Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2013 Characteristics of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools Jan Ware Russell Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: http://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons Recommended Citation Russell, Jan Ware, "Characteristics of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools" (2013). Dissertations & Theses. 11. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/11 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTEMPORARY U. S. PROGRESSIVE MIDDLE SCHOOLS JAN WARE RUSSELL A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October, 2012 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTEMPORARY U.S. PROGRESSIVE MIDDLE SCHOOLS prepared by Jan Ware Russell Is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: ______________________________________________________________________________ Carol Baron, Ph.D., Chair date ______________________________________________________________________________ Elizabeth Holloway, Ph. D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________________ Charis Sharp, Ph. D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________________ Jane Miller, Ed. D., External Reader date Copyright 2012 Jan Ware Russell All rights reserved Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to the faculty of the Antioch University, Leadership and Change program. My doctoral journey could not have been accomplished without each faculty member’s input along the way. I would like to offer my special thanks to Dr. Laurien Alexandre (Program Director) and Dr. Al Guskin (President Emeritus) for their pioneering spirit that birthed this program. Their continued passion for the progressive philosophies—student-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision- making—that are a model of the learning environment explored in this dissertation. I am grateful to Dr. Mitch Kusy who conducted my screening interview. His humor coupled with his business-like manner quickly put me at ease allowing me to ask and have answers to ALL my questions. I am particularly grateful to my first faculty advisor, Dr. Jon Wergin who helped guide me from being an impetuous doer into a pragmatic thinker. Jon’s work surrounding Progressive Education, John Dewey, and Place-Based Leadership also shaped my inquiry along this journey. I am appreciative to Dr. Elizabeth Holloway who stepped in as my second faculty advisor during Jon’s sabbatical and guided me through my entrance into candidacy and selection of a dissertation chair. Elizabeth’s background in organizational leadership was a valuable asset that allowed her to ask me questions from a perspective that strengthened my dissertation. A well deserved thank you and heartfelt appreciation goes to my dissertation committee, Dr. Carol Baron (Chair), Dr. Elizabeth Holloway (Faculty), Dr. Charis Sharp (Content Expert), and Dr. Jane Miller (External Reader) for providing feedback and direction that have made this study so much richer. First, a thank you to Carol for her hard work in explaining the nuances of technical writing surrounding regression analysis language, her dedication to returning draft after i draft after draft in a timely manner, and her unwavering deadlines that guided me throughout a heavy load of multi-tasking. I’ve already mentioned my appreciation to Elizabeth, but want to acknowledge the great teamwork that she and Carol maintained in supporting my mixed method study that embodies the many residency workshops they conduct together. I am very thankful to Dr. Charis Sharp for her continued support in directing me to look at various progressive school organizations and philosophies. I appreciate the conversations we had that informed me of the importance of my work and that I really was making a contribution to a gap that does exist in the literature. Thank you to Dr. Jane Miller for providing a fresh set of eyes that were needed after being enmeshed in the literature close to five years. Her encouragement and additional confirmation that I was addressing a phenomenon she has experienced while attempting to maintain progressive education field placements have increased my excitement for the future. Special thanks must be given to Deb Baldwin (AM, AMLS) and Dr. Elaine Gale (MFA) who both provided invaluable support, direction, and friendship. Without Deb as “my” personal librarian, I might not have started this journey. She gave assurance from day one that she would be available and she was. Deb’s expertise of the literary world and how to access it electronically ushered me into the world of “cyber libraries” so needed after moving to the Bahamas. Elaine, as “my” writing coach, helped me develop my voice and a confidence for future writing projects. I want to say thank you to Lucinda Leugers (Cohort 5) for sitting with me one afternoon and telling me about Ph.D. Antioch Leadership and Change. It was Lucinda’s description of the program and its flexibility that led me to complete the application. No journey can begin without the first step. Thank you again. I want to thank Cohort 7 and my other cohort friends (2-10) for ii being a collaborative learning community. I learned so much from each individual and am so grateful that this was not a solitary effort. Thank you to Dr. Cheryl Fenno for the many hours spent conducting the final edits on this document. Last, but not least, I want to thank my husband, Craig W. Russell, for his dedication and hard work to take the load off of me so that I could study. His gracious sacrifices did not go unnoticed. iii Dedication My first and foremost dedication of this work is “to praise God, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14). Without the talents, personality, and providential grace provided by God, I would not have come this far. I dedicate this body of work to the many wonderful teachers who encouraged me to dream big. I could not have made it to this point in life without the loving support of my parents, John V. and Joan (Carter) Ware. I pray this study will impact and inspire my children, Shane L. Ferryman and Ashley R. Ferryman, and my grandchildren, James D. Breneman Jr., Breeze A. Breneman, and Shane Michael Ferryman. I also want to dedicate this book to my favorite sister, Joy Ware Miller, and her family who have given me first-hand experience in providing education that captures the aspects of play, passion, and purpose. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to all my students that have had me in the past and those who will have me in the future. I hope that your life will be different because of our time together. iv Abstract Progressive education has a long history within the American K-12 education system dating back to the late 1800s. During this period, two very distinct ideologies represented progressive education: 1) administrative progressives supporting standardization as a means of efficiency and 2) pedagogical progressives supporting child-centered learning based upon a well- rounded education. This study looks at 82 contemporary pedagogical progressive schools to identify common characteristics. Child-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision-making were the three overarching philosophies covered in this study. Data was collected through an online survey of school leaders. The majority of research surrounding progressive education is qualitative and focuses on the experience of teachers, students, parents, or administrators, and not the characteristics of the school. This study is a mixed methods study that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to identify qualities found in contemporary progressive schools. Findings are intended to help school leaders plan for growth and sustainability. A 6-point scale was used to gather school leaders’ level of disagreement or agreement about whether particular educational practices associated with each philosophy occur within their school. Mean scores for the educational practice items for each philosophy were the independent variables in the regression analyses. A 10-point semantic differential rating scale was used to identify the school leaders’ perceptions of whether their school was adhering to each philosophy. These ratings were used as the dependent variable in the regression analyses. Significant educational practice items for each philosophy