Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Judith B. Galician

Committee Member

Jennifer Gans

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

charter school leadership, charter school leadership model, charter school movement, educational leadership

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to provide ongoing access to current information for charter school principals, charter school management organization (CMO), educational management organizations (EMO), and independent district level charter school leaders.

The researcher developed a qualitative research interview protocol. The interview protocol consisted of seven research questions, designed to elicit each participant’s perception of the key leadership elements associated with being a successful charter school principal. The researcher selected 10 charter school leaders to conduct in-depth interviews using qualitative research-gathering questions about charter school principals’ perspectives as the basis for generating research data. The researcher individually analyzed the interview transcripts by applying the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) for qualitative research methodology to determine the common meaning of charter school leadership as it is perceived from several schools’ practicing charter school leaders.

As a result of this extensive study, feedback from seven of the ten sitting charter school principals, who completed the study, provided substantial evidence for the need to provide specific support: to charter school principal candidates hoping to be successful in their role of leading a charter school system. This study resulted in findings towards direct instructional leadership responsibilities (setting the standards and tone of the building), identification of essential support elements for charter school principal success (comprehensive mentorship and support systems), and identification of core administrative and leadership functions (daily operations management). These findings are also an offering of data towards the ongoing need for policy makers, educational management organizations along with charter management organizations who seek to strategically support the ability of aspiring principals to join them as principals, ensuring their longitudinal success over time, and toward the overall success of charter schools as an alternative system of education.

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