An Analysis of Rural School Leadership Development: Fostering School Leadership Capacity Through a Research-Practice Partnership

• In Event: Park Central Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Measuring the Performance of Leadership Development Programs

Abstract

In this paper, we report the findings of a three-year research-practice partnership designed to enhance the leadership capacities of school leaders in 12 predominantly rural, high-poverty school districts in the southeastern United States. The partnership provided cross-district, job-embedded, personalized leadership development to nine school leaders through leadership coaching in a leadership learning community (LLC). The findings illustrate how to build rural school leadership capacity through a research-practice partnership that involves leadership coaching, professional communities, and action research for school improvement. The study has implications for addressing the specific challenges of developing leadership capacity in under-resourced rural school districts through the use of coaches and job-imbedded professional development.

Authors

• Hans W. Klar, Clemson University

• Kristin Shawn Huggins, Washington State University

• Frederick Chaim Buskey, Clemson University

• Reginald D. Wilkerson, Clemson University

• Parker M Andreoli, Clemson University