Educational Leadership Commons^™

Educational Leadership In Middle Schools: Informal Teacher Leaders, Mary Ann Luciano

Dissertations - ALL

Quality educational leadership has been shown to have a strong positive relationship with student achievement (Louis et al., 2010). Successful schools do not depend upon a single charismatic leader but on many individuals collaborating and using their collective leadership skills (Grissam et al., 2021; Jackson & Marriott, 2012; Ogawa & Bossert, 1995; Pounder et al., 1995). To attain excellent student success, a school must engage its full leadership capacity (Fullan, 2001; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2008; Klar & Brewer, 2013; Leithwood et al. 2004). This includes teachers. Teacher leadership, an elusive concept with various definitions, has received growing attention from scholars …

Leader Developers: Perspectives Of Mentor Principals In An Administrator Preparation Program, Patricia Virella, Casey Cobb

Journal of Educational Supervision

Principal preparation programs use various components to develop candidates, including course work, core assessments, and field-based internships or practicums. The internship represents an exceptionally high leverage learning opportunity (Lochmiller, 2014). The success of the internship depends highly on the abilities of a mentor via informal instructional supervision. Mette (2020) explains that supervision has a potential transformational quality. This study explores mentorships in a university principal preparation program through the mentor’s perspective. We interviewed a sample of mentors nominated as effective by peer and program informants. We learned that mentors were deliberate in developing three specific skills -- metacognitive ability, developmental …

Transformational Leadership And Organizational Citizenship Behavior Motives In Teachers, Jeremy Davis, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Suzanne B. Miller, Katherine Fallon

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

A principal’s leadership is a key part to the success of a school as their leadership guides both instructional and organizational outcomes. Teachers often work beyond their formal duties to see that all their students have their needs met. This is referred to as an Organizational Citizenship Behavior (i.e., when followers display behaviors that benefit the organization or its members beyond their current job requirements). This study investigated the relationship between principal’s transformational leadership and teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and related motivating factors. Participants from a suburban school district completed a questionnaire based on their perceptions of their principal’s leadership …

School Principals And Instructional Coaches: An Examination Of Their Working Relationships In Maine Schools, Theresa J. Gillis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School principals are charged with being instructional leaders and yet they are tasked with obligations and face daily challenges that often make this an unrealistic expectation. According to the Maine Department of Education, 225 instructional coaches work in 53 Maine school districts. Instructional coaches provide feedback and support for teachers geared towards professional growth. This study will explore how instructional coaches and school principals can work together to support teaching and learning. While both school principals and instructional coaches “share the ultimate goal of effecting positive change” (Hall & Simeral, 2008, p. 23) their relationships may not always promote this …

Selection And Faith/Spiritual Formation Of Catholic Public School Lay Principals In Ghana, Joseph Domfeh-Boateng

Journal of Global Catholicism

While Catholic schools strive to maintain a particular identity, this is not easy when they operate as public schools. In most African countries where the Church operates large networks of Catholic schools, most Catholic schools are public schools, which provides funding but also leads to some constraints. This paper focuses on the issue of the selection and faith/spiritual formation of lay principals in Ghana’s Catholic public Schools. Issues are discussed and a few recommendations are made.

The Essential Characteristics Of Coaching That Secondary Principals Perceive Support Effective Leadership At School Sites, Bryanna Norton

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe the essential characteristics of coaching that secondary principals perceive to support effective leadership at school sites. An additional purpose of this study was to determine what strategies secondary principals recommend for improving coaching that supports effective leadership at school sites.

Methodology: This study adopted a phenomenological approach. The researcher analyzed the lived experiences of 11 secondary principals and identified any commonalities that existed among their interviews based on their perceived truths and perceptions of their lived experiences.

Findings: Analysis of interviews, observations, and artifacts from 11 high school …

Servant Leadership Practices Of Principals: A Case Study, Bradley Benton Haga

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify practices of servant leadership styles of principals in selected rural school divisions in Southwestern, Virginia. The theories that guided this research were Robert Greenleaf’s (1970) servant leadership and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943). The central research question is: How do public school principals describe their servant leadership practices? The sub-questions include (a) what servant leadership practices are used with students? (b) what servant leadership practices are used with parents? (c) what servant leadership practices are used with faculty and staff? Participants were screened through purpose sampling by using the screening …

Personnel Administrators’ Use Of The Interview Process As A Predictor Of Quality Principal Candidates: A Quantitative Survey Approach, Cynthia M. Fitzgerald

Theses and Dissertations

The hiring of qualified staff that believe in the vision and mission of the school in which they have applied can be seen as the most important and significant decision a school district can make. Poor hiring decisions can affect a school’s culture and climate for many years, as well as significantly impact the academic prowess of its students. Inadequate interview practices poorly vet job candidates resulting in a lack of performance in newly hired administrators, leaving schools vulnerable to mediocre teaching and low student achievement. The research looked to recognize the changing role of the school principal and to …

How Principals Influence, Facilitate, And Support Instructional Coaching Programs, Nadine Y. Norris

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative, multicase study examined how principals perceived the role of instructional coaches and how they facilitated, influenced, and supported teachers’ professional learning through the instructional coaching program. Including the researcher as a participant, 16 participants from three suburban school districts—including district-level administrators, principals, instructional coaches, and teachers—engaged in semistructured interviews. This study was framed by Desimone’s core conceptual framework for professional development and Spillane’s distributed leadership model. Data analysis revealed principals viewed instructional coaches as their partners in instructional leadership and professional learning facilitators. Principals facilitated and influenced the instructional coaching program by empowering teachers, promoting collaboration, and establishing …

Principals’ Perspectives Of Trust And Vulnerability In Leadership: A Grounded Theory Study, Megan Ostedgaard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership is a challenging task and leading well requires interpersonal skills that inspire those they lead to follow them. The aim of this grounded theory study is to explore the experiences of educational leaders who thoughtfully engage in trust-building and express vulnerability in their leadership practices. This study explored how six principals at kindergarten through 12th grade schools experience trust and vulnerability as building leaders. Three research questions guided this study: how do leaders experience trust, how do leaders generate trust, and how do leaders experience vulnerability.

In this study, we begin by understanding the background to the problem and …

Principal Professional Learning: Exploring Personal And Contextual Barriers And Facilitators Of Change, Jennifer M. Shepard

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Principals are regularly expected to navigate and lead in contexts of complex change. While professional learning is often seen as a key lever for change, there is minimal research regarding principal professional learning in change contexts and even fewer studies making explicit connections between professional learning and change. This qualitative multi-case study of four principals actively engaged in a district designed and facilitated yearlong professional learning program explores the experiences of principals within the program and identifies critical connection points between professional learning and change. Through a series of semi-structured interviews and document analyses, findings emerged indicating that principals had …

Experiencing Intellectually Stimulating K-12 Principal Actions: A Phenomenological Study, John Parham

Ed.D. Dissertations

K-12 principals are held increasingly accountable for school success, yet their direct impact on students is negligible. Principals must thus work to positively impact their teachers in order to indirectly impact student achievement. Transformational leaders are able to utilize intellectual stimulation in order to impact those who work under them. The data for this study was collected through qualitative means, with eight K-12 teachers, representing two school districts in East Tennessee, participating. The findings in this study indicated that principals were able to provide intellectually stimulating experiences for teachers without having to bring in outside resources or even add extra …

A Principal's Plc: Supporting The Development Of Professional Learning Communities Through The Lens Of A School Leader, Allison Beth Stein

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: Supportive principals are essential to the successful development of professional learning communities in schools, and student achievement is also significantly impacted by school leadership. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine principals’ actions, beliefs, and perspectives related to the development of professional learning communities in a suburban school district north of Chicago.Methods: Research participants included nine building principals from the target school district. Each principal was interviewed individually for approximately eighty minutes. An open coding method was used to flexibly identify common themes or concepts. Multiple coding cycles were used to further refine patterns and improve …

More Than Just Lip Service: A Phenomenological Study Of Urban Public Charter School Leaders Of Color In Los Angeles, Korey S. Hlaudy

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about how school leaders of color implement social justice leadership praxis within the urban public charter school context, especially amid a global pandemic and heightened racial injustice. This study aimed to better understand the phenomenon of being a social justice leader of color, specifically examining how these leaders implemented practices and policies aimed to minimize the marginalizing conditions within their school communities. The dissertation study was qualitative in nature and utilized a phenomenological framework to provide an in depth understanding of the policies, practices, and mindsets of nine school leaders of color (eight principals and one assistant …

Educational Transformational Leadership And Teacher Organizational Citizenship Behavior Motives, Jeremy T. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A principal’s leadership is a key part to the success of a school as their leadership guides both instructional and organizational leadership. Teachers often work beyond their formal duties to see that all of their students have their needs met including academic, social, and physical. The performance of such behaviors is referred to as Organizational Citizenship Behavior, which is when followers display behaviors that benefit the organization or its members beyond their current job requirements. This study investigated the relationship between principal’s transformational leadership and teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and related motivating factors. Participants from a single suburban school district …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Principal Supervisors’ Perceptions Of Equity-Based Instructional Leadership, Dontae Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Principal supervisors play a critical role in supporting school principals. However, historically, principal supervisors were ill prepared to address these challenges at either the district or school level. Since 2011, the role of the principal supervisors has been reexamined to provide better outcomes for students and increased support for principals. The development of equity-based instructional leadership practices was identified and therefore added to the tools focused on developing transformative, race-conscious, and culturally responsive educational leadership. The problem explored in this qualitative study is that little research has focused on the perceptions of principal supervisors to improve equitable practices in schools …