Dissertation writing help - The challenges of african american principals in predominantly african american low-performing High schools
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This qualitative multi-case case study evaluates the specific leadership challenges and responses of principals leading predominantly African American, low-performing high schools that have been deemed in require of improvement as a result of NCLB. Using Tillman's (2002) culturally sensitive research approaches, specially, this study investigates the subsequent research questions:
1. What do African American principals in predominantly African American high schools labeled "in need of improvement" recognize as challenges of leading a labeled school and leading a predominantly African American school? How do they respond to these challenges?
2. What adaptations, if any, have they made in their leadership practices after the school received the label? Is the impetus for these adaptations external or internal?
The methods used to answer the research questions included: in-depth interviews with four African American principals (two male and two female), guided school tours, and documentation and archival data collection and review from each school site. These data were analyzed using the constant comparative analysis.
To address the first research problem, five major challenges were checked by the principals related to leading a predominantly African American high school. These challenges included staff, parents, student attitudes, community participation, and teen pregnancy. Five challenges were identified related to leading a low-performing high school. These challenges included: staff resistance, moving target, student ownership, unfairness in measurability, and community understanding. Five leadership adaptations were reported to cope with the challenges and responses of leading low-performing, African American high schools. These adaptations added: increased documentation, development of student ownership and leadership, heightened sense of urgency, creative insubordination, and amplified self-care. In the concluding analysis, the author examines the belief systems of the principals based on a preliminary theory toward social justice limits as way to describe their responses to the challenges of leading a predominantly African American high school.