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An analysis of the effectiveness of an urban school district leadership academy for principal recruitment and professional development: A case study
Jennifer Leigh Harper
Paperback. ProQuest, UMI Dissertation Publishing 2011-09-04.
ISBN 9781243613073
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Publisher description
Research on school principals has been narrowed to the factors leading to attrition or retention with little focus on the recruitment and development of school principals. The last decade has witnessed a growing shortage of individuals who want to step into the school principal position. The decreasing number of individuals applying for school principal positions has led some school districts to implement new methods to recruit and develop future school principals. One method being used by some large, urban school districts is the creation and implementation of leadership academies; however, few studies have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of this tool in aiding the recruitment and development of aspiring school principals. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the effectiveness of a leadership academy implemented in an urban school district to increase the recruitment of school leaders. Participants were assessed on their perceptions of the effectiveness of the leadership academy, in one urban school district, to prepare them for the school principal role. A qualitative, embedded case study approach was used to describe these perceptions. The perceptions were analyzed using an interpretist paradigm. The study participants consisted of 12 individuals who were working as principals or assistant principals in the district after their participation in the leadership academy. The data was based on participants' responses from 25 semi-structured interview questions derived by the researcher, non-participant observations of leadership academy meetings, and document analysis of materials used in the leadership academy. These multiple sources of evidence supported data triangulation aimed at corroborating the same observable facts and events about the leadership academy that is, producing or not producing desired results for recruiting and developing school leaders. The data revealed four assertions that included (1) the leadership academy provides an avenue for the district to identify individuals interested in the principal position and get to know the leadership styles of each individual; (2) participants believe the leadership academy aided in their preparation for a principal position in the district; (3) the application and selection process enables the district to identify individuals interested in the school principal position; and (4) the leadership academy has been an indirect tool for recruitment. The findings showed that all study participants felt the leadership academy was a valuable experience and did aid them in their journey to becoming a school principal. Each participant experienced the leadership academy in a slightly different manner and each had suggestions for improving the leadership academy. The suggestion shared most often by participants was the need for more shadowing experiences or a paid internship experience lasting at least one semester. The findings from this study support the use of a leadership academy as a tool to develop aspiring school principals; however, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of the leadership academy in recruiting future school leaders
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An analysis of the effectiveness of an urban school district leadership academy for principal recruitment and professional development: A case study
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