Date of Submission

6-22-2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

Collective Efficacy, Transformational Leadership, Parallel Leadership, Student Achievement, Vulnerable Communities, Professional Learning Communities, Social Emotional Competencies

Abstract

Abstract

Urban secondary schools situated in high-risk neighborhoods experience a myriad of challenges that have the potential to thwart community well-being and student success. School leaders are increasingly aware of the connection between the stressors experienced in such communities, and the effects they have on teacher efficacy and student achievement. The prevalent gap in the goals, standards, and expectations that the administrative team leading this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) seeks to address, and those that currently exist within the school community require attention and a methodology for positive change. It is for this reason, that the school leader recognizes the need to address teachers’ sense of collective efficacy in such challenging circumstances, as a conduit to student achievement. The problem of practice that will be addressed in this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP), is how the collective efficacy of educators working in vulnerable communities can be elevated through transformational leadership.

In order for the organization to experience improvement, I, as one of the school leaders in my role as a vice-principal, must address how transformational leadership can encourage collective teacher efficacy. This problem of practice explores the utility of Bolman and Deal’s Four Frame Model (2013, 2017), identifying the challenges and opportunities for elevating collective efficacy. This proposal outlines an OIP that is framed by Kenneth Leithwood’s (2000; 2012) transformational model of leadership with a focus on value-laden and emotionally responsive leadership theories, while employing a parallel and collaborative approach to implementing change. Additionally, Cawsey, Deszca and Ingols’s, Change Path Model (2015), and Duck’s (2001) Five Stage Change Curve, and Moen and Norman (2009) updated version of Shewhart and Deming’s(1939), Plan Do Study Act, are drawn upon as a means of resolving issues of organizational improvement, as it relates to teacher efficacy and student achievement.

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