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The purpose of this study was to discover what school leaders considered during the decision-making process when adding a transitional kindergarten program and how the decision was made. This study investigated the decision-making process for superintendents and principals by examining decisions made by rural, suburban, and large school administrators through the Four-Frames Model of leadership. Using the Four-Frames Model described by Bolman and Deal was helpful in providing an understanding of the many organizational aspects with which school leaders have to contend when adding programs. Selecting leaders from rural, suburban, and large school districts helped broaden the study by considering the distinct differences found in the three types of school districts and communities found in Illinois.
The study of the decision-making process when considering the addition of a transitional kindergarten program required an analysis of the decisions made by leaders in school districts. This study used qualitative methods. The researcher used two phases during this study. Phase I involved creating a survey to determine how many school districts in the state of Illinois had a transitional kindergarten program. From the results, districts with transitional kindergarten programs were divided into three categories: rural, suburban, and urban. Within each category, a school district was selected for analysis in Phase II. The urban district was in the planning stages of adding a transitional kindergarten program. However, due to the financial situation with the State of Illinois, the planning stopped and the district decided not to move forward with the program. Unfortunately, another urban district with transitional kindergarten was not available. Therefore, the researcher selected a large unit district that was located with 5 miles of an urbanized area. The selection process included schools that currently had both a transitional kindergarten program and a willingness to participate in this study.
Phase II of the study involved interviewing key decision makers in each district concerning the transitional kindergarten program. People selected included superintendents and building principals. In addition, public documents were analyzed including board minutes, parent informational presentations, and newsletters. This study used a four-frame analysis to analyze the decision-making process.
Through the researcher's use of document and interview data analysis, it became apparent that decision makers had to make considerations as they negotiated each of the four frames of leadership as described by Bolman and Deal (2008) during the decision-making process when adding a transitional kindergarten program. In conclusion, the researcher discovered that there was evidence of aspects from the structural frame, human resource frame, political frame, and symbolic frame. However, the researcher believes that the human resource frame was ultimately the dominant force during the decision-making process when considering the addition of a transitional kindergarten program.