Browsing by Subject "Organizational leadership"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Implementing data analytics as an organizational innovation in colleges and universities
    (2014-11) Foss, Lisa Helmin
    This study explores the question, How are individual adoption and organizational implementation of innovations in higher education related to the context of the organization, the characteristics of the innovation, and the attitudes of adopters? The study uses data collected from a survey of deans and department chairs from U.S. higher education institutions to examine the implementation of data analytics, or the extensive use of data, statistical analysis, data mining and modeling to drive organizational decisions, as an example of an organizational innovation. The findings indicate that individual adoption is associated with the adopter's perception of the usefulness of data analytics in practice and its legitimacy in solving organizational challenges. The usefulness of data analytics is related to the innovation characteristics of usability and functionality, which are in turn related to an organizational context that includes institutional and professional support for adoption, academic leaders engaged in implementation, data and information integrated into existing operations, and an organizational culture that is data-driven. Legitimacy is related to the functionality of data analytics and the existence of a data-driven culture but also the discipline of the adopter and institution type. The findings also indicate that organizational implementation of data analytics is associated with the alignment of data analytics to its organizational culture, the pressure exerted by the external environment, and the organization's dissatisfaction with current external methods or practices in use.
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    Professional development programs as sources of policy implementation: what does Minnesota staff development policy look like in action?
    (2011-06) Alger, Scott Edward
    A comprehensive examination of professional development practices in two Minnesota school districts was conducted to identify the specific responses of stakeholders to policy stipulations. Through this multi-method case study of state statutes, a significant level of correlation between policy and practice was identified. However, it might not be said that compliance has occurred purposefully. Study findings revealed overt efforts to adopt practices that support collaboration, adult learning, and improved practices in teaching. These efforts fortunately produced a reasonable level of compliance with policy. Several explicit program outcomes specified by policy on the other hand, were not necessarily being targeted as policy-makers may have envisioned. While the degree of alignment between practice and policy across the districts was a significant focus, numerous factors influencing policy implementation were documented in order to account for the actual practices within professional development programs, as well as the purpose behind those practices. The investigation importantly revealed contextual factors associated with unique communities of practice and the districts' distributed leadership models. Beyond an examination of activities and work of school district staff relevant to specific policy goals, this study employed a relatively unique "policy-as-the-case" methodology. By utilizing the relevant policy dimensions of leadership, process, and outcomes, the target policies were expressed as their own metric for further examination. This design provides a model adaptable to inquiry into a broad range of policies within the social sciences.
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    The Role Of Leadership In Developing A Successful Arts Integration School: A Multi-Site Case Study
    (2015-04) Galeazzi, Carlo
    The research design for this investigation is a qualitative exploratory case study (Handcock & Algozzine, 2011) focusing on the unique challenges faced by arts integration school leaders. This case study research attempts to add to the literature on the role of leadership in developing quality arts integration schools by examining three existing arts integration school programs in the Minneapolis and surrounding regions. School and program leaders in each of these three schools were interviewed in the effort to gain a clear understanding of what types of challenges they encountered when developing and operating arts integrated K-12 schools, and specifically, how those challenges were confronted and addressed. Document analysis was also conducted including a review of historical documents surrounding the initial school or program development process, board minutes, strategic plans, school report cards, course and program descriptions, enrollment and other statistical data that was available for review. The study sought to understand specifically how these leaders address challenges and how they promote the school programs successfully. Addressing these questions is important because of growing evidence and consensus among leaders in not only education, but in business, architecture and among the general public, for the need of schools to expand beyond the focus on basic areas, such as writing, math and reading. Expanding the focus to address 21st century skills will help to ensure that students will thrive in the new age by acquiring new sets of thinking and communication skills, fostering curiosity and imagination, and knowing how to access and analyze information (Houle & Cobb, 2011; Trilling & Fadel, 2009). A second and more practical use of the information gained through this case study research will also be to inform decisions regarding the future development of arts-integration schools within the rural regions of central Minnesota.