The NYC Leadership Academy has been coaching school leaders for over a decade. The Academy is regarded as a national leader in the field of coaching and the organization continues to expand, learn, and refine its coaching work. Over the years their coaching practice has evolved as they learned more about the practice of supporting effective school leaders. This capstone describes my efforts to help the organization improve on this strength, leading a small group of coaches within the Academy in articulating what leadership coaches need to know and be able to do to facilitate strong leadership development. I discuss the challenge of surfacing what NYC Leadership Academy coaches have learned about effective coaching over the years while also creating space for new thinking and learning about coaching practice. I argue that leadership coaching needs to advance equity in schools and have a balanced focus on both instructional leadership and broader leadership skills like communication and building trust. Helping an organization improve in an area of strength is much like the practice of coaching – it requires building trust, leveraging relationships, asking the right questions and facilitating reflection, and capitalizing on the interests of the coachee (or organization). This capstone offers important lessons for practitioners interested in leadership development; for NYC Leadership Academy in its effort to expand and refine its coaching practice; and for myself as a coach and education leader.

For decades the American public education system has struggled to meet the needs of our nation’s children and families. In an effort to bring fresh solutions to this major issue, a trend of enticing accomplished private sector individuals into the education sector has developed within the past decade. The Broad Residency was established in 2002 to support this bolstering of human capital by supporting career transitions to education for accomplished leaders from business, law and the military to support the systemic changes desperately needed. A relatively new trend, there is little research on this topic. To better understand the specific transition from business to education administration through The Broad Residency, I use this study to learn 1) how Broad Residents experience the transition and 2) if there is a difference in this experience for individuals with different backgrounds, specifically management consulting or working for a corporation. To answer these questions, I interviewed twenty graduates of The Broad Residency who are currently working in urban public school district administration in ten urban districts from west to east coast. I examined over thirty hours of interview transcripts and identified themes in the areas of “fit” in terms of skill set and expectations of the culture of the work environment, as well as the challenges transitioners face and the supports they need to be successful to maximize their contributions to the field of education. This helped to develop an understanding of how these individuals experience their transition. Interviewees painted a picture of a career transition fraught with a multitude of challenges and sparse supports in place to meet the high demands of education administration work. I also discovered that some of the experiences differed based on an individual’s background. Regardless of background, however, with plentiful challenges and minimal supports, feelings of success are still possible. This paper further describes in detail what these business-to-education administration transitions entail. It also offers conclusions and advice to individuals making the transition, as well as to organizations and school districts to make the most of these individuals’ unique contributions to the sector.

The 2001 passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) marked the beginning of an increased federal presence in school reform efforts (Dee, 2012; US Department of Education, 2003). While reauthorized in 2015, from 2001-2015, NCLB required all schools and districts receiving Title I funds to track student achievement by measuring the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of students on standardized tests (Mathis, 2009; NCLB, 2001). Failure to make AYP for more than two consecutive years garnered the “school in need of improvement” designation (US Department of Education, 2003); schools with “needs improvement” status for five consecutive years faced the threat of restructuring. To compel aggressive restructuring, the federal government increased the budget for School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to $549 billion, with the caveat that one of four restructuring models (turnaround, transformation, restart, or closure) be used as the reform method (Dragoset et al, 2015; Ed. Gov, 2011). Turnaround, the focus of this study, enacts sweeping changes in curricula, structure, instruction, and staffing, particularly requiring the removal of the principal and allowing no more than 50% of the current teaching staff to be rehired (Dee, 2012; Calkins et al., 2007; Hassel et al, 2006; NCLB, 2001). Educational turnaround research has done very little to catalogue the experiences of these rehired teachers with the federal turnaround model. This dissertation seeks, then, to illuminate the rehired teachers’ experiences with the reform, as well as their impression of the policy as it was enacted in their settings. The study also seeks insight into the role rehired teachers played in the process and areas in which they received or provided support. The findings of an initial pilot study revealed that at different stages of the reform (announcement, process, implementation), teachers experienced a range of emotions, from disappointment to appreciation. In this current study, rehired teachers reported similar experiences including grief, distrust and empowerment. However, this study also unearthed a connection between the participants’ turnaround experiences and psychological contract violation. Notably, the findings suggest that the manner in which reform is enacted, may affect the rehired teachers’ experiences and minimize the effects of contract violation.

By almost every measure, American schools have not educated poor, minority, and disadvantaged children to the same level as their White, some Asian, non-poor and non-disabled counterparts (American Institutes for Research, 2013; Gándara, 2010; NCES, 2014; Rojas-Lebouef & Slate, 2011; Thurlow, Bremer, & Albus, 2011) despite increased accountability expectations for all student subgroup performance outcomes (DeNisco, 2013; Payne, 2008). Students who do not achieve academically are potentially forced to contend with negative health and social difficulties, as well as unemployment, underemployment and a cycle of marginal, low paying and often part-time jobs (Buddin, 2012; Darling-Hammond, 2009/2010; Holmes & Zajacova, 2014). Aside from the moral and social costs of these disparities, the economic loss of underperforming students could range into trillions of dollars in lifetime earnings (Hanushek, 2010; Hanushek and Woessmann 2012). High-stakes accountability systems, based primarily on standardized test data, have become the cornerstone of federal education policies designed to close those achievement gaps among student subgroups (Supovitz, 2010). The shift from comparing educational inputs such as reduced class size and increased per-pupil expenditures to an emphasis on achievement outcomes offers a highly public measure for determining comparative school and student success. Financial and nonmonetary rewards and a range of sanctions and interventions for schools and districts considered underperforming are outlined in Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s summary of A Blueprint for Reform (2010). From an outcomes-based achievement perspective, current policy supports equitable results for all students, with more flexibility around means to achieve those outcomes. This challenges superintendents to prioritize among many programs, responsibilities, and reform efforts that promote demonstrable student achievement gains, equitable outcomes, and responsive learning experiences. Social justice in education involves the persistent pursuit of equitable educational experiences and results across social identity groups in schools, a much broader mission than the focus of today’s accountability policies. Questions arise as to how the current accountability context and social justice leadership intersect. While some argue that today’s accountability provides a great opportunity to advance goals of social justice and equity (Skrla & Scheurich, 2004), others contend that accountability policies per se are “flawed as equity-producing initiative[s], lacking adequate consideration of power relations, democratic participation, and rich, diverse philosophies of education” (Gunzenhauser & Hyde, 2007, p. 490). How superintendents understand, leverage, and balance accountability conditions with their perceptions of social justice impacts their leadership. In the end, this study examines how three superintendents in districts recognized for closing achievement gaps among student subgroups understand the relationship between social justice and accountability, how the concepts intersect in their practice, and what the actions are that superintendents take in their attempt to satisfy accountability conditions while addressing various causes of social injustice in their districts. This research is guided by a conceptual framework shaped by McKenzie et al.’s (2008) tasks of social justice leadership: increasing student achievement, raising critical consciousness among staff and students, and doing this work in inclusive communities. It is also guided by Lashway’s (2002) description of role shifts superintendents face as a result of high-stakes accountability: tensions between accountability and authority, heightened expectations for instructional leadership, and the impact of public and transparent evaluation criteria on superintendent effectiveness. Framed by these researchers and the findings from the superintendents studied here, this work offers a set of strategies, understandings, and observations for current and aspiring superintendents who wish to improve educational outcomes for all children as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is currently being revised and implemented.

Latin-American governments are increasingly promoting public-private partnerships to provide much-needed external support to schools, but little is known about the mechanisms through which such partnerships operate. This study aims to contribute to the literature on external support for school improvement by analyzing how a non-government organization in Argentina provides support to schools using two different implementation mechanisms, one where instructional support is provided directly by the non-government organization to schools, and another where school support strategies are mediated by government district offices. The study is a qualitative exploration of the dynamics of the external support relationship. Using interviews, observations, and document review as sources of data, I explore how the institutional arrangements involved in different implementation mechanisms affect how the external support program is experienced at the district and school level. The analysis shows that the original design of the instructional support strategy developed by the program underwent significant adaptations as it was being implemented at the different levels of program implementation. These differences seem to have been related to the institutional choices that were made throughout program implementation, rather than to the interaction between the program and schools with different levels of internal capacity.

No description available.

Abstract Not Available.

The Government of Ontario has introduced a teacher competency program in the province. Under the program, all new teachers will now have to pass a standard, province-wide qualifying test before they can start teaching in schools. In Ontario, teacher competency testing is a relatively new concept. However, such tests are already in practice in almost all states in the USA. The initial reaction of Ontario teachers' associations and their leaders was quite critical of the competency testing. However, the statements opposing competency testing were made by the associations and their leaders; to the knowledge of the researcher, no study or research available showing the opinions of Ontario teachers themselves. This study aims to ascertain the opinions of the teachers of Eastern Ontario about the teacher competency testing program. After comparing various popular models of educational program evaluation, the CIPP model was selected for this study. CIPP is an acronym for the four basic components of evaluations this model recommends, namely: context evaluation, input evaluation, process evaluation and product evaluation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This study examined the relationship among instructional leadership behaviors of the school principal and selected school-level characteristics. Instructional leadership was considered from a "broad" perspective to include behaviors that have been identified through research primarily based on a goal attainment model of effectiveness. In such a model school effectiveness is measured by student achievement on standardized tests. The selected school-level characteristics were Teacher Commitment, Professional Involvement, and Innovativeness. These have been identified as characteristics of an effective school by those adhering to a systems resource perspective. The study was conducted in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Data were collected from a random sample of teachers in elementary and high schools in that province. Usable data were received from 624 teachers. The instrument employed to measure instructional leadership was the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) (Hallinger, 1992). The school-level characteristics were measured by selected scales of the School Organizational Climate Questionnaire (Giddings & Dellar, 1990). The hypotheses were as follows: Hypothesis 1. There is a positive relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and the level of teacher commitment to and support of the school. Hypothesis 2. There is a positive relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and the level of teacher professional involvement. Hypothesis 3. There is a positive relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and the level of innovativeness in the school. Hypothesis 4 (A). School type (elementary or high) does not affect the relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and teacher commitment. Hypothesis 4 (B). School type (elementary or high) does not affect the relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and teacher professional involvement. Hypothesis 4 (C). School type (elementary or high) does not affect the relationship among instructional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals and teacher innovativeness. These hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression Analysis. Only two of these hypotheses were not supported. These were hypothesis 4(B) and hypothesis 4(C). The relationship among instructional leadership behaviors of principals and the school-level characteristics of innovativeness and professional involvement were found to be statistically different for each school type. In addition to hypothesis testing, a process of modelling was employed. This process resulted in the development of five separate models. One model for Teacher Commitment for both elementary and high schools, and separate models for Innovativeness and Professional Involvement for each school type. While the instructional leadership behaviors for each model differ, all 10 behaviors of the Hallinger-Murphy conceptualization are included in at least one model. The results of this study reinforce the validity of the "broad" conceptualization of instructional leadership in the development of effective schools. It suggests that such a conceptualization is compatible with both the goal attainment and systems resource perspectives of organizational effectiveness. The findings bring into question arguments that instructional leadership is negatively related to Teacher Commitment, Professional Involvement, and Innovativeness. Finally, the developed models should be of value to practitioners and researchers as they attempt to determine leadership practices that will lead to new levels of school effectiveness.

This study focused on the early career socialization experiences of men and women who currently hold middle management positions with the federal government or with school systems to determine how those experiences influence their use of power. The theoretical and conceptual framework for the study emerged from the sociology of Georg Simmel (Simmel, 1902, 1950, 1984; Levine, 1971) and the concepts of tokenism (Kanter, 1977a); organizational socialization (Ortiz, 1982; Pfeffer, 1982); and organizational and individual power (Kanter, 1977a). An underlying assumption of this study was that gender is less a predictor of style of power use, the exercise of power, than early career socialization experiences, the experiencing of organizational power. That is, those to whom the organization extends more opportunities to learn about and develop within the organization early in their careers will be better equipped to exercise power as managers than those who receive few such experiences. A second assumption was that gender will act as an intervening variable, influencing the organization's decision making as to who should receive these opportunities and who should be denied them. The methodology used involved semi-structured interviews with men and women middle managers. Focus groups and elite interviews were used before interviewing to validate the literature review and the interview guide, and focus groups were used again following the analysis of interview data to validate the interpretations made. A number of managers who had been interviewed participated in the final set of focus groups. The framework which guided this study incorporated related literature on gender, tokenism, organizational socialization, and power. The product of the literature review was a socialization-to-power framework. The following five research questions guided this study: (I) Do the early career patterns of female middle managers differ from those of male middle managers in terms of the range and number of organization initiated opportunities provided them for power-related socialization? (II) (a) Do female middle managers perceive more barriers to their advancement to senior levels of management than do their male peers? (b) Do female and male middle managers perceive different barriers to advancement? (III) Do female and male middle managers view power differently? (IV) Do female and male middle managers identify the same people in their organizations as being powerful? (V) Do female and male middle managers exercise power differently? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)