Date of Award
Spring 7-1-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Brandy Kamm, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Michael Hollis, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Janice Powell, Ed.D.
Abstract
This descriptive study investigated the Transformational redesign method of school improvement as implemented in the 2014 cohort of Michigan Priority schools. In Michigan, schools are listed in a top-to-bottom ranking according to their proficiency achievement percentile; each year the schools falling below the fifth percentile are labeled Priority and mandated to redesign to raise achievement (Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, 2016c). The Priority schools must choose between four redesign methods; Closure, Restart, Turnaround, and Transformation (Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, 2016c; U.S. Department of Education, 2009; U.S. Department of Education, 2010b). In 2014, 52 Michigan Schools fell below the fifth percentile ranking, and 40 of the schools choose the Transformation method. To describe the Transformational redesign method from the 2014 cohort, archival achievement data, and a principal survey was used. The achievement data was the 2014 to 2016 top-to-bottom rankings from pre- and post-implementation of the Transformational redesign method, and also a principal survey grounded in research by Marzano (2003). For the investigation, two questions were employed. For the first question, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used because the achievement data was ranked, and for the second question a line graph was employed. A statistically significant association was established between the 2014 to 2016 rankings suggesting the Transformational redesign method increased achievement. Also, it was demonstrated that there is no association between the principal’s perceptions of their self-efficacy and the way the rankings of the schools changed.