Beyond “Fly by the Seat of Your Pants Improvement”: Using Improvement Science to Lead Change (Poster 15)

• In Event: Friday Poster Session 9:35 am
  In Poster Session: The Changing Landscape of Leadership Preparation, Partnerships, and Social Justice Advocacy

Abstract

School leaders face increasing challenges recruiting and retaining teachers. Though leaders can influence the school-level conditions that contribute to teacher attrition using improvement science, leaders in rural and high-poverty schools have fewer opportunities to receive the support necessary to do so effectively. In this paper, we illustrate how 14 leaders from rural and high-poverty schools learned to use improvement science with the support of a trained leadership coach within a leadership coaching community (LCC). Our findings illustrate how these school leaders developed the knowledge and skills to use improvement science to address localized problems of practice in their schools and move beyond “fly by the seat of your pants improvement,” to implement research-based, systemic change that can increase teacher retention.

Authors

• Noelle A. Paufler, Clemson University

• Hans W. Klar, Clemson University

• Susan E. Purser, Clemson University

• Angela Carter, Clemson University

• Nancy Bowers, Clemson University

• Michael Delaney

• Betty Bagley, Clemson University