Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
12-2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Timothy B. Jones
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Leah Wickersham-Fish
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Katherine Yeager
Abstract
The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good intentions, a willing disposition, access to research, and an open stance toward research evidence do little to narrow the divide between research and practice. The researcher concluded the distance between research and practice in education is not due not to attitudinal factors, but organizational structure. To facilitate research-engagement, the researcher recommended that organizational leaders (a) reimagine how and where principals work, (b) situate principals around transformational work, (c) build principals’ capacity to make better decisions at work, and (d) stabilize and reinforce the impact of innovative work.
Keywords: decision-making, organizational context, research engagement, systems approach, teacher development, teacher retention
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Treat, Renee, "Organizational Conditions that Promote and Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’s Perspective" (2019). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 178.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/178
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