Leaders who succeed. A case study of leaders' decisions that encourage achievement with special education students

Abstract

President George W. Bush signed into legislation one of the most influential and controversial educational reforms—the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The purpose of the NCLB is to “ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments” (PL 107-110, 115 Stat. 1426). Regardless of a student's disabilities, NCLB, IDEA, and RtI clearly make schools accountable for fostering the growth and success of all students. Schools cannot ignore the underachievement of students and they need to be proactive even if financial resources are scarce. Currently, schools are already facing the ramifications of failing to make AYP.

Using Bolman and Deal's Four-Frames as a conceptual model, this study is concerned with successful leadership styles and decisions that positively-effect the achievement of students. Specifically, a case study methodology bounded by the years 2006–2009 will be used to uncover the leadership styles and decisions found in economically advantaged and disadvantaged high schools that have successfully made AYP with their special education subgroups.