This qualitative study provides interpretations of the nature of strategic plans at small private liberal arts institutions. The study explored the concepts of innovation, entrepreneurship, and transformation detailed in the plans. This study included a specific cohort of eight United States small private liberal arts colleges with similar…

Transparency is a fundamental trait that teachers must exhibit in their district and on their campus in order to understand the mission and goals of the district and campus. Educators need proper training and guidance from district and campus leaders to establish a collective efficacy for the benefit of student success. As school districts find…

The research for this dissertation is presented in manuscript format with an introduction, an in-depth outline of three manuscripts related to this study, and a conclusion that follows. As design-based research serving as the foundation to this work, the first manuscript used networked inquiry to uncover what teachers need in order to transform…

This capstone project provides an examination of educational and organizational change within the Clark County Public School district in Winchester, Kentucky. A review of literature was conducted surrounding organizational change management and how to best utilize organizational and educational change models to establish a sustainable avenue for…

Education, a system that has remained largely unchanged for over 150 years, is facing a critical juncture. The traditional way of teaching, often referred to as the "grammar of schooling," is widely seen as outdated and ineffective in meeting the diverse needs of today's students. Educators and policymakers have a growing consensus that…

The aim of this study is to explore the extent of, and reasons for, the adoption of an educational innovation among post-secondary education practitioners at an open access institution in the Southeastern United States. Informed by Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovations and Kezar and Eckel's (2002) mobile model for transformational change in…

The COVID-19 global pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in higher education institutions across the United States, closing college campuses and transitioning instruction to remote learning. During the spring of 2020 and upon the return to campus in the fall, faculty adjusted their teaching of in-person courses to accommodate the disruption.…

This research explores the use of human-centered design as a lens through which to view the work of leaders in highly innovative schools. I propose that human-centered design is a model for change leadership, customizable to the varying contexts in which a school may exist. As human-centered design has captured the imagination of innovators as…

Teachers and administrators should work together to develop research-based, sensible strategies that model around Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and social-emotional learning (SEL), common methods for disruptive innovation, to satisfy college and/or career goals. Throughout the literature review, two components were…

This qualitative case study investigated the challenges Information Technology (IT) professionals faced in Higher Education Organizations (HEOs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic brought unforeseen challenges and technological disruptions to HEOs, significantly impacting IT professionals. The study aimed to deepen the understanding of…

This dissertation is published in the format a white paper series which tells the story about Butler Tech's Fifth Day Experience across six issues. FDE is a student-centered initiative that was launched in the spring of 2020, and aims to operationalize deeper learning by exploring student voice, teacher agency, equity, personalized learning and…

The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic forced 168 million educators and students to suspend face-to-face classroom instruction worldwide. The unprecedented disruption tested healthcare systems and accentuated the growing crisis in nursing resources, which are critical for battling the virus. The need for nurses fostered a herculean effort of nurse…

The current educational climate, and the subsequent retention issues facing many schools throughout the United States, has drawn considerable attention on supporting young teachers to stay in the profession. However, the more resilient but resistant veteran teachers that have great influence on environment have garnered far less attention. While…

One policy ambition of education reform in the last thirty years has been to push public education beyond didactic pedagogies, basic facts, and rote skills toward ambitious instructional experiences and outcomes not only for students of privilege, but also for students of poverty and color. As U.S. education policy and reform have pressed for the…

The purpose of this action research study was to better understand how aspiring school leaders orient themselves toward present and future uncertainty and to explore what mindsets and conceptual understandings they believe they need to lead through uncertainty. An innovation, delivered through a graduate course on leading change in a Master of…