This dissertation aimed to understand the level of staff engagement with the school improvement process before and after the implementation of a new continuous improvement model. To conduct this study, three questions were asked 1) How is the continuous improvement model working? 2) What is the change in staff engagement in the continuous…

School improvement plans became a critical component of school improvement in the wake of the United States' federal accountability systems, including No Child Left Behind (2002) and Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). School improvement plans, or SIPs, were part of a formalized process for compliance purposes and, often, did not impact an…

Campus improvement has been associated with isolated processes completed by leadership in an effort to meet the demands of both district priorities and reform efforts. Often the product of isolated leader design of campus improvement planning is a document full of objectives and strategies that are created at the beginning of the school year and…

The purpose of this self-study is to better understand and address the factors that influence continuous improvement efforts led by the researcher/practitioner. To this end, this study applies Bolman and Deal's 4-frame model of organizational learning lenses to school improvement indicators on the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Through taking Bolman…

This study examines teacher professional development as part of the required K-12 continuous school improvement process. Through semi-structured, open-ended interviews and data (school improvement plans, PD agendas), this qualitative case drew from organizational theory to identify and describe information to better understand the role teacher…

This study focuses on enhancing science education through improved instructional strategies and professional development for educators. It assesses current instructional practices, analyzes past professional development participation, and reviews student achievement data. A notable gap is the lack of tailored follow-up support for educators,…

In 2012 Massachusetts implemented a new educator evaluation system designed to create a "cycle of continuous improvement" that includes self-assessment, goal setting, evidence collecting, and evaluation. This new system was supported by more than twenty years of educational research demonstrating that highly skilled teachers remain one…

The purpose of this mixed methods dissertation is to examine the impact of the Professional Learning Community Continuous Improvement Model (PLCCIM) on school-based instructional coaches (SBICs) within a large school district in one of the nation's southeastern states. The effect of the implementation, along with coaches' perceptions, was measured…

The U.S. public educational system is antiquated yet designed for the achievement results we see today. All students deserve educators willing to look within, ask difficult questions, have courageous conversations, be vulnerable, and address why schools are continually underperforming. There are researchers and educators determined to do just that…

Under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act Part C state administrators have reported data for compliance since the inception of the program in 1986. Recently, Results Driven Accountability (RDA) introduced a shift to use data for continuous improvement at the state and local levels. The researcher used a multiple case study to…

How educational leaders initiate and sustain change is often hotly debated by those inside and outside of the system. Given the many reform initiatives of the past 30 years, and the resulting changes public educators have made lurching from initiative to initiative, one must ask if public education has truly improved. The answer to why public…

This study applies Clark and Estes's (2008) gap analysis model to understand how a state education agency's decision making, during reform policy implementation, impacts the success of the initiative. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) decision making, during the policy design and…

This capstone project focuses on the use of Improvement Science Methodology to improve the onboarding, training, and retention of paraeducators. The project aims to involve those closest to the work in identifying and addressing challenges through a process of continuous improvement. The author draws on relevant literature around improvement…

Undergraduate medical education aims to train the students to develop the required clinical skills and preparation for the residency. The validity of the assessment on clinical competence is primarily ignored or uncompleted, especially in the clinical clerkship. The current study was multifaceted and accomplished multiple evaluation and research…

How can preschool programs situated in public schools "get better at getting better?" This dissertation suggests a framework based on the principles of Improvement Science as one-way school districts can include preschool in their continuous improvement efforts. Document Analysis, is the method used to examine a continuous improvement…