Created by J. Nail 06/2015 the Mandated Consolidation of Two
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Template APA v3.0 (beta): Created by J. Nail 06/2015 The mandated consolidation of two school districts in Mississippi: Pre-consolidation perceptions of administrators, teachers, and parents By TITLE PAGE Madhurima Musser A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Education Administration in the Department of Educational Leadership Mississippi State, Mississippi May 2016 Copyright by COPYRIGHT PAGE Madhurima Musser 2016 The mandated consolidation of two school districts in Mississippi: Pre-consolidation perceptions of administrators, teachers, and parents By APPROVAL PAGE Madhurima Musser Approved: ____________________________________ Jack G. Blendinger (Major Professor) ____________________________________ James E. Davis (Committee Member/Graduate Coordinator) ____________________________________ David R. Shaw (Committee Member) ____________________________________ Jianzhong Xu (Committee Member) ____________________________________ Richard L. Blackbourn Dean College of Education Name: Madhurima Musser ABSTRACT Date of Degree: May 6, 2016 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Education Administration Major Professor: Jack G. Blendinger Title of Study: The mandated consolidation of two school districts in Mississippi: Pre- consolidation perceptions of administrators, teachers, and parents Pages in Study 179 Candidate for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the past, consolidation of schools was studied for the post-consolidation phase. This study focused on the pre-consolidation perceptions of administrators, teachers, and parents in the areas of academics, athletics, and interactions and collaborations between administrators, teachers, students and parents of two school districts in Mississippi that went through consolidation. Data were collected through: a) archival data, b) observations, and c) focus group interviews of administrators, teachers, and parents from the two school districts. Data from all sources were carefully reviewed and coded, further categorized, and emerging themes were related to the research questions. This study found that after consolidation, Starkville School District (SSD) students would continue to do the same academically while the Oktibbeha County School District (OCSD) students will improve and do much better academically. SSD students would continue to do the same athletically but face more competition while OCSD students will have more choices, and face more competition. All stakeholders agreed that most of the OCSD administrators will be without employment. Teachers and parents from both school districts thought the administrators from both school districts will get along fine. Moving into the future all thought teacher interactions will go well. SSD administrators, teachers, and parents thought student interactions will be fine. OCSD administrators, teachers, and parents thought initially student interactions might be rough but it will be fine later. SSD administrators, teachers, and parents and OCSD teachers thought parent interaction will go well. OCSD administrators and parents thought parent interaction would be fine if they were treated right by the SSD parents. More research during the pre-consolidation phase needs to be done. Areas like transportation and funding need to be studied. Quantitative studies for the areas looked at in this study need to be done. Longitudinal studies needs to be done in the future. Students need to be used as participants in future research. DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my late father Mr. Nirmalendu Sarkar, and my mother Mrs. Swapna Sarkar. From an early age they instilled in me a desire to learn, and made sacrifices so I would have access to a high quality education. Without their support and guidance I would not be where I am today. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing this education process is a true blessing, and I give my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the glory. This success has not been achieved in isolation, and I am grateful to my husband Dr. Fred Musser, my son Ethan Musser, and my daughters Shanika Musser, Abigail Musser, and Bethany Musser, for their love, prayers, patience, and unconditional support. I thank my major professor and dissertation director Dr. Jack Blendinger for his guidance and attention to this study. I am also grateful to my committee members Dr. James Davis, Dr. David Shaw, and Dr. Jianzhong Xu for their insight and recommendations that enhanced my learning experience and added depth to the study. I am also thankful to everyone who provided prayers, support, and guidance during the doctoral journey. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER .......................................................................................................................... 1 I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem, Purpose, and Research Questions ...............................2 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................4 Method ...................................................................................................................5 Limitations and Delimitations ...............................................................................6 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...............................................................................8 Recent School District Consolidations in Mississippi ...........................................9 The Holmes-Durant School District consolidation .......................................10 The Sunflower County School District consolidation ...................................11 The North Bolivar Consolidated School District and West Bolivar Consolidated School District .............................................................12 Starkville School District and Oktibbeha County School District Consolidation ...........................................................................................13 Theoretical Cornerstone: Social Capital Theory .................................................21 Previous Research on School Consolidation .......................................................24 Summary of Learnings from Previous Research ...........................................28 III. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................30 Selected OCSD and SSD Demographic Data .....................................................31 Research Design ..................................................................................................32 Participants ..........................................................................................................33 Data Collection Procedures .................................................................................35 Collection of Archival Data ...........................................................................35 Collection of Observational Data ..................................................................37 Collection of Data at the Focus Group Interviews ........................................39 Validity and Reliability of Data ..........................................................................41 Ethical Decisions .................................................................................................42 iv Data Analysis Procedures ....................................................................................42 Analysis of Archival Data .............................................................................42 Analysis of Observational Data .....................................................................44 Analysis of Data from Focus-Group Interviews ...........................................45 Summary ..............................................................................................................47 IV. FINDINGS ..........................................................................................................48 How Consolidation Will Influence Students Academically ................................48 Archival Data Findings ..................................................................................49 Summary of archival data findings. .........................................................51 Observational Data Findings .........................................................................53 Summary of observational data findings. ................................................54 Focus Group Interview Data Findings ..........................................................54 Summary of focus group interview data findings. ..................................64 Multiple Data Sources Findings ....................................................................65 Summary of multiple data sources findings. ...........................................66 How Consolidation Will Influence Students Athletically ...................................66 Archival Data Findings ..................................................................................67