Teacher Morale

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EdD Doctoral Committee Assignment Form

Directions: Please complete the information below to have faculty members assigned to your supervisory committee. The purpose of this form is to match your study topic and approach with EdD faculty members who have similar areas of knowledge and expertise. You may request a specific faculty member to be your committee chair and/or second committee member. Your request will be considered by your program director or designee on the basis of the faculty member’s availability.

Please click in the gray boxes to add your information.
Committee Chair requested by applicant (optional):
Second Committee Member requested by applicant (optional):

Date of enrollment in EdD program: 09/2014

Please note the following capstone options based on your date of enrollment into the EdD program.
• August 31, 2015 (or later) enrollment – Choice of a doctoral project study or dissertation.
• January 1, 2009 through August 20, 2015 enrollment – Doctoral project study only.
• Enrollment from 2004 through December 2008 (except HEAL specialization) – Choice of doctoral project study or doctoral research study.
• Note: Early Childhood (ECE, ECLA, EDSE) and Special Education (SPED) students may conduct either a doctoral project study or dissertation regardless of enrollment year.
• The doctoral research study has been replaced by the dissertation option for students enrolling after August 31, 2015.

Please check the appropriate doctoral study option below:
Will conduct EdD project study 1
Will conduct EdD dissertation 0

Expected date of enrollment in EDUC 8081 or EDDD 8900 Dec, 2016

Specialization: Check ONE box by double-clicking on the box and selecting “checked.”

Administrator Leadership (AL) 1
Adult Education (AE) 0
College Teaching and Learning (CTL) 0
Community College Leadership (CCL) 0
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (CIA) 0
Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment & Evaluation (CIAE) 0
Early Childhood Education (ECE) 0
Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy (ECLA) 0
Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) 0
Education Technology (EDT) 0
Educational Administration and Leadership (EAL) 0
Higher Education Leadership (HEL) 0
Higher Education Leadership, Management and Policy (HELM) 0
Higher Education and Adult Learning (HEAL) 0
Teacher Leadership (TL) 0
Special Education (SPED) 0
Reading Language Literacy (RLL) 0
Reading, Literacy, Assessment, and Evaluation (RLAE) 0

Working Title: Teacher Perceptions of the Influence of Job Satistfaction on Teacher Morale.

Problem Statement
Provide a one- to two-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of research findings and current practice and that contains (a) a logical argument for the need to address a gap in practice that has relevance to the discipline and (b) preliminary evidence that provides justification that this problem is meaningful to the area of professional practice. Provide three to five key citations that highlight the relevance and currency of the problem. Ensure the topic fits your specialization.

The problem being studied at the local research site is low teacher morale. Morale in the school culture can affect student performance, outcomes, but more importantly the process of teaching and learning as teacher morale is defined by Matoti (2011) as a feeling, an emotional attitude, a mental attitude, a state of mind. Hytten (2011) defines morale as a mental or emotional reaction to a task, self and work environment.

Teacher morale primarily extends beyond the classroom that involve extra curriculars, such as volunteering to coach school sports, serve as club or organization advisor to students, and spearheading school wide events or committees, all are essentials related to how teachers perceive job satisfaction which has a major influence on decisions (Cuddapah, Beaty-O"Ferrall, Masci, & Hetrick (2011). Furthermore, Matoti (2010) affirms that teacher morale has a significant impact on teaching and learning, therefore high morale is critical in the day-to-day pedagogical delivery for students. The problem for this study is to understand why teacher morale is low at American United School.
Purpose Statement
Present a concise, one-paragraph statement on the overall purpose or intention of the study, which serves as the connection between the problem being addressed and the focus of the study.

• In quantitative studies, state what needs be studied by describing two or more factors (variables) and a conjectured relationship among them related to the identified gap in practice or problem.
• In qualitative studies, describe the need for increased understanding about the issue to be studied, based on the identified gap or problem.
• In mixed-methods studies, with both quantitative and qualitative aspects, clarify how the two approaches will be used together to inform the study.

The purpose of this study is intended to explore and discover the diverse factors of leadership practices that precisely impact teacher morale and job satisfaction levels of teachers. In addition, by ascertaining the various factors that affect teacher morale from a variety of core content and elective teachers, to include support personnel at the high school levels, this research will be used by school administrators and director to make necessary changes to positively affect teacher morale. Being able to understand differences as well as similarities that exist between teachers will afford our educational leadership team and community to be able to provide professional development opportunities, support, and improve learning environments within AUS that directly affect job satisfaction levels and teacher morale. Surveys will be completed by teachers in grades sixth through tenth and will be provided to teachers electronically, Winter of 2016.

Possible Research Question(s)

List possible research questions that show potential to address your stated problem, which will lead to the development of what needs to be done in this study and how it will be accomplished. Recall that
• The research question should not be too broad or too narrow.
• The research question must be researchable.
• The research question should be neutral and not leading.
• The research question must be directly investigable using the research tools at hand.
• The research question avoids yes/no questions no matter what the approach.
• Research questions often begin with “How” or “What.”

1. What factors are held common between high school teachers regarding morale and satisfaction?

2. What leadership qualities or styles do teachers believe affect their individualistic levels of morale and job satisfaction in an optimistic manner?
Approach for the Study
Select a possible research approach that is appropriate for the draft research question, purpose, and
problem statement. Check ONE box in the second column and one under MM, if needed.

Qualitative Methods 0
Quantitative Methods 1
Mixed Methods
Primary method is
Qualitative 0
Quantitative 1
0
References
Include APA-formatted references for key research reviewed for the problem statement.

Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of
school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 303-333.
Cuddapah, J. L., Beaty-O"Ferrall, M. E., Masci, F. J., & Hetrick, M. (2011). Exploring Why Career Changers Leave Teaching. New Educator, 7(2), 114-130.
Grissom, J. A., Nicholson-Crotty, S., & Harrington, J. R. (2014). Estimating the effects of No Child
Left Behind on teachers’ work environments and job attitudes. Educational Evaluation and
Policy Analysis, 36(4), 417-436.
Hytten, K. (2011). Building and Sustaining Hope. A Response to "Meaningful Hope for Teachers in a
Time of High Anxiety and Low Morale". Democracy & Education, 19(1),
Matoti, S. N. (2010). The Unheard Voices of Educators: Perceptions of Educators about the State of
Education in South Africa. South African Journal Of Higher Education, 24(4), 568-584.

Directions
Save your completed form with the following title format: Lastname_Firstname_specialization.doc (Example: Jones_Marie_TL.doc)

If this form is part of a course requirement, please submit your completed form to the course Dropbox by the date indicated in the course. Failure to do so will result in your not receiving a committee chair assignment and not being enrolled in EDUC8081/EDDD 8900, which is critical to your progress in the program.