Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Paul Borthwick
Committee Member
Mel D. Coleman
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
achievement, administrators, beginning teachers, change management, collaboration, collaborative efforts, community partnerships, educational environment, effective schools, learning communities, leadership, marketing, media coverage, middle schools, negative media coverage, organizational practices, parent surveys, positive media coverage, professional learning community, public relations, school climate, school culture, school image, school improvement, school leadership, school partnerships, school satisfaction, school survival guide, staff collaboration, student achievement, surveys, teacher surveys, urban schools, workplace culture
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to examine the process used by 1 urban middle school to understand and to improve the school’s image, internally and externally through the collaborative efforts of administrators, school leaders, and beginning teachers. Parent surveys, teacher surveys, and a variety of negative media coverage validated a concern regarding the school’s culture, ability to sustain change, the public’s lack of satisfaction, and the propensity to attract undesired media coverage. The major concern was the school’s inability to maintain a professional learning community that focused on student achievement, staff collaboration, and marketing successes, rather than failures.
The research suggested that school improvement efforts, though mandated, would be ineffective unless school leadership understood and managed its culture. This approach included (a) identifying the current school culture, (b) addressing elements of the school culture that did not contribute to an effective school, (c) facilitating improved organizational practices and procedures, and (d) implementing research-based public relations strategies that conveyed the message that the school was a good place to be.
The implementation resulted in an improved school image through documented activities and the development of a school survival guide. An increase in positive survey responses; parent, community, and school partnerships; positive media coverage; and school satisfaction were anticipated outcomes of this program.