Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, 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 va (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member); Joel Malin (Committee Member); Brian Schultz (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

For decades, policymakers and the public have demanded dramatic improvement in urban education evidenced primarily by the performance of students, particularly those who are socially and economically disadvantaged. Generally, the public has been disappointed. While there are many reasons, one has to do with the ability of leadership to bring about the expected change. This study examined how one deputy superintendent, identified as a transformational leader, in an urban school district facilitates change management to influence the school community in and through district-wide improvement efforts. A mixed methods case study design was conducted to more fully understand the distinct leadership practices of the focal administrator that drive system wide improvement. This study sought to gain a deeper understanding of how this district level educational leader uses transformative leadership practices and democratic principles to help drive sustainable system level change. In doing so, it sought to discover several factors behind the change. This included the conditions, both institutional and personal, that led to the leaders' awareness of the need to advance, the specific practices that were undertaken to advance, including an embrace of democratic leadership practices, the institutional and community challenges to this evolution in leadership approach and the nature of the results achieved through transformative democratic leadership compared to those achieved through transformational and/or transformative leadership practices alone.

Committee: Anne Bauer Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Amy Farley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vicki Plano Clark Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership