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A LIGHTHOUSE AT RISK:
COMBATING THE LIFE-CYCLE OF THE INNOVATIVE HIGH SCHOOL
by
Amy Avina
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2008
Copyright 2008 Amy Avina
Object Description
| Title | A lighthouse at risk: combating the life-cycle of the innovative high school |
| Author | Avina, Amy |
| Author email | amy.avina@sausd.us |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-04-29 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-06-26 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Datnow, Amanda |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Mafi, Gabriela Stowe, Kathy |
| Abstract | As difficult as it is to improve a low-performing high school, it can be just as challenging to maintain success or make academic gains at a high-performing high school. The purpose of this study was to determine what predictable factors exist which can derail the success of a high-performing "lighthouse" high school. Four research questions guided this study: (1) What forces influence innovative (lighthouse) high schools to preserve or change their purpose over time? (2) How does the principal's leadership and succession of leaders contribute to shifts in the schools? (3) How do teacher support and turnover contribute to either the continuation or stagnation of innovation? (4) To what extent can/does the broader context, specifically district leadership/ policies and state/federal accountability context, promote sustainability or change?; This case study employed a qualitative research design to allow for an in-depth examination of the effects leadership, leadership transition, staff support, staff turnover, and external accountability on two urban California high schools. The two high schools were formed with the hope of creating a lighthouse school for their respective school districts. Each school serves a student body in which over eighty percent of the students are of low socio-economic status and members of an underperforming minority group. The schools studied were chosen for their similar initial plans and their diverse outcomes twenty-five years later. A total of nineteen subject were interviewed including present principals, one past principal, one assistant principal, three counselors, one classified staff member, and eleven teachers.; Five major findings emerged from the study: (1) In order for a high school to sustain academic achievement, the person in the principal's office should remain in this position for at least five years. (2) A charismatic leader is not necessarily the best leader for a new "lighthouse" high school. (3) Shared leadership bodies are essential to a successful high school. (4) A student body and a teaching staff should be built slowly. (5) Schools should use external accountability measures as well as other factors to help guide instruction rather than view these measures as nuisances.; The overarching result that school districts and principals can anticipate common obstacles which may impede the long-term success of a lighthouse high school; therefore they can strategize a successful outcome accordingly. One suggestion for future research includes examining a group of new and promising high schools over a period of twenty years while recording the tone of staff, data team, and administration meetings to determine the quality of communication and its effect on the school's academic success. Findings from this study indicate that school districts should make every effort to keep a successful high school principal in place for at least five years and plan for that principal's departure long before it occurs in order to keep a high-achieving high school on the right path. |
| Keyword | high school; leadership; principal; innovative approaches |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1250 |
| Rights | Avina, Amy |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Avina-20080626 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume23/etd-Avina-20080626.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | A LIGHTHOUSE AT RISK: COMBATING THE LIFE-CYCLE OF THE INNOVATIVE HIGH SCHOOL by Amy Avina A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION August 2008 Copyright 2008 Amy Avina |
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