaching experience
should not be the only yardstick for appointing Principals of secondary schools in Nigeria. As school
administrators, the principals need to be formally trained before they assume administrative positions.
The paper therefore suggests that the National policy on Education should be amended such that
potential principals would attend mandatory leadership courses at the National Institute for Educational
Planning and Administration (NIEPA) before they assume managerial positions. It further proposed that
NIEPA should expand its programmes to provide the opportunities and avenues for such training.
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An Analysis of Policy Solutions to Improve the
Efficiency and Equity of Florida’s Bright Futures
Scholarship Program
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85-101 |
Lyle Mckinney
University of Florida
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[PDF] |
The Bright Futures Scholarship (BFS), Florida’s lottery-funded, merit-based scholarship program, has
been a source of both praise and criticism since its 1997 inception. Proponents of the scholarship assert the
program has achieved the desired goals of making college more affordable for state residents and
encouraging the brightest students to attend in-state colleges. Conversely, the BFS program has drawn
heavy criticism for providing minority and low-income students with disproportionately fewer
scholarships than Whites and high-income students who could have afforded college without the state’s
financial support. This policy analysis explores four alternatives for Florida policymakers to consider
when reexamining the current structure of the BFS program: 1. maintain the status quo; 2. implement
flat-rate award amounts; 3. introduce a ‘blended’ program that provides both merit and need based aid;
and 4. transform the BFS into a predominately need-based aid program. All four policy alternatives are
evaluated based on the policy goals of cost efficiency, distribution equity, and political feasibility.
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Examining Instructional Leadership: A Study of
School Culture and Teacher Quality Characteristics
Influencing Student Outcomes
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102-111 |
Matthew Ohlson, Ph.D.
University of Florida
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[PDF] |
First, to examine the influence of teacher input characteristics and teacher perceptions of school culture
on student absences. Second, to examine the influence of teacher input characteristics and teacher
perceptions of school culture on out-of-school suspensions. Data was obtained for the 2006-2007 school
year from 23 urban public elementary schools in Florida. Using the school as the unit of analysis, data
was collected examining student absences and suspensions during the 2006-2007 school year reported by
the Florida Department of Education’s School Indicators Report. Surveys were administered to examine
collaborative leadership, teacher collaboration, unity of purpose, professional development, collegial
support, and learning partnership, identified by Gruenert and Valentine (1998) as the six components of
the collaborative culture of a school. Surveys also documented teacher input characteristics such as years
teaching, percent out of field, and highest degree obtained. Correlation using multiple regression was
used to analyze the data. As the Unity of Purpose factor increased, the model predicted that student
absences would decrease by 22.56%. In addition, the model predicted that when either the average years
of experience for teachers within a school increased or when the Collaborative Leadership factor
increased, student suspensions would decrease by 0.413%. and 4.81% respectively.
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The Efficacy of Florida’s Approach to In-Service
English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teacher
Training Programs
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112-126 |
Ronald D. Simmons, Jr., Ph.D.
University of South Florida
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[PDF] |
The issue of school achievement among k-12 English language learners (ELLs) has grown in recent years
to become one that policy makers and school officials can hardly afford to ignore. A range of indicators
including graduation rates, and Florida’s High stakes test the FCAT, attests to this general trend.
English language learners in Florida are overwhelmingly mainstreamed in content classes and it has
become the responsibility of teachers to provide a comprehensible and meaningful education to those not
proficient in English. This study attempts to determine whether district training sessions in Florida are
adequately covering state-mandated content areas for the ESOL endorsement; it asks to what extent
secondary school in-service teachers agree or disagree that they received the appropriate amount of
instruction; and seeks to ascertain whether the trainings being studied will prepare them to educate the
myriad of English language learners who are mainstreamed into their classrooms each year.
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| Book Reviews |
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Leading With Data By Goldring, E. & Berends, M. |
127-131 |
Reviewed by Vicki White
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[PDF] |
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Raising Multicultural Awareness in Higher Education By Klein, A. |
132-137 |
Reviewed by Shuang Frances Wu-Barone
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[PDF] |
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