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STRATEGY AND COLLEGE PARTICIPATION:
A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS
by
Jonathan D. Mathis
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
December 2012
Copyright 2012 Jonathan D. Mathis
Object Description
| Title | Strategy and college participation: a comparative case study of two early college high schools |
| Author | Mathis, Jonathan, David |
| Author email | jdmathis@usc.edu;jonathan.d.mathis@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-06-15 |
| Date submitted | 2012-08-29 |
| Date approved | 2012-08-30 |
| Restricted until | 2012-08-30 |
| Date published | 2012-08-30 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Tierney, William G. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Hentschke, Guilbert Astor, Ron Avi |
| Abstract | The President of the United States has declared that our country will once again emerge as the nation with the highest percent of the population with postsecondary educational degrees. This distinction requires greater college participation for student communities currently disengaged or traditionally underrepresented in higher education institutions. A programmatic thrust articulated to achieve this objective is the focus on college participation for first-generation, low-income students preparing to transition to college. ❧ National and state-based initiatives focus on these students through efforts to increase the effectiveness of educational institutions, specifically proposing alignment between K-12 and postsecondary schools. One such model satisfying this objective is the Early College High School (ECHS) model. As organizations, ECHSs represent a pursuit of effectiveness by eliminating barriers known to prevent student participation in higher education. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the pursuit of organizational effectiveness in two ECHSs, by first documenting and then analyzing organizational strategy employed to facilitate college participation. ❧ This dissertation represents a comparative case study executed through the use of demographic data, documents, interviews, observations, and focus groups in two similar cases. Both ECHSs began at the start of the initiative, yet the strategies employed, as findings highlight, presents variance in student outcomes. To understand these strategies, the dissertation is guided by three theoretical models of strategy: linear, adaptive, and interpretive (Chaffee, 1984, 1985a,b). Linear strategy articulates a plan to achieve effectiveness through directives, clear structures, and systems. Adaptive strategy results from a pursuit of a ""match"" with the external environment, thus taking a more reactive approach to needs of the consumers and stakeholders. Interpretive strategy allows leaders to utilize metaphors, narratives, and symbols to create norms communicated to govern organizational activity. ❧ Findings also highlight the interplay between the three models of strategy and the categories of inquiry that emerged from a grounded approach to data collection--environment, leadership, and culture. The discussion of environment included data informing the external conditions and consumers, suggested to impact organizational strategy. Leadership was limited to lines of authority within the ECHS, as well as the enacted vision of central administrators and site-based leaders. The discussion of culture was first limited to the researcher's interpretations of these two points: how stakeholders made sense of the school climate, and how this understanding was communicated formally and informally. The findings of this dissertation support Chaffee and Tierney's (1988) argument that these models of hierarchical and are suggested to be operated in tandem with one another. The impact of the emergent categories of inquiry illustrates directions for future research and practice for the alignment of K-12 and postsecondary educational institutions operating to facilitate college participation. |
| Keyword | case study; college access; college participation; early college high schools; high schools; strategy |
| 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 |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Mathis, Jonathan, David |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-MathisJona-1176.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | STRATEGY AND COLLEGE PARTICIPATION: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS by Jonathan D. Mathis A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (EDUCATION) December 2012 Copyright 2012 Jonathan D. Mathis |
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