Concerns, Use of Time, and Leadership: A Cross-Case Study of Two Charter School Principals

• In Event: Organizing Charter Schools for Success: The Role of Authorizers, Leaders, and Teachers

Abstract

As part of a multiple case study of charter school leadership, the researchers examined two principals’ priorities and practices through their expressed concerns and use of time. Through an embedded case design and analysis, six themes surfaced from the principal interviews that occurred over the course of a school year—accountability, personnel, student- related issues, management issues, school promotions, and instructional issues and supervision—with issues of accountability permeating all other themes. Although comparison of these themes to charter principal research and general concepts of successful principal leadership indicate similarities, these charter principals’ myopic focus on state testing might have limited involvement in other elements of leadership both specific to charter schools and general successful school leadership.

Authors

• Dana L. Bickmore, Louisiana State University

• Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge