Dissertation Writing Help - Shaping school culture while implementing a structured school improvement plan

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This study will examine ways principals develop school culture during the application of a structured school improvement model. Unpredictable achievement results have rushed American public education into a wave of improvements as well as improvement efforts. Several schools through the United States have reached high levels of accomplishment by analyzing data, implementing standards, setting goals and measuring results through effective leadership. Leadership of the principal is key in starting improvement efforts and proficient principals create and sustain high quality environments in which wanted performance of students and teachers is achieved. It takes careful planning, capitals as well as leadership to implement structured school improvement. The activities as well as practices of the principal play an important role in the application of a structured school improvement model as well as these processes impact the culture of the school.

As a result of gathering information from numerous settings and sources this study will describe the cultural features of several schools as well as seek to understand the role the principal plays in developing the culture while applying a structure school improvement plan. This study focuses on the following research questions.

• What are the features and elements of school cultures that remain stable and change while schools are going through structured school improvement?

• How does the principal utilize the formal activities of the structured school improvement model to develop the culture?

• How do principals utilize daily work activities and symbolic actions to shape their schools' culture?

• How do principals assess, transform as well as maintain school culture during structured school improvement?
Study participants will be drawn from five schools that are implementing structured school improvement. The participants at each of the five schools will include 4 teachers of varying experience levels, the principal, and a focus group of additional 6-8 teachers per school.

The sample schools are in their fifth year of using the NSSE school improvement process, which guides a staff in using an existing design or in creating a design for school improvement. The sample size of five schools has been selected to reveal differences and similarities in cultural features that will exist in the schools and provide analytic conclusions that are powerful and less subject to criticism (Yin, 2003).

A multi-case study methods approach will be used for this qualitative study to connect the empirical data to the study's initial research questions. Additionally cross case analysis of the five schools will reveal the features of school cultures that are affected or changed while the school is implementing a structured school improvement plan. This method will also include vivid material such as quotations, interviews, and photo elicitation (Lightfoot & Davis, 1997).

A variety of data collection methods, interviews, focus groups, document reviews, school environment assessments, and photo elicitation, will provide a quality study. Interviews, the primary data source for this study, will provide the thick rich descriptions and quotes that are necessary in case study methodology. Focus groups, review of structured school improvement plan documents, and assessments of the physical environments, may validate data from the interviews, provide visible features of culture such as artifacts, symbols, and architectural conditions and determine deeper levels of meaning, making important connections, and identifying factors that shape the contextual framework. The final data collection component for this study is photo elicitation. Several photos from each school will be utilized.

The significance of this study is in its link to the topics of leadership, culture, and school improvement. Literature about school improvement provides limited information about the evolution of school culture during structured school improvement. Additionally the significance of this study is in practice, preparation and professional development. In other words the link between structured school improvement and school culture may assist those already in the educational administrative field and those preparing for the field.