Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lownhaupt / This qualitative case study examined the role of the principal in organizational learning in one small, urban school district. The study focused on ways in which building leaders acquired, interpreted, and distributed information in schools, and how these practices were monitored. Findings from analysis of principal interviews and document review showed that monthly meetings with the superintendent served as the primary source of information gathered by principals, while meetings with their peers provided a vehicle for interpreting information shared. Within their buildings, principals used various building-level meetings, written communication, and the teacher evaluation processes as vehicles for information distribution to staff. Meetings and observation of practice were utilized to monitor efficacy of their distribution practices. Findings suggested that principals did not identify themselves as the primary keepers or distributors of information as it pertained to teaching and learning. Using a distributed approach, they instead relied on district directors and instructional coaches for that aspect of the work. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The problem addressed in the study was the ineffectiveness of professional learning community (PLC) implementation at some secondary campuses in an urban school district despite extensive professional development (PD) provided for principals. The purpose was to investigate perceptions of principals and teachers regarding principal leadership behaviors that contributed to implementing and leading effective PLCs. Researchers have established that effectively managed PLCs positively affect student achievement. The guiding research questions examined the leadership styles, behaviors, and characteristics of principals leading effective PLCs. The conceptual framework was Hord's 5 characteristics of an effective PLC. Using an exploratory case study design, perceptions of 9 teachers and 2 principals were investigated through open-ended surveys and interviews, respectively. Participant inclusion criteria were membership in and presence during the implementation of 2 secondary PLCs which were selected based on evidence of Hord's 5 characteristics. Emergent coding was used to analyze the data and find themes relevant to leading effective PLCs, including participating in and developing PLC expectations and structures, effective 2-way communication with teachers, and teacher empowerment. All themes emerging from the results were components of a transformational leadership style found to be effective in leading PLCs. The resulting project was a PD program for principals to develop implementation plans and intentional behaviors for themselves that will enable them to implement and sustain effective PLCs. This study has the potential to promote positive social change by providing structures for principals to promote teacher growth through PLCs that enhance the quality of education for students which minimizes the effects of cultural and circumstantial differences.

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.

The purpose of this explanatory, mixed methods case study was to examine instructional leadership within the context of rural secondary schools. This investigation followed an explanatory mixed methods design of sequential quantitative and qualitative phases (QUAL→quan). For the quantitative phase, the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) was administered to eight principals and 312 teachers in eight rural secondary schools in the southeastern United States. Descriptive analysis of principal and teacher results found that principals were most engaged in the subscales of framing school goals, coordinating curriculum, and promoting professional development and least engaged in the subscales of maintaining high visibility, protecting instructional time, and providing teaching and learning incentives. Independent t-tests found statistically significant differences in the instructional leadership of principals based on four contextual factors: school size, school SES, principal administrative experience, and district funding (per pupil expenditure). Two principals and their schools were selected for participation in the qualitative phase of the study. Interviews and observations of principals and interviews with teachers added insight to the findings of the quantitative phase. Participants characterized the principalship as a multifaceted job where secondary school principals fulfilled four leadership roles: instructional leader, district/community liaison, organizational manager, and problem solver. Participants also identified important instructional leadership behaviors not measured by the PIMRS, such as hiring effective teachers, providing instructional resources, and sharing leadership responsibilities. The study concludes with suggestions for future instructional leadership research and practical advice for rural secondary school principals.

Some research suggests that development of professional learning communities might be the organizational strategy that could make school reform more successful. While most schools have not institutionalized the essential components of learning organizations, studies have demonstrated that these attributes must be developed if professional staffs are to realize the full benefit of organizational learning and in the process, create a context of improvement. The primary intent of this study was to learn and understand how principal behaviors influenced the development of shared leadership, shared vision, and supportive conditions; three essential dimensions of professional learning communities. Secondly, this study investigated how these conditions differed among schools which have and have not sustained high levels of student learning. Understanding the influence of principal leadership on conditions for organizational learning can be partially understood through either quantitative or qualitative methods. From this perspective, the mixed methods design utilized in this study allowed both qualitative and quantitative data to be analyzed and interpreted as evidence in understanding the study's problem. Principal and teacher focus-group interviews were used to create a deeper understanding of how principals worked to create conditions for organizational learning. Kouzes and Posner's (2002) Leadership Practices Inventory - Self and Observer Forms were utilized to identify, describe, and measure the perceived leadership practices of principals. The findings of this investigation suggest that principal leadership is a key factor in creating conditions for organizational learning and sustaining high levels of student achievement. Principals in this study who effectively identified and modeled espoused values were perceived to be highly visionary and appeared more effective at sharing leadership, inspiring vision, and creating supportive conditions. Principals who were able to develop a shared vision among staff created strong collaborative cultures characterized by an uncompromised focus on student learning. The findings of this study also indicated that principals who effectively Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, and Enable Others to Act, distributed leadership among staff and demonstrated a systems orientation to leading.

The purpose of study was twofold. The primary purpose was to describe and explain the perceptions and lived experiences of high school teachers through their involvement in a Professional Learning Community, as defined by Hord (1997). Teachers' experiences within a Professional Learning Community were examined for patterns of cultivated leadership and social capital. The second purpose of the study was to identify the influencing variables connected with how the participants viewed themselves as leaders as a result of their participation in a professional learning community. One influencing variable in particular that was examined was the influence of social capital in professional learning communities. Hord's explanation of a professional learning community was the conceptual framework for this study, which states that such communities are made up of five essential dimensions: (1) Shared and supportive leadership, (2) Shared values and vision, (3) Collective learning and its application, (4) Shared personal practice, and (5) Supportive conditions. Online survey research method was used in order to investigate teacher leadership in Professional Learning Communities and the underlying variables associated with participation in such communities. The findings of this study indicated that teachers have varying perceptions of their work with professional learning communities. Overall, the data suggested that teachers' experiences and perceptions negatively correlated with their development as a teacher leader. Although most teachers in this study did not experience empowerment as a teacher leader, most gained some sense of social capital through their collaborative efforts within their learning communities. The data reflected that most teachers felt connected to the colleagues within their communities. School leadership is vital to the sustainability of professional learning communities and towards the professional growth of teacher leaders. Consequently, this study suggests that future research is conducted to examine the influence of school leaders on teacher leadership development and the impact that professional learning communities have on such development for teachers.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis builds on and contributes to work on the strategic role of educational leaders, and particularly public primary school principals. Although some in the field (Bell, 2002; Forde, Hobby, & Lees, 2000; Kelly, 2005) have questioned the utility of strategy as a concept, particularly with its ties to economics, marketing and capitalist ventures, there has not been an explicit research focus of what strategy means in educational leadership. As such, this thesis provides additional insight by taking stock, assessing and integrating the existing body of literature on strategic leadership and management in schools and by going beyond what is already known and setting forth new frameworks, perspectives and researchable questions. The analytical focus on the strategic role, and not merely strategic management or strategic leadership enables another contribution. Multiple modes of inquiry were used in constructing the arguments of this work. Through a theoretical and methodological analysis of the discourse on the strategic role in 18 prominent educational leadership journals over a 27 year period (1980-2007), a model for the strategic role was developed. This model was tested on a sample of public primary school principals in the Hunter / Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The results of this questionnaire based study prompted further inquiry as to what the ‘strategic role’ means to practitioners. A framework was developed from the transcribed texts of interviews with principals. Many similarities existed in this framework and the literature derived model, however the framework developed from practitioner responses gave greater attention to the social forces that act upon the strategic role, supporting the criticism directed at the utility of the narrow view of strategy as planning to the educational context. Theoretically informed by the work of Michel Foucault, a proposed alternate lens for the analysis of the strategic role of school leaders is presented, showing that as a result of increased participation in school governance and accountability regimes, principal actions are constantly under surveillance. While not being the first to bring Foucault into the educational leadership discourse, the proposal of the strategic role within a social space is something that has been missing from the discussion on the strategic role within the field. The Foucauldian frame sheds need insight into the strategic role of the public primary school principal and highlights the significance of the role within the field of educational leadership. Overall, this thesis is intended to provide a new platform for theory and research on the strategic role of school leaders. As with Anderson and Grinberg (1998), this thesis argues for Foucault’s concept of disciplinary practices as a metaphor for the field of educational leadership. It is argued that by positioning the strategic role within the broader social space, further inquiry can help provide a fundamental understanding of how and why educational institutions behave the way they do.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis builds on and contributes to work on the strategic role of educational leaders, and particularly public primary school principals. Although some in the field (Bell, 2002; Forde, Hobby, & Lees, 2000; Kelly, 2005) have questioned the utility of strategy as a concept, particularly with its ties to economics, marketing and capitalist ventures, there has not been an explicit research focus of what strategy means in educational leadership. As such, this thesis provides additional insight by taking stock, assessing and integrating the existing body of literature on strategic leadership and management in schools and by going beyond what is already known and setting forth new frameworks, perspectives and researchable questions. The analytical focus on the strategic role, and not merely strategic management or strategic leadership enables another contribution. Multiple modes of inquiry were used in constructing the arguments of this work. Through a theoretical and methodological analysis of the discourse on the strategic role in 18 prominent educational leadership journals over a 27 year period (1980-2007), a model for the strategic role was developed. This model was tested on a sample of public primary school principals in the Hunter / Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The results of this questionnaire based study prompted further inquiry as to what the ‘strategic role’ means to practitioners. A framework was developed from the transcribed texts of interviews with principals. Many similarities existed in this framework and the literature derived model, however the framework developed from practitioner responses gave greater attention to the social forces that act upon the strategic role, supporting the criticism directed at the utility of the narrow view of strategy as planning to the educational context. Theoretically informed by the work of Michel Foucault, a proposed alternate lens for the analysis of the strategic role of school leaders is presented, showing that as a result of increased participation in school governance and accountability regimes, principal actions are constantly under surveillance. While not being the first to bring Foucault into the educational leadership discourse, the proposal of the strategic role within a social space is something that has been missing from the discussion on the strategic role within the field. The Foucauldian frame sheds need insight into the strategic role of the public primary school principal and highlights the significance of the role within the field of educational leadership. Overall, this thesis is intended to provide a new platform for theory and research on the strategic role of school leaders. As with Anderson and Grinberg (1998), this thesis argues for Foucault’s concept of disciplinary practices as a metaphor for the field of educational leadership. It is argued that by positioning the strategic role within the broader social space, further inquiry can help provide a fundamental understanding of how and why educational institutions behave the way they do.

abstract: As schools across Arizona worked to meet NCLB's AYP requirement in 2010-2011, they were also labeled and sanctioned by AZ Learns. This phenomenological study focused on six effective high school principals in two Arizona school districts to ascertain how accountability policies impacted the principals' job responsibilities, autonomy, and ability to pursue social justice on their campuses. Interviews were conducted in three phases: superintendents, three principals from the superintendents' recommendations of effective school leaders, and three teachers from each school. In addition to analysis of individual principal leadership patterns, comparisons were made across districts, and from school to school within the same district. The goal of the study was to determine if and how principals were able to accomplish their goals for their school. The principals' leadership styles were examined through a Vortex Leadership Framework that posited principals at the center of a vortex of varying leadership roles, interests, and external forces, including accountability, autonomy, and limited resources. Key findings included (a) high school principals' responsibilities now include selling change to their staff, (b) principals' accountability is limited more by district constraints than by state or federal accountability, (c) principals must contend with rigid one-size fits all accountability standards that do not always meet the needs of their students, and (d) principals' autonomy is tied to their resources, including funding for staffing and programs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013

Principals need to possess leadership skills and behaviors that help set expectations for collaborative work. The problem in this case study was that little was known about the collaboration-building behaviors principals use that promote effective collaboration between members of the school community. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the behaviors principals exhibit when building collaboration through the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The conceptual framework was based on 3 elements: leadership styles and approaches, collaboration, and the implementation of effective PLCs. The primary research question explored how principal behaviors contribute to collaborative professional learning communities. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 6 elementary principals from a Mid-Atlantic State. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and document review of PLC structures. Data were coded using a Microsoft Word Doc Data Extract tool and analyzed for themes using an inductive process. Emergent themes for building collaboration were identified as leadership traits, vision, time, collaborative structures, culture, and the need for professional learning. Results suggest that shared leadership, vision, collective learning, and supportive conditions influence the effective development of PLCs. As a result, professional learning opportunities are recommended for school leaders on strategies that successfully develop supportive and collaborative structures in schools. Implications for social change are that PLCs may strengthen professional practice in classrooms, schools, districts, and communities.