Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2021 Exploring How Principals Make Sense as They Implement Reform Melissa Renee Beattie Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/dissertations Part of the Education Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact ScholarWorks@waldenu. Walden University College of Education This is to certify that the doctoral study by Melissa Renee Beattie has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made.
Review Committee Dr. James Bailey, Committee Chairperson, Education Faculty Dr. Kathleen Kingston, Committee Member, Education Faculty Dr. Cheryl Burleigh, University Reviewer, Education Faculty Chief Academic Officer and Provost Sue Subocz, Ph.
Walden University 2021 Abstract Exploring How Principals Make Sense as They Implement Reform by Melissa Renee Beattie MA, Walden University, 2007 BA, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2000 Project Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University November 2021 Abstract School principals serve a critical role with staff in leading change at their schools. School districts increasingly seek to implement system-wide reforms to improve academic achievement in all schools under their jurisdiction; yet inconsistency in application is often a problem. In a K–12 public school district in California’s Central Valley, a district- driven, science technology engineering and math (STEM) curriculum reform initiative is being implemented inconsistently. The research questions guiding this study asked how elementary school principals make sense of the content of a district-driven, STEM reform initiative to improve overall student academic achievement and how these principals use their interpretations of the initiative to lead such curriculum implementation.
This qualitative study included analysis of data from interviews with and the review of archival documents of six elementary school principals of K–5 and K–8 schools charged with implementing the initiative at their school. The data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for emerging themes using Weick’s theory of sensemaking and components of Fullan and Quinn’s coherence framework. Findings indicated a need for a common vision and consistency in enacting common actions to achieve the goals of the STEM reform initiative. Implications for positive social change include a better understanding for elementary school principals and district central office leaders regarding what principals need to make sense of to implement reform initiatives focused on deep learning for all students.
The results support both district central office leaders and elementary school principals to be better equipped to identify effective processes that make sense of educational reforms, thus increasing their effectiveness as change agents to positively impact student learning and achievement within their local school system. Exploring How Principals Make Sense as They Implement Reform by Melissa Renee Beattie MA, Walden University, 2007 BA, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2000 Project Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University November 2021 Dedication This is dedicated to my amazing, loving family. To my husband, Shannon Beattie, who is my rock. You have always believed in me and have made it possible for my crazy dreams to become reality.
There is nothing I cannot do with you by my side. To my girls, Catherine and Elizabeth, for not only understanding that I was busy doing schoolwork, but for also supporting and cheering me on. I love you super much! Acknowledgments Thank you to the many people who have supported and guided me throughout this project. To my chairs, Dr.
James Bailey and Dr. Kathleen Kingston, thank you for your consistent support, guidance, and encouragement. To my colleagues, who became friends, you supported me through this process by being a sounding board, a cheering section, and a support system, my sincerest thanks and gratitude. I look forward to supporting each of you on this journey one day.
To all of the women in leadership that have come before me, thank you for paving the way. Thank you to my best friend, Sarah, who is exactly what a best friend should be. Thanks to my two amazing daughters who supported me in this process and who I hope one day follow their own dreams. And to my husband, thank you for taking on all of the household chores – and the occasional reading and rereading of many drafts – so that I could make this dream a reality.
Table of Contents Section 1: The Problem. 1 The Local Problem .3 Definition of Terms.5 Significance of the Study .7 Review of the Literature .8 Literature Search Strategy. 9 Review of the Broader Problem. 11 Reform Within the Educational Organization.
12 The Role of the District Central Office Leaders During Reform Implementation. 13 The Role of the Principal During Reform Implementation. 15 Coherence in Reform Implementation .26 Research Design and Approach .29 Criteria for Selection of Participants. 29 Access to Participants.
30 i Researcher-Participant Working Relationship. 30 Protecting Participants’ Rights .32 Data Tracking Systems. 33 Role of the Researcher .34 Data Analysis Results .35 Method for Generating, Gathering, and Coding Data. 35 Findings for Research Question 1.
36 Findings for Research Question 2. 49 Accuracy and Credibility .59 Section 3: The Project .68 Review of the Literature. 71 Cultivating Collaborative Cultures. 76 ii Professional Learning as a System of Support .82 Project Evaluation Plan .83 Project Implications for Social Change .86 Section 4: Reflections and Conclusions .88 Project Strengths and Limitations.
89 Recommendations for Alternative Approaches .90 Scholarship, Project Development and Evaluation, and Leadership and Change. 90 Project Development and Evaluation. 91 Leadership and Change. 92 Reflection on Importance of the Work .93 Implications, Applications, and Directions for Future Research.
96 Directions for Future Research .98 Appendix: The Project .113 iii 1 Section 1: The Problem The Local Problem Valley Unified School District (VUSD), a pseudonym for the school district in this study, is a K–12 public district in California’s Central Valley. Like many districts in the nation, VUSD is faced with increasing pressure to transform the public school system so as to improve overall student academic achievement (see Ganon-Shilon et al. As a part of its efforts, VUSD applied for and received an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) early phase grant award from the U. Department of Education to develop and implement a preK–12 integrated science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pathway for all students within the district over the course of 5 years.
However, VUSD has experienced inconsistent site implementation, led by the K–5 and K–8 district elementary school principals of this district-mandated initiative. In their EIR grant proposal, VUSD described their STEM reform initiative as the development and implementation of STEM curriculum with an emphasis on core curricular linkages. Engineering and computer sciences were integrated into the core curriculum for interdisciplinary learning and mastery of state standards. Core curriculum refers to English language arts and mathematics content.
Integrating science, engineering, and computer sciences serves to increase opportunities for all students and teachers to engage in problem- and project-based learning that is academically rigorous and that builds an understanding of STEM career options. The goal of the grant was to build the professional capacity of teachers and principals to support interdisciplinary STEM 2 instruction and to implement project-based learning that will increase student interest in STEM, particularly students from underrepresented groups within STEM professions. Existing local data from the grant implementation indicators suggested that the STEM reform initiative has been inconsistently implemented even though consistent implementation is required by the grant. Grant indicators included each site having a site implementation team, providing professional learning to teachers, and conducting instructional rounds to monitor implementation of the integrated STEM curriculum.
Only two of the nine elementary school principals responsible for implementing the STEM reform initiative reported having a site implementation team and provided evidence of site professional learning for teachers and activities demonstrating site implementation, including instructional rounds during the 2019–2020 school year. In addition, instructional rounds data that the district elementary school principals collect when observing classroom instruction in STEM were not consistently collected or tracked by content at any of the school sites. In 2020, VUSD submitted a proposal for a second phase EIR grant that detailed the need to train and incentivize principals. In the mid phase EIR grant proposal, VUSD described the district’s need to make significant improvements to elementary school principals’ instructional leadership, demonstrating the locally identified gap in practice with the grant’s requirements.
VUSD has persistently low academic achievement. Of its students, 59% live in poverty, 26.9% are English language learners, and only 29% are proficient in math (which is 11% below the state average) and only 38% are proficient in English language arts (which is 13% below the state average), according to the 2019 California Assessment 3 of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP; California Department of Education, n. The district-driven reform was focused on implementing an integrated STEM curriculum to fulfill a growing need for high-quality STEM instruction in the United States that improves student achievement outcomes (see Noonan, 2017). Department of Education (2020) designed the EIR program to support field-initiated innovations to generate solutions to persistent educational challenges.
In the United States, policymakers view proficiency in STEM fields as vital to the nation's economic growth and, as a result, emphasize student learning in STEM fields (Noonan, 2017; White et al. Effectively implementing an integrated STEM curriculum district-wide can have far-reaching implications for schools throughout the nation (White et al. The 2018 report from the Committee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council (2018) articulated a national vision that gives all students access to high-quality STEM education and positions the United States to be a global leader in STEM innovation and employment. The America Competes Reauthorization Act supports a 50% increase in STEM experiences for students and an increase of 1 million students obtaining degrees in STEM fields over the next 10 years (Granovskiy, 2018).
Despite the growing need for high-quality STEM instruction, the 2018 National Assessment of Education Progress mathematics assessment showed a slight decline in math scores, and the 2019 trends reported in the International Mathematics and Science Study 2019 report indicated stagnant scores for low- 4 socioeconomic status students and declines in scores of high-socioeconomic status students (Broer et al., 2019; White et al. Since A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) was released declaring the nation’s public-school system a failure, schools and districts across the United States have continually sought solutions to close the achievement gap for all students. Yet, large-scale reform movements that improve teaching and learning are seldom implemented (Fullan & Quinn, 2016). After decades focused on the academic proficiency demands of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, and the recent shift to a growth model under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, public school districts across the United States are now seeking systemic, long-term changes that can result in increased academic achievement for every student (Honig et al.
District central office leaders, such as associate superintendents and district-level directors, once serving as managers of basic functions, are now instrumental in focusing direction to implement coherent systemic reform to improve academic outcomes (Honig et al., 2017), and the role of the principal is now increasingly complex and difficult because elementary school principals are charged with leading the instructional vison of the school; maintaining a safe learning environment; building relationships with the community; and ensuring the school follows local, state, and federal policies (Lavigne & Good, 2019; Spillane & Kenney, 2012).