Date of Award

12-2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

First Advisor

Patricia L. Reeves, Ed.D.

Second Advisor

Jianping Shen, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Janice Brown, Ed.D.

Keywords

Instructional core, instructional rounds, networking, school renewal, social capital, teacher leadership

Abstract

Educational researchers and practitioners have worked for decades to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps. Knowing from multiple research studies that the teacher is the number one influence on student learning, these researchers and practitioners have attempted to grow teacher practice individually through teacher evaluation systems and across classrooms through group-based approaches such as PLCs, Learning Walks, and the Harvard Model of Instructional Rounds. The result is that pockets of instructional and academic excellence persist meaning that not all students benefit equitably across classrooms, schools, and districts. In response, this study explored the role of the HIL-Project inspired and developed adaptation of the Harvard Model of Instructional Rounds, called School Renewal Rounds, in developing social capital in schools participating in the HIL Project.

This qualitative multiple case study involved three elementary schools that participated in the HIL Project. Included in the collected data are three principal interviews, three teacher focus group interviews, and artifact and observational data collected during and after the School Renewal Rounds process. The overarching research question was what role does School Renewal Rounds, an adaptation of the Harvard Model of Instructional Rounds, play in developing social capital at the school level?

The school renewal approach to school change and social capital theory were the main theoretical underpinnings for this study. Using these theories as a lens for framing this study and for data collection and analysis led to the following findings: (a) The principal served as the key facilitator and sense maker for School Renewal Rounds, (b) School Renewal Rounds led to a culture of increasing collaboration, (c) the School Renewal Rounds process changed how the principal, leadership teams, and teachers thought about and implemented school improvement initiatives, and (d) the COVID-19 pandemic paused collaborative efforts in schools with some lasting effects.

These findings, while nuanced across the three schools, led to the following conclusions that: (a) Principals had an extremely important role in ensuring the success of school renewal efforts, (b) teachers observing each other was a game changer making them an active participant in school renewal efforts, (c) School Renewal Rounds enhanced the professional capital of teachers, and (d) when teachers felt that the locus of control lied outside the building they did not fully embrace the HIL Model for School Renewal or School Renewal Rounds.

Options for future research in the area of school renewal and School Renewal Rounds are (a) digging deeper into principal beliefs and thoughts around school renewal and School Renewal Rounds, (b) developing a better understanding of how appreciative inquiry shifted the problem-based approach of the Harvard Model of Instructional Rounds to a more strengths-based one, (c) studying if there is a relationship between iterative implementation of School Renewal Rounds and improvements of student achievement and teacher performance, and (d) studying the implementation of School Renewal Rounds across a variety of schools.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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