Measuring Tasks, Time, and Priorities: A Study of an Alternative School Leader in Action

<p>This study explored whether conventional means to evaluate principal instructional leadership were appropriate in alternative school settings. The mixed methods research included shadowing an alternative school principal over two days during the fall semester, 2011. Data was collected using the Vanderbilt Assessment of Education in Leadership's (VAL-ED) Time Task Analysis Tool^TM checklist supplemented by naturalistic observations and ongoing explanations by the principal. Leader activities were categorized within three major categories: instructional, management, and personal. Additional activity descriptions were based on instrument subcategories, multiple cycles of coding, and analytic memoing. Conclusions indicated that the VAL-ED instrument failed to accurately define the range of entrepreneurial and outreach activities this alternative principal undertook. The checklist was insensitive to the degree to which the principal multitasked, combining management with instructional duties. The observations provided important clues to principal function, suggesting a more nuanced evaluation useful in nontraditional settings. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• O'Bryan, Gregory Michael

• Alternative Leader
• Educational Administration and Supervision

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2012 Gregory Michael O'Bryan

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/84

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1083