The primary role of the principal has expanded over the past two decades from one of manager to one of manager and instructional leader. With the expanded role of instructional leader, the principal of the twenty-first century is faced with increased levels of accountability for student achievement as evidenced by national legislation, revised state standards, and an ever-increasing scrutiny by shareholders. Six years ago research indicated that approximately one fourth of practicing principals were eligible for retirement in the next three to four years (Lauder, 2000). School districts across the country are finding it more and more difficult to attract qualified candidates with the requisite instructional leadership skills for available principal positions and have chosen to address this crisis by creating principal preparation programs aligned with current needs and based on key practices. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine whether school personnel who participate in AAA Public School's leadership training program are better prepared for the principalship than those school personnel who did not participate in this leadership training program. Data collection included (a) focus group interview comprised of a random sample of assistant principals and principals who had participated in the leadership training program (N = 6), (b) focus group interview comprised of a random sample of assistant principals and principals who had not participated in the leadership training program (N = 6), (c) focus group interview with the population of assistant superintendents who evaluate principals (N = 4), (d) leadership academy training documents, and (e) observations. Study results found that administrators who participated in this leadership training program were better prepared, more confident in their leadership, and were more knowledgeable in the roles and responsibilities which principals face. / Ph. D.

Effective school leadership is at the center of educational reform in urban environments. Constituents expect school leaders to transform under-performing schools. However, the educational leadership field relies on traditional ideologies that largely ignore Black principals’ experiences and exclude their voices from politically engaged conversations on leadership. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore four contemporary Black school leaders’ perspectives of their practices in urban environments. Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Distributed Leadership Theory informed the multiple case study. I employed ethnographic data collection methods of prolonged engagement, interviews (formal and informal), shadowing, documents and artifacts, on-line discussions, field and reflexive journals, and memos, which allowed for crystallization of the data. I adopted and adapted grounded theory and analytic induction to interpret and re-present the Black school leaders’ educational philosophical beliefs, perspectives of traditional preparation, and conceptualizations of leadership that influenced their practices. The findings revealed that the four contemporary Black school leaders from middle and high schools held belief systems that challenged traditional structures and differed from White majority leaders’ beliefs, which aligned with white supremacy and deficit ideologies. The participants thought differently about the purpose of education for all students, especially marginalized groups. These thoughts helped shape their conceptualizations of effective school leadership as an alternative to traditional canons. Their leadership ‘model’ afforded them the ethical latitude to challenge the political sociocultural structure of ‘minimum competency’ standards to afford their students ‘high performance’ school communities. The findings also highlighted traditional leadership programs as ineffective and irrelevant for preparing aspirants to affect substantive changes in contextualized school environments, particularly when the classroom discourse obfuscates issues of equity, race, class, and cultural diversity. Furthermore, the findings revealed participants’ practices, undergirded with moral imperative, humanism, and social justice perspectives, were strategically implemented to dismantle unjust structures. In so doing, they were able to provide students equitable school conditions that allowed them to learn to their highest capacities. Indeed there is the urgent need to include race, ethnic, class, and culturally diverse perspectives in program preparations, policies, and theoretical paradigms to help shape how we think and thus practice school leadership.

The research studies school heads’ perception of the implementation of the new Moral and Civic Education (MCE) curriculum in Hong Kong primary schools. The MCE curriculum is positioned as a key task in curriculum reform since 2001. The present study recognises school leadership role in steering curriculum delivery in which school heads’ perception is one of the determinants in shaping curriculum execution. Qualitative approach is adopted to uncover the factors affecting the perception of school heads and subsequent implementation strategies. Purposive sampling of six primary school heads is identified for interview to collect data. Content analysis is employed to make inferences from the data reviewing how school heads’ personal belief and values orientation affect the delivery of the curriculum. The MCE curriculum, resting on virtue ethics projecting desirable values to be promoted, is appealing to the school heads. The MCE curriculum designed as values education, resonates Chinese culture emphasizing cultivation of virtue through education while at the same time addressing the societal expectation of the call for promoting national identity with the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Given the social and political context of Hong Kong, positive attitude is exhibited by all the sample school heads but they respond differently to the curricular role, reflecting a wide spectrum of understanding of the curriculum and pedagogical competency. The research findings propose the importance of a heightened awareness of school heads’ cognition of the curriculum but their attitude towards the curriculum is deterministic how the curriculum is implemented. The attitude taken hinges on the values and belief of school heads vis a vis organisation values of the school. A model portraying school heads’ awareness, attitude and action for curriculum implementation is recommended to further study school leadership with implications for theory building and practice.

Thesis advisor: Henry I. Braun / Data-based instructional programs, including interim assessments, are a common tool for improving teaching and learning. However, few studies have rigorously examined whether they achieve those ends and contributors to their effectiveness. This study conducts a secondary analysis of data from a matched-pair school-randomized evaluation of the Achievement Network (ANet). Year-two teacher surveys (n=616) and interviews from a subset of ANet school leaders and teachers (n=40) are used to examine the impact of ANet on teachers’ data-based instructional practices and the mediating roles of instructional leadership, professional and achievement cultures, and teacher attitudes and confidence. Survey results showed an impact of ANet on the frequency with which teachers’ reviewed and used data, but not their instructional planning or differentiation. Consistent with the program model, ANet had a modest impact on school-mean teacher ratings of their leaders’ instructional leadership abilities and school culture, but no impact on individual teachers’ attitudes toward assessment or confidence with data-based instructional practices. Therefore, it was not surprising that these school and teacher characteristics only partially accounted for ANet’s impact on teachers’ data practices. Interview findings were consistent. Teachers described numerous opportunities to review students’ ANet assessment results and examples of how they used these data (e.g., to pinpoint skills on which their students struggled). However, there were fewer examples of strategies such as differentiated instruction. Interview findings also suggested some ways leadership, culture, and teacher characteristics influenced ANet teachers’ practices. Leaders’ roles seemed as much about holding teachers accountable for implementation as offering instructional support and, while teachers had opportunities to collaborate, a few schools’ implementation efforts were likely hampered by poor collegial trust. Teacher confidence and attitudes varied, but improved over the two years; the latter following from a perceived connection between ANet practices and better student performance. However, some teachers were concerned with the assessments being too difficult for their students or poorly aligned with the curriculum, resulting in data that were not always instructionally useful. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Thesis advisor: Robert J. Starratt / A qualitative case study of three high schools was conducted to identify and profile school practices employed in educating a traditionally low-achieving subpopulation in northeast India. By the considerably higher than average retention and graduation rates among their students who come from indigenous tribal communities, these schools stand out as effective. The study was centered on the following research questions: 1) What were the teaching practices that characterize three high schools with successful records of graduating (upwards of 100%) indigenous Northeast India tribal students? 2) How were these successful schools affected by the school leadership? A body of related literature provided the theoretical rationale and informed the researcher in collecting data, doing analysis, and processing interpretation. The researcher reviewed specific categories of literature focused on the following: dropout influences, effective teaching practices, school leadership, indigenous tribal life contexts, spirituality, and worldview of the peoples of Northeast India. The findings indicated that these three schools with low dropout rates reflected authentic and effective teaching practices that were student-friendly and based on a coherent mix of various principles of learning, instructional strategies, classroom management, and the personal dedication of the teaching faculties. Furthermore, the schools tried to create an atmosphere of social connectedness and community, based on the values of the indigenous people of that area. The school leadership was proactive in an effort to sustain the sense of community through a variety of school activities and cooperation with parents. The researcher found that the ethos of the schools motivated students to focus on their studies in view of a better economic future. A contextualized pedagogy that took into account the background and learning styles of a wide variety of students helped the students to focus on their learning in the various academic disciplines. Pedagogical practices that promoted academic achievement in concert with indigenous values sustained the interest of the students and moved them to actively involve themselves in the life of the school. The leadership provided the necessary vision and direction to make the objectives and goals of the school understood and obtainable. The visible presence of the principal and his/her affirming interaction also helped to maintain the motivation of the community on all levels of operation. The findings of this research have implications for educational practice, policy, teacher preparation and school leadership in the context of rural India. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

The purpose of this study was to explore elementary second-stage teachers’ (4–10 years experience) career decisions and the teaching and working conditions associated with those decisions. Retaining teachers is of extreme importance to public schools because chronic turnover is financially, organizationally, and instructionally costly. The study was conducted in two phases: (1) the collection and analysis of quantitative Teaching Empowering Leading and Learning Massachusetts (TELL Mass) (2014) survey data and (2) the collection and analysis of qualitative findings from interviews and a confidential questionnaire to obtain background and demographic information. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey results. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) of the interview transcripts was conducted to identify themes. Both school leadership and instructional practices and support proved to be important to survey respondents. However, the responses to the survey did not show that elementary second-stage teachers had markedly different immediate professional plans than their novice and veteran counterparts. Further, according to the survey data, there were no significant differences in the teaching and working conditions that affect the immediate professional plans of novices, second-stage, and veteran teachers. The elementary second-stage teachers interviewed identified the importance of the social aspects of teaching––students, colleagues, and school and district leaders––over any other teaching or working condition, when making career decisions. Even in challenging environments teachers noted how leaders and colleagues can impact decisions positively. These results, while not generalizable, can inform administrators, schools, and districts seeking to decrease elementary second-stage teachers departure from the classroom. Implications for practice and policy and for future research are suggested.

Researchers have observed that effective leaders are essential to achieving and sustaining high student achievement in disadvantaged poor rural areas. Poor leadership may negatively influence the academic performance of students. The poor performance of students in disadvantaged rural areas has been a continuous concern for Catholic educators in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the leadership practices that a rural Catholic school principal implemented to improve the academic standards in a disadvantaged environment in Nigeria. This qualitative case study sought to explore the practices of a principal in a Catholic school in the Diocese of Auchi that have improved student performance significantly in a disadvantaged rural area. Leithwood and Riehl's core leadership practices framework served as a conceptual basis for understanding the leadership practices of an effective school principal. The collection of data was through semistructured interviews with 12 participants (principal, 6 teachers, and 5 parents), a focus group with 5 teachers, field notes from direct observations, and documents from the school. Data analysis was thematic and flexible as guided by an interpretative framework. The findings suggest that Catholic school principals in disadvantaged areas need to set direction, have professional development for teachers, focus on the teaching and learning, and create an enabling climate with a positive culture, building Catholic character, good relationships, and stakeholders' collaboration. This study may contribute to positive social change in building best leadership practices in helping students learn in the midst of poverty, sustaining and improving student academic achievement.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / The focus of the research was mainly on leadership problems, with special reference to the rural primary schools of Ximhungwe Circuit in the Bushbuckridge area. Special attention has been given to the leadership background of SGB members and their involvement on governance matters. This is a qualitative research study that involved seventeen rural primary schools of the Ximhungwe Circuit, where the SGB’s of these schools were interviewed to elicit information and to get their view points. The respondents interviewed from each school included the principal, chairperson of the SGB, educator component and parent component. The research findings revealed that the majority of SGB members are not coping with their roles and responsibilities as enshrined in the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996. The results also indicated that there is a general lack of understanding in relation to governance matters, hence the elite principals and educators are seen to be taking a lead in that regard.

Background: Indonesian schools are in the midst of implementing a new reform initiative, the 2013 Curriculum, mandated by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. The new curriculum requires a drastic change in instructional practices from the traditionally teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. As school leaders, principals play an important role in the implementation and enactment of the 2013 Curriculum in schools. This research explores the leadership practices of Indonesian school principals in facilitating the implementation of new reform policies and initiatives. Purpose: The study served two purposes. The first was to examine Indonesian public school principals’ enactment of agency within the boundaries set by the social systems around them as they implemented the 2013 Curriculum. The second purpose was to develop a framework that can be used as a lens to further study school leadership practices in the context of Indonesia. Two research questions guided this study: (1) What leadership practices are shaped by which social systems and values? and (2) How does principal agency manifest when implementing the 2013 Curriculum? Responses to the research questions were used to develop the framework. Data Collection and Analysis: A case study for theory development approach to qualitative research was used. The study took place in the northern area of a small island located in east Indonesia. The primary source of data came from multiple interviews with three public elementary school principals whose schools served as pilot schools for the 2013 Curriculum. In addition to principal interviews, interview with teachers, documents, and observation field notes served as data sources. The data collected were analyzed and manually coded following the data analysis procedures of grounded theory. In the first coding cycle, I coded the data by assigning descriptive and InVivo codes summarizing topics. The second coding cycle involved assigning concepts and categories based on the open codes from the first cycle with a focus on the principals’ actions in facilitating the implementation process. In the third cycle, I compared the concepts and categories to respond to the research questions and examined the relationships between the concepts and categories to develop the framework from the ground up. Findings: The data analyzed indicated there are three major systems shaped the principals’ leadership practices during the implementation of the 2013 Curriculum: the educational system, the local culture and community, and the school system. In addition to the three systems, the principals’ personal and professional values served to guide the way they led their schools in alignment with the goals of the 2013 Curriculum. The systems and values provided them with rules and resources on which the principals drew in deciding specific actions to perform in order to meet the written and unwritten expectations of their stakeholders. The principals’ enactment of agency was primarily in the form of complying with government orders and balancing expectations from multiple systems, which, then, led to the discovery of three leadership categories in the implementation process: (1) compliance, (2) negotiation, and (3) independence. Compliance refers to those practices the principals perform to satisfy government expectations. Negotiation refers to practices the principals perform in their efforts to juggle expectations and pressures coming from multiple systems. Independence refers to practices the principals perform as they respond to government policies and regulations, as well as community expectations, in a way that is aligned with their personal and professional values.

Abstract Educational leaders must operate in a complex political world that places a premium on skills and strategies involving consensus building, negotiations, and reciprocity. This dissertation is about the leadership struggles and tensions inherent in a school consolidation process. The principals highlighted in this study represent the leader of a metropolitan school which is closed and consolidated with another school in the same school district. The school district employs a defined and planned process to address many issues inherent in a school consolidation like guaranteed placement of displaced teachers in schools of their choice. I examined the experiences of three principals during the course of the school consolidation to determine if there are any advantages in using a pre-planned consolidation to ensure the success of the consolidation process. My experiences as a principal involved in a school consolidation experience without a defined and pre-negotiated consolidation protocols was used to draw contrasts when interview data was analyzed from the three school principals. To guide my data collection and analysis I used a conceptual framework based on the work of Mead (1934), Husserl (1965), Blumer (1969), Stryker (2002) and Merleau-Ponty (2004), Interpretivism with a case study paradigm based on the work of Hancock and Algozzine (2006), Creswell (2003), Yin (2003) and Miles and Huberman (1994) to guide my study which was aimed at understanding the experiences of school principals during a school consolidation. The initial findings of my study indicated that the experiences for most stakeholders impacted by a consolidation were consistent with those found in the literature concerning other consolidation experiences. There was some minimal reduction in the perceived levels of uncertainty and anxiety of staff members concerning their employment status. The principals had certain assignments related to the logistical planning and management of resource security and allocation removed from their agenda, but leadership experiences remained fraught with uncertainty and a sense of trial and error in navigating through the processes required for a successful consolidation experience. This study provided several insights that may be useful to school principals in managing and seeking appropriate assistance from district level leadership to improve the probability that the level of success in a school consolidation may affect various stakeholder groups impacted by the experience. The findings discuss several implications regarding how school principals and school districts may consider the overall impact of a school consolidation on their students and their stance regarding equity and social justice for all the school's communities. Finally, this study provides several recommendations for policy and educational practice.