Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Sharon Santilli
Committee Member
William Thayer
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
administration, agenda, analysis, applied dissertation, careers, class trips, critical incidents, decision making, districtwide agenda, doctoral students, drinking, educational administration, educational leadership, educational leadership styles, educational leadership responsibility, educational leadership qualities, educational leadership effectiveness, Federal Court, graduate coursework, leadership, leadership effectiveness, leadership qualities, leadership responsibility, leadership styles, middle school concept, middle school principal, newspaper distribution, parents, practicing school administrators, principals, principalship, reflection, school administrators, school districts, school leadership, senior class trips, sexual harassment, stakeholders, students, superintendents, underground newspapers
Abstract
This applied dissertation is a description and analysis of four critical incidents that I was involved in as a school administrator. My goal in planning this project was to choose four experiences that were meaningful to me as a result of the decision-making processes that took place in resolving these incidents. I chose these four incidents for two reasons. First, these incidents impacted my career greatly by giving me opportunities to make important decisions in critical situations. Second, these incidents were significant enough to my growth as a doctoral student and as an educational administrator to warrant serious reflection and analysis.
This project was significant because it allowed me to learn from my active involvement in and analysis of four critical incidents. My analysis of these incidents involved looking through two lenses. The first was that of a doctoral student, and the second was that of a practicing school administrator.
The first critical incident involved students who were caught drinking on a senior class trip. The second critical incident involved the handling of students who were caught distributing an underground newspaper on school grounds. This case ended up in Federal Court. The third critical incident involved my acceptance of a middle school principalship in a school whose stakeholders did not want a middle school concept or a middle school principal. The fourth critical incident involved a case where parents sued the school district because their daughter was allegedly being sexually harassed by a former boyfriend. This case also made its way to Federal Court.
Through reflection and analysis, these critical incidents have changed my decision-making process as a school administrator. Prior to this project, reflection and analysis were things I did as a part of graduate coursework. Now, after having completed this project, reflection and analysis are that part of my daily routine as a practicing school administrator. As a new superintendent of schools, I have built the concept of reflection and analysis into my districtwide agenda. Table of Contents