Content area

Abstract

At the time of this study, New York City’s School District 100 (SD 100), a pseudonym, faced high principal turnover. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the adjustments made to organizational supports at SD 100 to improve the experience and capacities of new principals. The aim of this study was to increase new principal persistence. Four theories of adult learning and organizational change informed the intervention design Drago-Severson’s adult learning theory, Heifetz and Linksy’s adaptive leadership theory, Wenger’s Social learning theory and situated learning theory, and Little’s joint work theory. Using an improvement science approach, two drivers were initially identified: (a) increasing new principal satisfaction and (b) reducing isolation and loneliness. A year-long principal professional learning community (PPLC) was implemented in the 2022-2023 school year for 17 principals with less than three years of experience. The PPLC used book study with Fullan’s Three Keys to Maximizing Impact and Aguilar’s Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice. New principals practiced the improvement science process by addressing a shared problem of practice, building the capacity of attendance teams, in a single PDSA cycle. They then created individual problems of practice and implemented interventions. Principals expand their leadership capacity, influenced by several factors—the logistics of the PPLC sessions, session norms, participant vulnerability, quality of engagement, collaboration, community building, and implementation of learning outside of the PPLC. Several best practices for PPLCs emerged out of this study: (a) use of icebreakers, (b) incorporating readings, (c) learning activities including intervisitations; (d) engagement through discussion, and (e) self-reflection.

Details

1010268
Business indexing term
Title
A Leader's Journey: Self-Examination and Implementation of a Principal Professional Learning Community
Number of pages
115
Publication year
2025
Degree date
2025
School code
0072
Source
DAI-A 86/11(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
ISBN
9798315701095
Committee member
Cattaro, Gerald; Bryant, Dia
University/institution
Fordham University
Department
Division of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy
University location
United States -- New York
Degree
Ed.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
32042567
ProQuest document ID
3205383579
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/leaders-journey-self-examination-implementation/docview/3205383579/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
ProQuest One Academic