Barakat, Maysaa

Having an effective teacher in a school is paramount because they significantly influence student achievement (Shaw & Newton, 2014). Not having this vital resource contributes to the achievement gap between White and minority students. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of ten principals with hiring and retaining teachers for schools with a large percentage of minority students from low-income households who also struggle academically. All principals share a common experience – they receive a federal grant, Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), which is additional funding for bonuses to hire and retain teachers and provide professional support. The study includes research that provides context to the factors that contribute to the teacher shortage problem within schools with this specific student demographic and the way in which this impacts the inequitable distribution of qualified instructors. The research also contains literature which informed the study's theoretical framework - Critical Race Theory and Theory of Oppression and the concepts of leadership practices, asset-based thinking, and teacher motivation.
The researcher found that the principals experience anxiety filling vacant positions due to teacher shortage. There were three prominent themes that framed the findings: Hiring Teachers, Retaining Teachers, and Teacher Shortage. Principals experience challenges with employing teachers because of their negative perceptions of the students. Most of the teachers they hire are Black and Hispanic, and the Teacher Incentive Fund grant did not help attract teachers to accept a position, but it helped retain them. The principals work arduously to keep teachers by giving them support and creating a positive school culture, in addition, most of them find that Black and Hispanic teachers remain at the school more than White teachers.

This study aimed to investigate the attitudes, knowledge, and practices of Kuwaiti
kindergarten teachers regarding their leadership roles in the classroom and schools within
the State of Kuwait. This study was conducted using a mixed methods research design
whereby both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed
simultaneously. The qualitative sample included 56 kindergarten teachers and twelve
heads of departments selected from 12 kindergarten schools from all six school districts
in the State of Kuwait. The quantitative sample included 560 volunteer participants who
completed a survey that measures teachers’ values, practices, and their perspectives on
school culture regarding teacher leadership. ANOVA was used to analyze the differences
among school district location, years of teaching experience, and teacher’s education
level.
The findings suggested that there were no statistically significant correlations
among teachers’ beliefs regarding teacher leadership and school location, years of
experience, and education level. Also, there were no statistically significant correlations between teacher leadership practices and school location, years of experience, and
education level. There were significant correlations between school climate conducive to
teacher leadership and years of experience, without school location and education level.
Moreover, the concept of teacher leadership was ambiguous in Kuwaiti
kindergarten schools. There were some indications of opportunity for teacher leadership
roles, but those roles were not considered effective by participants. Teacher participants
believe that their roles are restricted, and this perspective was supported in part by the
heads of department. Teachers enumerated some hindrances to teacher leadership, such
as instability of ministry supervisors’ decisions; top-down, unilateral decision-making;
and school administrations’ tight control of teachers’ roles to the level of organizing and
running classrooms. Broader implementation of Kuwaiti school restructuring efforts
employing a distributed leadership model among formal and informal leadership roles
and positions is recommended to help improve quality of education, the teaching
profession, and school reform. In the end, the most significant benefit would be gained
by students.