Publication Date

10-11-2021

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Morgridge College of Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Keywords

Leadership, Charter schools, Innovation schools, School reform, Educational innovation, Burnout

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores how leaders of new public high schools – one charter and two innovation schools – navigated the journey from school-in-theory to school-in-practice during the school's first three years. School leaders at charter and innovation schools have increased freedom over curriculum, budget, scheduling and personnel when compared to leaders in traditional public schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Using case study research, this qualitative, multisite study of school leaders at three schools in an urban district in Colorado examined the realities leaders experienced during the first three years of their schools. School leaders participated in semi-structured interviews, which were coded and analyzed for data individual to each school and across the three schools. Initial school design plans and district accountability data were also reviewed.

Findings

The study identified two distinct challenges for leaders of these new schools: (1) opening a new school contributes to burnout among school leaders and (2) school leaders face systemic, district-level barriers that impede implementation of a school's founding mission and vision.

Research limitations/implications

A qualitative study of three standalone charter and innovation schools in one urban school district limits generalizability.

Originality/value

The lived experience of school leaders at new, standalone charter and innovation schools is largely neglected in empirical studies. This research illuminates key struggles school leaders experience as they seek to establish new schools with fidelity to district-approved school plans.

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Publication Statement

This is an Accepted Manuscript of:

Bridich, S.M. (2021). Approved to fail: A case study of leadership at three new high schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(6), 794-810. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2021-0058

Rights Holder

Sarah Melvoin Bridich

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

31 pgs

File Size

386 KB

Publication Title

Journal of Educational Administration

Volume

59

First Page

1

Last Page

31

ISSN

0957-8234

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