Advisor

Vogel, Linda R.

Committee Member

Cray, Martha

Committee Member

Jackson, Lewis

Committee Member

Whitaker, Kathryn

Department

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Institution

University of Northern Colorado

Type of Resources

Text

Place of Publication

Greeley (Colo.)

Publisher

University of Northern Colorado

Date Created

8-1-2010

Genre

Thesis

Extent

183 pages

Digital Origin

Born digital

Description

Effective school principals are urgently needed to lead reform efforts to close the achievement gap between high performing and low performing students, particularly in high poverty and low performing public schools. This study employed an embedded mixed methods design of qualitative and quantitative data, and an analytic process called paradigm (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to reveal the behaviors and practices of effective school principals in challenging public school contexts. The results of the study illuminated the behaviors and practices of effective school principals in challenging public school contexts. In addition, a grounded theory was developed of the phenomenon of sense-making of effective school principals that linked to systemic changes in the school. A substantive theory gave explanatory power to the success of principals to generate significant academic student achievement in high poverty, high needs schools. The study revealed an alternative educational leadership model--Stewardship as a Sense-making Model of Leadership. The principal as a servant leader, the fundamental influence in the schools, created conditions for shared leadership and paradigmatic shifts in the instructional climate that positively impacted student academic achievement.

Degree type

PhD

Degree Name

Doctoral

Language

English

Local Identifiers

Masewicz_unco_0161D_10047.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by author.

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