Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen Bowser
Committee Member
Delores Smiley
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
adult education, advisory boards, advisory committees, change theory, collaboration, criminal justice, criminal justice executives, curriculum development, educational improvement, educational planning, evaluation methods, executive education, formative evaluation, lifelong learning, leadership, pilot programs, program evaluation, retreats, strategic planning, summative evaluation, systems thinking, training programs, workforce development
Abstract
The applied dissertation problem was that criminal justice executives did not have the education necessary to be effective concerning the use of collaborative advisory boards. Therefore, the purpose of this intervention was educating criminal justice executives using a retreat setting on subject matter such as systems thinking, change theory, strategic planning, and the importance of collaboration.
Six research questions addressed in this report were: (a) What are the criteria for an effective criminal justice executive retreat? (b) What is an appropriate and valid curriculum for a criminal justice advisory board retreat? (c) What is the best delivery system for the subject matter at a criminal justice retreat? (d) Are there existing programs that are similar to the criminal justice retreat planned in this project? (e) What methods of evaluation can be used to assess the effectiveness of the criminal justice retreat planned in this project? and (f) What knowledge and skills should the criminal justice executives possess at the conclusion of the retreat planned in this project?
Developmental and evaluative research methodologies were used. Developmental methodology was used because the researcher was creating a product to educate criminal justice executives. Evaluative methodology was used to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum and retreat delivery system.
Nine procedures were used; primary among them was the use of an extensive literature review, a pilot retreat, and the creation of formative and summative committees to provide valuable feedback to the researcher on the curriculum and evaluation. The iterative review process was the central tool in working with these two critical committees.