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Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity

Sanders, Cynthia Davis
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4495-0222
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed in 2002 was the "most extraordinary expansion of federal power over public schools in American history" (Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). NCLB had two major impacts on educational policy. First, it legitimized and strengthened the federal government's role in both influencing and regulating state and local compliance with educational policy mandates. Second, it codified student performance on content-specific standardized tests as the most reliable and valid measure of how well those who lead and teach in public schools are preparing students for the workforce (Bracey, 2009; Pinar, 2012; Schneider, 2017; Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). Without much public debate, and no longer questioned, performance metrics reduce the purpose of schooling to raising test scores and preparing students for the workforce (Eisner, 2001; Pinar, 2012; McDermott, 2011; Schneider, 2017). NCLB also set in motion market-based reforms expanding school choice options which threaten the very sustainability of public education (Bracey, 2009; Manna, 2007; Pinar 2012; Schneider, 2017). Anderson and Cohen (2018) have suggested that we are a pivotal moment where it is possible to move into a post-reform era which should be led by educators to reclaim their professional agency and the legitimacy of public schooling by decentering performance accountability as the primary driver of educational policy. This interpretivist, case study was comprised of five district superintendents from central Ohio who participate in a collaborative group called the Hart County Design Team (HCDT). The study found that participating in the HCDT collaborative facilitated the ability of the superintendents to engage in leadership practices to counter, not just resist, the impacts of performance accountability on their professional agency, the districts they lead, and the communities they serve. The HCDT functioned as an alliance that created a space where the group could discuss shared values and beliefs about instructional goals and aims for schooling not tied to performance metrics. This created a support network for their aspirations to pursue democratic leadership practices for changing the systems and cultures in their districts that allowed them to shift from prioritizing compliance with performance accountability mandates to prioritizing being responsible for and to the communities they serve.
Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair)
Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member)
Joel Malin (Committee Member)
Brian Schultz (Committee Member)
136 p.
Educational Leadership
Educational Leadership; Performance Accountability; Transformative School Leadership; Democratic District Leadership; School Reform; School Renewal

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sanders, C. D. (2021). Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sanders, Cynthia. Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity . 2021. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sanders, Cynthia. "Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity ." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami161832101921559
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© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.