Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity

Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sanders, Cynthia Davis
Language:English
Published: Miami University / OhioLINK 2021
Subjects:
Educational Leadership
Performance Accountability
Transformative School Leadership
Democratic District Leadership
School Reform
School Renewal
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-miami1618321019215592021-08-03T07:17:09Z Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity Sanders, Cynthia Davis Educational Leadership Educational Leadership Performance Accountability Transformative School Leadership Democratic District Leadership School Reform School Renewal The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed in 2002 was the "most extraordinary expansion of federal power over public schools in American history" (Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). NCLB had two major impacts on educational policy. First, it legitimized and strengthened the federal government's role in both influencing and regulating state and local compliance with educational policy mandates. Second, it codified student performance on content-specific standardized tests as the most reliable and valid measure of how well those who lead and teach in public schools are preparing students for the workforce (Bracey, 2009; Pinar, 2012; Schneider, 2017; Sunderman & Orfield, 2006). Without much public debate, and no longer questioned, performance metrics reduce the purpose of schooling to raising test scores and preparing students for the workforce (Eisner, 2001; Pinar, 2012; McDermott, 2011; Schneider, 2017). NCLB also set in motion market-based reforms expanding school choice options which threaten the very sustainability of public education (Bracey, 2009; Manna, 2007; Pinar 2012; Schneider, 2017). Anderson and Cohen (2018) have suggested that we are a pivotal moment where it is possible to move into a post-reform era which should be led by educators to reclaim their professional agency and the legitimacy of public schooling by decentering performance accountability as the primary driver of educational policy. This interpretivist, case study was comprised of five district superintendents from central Ohio who participate in a collaborative group called the Hart County Design Team (HCDT). The study found that participating in the HCDT collaborative facilitated the ability of the superintendents to engage in leadership practices to counter, not just resist, the impacts of performance accountability on their professional agency, the districts they lead, and the communities they serve. The HCDT functioned as an alliance that created a space where the group could discuss shared values and beliefs about instructional goals and aims for schooling not tied to performance metrics. This created a support network for their aspirations to pursue democratic leadership practices for changing the systems and cultures in their districts that allowed them to shift from prioritizing compliance with performance accountability mandates to prioritizing being responsible for and to the communities they serve. 2021-04-13 English text Miami University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Educational Leadership
Educational Leadership
Performance Accountability
Transformative School Leadership
Democratic District Leadership
School Reform
School Renewal
spellingShingle Educational Leadership
Educational Leadership
Performance Accountability
Transformative School Leadership
Democratic District Leadership
School Reform
School Renewal
Sanders, Cynthia Davis
Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
author Sanders, Cynthia Davis
author_facet Sanders, Cynthia Davis
author_sort Sanders, Cynthia Davis
title Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
title_short Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
title_full Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
title_fullStr Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
title_full_unstemmed Fearless Leaders: A Case Study of Democratic District Leadership in an Era of Accountablity
title_sort fearless leaders: a case study of democratic district leadership in an era of accountablity
publisher Miami University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2021
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami161832101921559
work_keys_str_mv AT sanderscynthiadavis fearlessleadersacasestudyofdemocraticdistrictleadershipinaneraofaccountablity
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