Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Kent Seidel, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Linda Brookhart

Third Advisor

Susan Korach

Fourth Advisor

Roger E. Salters

Keywords

Change process, Improving student achievement, School improvement

Abstract

Developing effective methods for improving America's schools is dependent upon coordinated work of practitioners and researchers. School improvement proves a complicated, confusing and most often troubled process; one characterized by the unprecedented challenges of dramatic societal shift, increasing levels of student need, and ongoing involvement from political and governmental influences. The drive to discover better ways to consistently improve schools is fueled by urgency for dramatic results.

This research examines both the macro and the micro levels of the school improvement process and illuminates the need for an intentional new way of thinking and leading. At the macro level, the study examined the need for implementing a systems approach to improve America's schools. The study explored a single school's improvement journey. This work aligned individual and group perceptions of staff members alongside student achievement outcome data framed against the findings in the literature.

The study rendered themes from within the reflected experiences of participant educators; the work pointed to the need for an improved social technology, the importance of teams, and shared leadership in the orchestrating of successful school improvement processes, particularly the essential roles of collective listening, learning, and leading to realize transformed outcomes for schools.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Jeanice Kerr Swift

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

216 p.

Discipline

Educational Leadership, Education

Download



Share

COinS