ABSTRACT Title of Document: a CASE STUDY of the PERCEPTIONS of SCHOOL PRINCIPALS REGARDING the MICROPOLITICS of CONSOLIDATING PU
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: A CASE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS REGARDING THE MICROPOLITICS OF CONSOLIDATING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Darrin Andre Slade, Doctor of Education, 2012 Directed By: Associate Professor Hanne Mawhinney Department of Teaching, Learning, Policy and Leadership The continued decline of many of America‘s urban centers has created a myriad of challenges for struggling inner city school systems. As the ills of society drive magnitudes of inner city residents into the suburbs many urban school districts must deal with the challenges of decreasing student enrollment and underused facilities. Many states allocate money to districts based on student enrollment. Declining enrollments often result in decreased fiscal allocations. The combination of declining enrollments and reduced funding often makes school closures necessary. In response to school closings many systems have re-configured the way they address the issue of underused facilities. In districts like the Mid-Atlantic school system leaders have chosen to consolidate schools into one shared facility to maximize resources. Such organizational change can be a catalyst for micropolitics. Issues related to micropolitics can have a dramatic effect on any organization especially one as complex as a school. With the ever-growing demands placed on school leaders particularly those related to high stakes accountability and school climate there is an urgent need to gain further insight into the principals‘ perception on how micropolitics impacts the total school. This study provided insight into the micropolitical perspectives of seven principals charged with leading consolidated buildings. The research design for this multi-case study was bounded by Bolman and Deal‘s (2003) political frame and Mangham and Morley‘s research on micropolitics. The study includes a single and cross case analysis of each principal‘s unique micropolitical perspectives. The findings from this study revealed that from the principal‘s perspective micropolitical issues occurred in every consolidated school. Data revealed similarities and differences in the manner in which principals perceived the conflicts and power struggles in their buildings and the causes of these disputes. In most cases the discord stemmed from enduring differences among students and staff members. The findings from this study have implications for policy makers, school leadership and future research. Additional research is needed to explore the effect of consolidation on student achievement. School leadership needs to use the data from this study to train principals to deal properly with the micropolitical issues they are sure to confront as school leaders. Policy makers must consider issues of zoning, the allocation of school resources and teacher hiring to ensure that future consolidation efforts are met with success. A CASE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS REGARDING THE MICROPOLITICS OF CONSOLIDATING PUBLIC SCHOOLS By Darrin Andre Slade Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education 2012 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Hanne B. Mawhinney, Chair Professor of Practice Carol S. Parham Professor of Practice Helene Cohen Assistant Professor Tom Davis Dean‘s Representative: Professor Ellen Fabian © Copyright by Darrin Andre Slade 2012 Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Naomi Slade, and my father, Odell Slade, who both passed away during this process. Thanks for instilling in me a thirst for knowledge that will never die. Your loving spirits will always be in my heart. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I like to thank my family for their support during this long process; particularly wife, Sharron, and son, Darius, for sticking with me during this sometimes difficult period. I also would like to thank my brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. who assisted me with taking care of both of my parents, who passed away during my time here at the University of Maryland. I also want to thank my other friends and family that supported me as I completed my doctoral work. I also have to express my deepest gratitude to my staff at Ronald H. Brown Middle School. There is no way I would have finished this process without your support. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Hanne Mawhinney for supporting me from day one. I would not have been able to make it through this process without her support. iii Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................1 Overview ..........................................................................................................................1 Problem ..........................................................................................................................22 The Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................23 Research Questions .......................................................................................................23 Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................23 Study Significance ..........................................................................................................24 Definition of Terms ........................................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Literature Review .........................................................................................26 Enrollment Trends ..........................................................................................................26 Political Frames ..............................................................................................................28 Micropolitics ..................................................................................................................31 Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................47 Summary ........................................................................................................................50 Chapter 3: Design and Methodology..............................................................................52 Overview ........................................................................................................................52 Rationale for Qualitative Case Study .............................................................................52 Assumptions of Qualitative Research ............................................................................53 Rationale for Case Study (Multiple Approach) ..............................................................56 Site and Sample ..............................................................................................................57 Data Gathering Methods ................................................................................................59 Data Management, Analysis, and Reduction .................................................................63 Standards of Quality and Validity ..................................................................................69 Trustworthiness/Verification ..........................................................................................70 Credibility .......................................................................................................................71 Transferability ................................................................................................................71 Confirmability ................................................................................................................72 Personal Experience with Research Topic .....................................................................72 Advantages and Disadvantages of Insider Status ...........................................................75 Chapter 4: Principal Case Studies .................................................................................79 iv Plans to Close and Reorganize .......................................................................................80 Community Response to the Proposed Plan ..................................................................81 Safety and Student Dynamics ........................................................................................84 Implementing the Plan ...................................................................................................84 School Leadership/Restructuring ...................................................................................85 Principal Kam .................................................................................................................87