Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Lucille Beisner
Committee Member
Karen Kimball
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
administrator shortage, administrators, assistant principals, build leadership capacity, commitment, data analysis, developing leaders, district goals, educational leadership, effectiveness, future leaders, grow-your-own approach, hiring, knowledge, leadership, leadership capacity, leadership development, leadership training, leader perceptions, Mesquite Independent School District, Mesquite ISD, Mesquite Leadership Academy, principals, retaining, school administrators, school districts, school principals, superintendent, teacher leaders, teachers as leaders, Texas, training participants, workforce development
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to address the shortage of administrators in the Mesquite Independent School District. The school administrator has recently been described as an endangered species (Chapko and Buchko 2001.) Across the country, school districts are faced with the challenge of hiring and retaining competent principals and assistant principals. The Mesquite Independent School District in Mesquite, Texas found itself facing this same challenge in 2001, so much so that the district’s superintendent put it forth as one of the district’s four goals for the year: to build leadership capacity in the district. For a district as large as Mesquite ISD, with forty-two campuses serving over 30,000 students, there were obviously many diverse needs. In 2001, the district identified the leadership shortage as a top area of concern.
This applied dissertation focused on one solution to the administrator shortage: identifying excellent teacher leaders and developing them into future leaders. Through the Mesquite Leadership Academy, identified participants were trained in sessions geared towards building their leadership capacity and their commitment to the Mesquite Independent School District. This applied dissertation studied the changes made in the participants and analyzed the effectiveness of the “grow-your-own” approach in developing teachers into leaders.
An analysis of the data revealed that the approach was successful. The participants had an increase in their levels of knowledge and commitment. They also had increased perceptions in themselves as leaders and increased interests in positions of leadership.