University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Principals’ leadership influence on teachers’ capacity to enact 21st-century skills curriculum

(USC Thesis Other)

Principals’ leadership influence on teachers’ capacity to enact 21st-century skills curriculum

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

Principals’ Leadership Influence on Teachers’ Capacity to Enact 21
st
Century Skills
Curriculum
by
Andrew Kenneth Miller

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education

May 2022

© Copyright by Andrew Kenneth Miller 2022

All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Andrew Kenneth Miller certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Lawrence Picus
Douglas Fisher
Darline P. Robles, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv

Abstract
This study examined the performance gap of principals’ leadership influence on teachers’
capacity to enact a 21st century skill curriculum at Singapore School of the Future (SFS). The
purpose of this study was to apply the gap analysis problem solving framework (Clark & Estes,
2008) to identify root causes of the knowledge, motivation and organizational factors that
prevented teachers and principals from effectively enacting a 21st century skills curriculum. The
subjects of this study were principals and teachers at SFS. Interview data was collected and
analyzed and used to validate and inform possible solutions for the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences. Research-based solutions were recommended to close the knowledge,
motivation, and organization gaps. These recommendations included target professional
development and training for teachers on how to explicitly teach 21st century skills, and
principals employing feedback systems on instruction. In addition, recommendations were made
to the organization to foster a culture of safety and risk taking and communicate clear
expectations and goals with support of principals as a clear vision is communicated. Critical
behaviors of the stakeholders were also examined, and recommendations included engaging in
collaborative professional learning and observations of classrooms and using team meetings as
an opportunity to provide ongoing feedback on practice and clarify expectations. The outcomes
of this study may be used by this school and others to improve implementation of a 21st century
skill curriculum.

v

Acknowledgements
Thank you to my family for continued support and encouragement of my education. I
would not be here today without your support in college with a major that you never understood.
Looks like it all ended up ok!
Thank you to the USC faculty, and specifically Dr. Robles & Dr. Picus for your ongoing
feedback, flexibility, kind words, and overall support in the process. We are all lucky to have
you, and I can see why you continue to do what you do and grow leaders. What a legacy you
have!
Thank you, Dr. Fisher. You were the one who planted this seed years ago, and finally I
am here. You even agreed to be on my committee after all this time. Appreciate your mentorship,
patience, and kind “nagging” to get this done.
Thank you to the USC cohort. This has been both an educational and relational
experience. I’m glad to know you all better and appreciate the rich conversations and
perspectives as we engaged in challenging equity work.
Thank you to the Office of Learning for your collaboration and support in this process. I
started this doctoral journey as I stepped into leadership at the school and was immediately
thrown into the work, definitely “baptism by fire.” You’ve supported me constantly. Special
shout-out to my college roommate Jen, who is literally always there personally and
professionally.
And finally, thanks to my school for providing this opportunity. Thank you to leadership
for your mentorship in my journey as leader. Your feedback and collaboration continually make
me reflect. I’m honored to use what I have learned to support you and the organization.

vi

Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... v
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1
Organizational Context and Mission .................................................................................. 1
Organization Performance Goal ......................................................................................... 2
Related Literature................................................................................................................ 3
Importance of the Evaluation .............................................................................................. 4
Stakeholders and Stakeholders' Performance Goals ........................................................... 4
Stakeholder for the Study and Stakeholder Performance Goal .......................................... 6
Purpose of the Project and Questions ................................................................................. 7
Methodological Framework ................................................................................................ 8
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 8
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 10
Influences on the Problem of Practice .............................................................................. 10
Defining 21
st
Century Skills.............................................................................................. 11
Effective Teaching for 21
st
Century Skills........................................................................ 11
Effective Instructional Leadership for 21
st
Century Skills ............................................... 12
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 17
Teacher Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences ..................................... 19
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 30
Conceptual and Methodological Framework .................................................................... 30

vii

Assessment of Performance Influences ............................................................................ 32
Participating Stakeholders and Sample Selection ............................................................. 40
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 42
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 42
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 43
Trustworthiness of Data .................................................................................................... 43
Role of Investigator........................................................................................................... 43
Limitations and Delimitmations ....................................................................................... 45
Chapter Four: Results or Findings ................................................................................................ 47
Participating Stakeholders ............................................................................................... 47
Determination of Assets and Needs .................................................................................. 48
Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes.................................................................... 48
Results and Findings for Motivation Causes .................................................................... 61
Results and Findings for Organizational Causes .............................................................. 64
Summary Validated Influences ......................................................................................... 69
Chapter Five: Recommendations and Evaluation ......................................................................... 74
Recommendations to Address Knowledge, Motivation and Organization
Influences .......................................................................................................................... 75
Summary of Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization Recommendations ................... 92
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan ............................................................... 94
Implementation and Evaluation Framework ..................................................................... 95
Summary of the Implementation and Evaluation ........................................................... 111
Limitations and Delimitations......................................................................................... 112
Recommendations for Future Research .......................................................................... 114
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 115

viii

References ................................................................................................................................... 117
Appendix A: Email to Recruit Reesearch Participant Principal Stakeholder Group .................. 125
Appendix B: Email to Recruit Reesearch Participant Teacher Stakeholder Group .................... 126
Appendix C: Informed Consent/ Information Sheet ................................................................... 127
Appendix D: Interview Protocol Teacher Stakeholder Group .................................................... 128
Appendix E: Interview Protocol Principal Stakeholder Group................................................... 131
Appendix F: Sample Survey Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2 for Teacher
Program ....................................................................................................................................... 134
Appendix G: Sample Survey Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2 for Principal
Program ....................................................................................................................................... 136
Appendix H: Sample Teacher Evaluation Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1, 2, 3, and
4................................................................................................................................................... 138
Appendix I: Sample Principal Evaluation Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1, 2, 3, and
4................................................................................................................................................... 140

ix

List of Tables
Table 1: SFS Mission and Performance Goals 6
Table 2: Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to
Achieve the Performance Goal
23
Table 3: Summary of Assumed Motivation Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to
Achieve the Performance Goal
27
Table 4: Summary of Assumed Organization Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability
to Achieve the Performance Goal
29
Table 5: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Method of Assessment for
Teachers and Principals
35
Table 6: Summary of Motivational Influences and Method of Assessment for
Teachers and Principals
38
Table 7: Summary of Organizational Influences and Method of Assessment for
Teachers and Principals
40
Table 8: Knowledge Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 70
Table 9: Motivation Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 72
Table 10: Organization Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data 73
Table 11: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 76
Table 12: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations 86
Table 13: Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations 89
Table 14: SFS Mission and Performance Goals 95
Table 15: Outcomes, Metrics and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 97
Table 16: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 99
Table 17: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 101
Table 18: Evaluation of the Teacher Components of Learning for the Program 105
Table 19: Evaluation of the Principal Components of Learning for the Program 107
Table 20: Components to Measure Reactions to the Teacher Program 108
Table 21: Components to Measure Reactions to the Principal Program 109

x

List of Figures
Figure 1: Proposed Conceptual Framework 18
Figure 2: Gap Analysis Overview 31
Figure 3: Gap Analysis of Enacting a 21st Century Skill Curriculum 32

1

1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study

Background of the Problem
A variety of college and career-ready skills, termed as 21st century skills such as
collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and digital literacy, are articulated as
transferable skills across the curriculum, but are often defined contextually by the organization or
school to include select skills (Dede, 2010; Schleicher, 2012; Voogt & Roblin, 2012). Many
studies highlight the challenges of embedding skills in the curriculum, including the explicit
teaching of said skills, implementation models, and teacher beliefs and professional learning.
(Akcana, 2020; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Gordon, et al., 2009; Lieberman & Mace 2008;
McPhail, 2018; Tican & Deniz, 2019). In addition, high stakes testing is cited as having
significant negative influence on the ability to effectively implement a 21st century skills
curriculum (Berliner, 2009; Blazer, 2011; Minarechova, 2012). Instructional leadership is one of
many roles that principals must take to lead a school, but it is a key component in ensuring that
teachers are able to enact effective teaching in the classroom. Literature suggests school
principals serve as key instructional leaders that can influence teaching practices and
communities of practice to increase student achievement (Heck & Hallinger, 2014; Louis et al,
2010; Printy, 2008; Robinson, 2008). Principals, through their leadership, provide teachers with
both the knowledge and motivation to be able to enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Examining principal leadership influence on teacher motivation and skills allows organizations
to understand effective strategies to meet the challenges in enacting a 21st century skills
curriculum.
Organizational Context and Mission
2

2
The vision of Singapore School of the Future (SFS) is to create the best thinkers and
learners prepared for the future.” The organization further articulates this vision through specific
21st century skills, called “Learning Transfer Goals.” The Learning Transfer Goals include
“Critical Thinking,” “Collaboration,” “Communication,” “Creativity,” and “Cultural
Competence.” While these Learning Transfer Goals have existed as part of the schools’ vision
for many years, the new strategic framework explicitly has a focus to ensure every classroom and
co-curricular program reflects these 21st century skills through an aligned curriculum and
assessment practices by 2027. SFS serves approximately 3,800 students who are 3-18 years of
age and hail from more than 50 different countries. SFS is a coeducational, non-profit private
school offering an American style of curriculum that includes an international perspective. The
clientele consists mostly of expatriates; approximately 60% have U.S. passports. Many others are
from Asia and Europe. Currently, the organization does not collect or report ethnic or racial
background data. The students’ families are predominantly wealthy and can afford more than
$30,000 in school fees per child per year.
SFS students are high performing in many subject areas and are measured against the
traditional U.S. benchmarks through the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests which are
administered twice yearly across grades three to nine. SFS’s performance in standardized exams
is an important marketing tool for the organization. Approximately one third of students that
attend SFS transfer to other schools every three years, making it a transient population. This
requires SFS to guarantee an aligned curriculum and outcomes to support these transitions as
students continue to transfer to other schools both in Asia and around the world.
Organizational Performance Goal
Singapore School of the Future’s performance goal is that by January 2027, the school
principal will implement an informal walkthrough program (composed of peer teachers and site
3

3
leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and motivation in their
teaching of 21st Century skills. This goal builds on SFS’s strategic framework which articulates
that every classroom and co-curricular program reflects these 21st century skills through an
aligned curriculum and assessment practices by 2027. A Strategic Task Force composed of
school leaders, central office administrators and school board members was formed in Sept 2020
to analyze data from stakeholder focus groups as well as the school’s report from a recent
accreditation process. This led to nine areas of strategic focus called “SFS 2027” including the
one related to 21st century skills curriculum. All these areas of strategic focus will be measured
both internally through audits and data collection, and externally during the school’s next
accreditation process.
Related Literature

While the direct level of a principal’s influence on student learning outcomes is hard to
address, principals can have a more direct influence on those they lead, specifically in the areas
of knowledge and motivation. Teachers need to know how to achieve the goal of the
organization, including how to design, teach and assess the 21st century skills curriculum,
including clear expectations and guidelines for quality. Although motivation is often internal, it
involves choosing to work toward a goal as well as the persistence and effort needed to achieve
the goal, and teachers will also need to be motivated to accomplish the goal (Clark and Estes,
2008; Rueda, 2011; Schunck, 2020) As principals lead, they to identify the needed change, create
a vision to guide the change, and focus on developing those they lead (Anderson, 2017; Boleman
& Deal 1994; Leithwood et al., 1998; Leithwood & Sun, 2012). They provide teachers with
professional development and training, including professional learning communities that support
ongoing reflection and inquiry into practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle; 1999; Eaker & DuFour,
2002, Eaker, 2002; Elmore, 2002; Supovitz et al., 2010). Principals work toward a distributed
4

4
leadership model that empowers those being led ensuring alignment to organizational goals
(DeMatthews, 2014, Elliot, 1999; Gill 2002). They model continuous learning though fostering
systems of continuous improvement (Elmore, 2006; Fullan, 2005; Shaked & Schechter, 2016).
Finally, they attend to the school culture and climate to ensure congruent values, beliefs, and
behaviors of the organizations (Deal & Peterson, 1999; Freiberg, 1999; Hallinger & Heck, 1998;
MacNeil et al., 2009).
Importance of the Evaluation
It is important to evaluate the organization’s performance in relation to the performance
goal of implementing an informal walkthrough program (composed of peer teachers and site
leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions in their
teaching of 21st Century skills for a variety of purposes. As one of the strategic goals of the
school is to enact the 21st skill curriculum effectively by 2027, it is important to monitor
progress of implementation. There is a significant need to ensure that teachers have the capacity
to teach 21st century skills (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al.,
2020; Saavedra et al., 2021; Snyder & Snyder, 2008; Zhao, 2012). Principals, as instructional
leaders, can have direct influence on a teacher's ability to effectively enact the 21st century skills
curriculum (Heck & Hallinger, 2014; Louis et al.; 2010; Printy, 2008; Robinson, 2008). By
assessing and evaluating principal leadership, we can identify what skills and dispositions are
supporting teachers and what skills and dispositions may need improvement. This will enable the
organization to gather formative data to improve principal leadership. Identifying gaps that
hinder growth will allow the organization to select the best effective solutions to close said gaps
(Clark & Estes, 2008).
Stakeholders and Stakeholders’ Performance Goals
5

5
The stakeholders at SFS include principals, teachers, students, and parents. The
stakeholders of focus for this study are principals and teachers. Both stakeholders contribute to
organizations goals of being a leader in education that create the best thinkers and learners that
will be prepared for the future. Principals are responsible for effectively leading the schools in
the organization, and they do this through supporting teachers. Teachers are responsible for
teaching their students effectively to ensure the organization meets its goal. Both stakeholders
are responsible for enacting a 21st century skills curriculum. The overall performance goal for
the organization is that by September 2024, the school principal will implement an informal
walkthrough program (composed of peer teachers and site leaders) to ensure that teachers
demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and motivation in their teaching of 21st Century skills. Table
1 illustrates the alignment of organizational mission, performance goal, and stakeholder goal at
SFS.

6

6
Table 1
SFS Mission and Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
A Leader in Education Creating the Best Thinkers and Learners Prepared for the Future
Organizational Performance Goal
By September 2024, the school principal will implement an informal walkthrough program
(composed of peer teachers and site leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge,
skills, and motivation in their teaching of 21st Century skills.
Principal Goal Teacher Goal School Goal Student Goal
By June 2024,
Principal leadership
will self-report
through surveys the
motivation and skills
that affect change in
teachers’ instructional
practice to enact 21st
century skills.
By June 2024,
teachers will self-
report through
surveys the
instructional ability
and capacity and
motivation to
consistently enact a
21st century skills
curriculum
By January 2027, the
school’s accreditation
report will show data
of consistently
reporting student
achievement in 21st
century skills
By June 2025,
Students will
demonstrate high
achievement in
assessments aligned
to 21st Century
Skills

Stakeholder for the Study and Stakeholder Performance Goal
While the joint efforts of all stakeholders contribute to the achievement of the overall
organizational goal of implementing an informal walkthrough program (composed of peer
teachers and site leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and
motivation in their teaching of 21st Century skills, it is important to evaluate two stakeholders.
Principals are the first primary stakeholder group in leading and advancing the organizational
goal. They have influence on teacher’s knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum. Principals are an influence that drives change on multiple stakeholders. Ultimately,
7

7
principals are accountable and responsible to ensure change occurs. In addition, teachers, the
secondary primary stakeholder group, have a more direct influence in the classroom that can
enact the 21st century skill curriculum. They are the primary influence on the teaching and
learning which ultimately impacts student learning. Examining both stakeholders in tandem
allows the organization to understand a specific organizational influence of leadership on
teacher’s knowledge and skills, and motivations to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. Failure
to accomplish the organizational goal will result in lack of enactment of the 21st century skill
curriculum.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of the study is to explore and understand leadership’s influence on teachers’
capacity to enact transformative curriculum on 21st century skills. The study identifies the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that support or hinder successful
implementation of 21st century skills. The analysis begins by generating a list of possible or
assumed causes and then by examining these systematically to focus on actual or validated
causes. While a complete gap analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the
stakeholders focused on in this analysis are school principals and teachers.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences for school principals
to support teachers having the knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum?
2. What are the teachers' knowledge and motivation in relation to enacting 21st century
skills curriculum?
3. What are teachers and principals' knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps that
interfere with the implementation of 21st century skills?
8

8
4. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Methodological Framework
Developed by Clark and Estes (2008), gap analysis is a systematic analytical method that
helps the user to clarify organizational goals and identify gaps of missing entities. The gaps
between the actual performance level and the preferred level of performance within an
organization form the conceptual framework used in this study. In this study, the Clark and Estes
framework is an evaluation study, and is being adapted to examine the knowledge, motivations
and organization factors that influence the organization's performance goal. Current literature
and research informed the assumed influences in knowledge and skills, motivation, and
organization that prevent the achievement of the organizational goal. The methods used to assess
these influences were interviews with the two stakeholder groups of principals and teachers.
Both stakeholders’ current performance is validated through interviews and literature review.
Research-based solutions are recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner.
Definitions
21st Century Skills: Transferable skills across contexts and content; including collaboration,
critical thinking, communication, cultural competence, problem solving, digital literacy skills,
and creativity (Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Silber-Varad et al.; 2019; van Laar et al.; 2017).
Distributed Leadership: The empowerment and agency of teachers to help lead change. For this
study, distributed leadership is defined as the broad-based involvement of teacher leaders in the
leadership functions of a school (DeMatthews, 2014; Elliot, 1999; Gill 2002).
Gap analysis: Comparing actual performance with desired performance (Clark & Estes, 2008).
School Climate and Culture: Values, beliefs, practices, and models that permeate the school
(Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001; Reeves, 2020)
9

9
Organization of the Study
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader with the
key concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion about principal leadership in
enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. The organization’s mission, goals, and stakeholders as
well as the initial concepts of gap analysis are also introduced. Chapter Two provides a review of
current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Topics of 21st century skills, effective
teaching of said skills, instructional leadership, principal leadership, and Clark and Estes (2008)
gap analysis are addressed. Chapter Three details the assumed causes for this study as well as
methodology including choice of participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter Four, the
data and results are assessed and analyzed. Chapter Five provides solutions, based on data and
literature, for closing the perceived gaps as well as recommendations for an implementation and
evaluation plan for the solutions.

10

10

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The literature review goes over both the skills needed for teachers to enact a 21st century
skills curriculum and how principals are effective leaders. Teachers look to their principals to
support them with knowledge, motivation, and organizational structures that enable them to enact
the change to teach 21st century skills. This creates a challenge for principals to effectively
demonstrate skills and dispositions to lead the change, ensuring that the organization and
specifically teachers have the capacity to implement the 21st century skills curriculum. Principals
need specific knowledge, motivation, and organizational structures to support teachers' growth in
their knowledge and motivation. In this chapter, I will review the literature for teaching and
assessing 21st century skills, including definitions and effective teaching and pedagogical
challenges. I will review the components of instructional leadership needed to be able to
effectively enact change for the teaching of 21st century skills including balancing change
leadership and management, having a clear vision and purpose, creating a safe culture and
climate, distributing leadership, and instructional feedback and professional development. I will
review the role of principals, followed by the explanation of the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences’ lens used in this study. I will turn my attention to the teachers’
knowledge, motivation and organizational influences and complete the chapter by presenting the
conceptual framework.
Influences on the Problem of Practice
Teachers have direct influence on student achievement through their pedagogical
practices, and thus it is important to review effective teaching practices that promote learning
21st century skills. It’s also important to clearly examine and define aspects of a 21st century
skill curriculum. Leadership can influence teacher performance and ultimately student learning.
11

11
Therefore, it is critical to review effective practices required by leaders to influence and support
teachers as they enact a 21tst century skill curriculum. These influences are critical in being able
to examine gaps through the lens of knowledge, motivation, and organization to clearly evaluate
and make recommendations for improvement.
Defining 21st Century Skills
While there are many frameworks that articulate 21st century skills in varied ways, 21st
century skills can be defined as transdisciplinary skills that students need to learn to be
successful in their lives post P-12 education. There is no uniform list of 21st century skills, but
research shows that these skills include creativity, technology proficiency, interpersonal and
social skills, critical thinking, and problem solving, and cross-cultural skills (González-
Salamanca et al., 2020; Silber et al. 2019; Trilling & Fadel, 2012; Van Laar et al., 2017). These
skills can be taught across the curriculum in various contexts where students are given
opportunity for practice and feedback. Schools that are successful supporting students in
achieving 21st century skills identify a series of these skills to teach and assess as part of the
curriculum. Having defined 21st century skills as well as their context within curriculum and
instruction, it is important to understand how teachers can effectively teach and assess these
skills.
Effective Teaching for 21st Century Skills
There are clear pedagogical methods to teach 21st century skills. Student learning
experiences that promote effective teaching of 21st century skills involve students collaborating
on challenging projects of tasks that focus on transfer of knowledge and application. Research
shows that one of the challenges of teaching 21st century skills is that teachers need to modify
their practice to more constructivist and active methods, as well as new assessment outside the
mainstream standardized testing systems (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014; González-
12

12
Salamanca et al., 2020; Snyder & Snyder, 2008). Current standardized tests don’t effectively
measure these skills, and thus there is a need to create better assessments (Wagner, 2008). Zhao
(2012) refers to these as “product-oriented learning” where students define a problem or need
and then work to address that problem with a product or solution. These are also called
performance-based assessments that are embedded in the curriculum that encourage transfer of
learning and involve complex thinking and problem-solving (González-Salamanca et al., 2020;
Saavedra et al., 2021). One other key component to designing learning experiences that foster
21st century skills is collaboration and group learning. Group projects that focus on task conflict
can foster collaboration skills and creativity (Lee & Reigeluth, 2015; Trilling & Fadel, 2012).
Research also shows that while there needs to be learning that is experiential, there also needs to
be direct teaching of the skills, which requires teachers to use explicit instruction strategies that
teach specific skills (McBride & Duncan-Davis, 2021; Saavedra et al., 2021; Snyder & Snyder,
2008). While teachers have a direct impact on student achievement in terms of 21st century skills
through the design of learning experiences and teaching, principals serve a key component and
influence on teachers' knowledge and motivation to teach and assess 21st century skills.
Effective Instructional Leadership for 21st Century Skills
Instructional leadership involves leaders setting a clear direction and goals and promotion
of evidence-based instructional practices through collaborative and distributive leadership
systems. Research shows that a key attribute of instructional leadership is developing systems for
continually maintaining as well as improving curriculum and instruction for faculty
(DeMatthews, 2014; Jenkins & Pfeifer, 2012; Rigby, 2014; Stronge & Xu, 2021; Wiles, 2009).
Principals need to go beyond traditional roles of enforcing policy and safety and lead
instructional change. They need to set clear direction and expectations for high quality
curriculum and pedagogy to support consistency in teacher effectiveness. Research shows that
13

13
this is done through continually promoting best practice and stimulating faculty intellectually
(Hallinger, 2003; Rigby, 2014). This is often manifested through direct observation of teachers
as well as instructional feedback (Heck & Hallinger, 2014; Robinson, 2018; Stronge & Xu,
2021). As instructional leaders must have a variety of knowledge and skills, principals need to
not only be instructional leaders, but other leadership and management skills to ensure change.
Leadership and Management
School leaders need to attend to their role as a manager to support existing systems but
need to serve as leaders to enact change. Leadership and management are not mutually exclusive,
and that in fact you need both to effectively lead an organization (Bolman & Deal, 1994, 2021;
Early & Evans, 2003). Research shows that management is associated with consistency and
ensuring goals that have been set are met correctly, often referred to as the “nuts & bolts”
(Bolman & Deal, 1994,2021; Foster, 1989; McGowan & Miller, 2001). Managers maintain the
existing order and “putting out fires” to make sure the organization works as it is designed.
Management is focused on a position and is something given. Some of these managerial skills
include duties associated with hiring and allocating resources, daily operations, and maintenance,
and managing time through personal and teacher schedules (Grissom et al., 2021; Strong & Xu,
2021). These skills are foundational for school leaders to be able to focus on leadership. By
comparison, research shows that leadership is associate with change, and focusing on creation of
new goals and purpose, creating excitement, imagining new possibilities, (Bolman & Deal, 2021;
McGowan & Miller, 2001) Leadership is about empowerment and creating a culture of learning
and improvement (Bolman & Deal, 1994, Early & Evans, 2003). Principals need managerial
skills as a foundation, but then need to build upon it with leadership. As principals balance both
management responsibilities and attention to leadership, they must also attend to the school
climate and culture
14

14
Supporting School Climate and Culture
Effective principals create a climate and culture through effective relationships with
teachers, opportunities for teachers to take risks, and shared beliefs and responsibilities. Research
shows that leaders play a key role in creating a school climate and culture that is safe and
promotes trust and risk taking (Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Grissom et al., 2021, Hollingsworth, et
al., 2018; Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Strong & Xu, 2021). Principals must continually
communicate and set up systems where teachers are free to try out new ideas without fear of
failure. Experimentation should be valued to promote learning and improvement. In addition,
principals must foster a culture of collaboration where teachers collaborate and openly share
ideas through collective efficacy (Bevel & Mitchel, 2012; Kouzes & Posner, 2017). Finally,
principals need to demonstrate care and attend to individual relationships with teachers to foster
that safe school climate and culture, which requires a high level of social and emotional
intelligence (Grissom et al., 2021; Louise et al., 2016; Reeves, 2020; Taiguiri & Litwin, 1968).
With a safe and supportive school climate and culture as a foundation, principals must create a
clear vision and purpose for change
Clear Vision and Purpose
Effective principals articulate a clear vision and purpose for change as well as effective
communication skills to support sharing of the vision. Research shows creating a clear vision
involves having a personal, moral purpose that challenges the status quo and excites people to
change (Bolman & Deal, 2014; Bollman & Gallos, 2013; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz et al.,
2009; Kouzes & Posner, 2017)). The leader sees new possibilities and seeks to infuse passion in
the work. Sometimes this involves story telling or showmanship, but can also be speaking from
personal, authentic experiences. It is also important that leaders are effective communicators as
they share their vision (Bolman & Deal, 2013; Prince, 2012) By communicating this vision
15

15
effectively, the leader can set clear priorities and build shared meaning and commitment. It also
involves clear expectations and clear action steps that lead to clarity and teacher satisfaction
(Price, 2012; Reeves 2020). Leaders need to set clear deadlines and deliverables to demonstrate a
clear path forward. If teachers don’t know their role and responsibilities in that shared vision,
they may not commit to the shared vision. Clear expectations also allow teachers to embrace
change and a sense of uncertainty (Reeves, 2020). Clear communication of purpose of vision
allows principals to build systems and support to empower others in the organization to lead and
implement change
Distributed Leadership
Principals must empower teams and individuals to lead change through a distributed
approach to enact effective change. Research describes distributed leadership as a system of
accountability that empowers teams and leaders to implement actions (Bolman & Deal, 2021;
Harris, 2008; Heiftz et al., 2009; Printy, 2008; Reeves, 2020). Research also shows that
distributed leadership has a positive effect on both organization outcomes, as well as overall
culture and job satisfaction (Harris, 2008; Strong, 2021). It is the role of the principal to support
and maintain these teams, through both building trust of teams and working directly with team
leaders (Grissom et al., 2021; Harris, 2008; Northouse, 2019; Park et al., 2019; Printy, 2008).
This allows the principal to leverage internal expertise and knowledge, as well as developing the
talents of their educators. Here, leadership is situated in the context of the team (Spillane et al.,
2004) While principals can have direct involvement in certain aspects of instructional leadership,
such as feedback on instruction, distributed leadership can have a more collaborative approach
(Sebastian et al., 2016). The teams should focus on a culture of collaboration and learning that
builds self-efficacy (Stronge & Xu, 2021; Tichor-Wagner et al., 2016). In addition, distributed
leadership provides opportunities for individuals to build their leadership skills and capacity to
16

16
lead teams (Kegan & Lahey, 2009; Reeves 2020; Teacher-Wagner et al., 2016). This can build a
sense of shared ownership and commitment to the work of the organization. Distributed
leadership is both a structural change to organizational leadership, as well as mindset shift where
leadership can occur throughout the organization and not simply in a hierarchical way. While
supporting distributive leadership and systems, principals must still provide instructional
feedback to teachers and provide professional development to improve teacher effectiveness.
Instructional Feedback and Professional Development
Principals need to employ systems that provide both clear instructional feedback as well
as ongoing professional development to support teacher effectiveness. Research shows that a key
role for principals is to develop systems of high-quality professional learning (Fink & Markholt,
2011; Garza et al., 2014; Stronge 2021). Fink and Markholt (2011) refers to this role as
“orchestrating professional learning” where the principals provide many different opportunities
to improve instruction (173). One of key levers in this system of professional development is
feedback and evaluation of teaching. This can take on multiple mechanisms including classroom
observations and examining artifacts such as curriculum documents and assessments (Stronge &
Xu, 2021). To improve instructional outcomes, Principals should provide direct feedback on
instruction formally, including evaluation methods (Garet et al., 2017; Grissom et, al, 2014;
Grissom et, al, 2013; Johnson et al., 2011; Kraft & Gilmor, 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007).
Effective principals engage in feedback and coaching, often using criterion referenced tools that
provide a common language of instruction and accountability. Through actionable feedback, the
principal can be responsive to the teacher and provide steps to improve teaching. This can lead to
personalized professional learning for the teacher as well as increase motivation and high teacher
performance (Ovando & Ramirez, 2007). Principals must demonstrate expertise in high quality
instruction to provide effective feedback (Johnson et al., 2021). This can lead to increased trust
17

17
between the teacher and principal as well as overall quality in the feedback given. Feedback is
critical, as observations without feedback have a minimal impact on teaching effectiveness
(Grissom et al., 2013). In addition, infrequent feedback can undermine the feedback itself (Kraft
& Gilmore, 2016). Principals should not be afraid to have challenging conversations on
weakness, and not simply focus on the positive. One of the key challenges of providing feedback
is the time it takes to implement, as principals have many duties. Professional development,
through intentional feedback on instruction is a high leverage practice principals use to improve
teaching and student outcomes.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework is based on the work of Clark and Estes (2008) which serves
as an evaluation of the organization's ability to meet its performance goals. It analyzes the
stakeholders’ knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences to uncover gaps in
stakeholders’ ability to reach the performance goal of the organization. The study adapts the
framework to determine the level of knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
revealed in the literature below. Knowledge gaps include what a particular stakeholder group
does not know or skills they do not have, as well as their inability to monitor their own
understanding. These are known as declarative, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge
(Krathwohl, 2002). Stakeholders’ motivation gaps are defined as active choice, persistence and
mental effort, and theories on value, self-efficacy and mood can help uncover these gaps in
stakeholders being able to achieve their goals. (Clark & Estes, 2008; Pajares, 2006). Finally,
Clark and Estes (2008) highlight the root cause of performance gaps in organizational influences
and barriers, which include resources, cultural dynamics, and organizational policies.
In this study, the Clark and Estes (2008) framework is adapted to include the two
stakeholder groups of principals and teachers. It analyzes the assumed influences of both
18

18
principals and teachers and to uncover gaps in knowledge, motivation and organizations'
influences needed for each stakeholder to meet the organization’s intended performance goal of
enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Some of the assumed knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences are consistent across stakeholder groups, while others are specific and
related to only one stakeholder. This allows analysis of both gaps specific to one stakeholder
group as well as alignment gaps across both stakeholder groups. This is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1
Proposed Conceptual Framework

Note: This figure is a representation of the proposed conceptual framework inspired by the Clark
and Estes (2008) framework.

19

19
Teacher Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge is categorized into four types: factual, conceptual, procedural, and
metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Factual knowledge is discrete while conceptual knowledge is
inherently interconnected and requires stakeholders to understand relationships between facts
which allows them to perform higher cognitive functions such as categorizing or classifying
(Rueda, 2011). Procedural knowledge references to discipline specific skills, techniques, and
methods to solving problems and investigating (Krathwohl, 2002). Metacognitive refers to
thinking about thinking, or the ability to self-reflect and self-regulate (Baker, 2006; Krathwohl,
2002). These clear sets of knowledge skills are articulated in Table 2.
Declarative Factual Knowledge Influences
Both teachers and principals need to know and have a clear understanding of 21st century
skills, including clear definitions. These skills include personal social skills, technology skills,
communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and awareness of cultural
differences (González-Salamanca et., al, 2020; McBride & Duncan-Davis, 2021; Silber-Varod et
al., 2019; van Larr et al., 2017). The skills should be transdisciplinary and applicable in many
disciplinary contexts. In addition, these skills need to be skills that prepare students for their
future students and careers. While there are many, both the teacher and principal should have a
clear set of these skills.
Conceptual Knowledge Influences
Teachers need to understand the connection between disciplinary knowledge and 21st
century skills. They need to be able to teach these skills through the discipline to encourage
transfer of learning and knowledge (Saavedra et al., 2021). They need to see how the 21st
century skills can be both explicitly taught while also being embedded in the curriculum.
20

20
Teachers need to understand how to connect their assignments and assessments to clear 21st
century skill outcomes (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014)
Principals need to understand high quality instruction to be able recognize it as teachers
effectively teach. Principals need to be “expert noticers” that can both know and see high quality
instruction in action (Johnson et al., 2011, p. 123). Thus, they need a deep expertise in high
quality instruction for them to be able to observe and evaluate teachers and classrooms. In
addition, principals need to understand high quality instruction to provide a common language
for discussing instruction with teachers (Kraft & Gilmour, 2016).
Procedural Knowledge Influences
Teachers need to know how to design active learning experiences that require application
of knowledge and skills and how to design performance assessments. These activities need to be
embedded in the curriculum, and not separate (Darling-Hammond, 2014). Teachers need to
ensure that these experiences promote active learning and critical thinking where students are
authentic problems (Snyder & Snyder, 2008; Zhao, 2012). Teacher pedagogy should focus on
allowing students to be autonomous and motivating them with meaningful learning through
technology (González-Salamanca et al., 2020).
Teachers also need to know how to directly teach 21st century skills directly through
direct teaching and modeling and other effective instructional strategies. While there may be
experiential moments to learn 21st century skills, there must also be explicit instruction.
Teachers need to use explicit strategies to teach 21st century skills to teach them directly
(McBride & Duncan-David, 2021; Saavedra et al., 2021). They also need to have a large toolbelt
of instructional strategies. Finally, these strategies focus on active learning rather than rote
memorization as well as opportunities for challenge and application in authentic contexts
(Snyder & Snyder, 2008).
21

21
Principals need to be able to create an effective school climate and culture, where
teachers feel safe to take risks to innovate and learn. A key element of strong climate and culture
is collaboration and trust where principals foster and support teams to work together through
effective relationships (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012). Another key element is demonstrating care and
high emotional intelligence when teachers feel valued, listened to, and respected (Louis et al.,
2016). Principals must also promote a culture of risk taking, where educators are given the
autonomy to try new ideas and learn (Hollingsworth et al., 2018; Kouzes & Posner, 2017).
Creating an effective school climate and culture supports instructional change and leadership.
Principals need to know how to communicate a clear vision that inspires those being led
and includes clear goals and expectations that drive commitment for all stakeholders. This
involves establishing clear priorities and priorities as well as clear results and impact of those
goals (Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirkman, 2019). By creating goals that have impact,
principals can obtain maximum results. In addition, the principal needs to effectively
communicate and articulate the vision as goals to foster a common purpose and shared
ownership (Heifetz et al., 2009; Price, 2012). This affirms and ensures commitment to shared
values to promote change (Kouzes & Posner, 2017). Having a clear vision and communicating
the vision effectively is key for instructional change.
Principals need to know how to distribute leadership across the organization, where
leadership is demonstrated amongst teachers through autonomy within clear structures and
expectations. Principals need to give the work back to teachers while also monitoring how
teachers are doing in achieving the goals of the organization (Northouse, 2019). Similarly, as
tasks are delegated it is important that the principal integrate and pull things together to ensure
coherence (Bolman & Gallos, 2021). Principals should leverage those who are interested in
teacher leadership and provide structured opportunities for participatory leadership in teams.
22

22
(Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2016). When principals distribute leadership, they promote shared
ownership that erodes artificial barriers and hierarchy (Harries, 2008).
Principals need to know how to employ systems for instructional feedback and
professional development. Through observation and feedback, principals can positively influence
student learning. High performing schools develop resources for learning opportunities that focus
on instruction and building capacity of teachers (Garza et al., 2014). Principals must have
systems, both formative and evaluate to provide teachers feedback on instruction to improve
student learning (Garet et al., 2017; Kraft & Gilmour, 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007).
Evaluation systems can provide effective teacher feedback with clear criteria, as it provides a
common language for discussion instruction (Kraft & Gilmour 2016). In fact, time spent
coaching teachers is associated with high student growth (Grissom & Master, 2013). A key lever
to improve instruction is principals providing teachers with feedback on their practice.
Metacognitive Knowledge Influences
Teachers need to have metacognitive skills to refine their practice based on feedback,
including critically reflecting on instructional and assessment practices. Performance
assessments that target 21st century skills provide an opportunity for teachers to examine data on
those assessments and consider changes to instruction (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014).
Teachers need to continually reflect and modify their practices to not only shift their assessment
practices but also on pedagogy that focuses on constructivism and active learning methods.
Principals need to critically reflect on their leadership practices and behaviors through
attention to self-awareness and metacognition. Leaders need to constantly seek feedback on their
performance to improve. Principals need systems and processes for them to reflect on their
leadership development (Aas & Paulsen, 2019; Heifetz et al., 2009; Khalifa et al., 2016; Kouzes
& Posner, 2017; O’Doherty & Ovando, 2013). It is the responsibility of principals to engage in
23

23
regular self-reflection and make changes. This includes self-awareness of values, dispositions,
and skills, as well as the organizational context. Reflection also deepens the commitment to
organization. Leaders need the disposition to learn to effectively lead change (Robertson & Earl,
2014).

Table 2
Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal
Assumed Knowledge Influences Research Literature
Factual Knowledge
Teachers and principals need to define 21st
century skills
Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020;
McBride & Duncan-David, 2021; Silber-
Varad et al.; 2019; Trilling & Fadel,
2012; van Laar et al.; 2017; Wagner,
2008; Warner 2015; Zhao, 2012
Conceptual Knowledge
Teachers need to understand the
connection between disciplinary
knowledge and 21st century skills
Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014;
Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020;
Saavedra et al., 2021; Zhao, 2012

Principals understand high quality
instruction
Fink & Markholt, 2011; Johnson et al.,
2011.
Procedural Knowledge
Teachers know how to design active
learning experiences that require
application of knowledge and skills
Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014;
Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Snyder
& Snyder, 2008; Zhao, 2012
24

24
Teachers need to know how to design
performance assessments
Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014;
Snyder & Snyder, 2008; Wagner, 2008;
Zhao, 2012.
Teachers need to know how to directly
teach 21st century skills
McBride & Duncan-David, 2021;
Saavedra et al., 2021; Snyder & Snyder
2008;
Principals needs to be able to create an
effective school climate and culture
Bevel & Mitchell, 2012; Fullan &
Kirtman, 2019; Hollingworth et al., 2018;
Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Louis et al.,
2016; Reeves, 2020
Principals need to be able to communicate
a clear vision and expectations
Bolman & Deal, 2013; Bolman & Gallos,
2021, Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz et
al., 2009; Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Price,
2012; Reeves, 2020
Principals know how to distribute
leadership across the school
Bolman & Deal, 2021; Bolman & Gallos,
2021; Harris, 2008; Heifetz, et al., 2009,
Kagan & Lahey, 2009; Northouse, 2019,
Park et, al, 2019; Printy, 2008; Reeves,
2020; Sebastian et al., 2016; Tichnor-
Wagner et al., 2016
Principals know how to employ systems
for instructional feedback and professional
development
Garet et al., 2017; Garza et al., 2014;
Grison et al., 2013; Fink & Markholt,
2011; Johnson et al., 2011; Kraft &
Gilmore, 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007
Metacognitive Knowledge
Teachers need to know how to reflect and
refine their pedagogical practices based on
feedback
Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014;
Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020
Principals need to be able to critically
reflect on their leadership practices
Aas & Paulsen, 2019; Heifetz et al.,
2009; Khalifa et al., 2016; Kouzes &
Posner, 2017; O’Doherty & Ovando,
2013; Robertson, & Earl, 2014
25

25

Motivation
In addition to gaps in knowledge, motivational issues can also continue to organizational
challenges and barriers (Clark & Estes, 2008). Pintrich (2003) described motivation as the
combination of energization and direction, answering the questions of what moves individuals
and towards what. Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that motivational problems can arise during
three phases of task achievement: (1) getting started, or active choice; (2) sticking with it, or
persistence; and (3) completing it to a high standard, or mental effort. There are many factors
that influence motivation; however, this study will focus on value, self-efficacy, and mood.
Value refers to the belief or importance of doing a task and answers the question “Why should I
do this task?” (Eccles, 2005; Shunk 2020). Self-efficacy refers to personal beliefs about one’s
capabilities to be able to do the task and is essential for promoting agency (Shunk, 2020). A
positive emotional environment can increase motivation in an organization (Clark & Estes,
2008). Moods are more enduring affective states, and can influence motivation and learning
(Shunk, 2020). The assumed motivations are articulated in Table 3.
Value
Both teachers and principals find value in teaching a 21st century skill curriculum. Value
can support motivation through desire and by deeming the task is important whether from a
utility perspective or interest (Shunk, 2020). Teachers need to find value in the work to support
motivation (Barni & Benevene, 2019; Richardson & Watt, 2014). It can also support well-being
and self-efficacy. Principals specifically must be able to clearly espouse their values in the
change in curriculum (Hallinger, 2011; Pan & Cheng, 2017). This can support intrinsic
motivation as well as the motivation of others. This is a form of authentic leadership when
26

26
principals know their “true north” and strengthen their values (Northouse, 2019). Both principals
and educators make choices influenced by their values
Self-Efficacy
Teachers need to have confidence in their ability to teach 21st century skills. Teacher
self-efficacy can support feeling self-determined in improving teaching (Barni & Benevene,
2019). Teachers need to have a sense that they can modify their practices and engage in ongoing
capacity building (González-Salamanca et al., 2020; Saavedra et al., 2021). This can boost
confidence to continue to improve and is essential for motivation and promoting agency (Shunk,
2020). In addition, teacher-self efficacy shows positive links to teacher well-being, personal
accomplishment, commitment, and practice related to classroom quality (Zee & Kooman, 2020).
There is a positive relationship between principal self-efficacy and elements of transformational
leadership including intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation (Gulmez & Negis Isik,
2020). When principals are more confident, they can lead change more effectively. In terms of
instructional leadership, principals need high self-efficacy to be effective instructional leaders to
avoid burnout and exhaustion (Skaalvik, 2020)
Mood
Principals need to be inspired through a clear moral purpose to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum. A clear moral purpose can excite and motivate the work (Bolman & Deal, 2013;
Fullan & Kirkman, 2019; Heifetz & 2009). When communicating, principals must speak from
the heart which can lead to inspiring other educators, as well as infuse passion (Bolman &
Gallos, 2021; Heifetz & Posner, 2017). The principal is a dreamer or idealist that allows him or
her to craft a commitment based on shared values. They see possibilities and challenge the status
quo to obtain maximum results (Full & Kirkman, 2019).

27

27
Table 3
Summary of Assumed Motivation Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to Achieve the Performance
Goal
Assumed Knowledge Influences Research Literature
Value
Teachers and principals need to value a 21st
century skill curriculum
Barni & Benevene, 2019; Hallinger,
2011; Northouse, 2019; Pan & Cheng,
2017; Richardson & Watt, 2014; Shunk,
2020
Self-Efficacy
Teachers and Principals need to feel
confident in their ability to enact a 21st
century skill curriculum
Barni & Benevene, 2019; Gonzalez-
Salamanca et al., 2020; Saavedra et al.,
2021; Shunk 2020; Skalvik, 2020; Zee &
Koomen, 2020
Mood
Principals need to be inspired through a
clear, moral purpose for enacting a 21st
century skill curriculum
Bolman & Deal, 2013; Bolman &
Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019;
Heifetz et, al, 2009; Kouzes & Posner,
2017;

Organization
Cultural Settings
The organization needs to provide resources, time, and professional development
structures to be able to implement a 21st century skills curriculum. This involves a variety of
systems, one of which are professional learning communities where teams learn and collaborate
to improve student outcomes (Park et al., 2019; Printy, 2008; Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2016) It
also includes mechanisms for instructional feedback to promote professional learning (Ovando &
28

28
Ramirez, 2007). This allows for creativity with defined practice that focuses on development and
learning (Elmore, 2016). The organization also needs to have clearly articulated policies and
expectations to implement a 21st century skill curriculum. When goals are clearly articulated,
stakeholders stay connected to the purpose of work (Heifetz, et al., 2009). Clear communication
from leaders fosters commitment and builds shared expectations (Price, 2012; Reeves, 2020). It
also allows those in the organization to embrace change and uncertainty. In addition, it allows for
staff to clearly know their role in the work of the organization. The assumed organizational
influences are articulated in Table 4.
Cultural Models
The organization needs to have a culture for safety and risk taking. An effective
organization has a strong climate that focuses on collaboration and trust where educators work
together toward a shared outcome (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012). In addition, there needs to be a
culture of risk taking, where educators are given the autonomy to try new ideas out without fear
of failure (Fullan & Kirkman, 2019; Hollingsworth et al., 2018). This honors staff expertise as
well as builds a sense of trust and collective responsibility within the organization.

29

29
Table 4
Summary of Assumed Organization Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to Achieve the
Performance Goal
Assumed Organizational Influences Research Literature
Cultural Settings
The organization provides resources (time,
training, professional developmental, etc.)
to enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Bolman & Deal, 2021; Bolman &
Gallos, 2021; Elmore, 2016; Harris,
2008, Heifetz, et al., 2009; Kagan &
Lahey, 2009; Northouse, 2019, Park et,
al, 2019; Printy, 2008; Reeves, 2020;
Sebastian et al., 2016; Tichnor-Wagner
et al., 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007
The organization has clearly articulated
expectations to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum.
Bolman & Deal, 2013; Bolman &
Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019;
Heifetz et, al, 2009; Kouzes & Posner,
2017; Price, 2012; Reeves, 2020
Cultural Models
The organization has a culture that allows
for safety and risk taking.
Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Bevel &
Mitchell, 2012; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019;
Heifetz, et al., 2009; Hollingworth et al.,
2018; Kagan & Lahey, 2009; Kouzes &
Posner, 2017; Louis et al., 2016; Reeves,
2020

The influences identified here in Chapter Two are used as a foundation to informal data
collection in Chapter Three. They inform specific instrument design for interviews of both
stakeholders.

30

30
Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of the study was to explore and understand leadership’s influence on
teachers’ capacity to enact transformative curriculum on 21st century skills. The study identified
the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that support or hinder successful
implementation of 21st century skills. The analysis began by generating a list of possible or
assumed causes and then examines these systematically to focus on actual or validated causes.
While a complete gap analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the
stakeholders focused on in this analysis were school principals and teachers.
As such, the questions that guide this study were the following:

1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences for school principals
to support teachers having the knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum?
2. What are the teachers' knowledge and motivation in relation to enacting 21st century
skills curriculum?
3. What are teachers and principals' knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps that
interfere with the implementation of 21st century skills?
4. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
A gap analysis is a systematic, analytical framework developed by Clark and Estes
(2008). Gap analysis enables an organization to clarify goals and identify the gaps between the
actual performance of an organization and its ideal performance. Application of the gap analysis
in this study utilizes assumed causes of the performance gap based on personal knowledge of the
organization (SFS) and the related literature. Validation of the assumed causes was conducted by
31

31
utilizing personal interviews, a review of related literature, and content analysis. Then, solutions
based on research were recommended and evaluated comprehensively. A flow chart of gap
analysis is provided in Figure 2.

Figure 2
Gap Analysis Overview

Source: Clark, R. E., & Estes, F. (2008). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the
right performance solutions. Atlanta, GA: CEP Press.

In this study, the Clark and Estes (2008) framework was adapted as evaluation to
examine the stakeholder groups of principals and teachers. It analyzed the assumed influences of
both principals and teachers and uncovered gaps in knowledge, motivation and organizations'
influences needed for each stakeholder to meet the organization’s intended performance goal of
enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Some of the assumed knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences were consistent across stakeholder groups, while others were specific
and related to only one stakeholder. This allowed for analysis of both gaps specific to one
stakeholder group as well as alignment gaps across both stakeholder groups. A visual of the
conceptual framework can be found below in Figure 3.
32

32
Figure 3
Gap Analysis of Enacting a 21st Century Skill Curriculum.

Note: This is graphic representation of the conceptual framework for the study
Assessment of Performance Influences
The adaptation of the Clark and Estes (2008) framework emphasized the measurement of
the knowledge, motivation and organization factors that were assessed. The framework
determined the influence levels of knowledge, motivation, and organization required in the
evaluation of the current study. Both teachers and principals need specific knowledge,
motivation, and organizational structures to support teachers' growth in their knowledge and
motivation. While teachers need specific knowledge related to teaching and designing learning
experiences to enact a 21st century skill curriculum, principals need knowledge of 21st skills
curriculum and high-quality instruction in addition to effective leadership skills. These include
having a clear vision and purpose, creating a safe culture and climate, distributing leadership,
33

33
and instructional feedback and professional development. From a motivation perspective, both
teachers and principals need to find value and self-efficacy in their ability to enact a 21st century
skill curriculum respective to their roles. The organization needs to provide time, resources, and
professional development. It also needs to have clearly articulated policies, expectations, and a
school culture that allows for safety and risk taking. Interview protocols for each specific
stakeholder were used to assess the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. Table
5 shares specific knowledge questions used in the interviews
Knowledge and Skills Assessment
As there were two stakeholders, there was knowledge and skills needed for both teachers
and principals needed to meet the organizational goals. Knowledge is categorized into four types:
factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Factual knowledge is
discrete while conceptual knowledge is inherently interconnected and requires stakeholders to
understand relationships between facts which allows them to perform higher cognitive functions
such as categorizing or classifying (Rueda 2011). Procedural knowledge references to discipline
specific skills, techniques, and methods to solving problems and investigating (Krathwohl,
2002). Metacognitive refers to thinking about thinking, or the ability to self-reflect and self-
regulate (Baker, 2006; Krathwohl, 2002). Assessment of knowledge and skills will occur through
an interview protocol.
Declarative and Conceptual Knowledge
Both teachers and principals need to know and have a clear understanding of 21st century
skills, including clear definitions (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014; Saavedra et al., 2021).
Teachers need to understand the connection between disciplinary knowledge and 21st century
skills (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Saavedra et al.,
34

34
2021; Zhao, 2012). Principals need to understand high quality instruction to be able recognize it
as teachers effectively teach (Fink & Markholt, 2011; Johnson et al., 2011).
Procedural Knowledge
Teachers need to know how to design active learning experiences that require application
of knowledge and skills and how to design performance assessment (Darling-Hammond &
Adamson, 2014; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Snyder & Snyder, 2008; Zhao, 2012).
Teachers also need to know how to directly teach 21st century skills (Saavedra et al., 2021;
Snyder & Snyder 2008). Principals need to be able to create an effective school climate and
culture (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Hollingworth et al., 2018; Kouzes &
Posner, 2017; Louis et al., 2016). Principals need to know how to communicate a clear vision
and expectations (Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz et, al, 2009; Kouzes
& Posner, 2017; Price, 2012). Principals need to know how to distribute leadership across the
organization (Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Harris, 2008; Northouse, 2019; Printy, 2008; Reeves,
2020; Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2016). Principals need to know how to employ systems for
instructional feedback and professional development (Garet et al., 2017; Garza et al., 2014;
Grison et al., 2013; Johnson et al., 2011; Kraft & Gilmore, 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007).
Metacognitive Knowledge
Teachers need to know how to reflect and refine their pedagogical practices based on
feedback (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020. Principals
need to be able to critically reflect on their leadership practices (Aas & Paulsen, 2019; Heifetz et
al., 2009; Khalifa et al., 2016; Kouzes & Posner, 2017; O’Doherty & Ovando, 2013; Robertson,
& Earl, 2014).

35

35
Table 5
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Method of Assessment for Teachers and Principals
Assumed Knowledge
Influences
Interview Item
Factual Knowledge
Teachers and principals
need to define 21st century
skills
If a colleague asked you to define 21st century skills,
what would you say?
Conceptual Knowledge
Teachers need to understand
the connection between
disciplinary knowledge and
21st century skills
From your perspective, how does your current
curriculum connect to 21st century skills, if at all?

Principals understand high
quality instruction
From your perspective, what is high quality instruction?

Procedural Knowledge
Teachers know how to
design active learning
experiences that require
application of knowledge
and skills
Describe a learning experience that you designed to 21st
century skills, if at all
Teachers need to know how
to design performance
assessments
If a colleague were to ask you how to design a
performance assessment, what would you say to them?
Teachers need to know how
to directly teach 21st
century skills
If you were operating at your best as a teacher, what
would it look like to teach 21st century skills?
Principals needs to be able
to create an effective school
climate and culture
Describe what you do currently to provide a safe school
culture, if at all.
36

36
Principals need to be able to
communicate a clear vision
and expectations
Describe a time when you had to communicate the goals
for implementing the 21st century skills curriculum to
faculty, staff and/or parents. What did you say?
Principals know how to
distribute leadership across
the school
From your perspective, how important is it for principals
distribute leadership when enacting a 21st century skill
curriculum
Principals know how to
employ systems for
instructional feedback and
professional development
If you were operating at your best as a principal, what
would you be doing to provide feedback and
professional development to support teachers in enacting
a 21st century skill curriculum
Metacognitive Knowledge
Teachers need to know how
to reflect and refine their
pedagogical practices based
on feedback
Describe a time when you reflected on feedback to
refine your teaching of a 21st century skills curriculum,
if at all.
Principals need to be able to
critically reflect on their
leadership practices
Describe a time when you reflected on a specific
leadership practice

Motivation Assessment
Principals and teachers have many common motivation influences to be assessed in terms
of enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Pintrich (2003) describes motivation as the
combination of energization and direction, answering the questions of what moves individuals
and towards what. Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that motivational problems can arise during
three phases of task achievement: (1) getting started, or active choice; (2) sticking with it, or
persistence; and (3) completing it to a high standard, or mental effort. There are many factors
that influence motivation; however, this study will focus on value, self-efficacy and mood. Value
refers to the belief or importance of doing a task and answers the question “Why should I do this
37

37
task?” (Eccles, 2005; Shunk 2020). Self-efficacy refers to personal beliefs about one’s
capabilities to be able to do the task and is essential for promoting agency (Shunk, 2020). A
positive emotional environment can increase motivation in an organization (Clark & Estes,
2008). Moods are more enduring affective states, and can influence motivation and learning
(Shunk, 2020). These three components of motivation will be assessed across stakeholders
through interview protocols. Table 6 shares specific motivation questions used in the interviews
Value
Both principals and teachers need to find value in enacting a 21st century skill curriculum
(Barni & Benevene, 2019; Hallinger, 2011; Northouse, 2019; Pan & Cheng, 2017, Richardson &
Watt, 2014; Shunk, 2020.) This promotes motivation to enact said 21st century skill curriculum
Self-Efficacy
Principals and teachers need to have the self-efficacy to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum (Barni & Benevene, 2019; Gonzalez-Salamanca et al., 2020; Saavedra et al., 2021;
Shunk 2020; Skalvik, 2020; Zee & Koomen, 2020). This confidence and belief in capability
allows both principals and teachers to continue to complete tasks related to enacting a 21st
century skill curriculum.
Mood
Principals, specifically, need to be inspired through clear, moral purpose (Bolan & Deal,
2013; Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz et al., 2009; Kouzes & Posner,
2017). Having a clear, moral purpose helps sustain a positive emotional climate that supports
intrinsic motivation. This moral purpose contributes positive mood and emotional influence in
effectively enacting a 21st century skill curriculum.

38

38
Table 6
Summary of Motivational Influences and Method of Assessment for Teachers and Principals
Assumed Knowledge
Influences
Interview Item
Value
Teachers and principals
need to value a 21st century
skill curriculum
What do you personally find valuable about
implementing a 21st century skill curriculum in your
school, if anything
Self-Efficacy
Teachers and Principals
need to feel confident in
their ability to enact a 21st
century skill curriculum
Tell me about the last time you felt successful in
teaching a 21st century skill curriculum, if at all.
Tell me about the last time you didn’t feel successful, if
any?
Mood
Principals need to be
inspired through a clear,
moral purpose for enacting a
21st century skill
curriculum
How do you feel about the idea of enacting a 21st
century skill curriculum?

Organization Assessment
Clark and Estes (2008) indicate the following as organizational gaps: poor work
processes, limited material resources, and dysfunctional interactions or ineffective goal
achievement in work that occurs between departments. Examining these organizational gaps can
support organizations in solving performance problems. These processes and interactions are
shaped by the culture of the organization. Table 7 shares specific organization questions used in
the interviews.
Cultural Settings
39

39
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) further explored the idea of organizational culture and
explained the difference between cultural models and settings. cultural settings are the
“occasions where people come together to carry out joint activity that accomplishes something
they value” (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001, p. 48). To enact a 21st century skills curriculum the
organization needs to provide resources, including time, professional development (Bolman &
Deal, 2021; Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Elmore, 2016; Harris, 2008; Heifetz, et al., 2009; Kagan &
Lahey, 2009; Northouse, 2019; Park et, al, 2019; Printy, 2008; Reeves, 2020; Sebastian et al.,
2016; Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2016; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007). In addition, the organization
needs to clearly articulate expectations related to enacting a 21st century skill curriculum.
(Bolman & Deal, 2013; Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz et, al, 2009;
Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Price, 2012; Reeves, 2020).
Cultural Models
Cultural models are an invisible set of values that create the lens through which
experiences are collectively interpreted through members of the organization (Gallimore &
Goldenberg, 2001). To enact a 21st century skills curriculum, the organization must have a
culture of safety and risk taking (Bolman & Gallos, 2021; Bevel & Mitchell, 2012; Fullan &
Kirtman, 2019; Heifetz, et al., 2009; Hollingworth et al., 2018; Kagan & Lahey, 2009; Kouzes &
Posner, 2017; Louis et al., 2016; Reeves, 2020).

40

40
Table 7
Summary of Organizational Influences and Method of Assessment for Teachers and Principals
Assumed Organizational
Influences
Interview Item
Cultural Settings
The organization provides
resources (time, training,
professional developmental,
etc.) to enact a 21st century
skill curriculum.
From your perspective, how does the school support you
with resources needed to enact 21st century skills, if at
all?
The organization has clearly
articulated expectations to
enact a 21st century skill
curriculum.
Describe a time when the organization clearly articulated
expectations for implementing a 21st century skill
curriculum, if at all.

Cultural Models
The organization has a
culture that allows for safety
and risk taking.
Tell me how the organization supports a culture of risk
taking, if at all.

Participating Stakeholders and Sample Selection
The first stakeholder group was three principals, one from the elementary school, one
from the middle school, and one from the high school. This was a convenience sampling as the
researcher has access to those principals in the organization (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). It was
also a purposeful sampling, as the stakeholder was key in the organization meeting its
performance goal.
The second stakeholder group was classroom teachers K-12, across elementary, middle,
and high school. All teachers were tasked with enacting a 21st century skills curriculum and have
41

41
had and will have contact with their principals in their division. This was also a purposeful and
non-probability sample and, as the intent was to analyze various teaching perspectives and
experiences in the school (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). It was also
convenience sampling as the researcher had access to the classroom teachers in the same
organization.
Sampling
To effectively determine the knowledge, motivation and organizational culture issues that
influence enactment of a 21st century skills curriculum, there were two stakeholder groups. The
first stakeholder group was three principals, one from the elementary school, one from the
middle school, and one from the high school. The three principals were interviewed. There was
only one principal at each level. The second stakeholder group was 9 classroom teachers, each of
whom were interviewed. The following criteria and considerations were used for selecting
classroom teachers to interview:
● Ensure a representation of varying grade level experience as well as disciplines (e.g., 2nd
grade teacher, middle school art, etc.)
● Have been a classroom teacher at the organization since 2018. This is when enactment of
the 21st century skill curriculum began. This allowed for teachers to be selected who
have worked with their principals for an amount of time that would provide adequate data
and experience.
Recruitment
Participants were recruited by invitation and sample invitation emails are provided in
Appendix A and B. The researcher sent individual email requests to teacher participants across a
variety of contexts in the organization. The researcher also sent an email to each principal in the
organization. Individual emails also included an Informed Consent/ Information Sheet found in
42

42
Appendix C.
Instrumentation
The instrumentation used for this study was twofold. The first instrument was an
interview protocol used with teachers and is included in Appendix D. The second instrument was
an interview protocol used with principals in Appendix E. Assumed influences for knowledge,
motivation, and organization for both stakeholders had the same questions across both
instruments. However, specific stakeholder assumed influences for knowledge, motivation and
organization required some different questions specific to those stakeholders. Permission was
sought and approved from the University of Southern California’s Institutional Review Board
(IRB) before data collection.
Data Collection
Following University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval,
participants were solicited by the researcher to participate in interviews.
Interview Protocols
The interview protocols for both stakeholder groups followed a combination of a semi-
structured and a highly structured format as defined by Merriam and Tisdell (2016). The
interview was semi-structured in that specific data was required from the respondents and most
of the interview was guided by a list of questions. The interview was highly structured in that the
wording and order of the questions was predetermined. The rationale and organization for the
interview protocol was to begin with an introduction to the study that gives the respondents
enough information to understand the importance of their responses and to ensure they feel
comfortable before they were asked to answer questions.
Interviews were conducted on an individual basis at a time of the participants’ choosing.
The interviews were done in-person and through Zoom, following Covid-19 protocols and safety
43

43
regulations required at the school. The interviews lasted between 45 to 60 minutes. Permission
was sought to audio record and to take notes during the interview. Following each interview, the
interviewer took notes analyzing the interview process. These notes were used to inform the data
analysis. All interviews were recorded on a smartphone using the Voice Recorder application or
on Zoom, uploaded into otter.ai, and then transcribed for data analysis.
Data Analysis
For the interviews, the recordings were transcribed and coded according to the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational categories. Data from each stakeholder allowed the
researcher to not only uncover gaps in the knowledge, motivational, and organization influences
specific to the stakeholders, but also alignment gaps across stakeholders. The interviews helped
validate and inform possible solutions for the knowledge, motivation and organization influences
for both principals and teachers needed to enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Trustworthiness of Data
To maintain the credibility and trustworthiness of this study, the researcher utilized three
strategies: (1) triangulation of data across multiple interviews towards saturation; (2) assurance
of anonymity and confidentiality; and (3) member checks. The researcher clearly communicated
confidentiality in the interviews and sought informed consent from all participants. In addition,
the data coded removed all names and other identifying markers to ensure anonymity. If notes
from the interviews needed to be clarified, the researcher asked for feedback from specific
stakeholder interviewees to ensure the data shared was accurate. In addition, the researcher had
an appropriate amount of interviews for each stakeholder to ensure saturation of data, where
frequency of ideas of themes was evident.
Role of Investigator
The investigator in this study was the Director of Teaching and Learning of SFS. The
44

44
researcher’s role in this gap analysis was to conduct an evaluation and problem-solving
investigation to improve the organization's performance goals, which the researcher was
entrusted to lead and ensure success. The researcher had interest in results as it could help
improve overall performance of colleagues and co-workers in the organization. The dual roles of
the researcher were explained through emails, face-to-face meetings, and other methods as were
appropriate.
The researcher holds a bias to the overall purpose of the work. He values the work of 21st
century skills and effective teaching to support said skills. He has advocated and presented on
such topics in the past at conferences and other public forums. He values teaching and learning
that is experiential and application focused and has trained teachers in these effective practices.
He believes that 21
st
century skills are just as important as content and must be taught and
assessed alongside disciplinary content. In addition, the researcher holds strong beliefs on
educational leadership. He believes that a safe school culture is critical to innovative work and
that leaders must use the principles of adaptive leadership, particularly setting a clear vision and
goals, but also empowering teams and individuals to implement with more autonomy
(Northouse, 2013). He believes that adaptive leadership strategies are important when enacting
this kind of work, as the challenge is complex and does have one clear solution. He also believes
that caring relationships are important and must be nurtured for those being led to embrace
ambiguity and change in the face of challenging problems.
The researcher held the leadership position of Director of Teaching and Learning in the
organization. This may have influenced participant responses from both stakeholders. The
researcher did not hold an evaluative role over participants in the study. He did not have
authority to hire or terminate employment of either principals or teachers. However, either
stakeholder may have been concerned about data collection being used when speaking with other
45

45
stakeholders. For example, a principal might have been concerned about data being shared with
leadership team members and/or teachers might have been concerned about data being shared
amongst their evaluators. The researcher was clear to delineate the two roles he has as both a
leader in the organization and as a researcher to ensure an objective stance. To ensure that
stakeholders understood the researcher's role as an investigator, the following steps were taken
by the researcher:
● Ensured that steps are in place to preserve the anonymity of all participants.
● Obtained informed consent from subjects before data collection
● Ensured that the voluntary nature of participation and the right to not participate in the
project is clearly understood.
● Ensured complete confidentiality of information, identity, and data.
● Obtained permission to use documentation or data that is produced for other institutional
purposes.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations
One limitation for the study was the small sample size of both teachers and principals.
The interview instrument, while appropriate to the nature of the study and methodology of the
study, required a significant amount of time within a fixed window of time. This required the
researcher to select a small sample size of teachers. Not all grade levels, disciplines and contexts
were represented in the sample size. However, the choice of participants across different
teaching contexts, provided a valid cross section of teacher responses. Similarly, there were only
three principals in the organization, which represented a limited sample size to make
generalizability likely.
A second limitation was that teachers volunteered, and therefore may have been more
46

46
willing to share their experiences critical of leadership. Conversely, while principals agreed to
participate in the study, they may have felt forced to, as they were the only ones involved in the
sample. This did not allow for a wide range of data collection of principal perceptions and
experiences.
A third limitation was the time at which the study occurred. The organization was
currently in the process of enacting a 21st century skill curriculum with current stakeholders. As
such, conditions will change, and current knowledge, motivation, and organization influences
may change, and the organization continues to work towards its performance goals. For instance,
as teachers build their capacity to enact the curriculum, they may need new knowledge and
motivation. Similarly, principals' knowledge, motivation, and organizations influences may adapt
as the organization moves closer to meeting its performance goal. In addition, these stakeholders
may leave the organization. Indeed, some stakeholders departed after completion of the study.
This in turn may influence the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences with
stakeholders new to the organization.
As this was a qualitative research study with a small sample size, a fourth limitation is
that the findings were not generalizable to other organizations.
Delimitations
A delimitation of this study was the location of the school and the specific
demographics. Participants come from the same international school and their students
represented a generally high income, high achieving demographic. It is recommended to use
caution when the results are generalized to other settings. However, the researcher believes that
similar schools may benefit in the results of this study to inform similar work, specifically in the
areas of principal leadership.
47

47

Chapter Four: Results and Findings

The purpose of this chapter is to report the results and findings from analysis of the
data collected. The Clark and Estes Gap Analysis Framework (2008) was used to help
identify whether knowledge, motivation or organizational factors were barriers to the lack of
growth in math for high ability students. Qualitative data was collected through interviews.
Principals were interviewed first, followed by classroom teachers. While there was some similar
knowledge, motivation, and organization factors across both stakeholders, some were different.
As such, it was necessary to separate the data collection. Principal interviews were conducted
first. The data were triangulated and analyzed to better understand both the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational factors as well as the critical behaviors of the stakeholders to
enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Participating Stakeholders
Three principals were interviewed for the study, as the organization has a principal at
each divisional level of elementary, middle, and high school. Two principals were male, while
one was female. Years of experience at the organization ranged from six to 31 years. All
principals earned a master’s degree. All stakeholders, both principals and teachers, agreed to
participate in the interviews. All stakeholders have been at the organization since the 2018-19
academic year when the enactment of the 21st century skill currently began. Three classroom
teachers entered the organization in the 2016 school year, one in the 2017 school year, and five
in the 2018 school year. All classroom teachers were under the supervision of the same
principals interviewed from 2018-2021. Nine teachers were interviewed in total. Three
classroom teachers were in the 30-39 age range. Four teachers were in the 40-49 age range. Two
classroom teachers were in the 50-60 range. Four classroom teachers were from the elementary
48

48
school, two were from the middle school, and three were from the high school. Elementary
school teachers include general education teachers as well as specialist teachers such as
technology and world languages. Middle school and high school classroom teachers taught a
variety of subjects as well, including science, math, art, and social studies. 55% of the teachers
interviewed were female, while 45% were male.
Determination of Assets and Needs
For the interviews a protocol was created using the Clark and Estes (2008) framework as
a guide. The researcher himself conducted all the interviews for both principals and teachers.
Principals and teachers were asked questions about conceptual, metacognitive, and procedural
knowledge, as well as motivation questions focused on values, self-efficacy, and mood. All
stakeholders were asked two warm up questions. Questions for the teacher interview are included
in Appendix D. Questions for the principal interviews are included in Appendix E. These were
“feeling questions” designed to help respondents relax in preparation for the rest of the
interview. Interviews took place at a time and date of the respondents choosing at the school site.
Teacher anonymity was protected by emailing the recorded interviews to an independent source
for transcription and identifying markers were removed before returning the data to the
researcher. Analysis of the interview data revealed that one question had been omitted by the
researcher during the interview. While saturation was limited in terms of principal data,
saturation of nine classroom teachers reflects a good cross section of the teachers, and Covid-19
prohibited adding additional teachers. For the principal stakeholder group, anything less than
100% demonstration of evidence was determined to be a need. For the classroom teacher
stakeholder group, anything less than 55% of demonstrated evidence, or five out of nine
classroom teachers, was determined to be a need.
Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes
49

49
The results and findings are reported using knowledge categories of factual, conceptual, and
procedural knowledge. The assumed causes for factual knowledge include teachers’ and
principals’ ability to define 21st century skills. The conceptual knowledge assumed causes
include teachers' ability to connect existing disciplinary knowledge to 21st century skills and
principals understanding high quality instruction. Procedural knowledge assumed causes
included teachers knowing how to design both active learning experiences and performance
assessments, teachers’ ability to direct teach 21st century skills, principal ability to create an
effective school climate and culture, principal ability to distribute leadership, and principal
ability to employ systems of instructional feedback and professional development.
Factual Knowledge
Influence 1
Teachers and principals need to define 21st century skills
Interview findings. Both teachers and principals were asked to define 21st skills. There
was clear evidence from all principals on defining 21st century skills. Principal 1 defined them as
“cross cutting skills and transferable skills are actually what's needed in order to prepare students
for an uncertain set of future careers.” All of them mentioned “communication,” and “critical
thinking” as examples of 21st century skills. Principal 2 said “I would define them as more
people skills as you know, a dealing in terms of like communication, collaboration, those to me
are the big 21st century skills, because I think people these days, as we see how things are going
out in the world that are everybody has to communicate and collaborate together in different
kinds of ways.” Principal 2 said, “'It’s so important that people are able to talk to each other and,
you know, clarify their ideas, and communicate in ways and be creative in their thinking.”
Teachers also mentioned collaboration and critical thinking, as well as cultural
competency and technology skills. Teacher 2 said, “I would say that those are the skills that you
50

50
need, the flexible skills, it's going to be ones that are tech savvy, you're adaptable. You can work
with people, you're collaborative. You are innovative.” Teacher 6 said, “skills a human might
need to be successful in the world.” Teacher 7 said, “It has to do with creativity, and the
organization [of work], providing structure, providing leadership, communicating an idea.
Teacher 8 named, “Creativity and communication and collaboration. And I would say those sorts
of ideas…probably soft skills.”
Summary. 100% of both principals and teachers were able to define multiple 21st century
skills including collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and technology
literacy. This indicates an asset.
Conceptual Knowledge
Influence 1
Teachers need to understand the connection between disciplinary knowledge and 21st
century skills.
Interview findings. Teachers were asked their perspective on how their existing
disciplinary curriculum connected to 21st century skills. Teacher 1 said that they try to embed
the skills in their existing curriculum saying, “I took standards of the curriculum, and even some
of the learning activities that have been developed. I tried to design a project or design real world
work, the context, that helps the students understand these different concepts.” Teacher 4
described it as a “mixed bag” and further added, “We teach some things very traditionally, you
know…but then we also do things like that there's other topics that we approach in a more kind
of open-ended way.” Teacher 5 commented on how their curriculum connects to 21st century
skills saying, “We are preparing our students to be able to express themselves, to know who they
are, where they come from, to be able to work with individuals that are different from
themselves.”
51

51
Summary. Nine out of ten teachers demonstrated ways in which their disciplinary
knowledge connects to 21st century skills, indicating an asset.
Influence 2
Principals understand high quality instruction
Interview findings. Principals were asked their perspective on high quality instruction.
Principals were able to articulate their understanding of high-quality instruction. All principals
spoke of assessment and evaluation as an important component of high-quality instruction.
Principal 2 said, “Unless you actually evaluate it along the way, because you can say all those
things, and you can say you're doing it but unless you specifically embed it into the curriculum,
[then it isn’t happening].” Principal 1 said, “We need truly valid data on whether or not students
are progressing with regard to the skills we talked about in a performance assessment.” Two
principals also spoke of the importance of clear learning goals and targets. Principal 1 said it was
important to have “clear learning goals aligned to 21st century skills.” All principals spoke to the
need to have clear instruction on strategies to teach 21st century skills. Principal 3 spoke to the
need of “instruction that actually explicitly teaches strategies. So, for example, like creativity is
one that people will often say it's so hard to teach you to start creative, or you're not well, that
you actually can teach strategies that bring creative solutions and creative ideas to the surface.”
Teacher 8 shared that they didn’t feel that principals understood high quality instruction
in their context saying, “If he or she suggested to me about something, I would probably take it
seriously. But I'm not sure how much I would use it... They didn't teach anywhere close to my
subject.”
Summary. 100% of principals were able to articulate components of high-quality
instruction. While one teacher expressed concerns around trust in believing their principal, this
was one outlier. This indicates an asset.
52

52
Procedural Knowledge
Influence 1
Teachers know how to design active learning experiences that require application of
knowledge and skills.
Interview findings. Teachers were asked to describe a learning experience they designed
that taught 21st century skills. Teacher 1 shared the importance of real-world contexts and
situations saying, “But I thought maybe we could just find a real-world context that would
require a professional to actually know these things and actually do something with it?” Teacher
4 described an activity in mathematics saying, “The kids had to run simulations, and some kids
chose to do that by playing their game a bunch of times, some kids chose to do that by creating
like a simulation on their computer.” Teacher 6 described an experience where they provided
choice and collaborative learning to produce a product to demonstrate learning saying, “Each
group shared their categories, and I was like documenting as they were talking…Then they
created their own, like essential questions and their own need to know questions. And so those
questions are going to guide their research.” Teacher 7 mentioned project-based learning as their
approach saying, “I teach [with] project-based learning and then kind of the curiosity, the inquiry
driven education, where people you know, are going to choose something that they are genuinely
curious about.” Teacher 7 mentioned that this was of learning students would both content and
21
st
century skills saying, “They're going to try to take everything in their arsenal, which includes
these 21st century skills, in addition to their knowledge that they've learned.”
Summary. Nine out of ten teachers were able to demonstrate how they design active
learning experiences that require application of knowledge and skills, indicating an asset.
Influence 2
Teachers need to know how to design performance assessments
53

53
Interview findings. Teachers were asked how to explain how to design performance
assessments for a colleague. Teacher 4 explained that the task needed to be open-ended, but “you
need to have a lot of frequent check-ins, because otherwise kids can go down the rabbit hole”
indicating feedback and formative assessment as a component of a performance assessment.
Teacher 5 also commented on student agency as well having clear targets saying,
“So, the purpose of the designing and performance assessment, I will have to say you
need to have the objective. What is it that you want the students to learn? So, I want to
make sure that those kids express what they learned in a variety of different ways. So that
way, I can make sure that I can be able to see what they're learning.”
Teacher 7 spoke to the importance of an audience saying, “You are always thinking about
the messaging and thinking about getting it out to an audience and ultimately entertaining or
informing or inspiring or moving somehow.” Teacher 8 also spoke of having a clear purpose in
learning and examples and choice saying, “What is the purpose of this task for them? Like, what
are they trying to get out of it? We find more success and giving them a few options with
mentors are things that they can look at as examples.”
Summary. Nine out of ten teachers were able to demonstrate their knowledge in how to
design a performance assessment, indicating an asset.
Influence 3
Teachers need to know how to directly teach 21st century skills
Interview findings. Teachers were asked about their ability to directly teach 21st century
skills. Teachers used words like “experiential” to describe how they teach 21st century skills but
did not explicitly talk about direct teaching moments. Teacher 2 described good instructional
practices saying, “I can make sure that I'm meeting everyone's needs as a different learner, that I
am including all of their cultural differences and their understandings” but this did not make
54

54
direct reference to explicitly teaching a 21st century skill. Teacher 3 spoke of the need to
“scaffold it appropriately, so that you're building complexity, you're building nuance, and you're
building a toolbox” indicating the need to provide support and instruction to learn 21st century
skills. Teacher 8 also spoke to their lack of assurance that they are directly teaching. “In some
ways, kids are collaborating all over the place here, kids are working in teams all over the place
here. So, I must ask: Am I really discretely teaching? How to work in a team? Maybe not.”
Teacher 7, on the other hand spoke to the importance of clear modeling saying,
“I think a lot of that’s modeling and talking through out loud the choices that I make, and
explaining explicitly explaining like, okay, I’m looking at this source, because I see that
it’s X, Y, or Z. Aha, I see this source. And this makes me wonder…So here’s how I’m
going to check that. So, making it just really visible thinking work that I’m doing.”
Teacher 8 shared they needed to be more intentional saying, “That's probably something I
don't do very, as much of as maybe we should, in terms of, you know, reflecting of how the
collaboration goes time or, you know, how did you feel like you were doing but I think being
more intentional.”
Summary. Four out of nine teachers were able to demonstrate their ability to directly
teach 21st century skills, indicating a need.
Influence 4
Principals needs to be able to create an effective school climate and culture
Interview findings. Principals were asked about the steps they take to create an effective
school climate and culture. All principals spoke to their strategies in creating an effective school
climate and culture. Principal 3 articulated that they focus on flexibility, learning and growth
mindset, and highlighting success. This principal stated, “We try our best to really highlight
when people have tried things, and you know, even things like with our flexible learning
55

55
communities like we've iterated that and said, this worked, this didn't what we heard from you,
we fixed it, like it just modeling that process of continual growth.” Principal 1 indicated the
importance of listening to feedback saying,
“I'd say anytime that you invite people to ask questions, and then you make a deliberate
effort to speak directly to those questions when you invite people to offer feedback, both
affirming and critical…I think that does promote an atmosphere where people ultimately
feel safe to contribute their thoughts and viewpoints.”
Principal 2 also built on the idea of safety to take risks saying it was important to give
teacher “opportunities to continue to experiment and try so I think being in that open kind of
environment continues to let people know that there's, it's there, they have the ability to try and
make a mistake and retry again.” All principals share varying ideas that are important to creating
a safe and supportive school culture and climate
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated how they create an effective school climate
and culture, indicating an asset.
Influence 5
Principals need to be able to communicate a clear vision and expectations
Interview findings. Principals were asked how they have communicated clear goals and
expectations for enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Principal 1 shared a parent engagement
session that shared the vision and expectations saying,
“We talked with parents about our aims and to make our aims, quite hopefully
transparent to them, advancing the argument that where the rubber meets the road is in
how students are assessed and graded. And that we had attempted to align our
assessments in the program to skills that we would categorize as 21st century skills. I
56

56
would say that's just one example of truly countless examples of conversations where we
had to talk with parents, students, and faculty about 21st century skills.”
Principal 2 also articulated a parent experience saying,
“It was important to describe that to parents because parents were going to have to
support it in terms of dollars, or in terms of their tuition. And if they didn't believe in it,
or didn't support it, they weren't going to be willing to put forward the monetary or even
the mental effort to want to do something like this.”
Principal 3 articulated a time when they shared the vision with parents as well saying,
“I'll have a think about a time with… a large group of parents, it was early in my time as
the principal…It was it was a facilitated meeting and discussion with parents to help them
understand what the kind of pivot we were going to be taking how school might be,
might start to look different from how they were in school. We used a lot of having them
reflect in their own professional lives, about the kinds of things that they value, what
makes a good employee, what makes a good colleague, and really tried to construct their
understanding of why us moving to this more transdisciplinary approach was going to be
necessary to help their kids succeed in their future.”
While there seems to be evidence of clear expectations to parents and communities
demonstrated in principal data, teachers indicated they did not have clear expectations for their
work. Teacher 5 expressed a feeling of overwhelm with having far too many things to do without
a clear focus saying, “There's only so many that we can do. A lot of the time, I feel a little bit
overwhelmed because there's so many activities that we all must do.” Teacher 8 said
expectations were more implicit saying, “There's an underlying aspiration, that you're at least,
like, cognizant of those, you know, whether or not that actually gets implemented in like daily
curriculum plans, or daily lesson plans is a thing that remains to be seen.” Teacher 2 said, “The
57

57
school did a great job of explaining it. Sometimes I think we don't take it to the next step
though…but then there's not the next step or that next accountability” indicating lack of clear
deliverables.
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated their ability to clearly communicate a clear
vision and expectation to parents and community, but significant evidence from four teachers
indicates a potential lack of expectations for faculty, indicating a need.
Influence 6
Principals know how to distribute leadership across the school
Interview findings. Principals were asked about the importance of distributing
leadership when enacting a 21st century skills curriculum. There was evidence from all three
principals on the need and ability to distribute leadership to enact a 21st century skills
curriculum. Principal 1 labeled it as “essential,” and said, “most of the success I had early on in
my time as a principal was because of the collaboration that we worked hard to establish with
current leaders.” Principal 3 said “helping to have leaders that understand and help build the
work within those teams, makes it institutionalized.” Principal 2 said they look for leaders in the
hiring process saying, “When you're recruiting, you're really looking for people who can bring
some of that new thinking to your school, and also just be open and willing to try different
things.” All indicated that they work with team leaders to empower teams to be able to
implement the work.
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated their ability to distribute leadership across
the school, indicating an asset.
Influence 7
Principals know how to employ systems for instructional feedback and professional development
58

58
Interview findings. Principals were asked about their ability to provide instructional
feedback. All principals demonstrated the importance of being visible and present in classrooms.
They also mentioned the importance of feedback, but often used conditional language that
indicates it may not be occurring as they would want. Principal 2 said,
“I mean, the best thing, I think would be that I would be getting in the classroom, and I
would be observing what was happening. And I would be giving feedback in terms of,
you know, how I saw that embedded within the work that they're doing with kids.”
Principal 1 pointed to assessments as a key touchpoint for feedback and said,
“If you have limited time, as a school leader, you have more leverage providing feedback
on the development and implementation of assessments and the analysis of assessment
results, then on trying to promote specific pedagogical approaches to teaching towards
those assessments.”
This principal also added, “I think that is work that in a large school can sometimes be
under supported,” indicating that the organization may not be supporting this as much as needed.
Principal 3 spoke to the challenges of effective feedback lack of focus saying,
“This is one of the things I think is really challenging in education is that we continue to
try to get better at a whole bunch of things at the same time, and then we get better and
none of them, right, like, too many priorities is no priority.”
When teachers were asked about their ability to reflect and refine their pedagogical
practices based on feedback, only 2 out 9 teachers mentioned feedback from their principal.
Teacher 4 said, “I can't think of a time where I've gotten a lot of really good feedback from
someone else.” Teacher 8 said the principal visited rarely and didn’t give feedback, “I don't want
to come across as too hard…my principal hasn’t been in my classroom…Maybe I've seen [them]
once in the fall for five minutes.”
59

59
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated their ability to employ systems to provide
feedback in a variety of ways. However, only two teachers mentioned they had received
feedback from their principal. This indicates a need.
Metacognitive Knowledge
Influence 1
Teachers need to know how to reflect and refine their pedagogical practices based on
feedback
Interview findings. Teachers were asked to describe a time when they reflected on their
teaching based on feedback. Teacher 2 described how their supervisor gave them feedback and
how they reflected saying, “I read [what the principal] gives, you know, the glows and grows?
And I do look at those and think, ``Okay, how can I improve in my practice?” Teacher 3
described how they use a survey to get feedback from students and reflect by saying,
“I have students fill out and they just tell me what's working well for them individually as
well as collectively as a class…I feedback the feedback. And so, I'll take time, usually at
the beginning of a class and say, this is what I've heard, here's what I've done. Here's the
changes I'm going to make.”
Teacher 5 spoke of their instructional coach giving them feedback saying,
“The feedback that [they] gave me, it's like, okay, you know, you're going to get
exhausted by the end of the day, you need to make sure that you give the kids more of the
opportunity to, to learn to do. So I think that an example of reflecting on the feedback
that somebody gave me.”
Teacher 6 spoke to the culture of feedback at the organization through walkthroughs
saying,
60

60
“They had certain things that were very clear to teachers like, these are the things that
we're looking for. And then there was follow up, and they asked, like, so we saw you do
this, like, I didn't understand it completely. Can you help me understand this more? Or
like, wow, this was cool. How did you come up with this idea? They were really good at
creating this environment of like, we're just here, like, we just want to see what you're
doing. We're all in this together. We're a team. This is a collaborative process. We're not
here to like, catch you doing something wrong.”
Summary. 100% of teachers demonstrated the ability to reflect and be metacognitive on their
practices based on feedback. Teachers shared a variety of ways in which they reflected, including
on feedback from students or data they collected. This indicates an asset.
Influence 2
Principals need to be able to critically reflect on their leadership practices
Interview findings. Principals were asked to describe a time when they reflected on their
leadership. All principals demonstrated evidence of reflection on the leadership practices. Many
referred to a “360 evaluation” which is a survey that provides them feedback from teachers and
fellow leaders such as principals and central administration. Principal 3 said they reflected “and
set targets for [themself].” Principal 2 reflected on their cultural competence, which was one of
the 21st century skills that are being enacted. They shared their own reflection on how they
interacted with a family and their effectiveness in being culturally competent saying,
“I dealt with a family who, you know, they're coming from a certain cultural background,
and there was an issue that came up that I had to deal with…I feel like culturally I have in
taking that into account where they're from and trying to understand culturally for them
what it means I have a better understanding of why they're asking, and hopefully a better
understanding of how I'm going to respond to that to be because of that.”
61

61
This principal was vulnerable in admitting they may not have effectively led on a
culturally responsive approach and was looking to improve. Principal 1 spoke to their work with
parents saying, “I continue to think about how we help parents to understand 21st century skills,
their importance, and their increasing value. And I feel at an earlier stage in my time at saps, that
we didn't do enough work, from the leadership perspective, to listen to parents' concerns.”
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated an ability to critically reflect on their
leadership indicating an asset.
Results and Findings for Motivation Causes
The motivation results and findings are reported using the categories of value, self-
efficacy, and mood. The assumed cause for value included teachers and principals needing to
value a 21st century skill curriculum. The assumed cause for self-efficacy included teachers and
principals needing to feel confident in their ability to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. The
assumed cause for mood included principals need to be inspired through a clear, moral purpose
for enacting a 21st century skill curriculum.
Value
Influence 1
Teachers and principals need to value a 21st century skill curriculum
Interview findings. Principals and teachers were asked to share what they found
personally valuable in implementing a 21st century skill curriculum. Principals demonstrated the
value of a 21st century skill curriculum. All three mentioned the importance of these skills to life
beyond school in careers, studies, and overall future success. Principal 2 said “We're preparing
our kids for a, you know, a life ahead of them that is going to prepare them in the best way
possible to be successful in the world.” Principal 1 commented that having a 21st century skills
curriculum is “the right direction and a necessary direction for schools and for students.”
62

62
Principal 3 said. “They are going to need to really understand, you know, how other cultures
work, how to think creatively to solve some of these complex problems that we are leaving as
their inheritance. And so, I think that it's vital.”
All teachers shared different reasons for valuing a 21st century skill education. Teacher 1
shared, “I felt what was missing with my education, a lot of it being 21st century skills. And so
that's kind of been my mission is to help integrate those types of or create opportunities where
students can develop those skills meaningfully.” Teacher 5 said, “It's exciting because it's pairing
the students for what they need is preparing the students for skills that they're going to be able to
use every day, and especially we live in a world where it's all connected now.” Teacher 8 spoke
to the skills being important saying, “Well, the fact that they're here, and they're not going away,
and we must live in reality. And these are the future people I'm going to be interacting with in 10
or 12 years, they're going to be out in society.”
Summary. Both principals and teachers and stakeholders demonstrated personal value in
implementing 21st century skills. All had different reasons for their motivation, but a common
theme was student success and achievement. This indicates that this is an asset.
Self-Efficacy
Influence 1
Teachers and Principals need to feel confident in their ability to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum
Interview findings. Principals and teachers were asked to describe a time when they felt
successful in enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. All principals articulate their confidence
and self-efficacy to be able to enact a 21st century curriculum. While they expressed challenges,
they felt they had been successful and had the ability to be effective. Principal 1 expressed pride
in their work saying, “I remember when I first came into the principalship, there was a
63

63
tremendous amount of resistance now as a result of resistance completely gone. No, I wouldn't
imagine that it would be. But I think we've made tremendous strides in that area.” Principal 2
described a challenging meeting on the 21st century skills curriculum they had saying “just feel
like we pulled it together in a way that we felt good about” and “I felt really well prepared when
we went to it.” Principal 3 spoke to an outcome of their leadership when students were taking
ownership of their learning. They said students were engaged in the “full process of the inquiry
cycle to really get to a point where they're thinking about how much they've learned, but it was
their own learning, their own design.”
Teacher 3 spoke of their ability to create independent learners saying, “They're
functioning as adults at this point, in a skill that they have practiced enough that all I have to do
is give them just the least amount of instruction on it, and they can execute it.” Teacher 1 spoke
to their ability to write curriculum saying, “I've been able to incorporate that into a lot of these
units.” Teacher 6 spoke to the excitement they felt as students engaged in the work saying,
“I have honestly not seen them, like this excited this year. And it's like, you know, it's, it's
more work for me, but it's fine, because I see, they're so excited. And they're so into it.
And it's like, okay, like, now it's time to transition and you're ready for XYZ, and they're
like, what already, you're like, Oh, I like doing this...So it gives me energy to do the
things that they want. And they need it because they are just so into it. That's great.”
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated confidence in their ability to enact a 21st
century skill curriculum. 100% of teachers demonstrated their confidence in their ability to enact
a 21st century skill curriculum. This indicates an asset.
Mood
Influence 1
64

64
Principals need to be inspired through a clear, moral purpose for enacting a 21st century
skill curriculum
Interview findings. Principals were asked to describe how they felt about the idea of
enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Principals expressed a variety of positive and negative
emotions associated with the work. Principal 1 named “Excitement” and “Conviction.” Principal
2 named “excitement” and “happiness.” Principal 3 expressed “excitement” but also “frustration”
around turnover saying, “it just feels like we're with parent turnover, student turnover, teacher
turnover, you're just, it's always two steps forward, one step back, because you're, you know,
you're constantly having to reestablish the urgency, reestablish the purpose, reestablish the
vision.” Principal 1 said they feel “pressured” to get the work done effectively and on time.
Summary. While 100% of principals indicated being inspired to enact a 21st century
skill curriculum, two out three principals also expressed negative feelings and emotions,
indicating a need for growth.
Results and Findings for Organizational Causes
The organization results and findings are reported using the categories of cultural settings
and cultural models. The assumed cause for cultural settings included the organization providing
resources to enact a 21st century skill curriculum and having clearly articulated expectations to
enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Cultural Settings
Influence 1
The organization provides resources (time, training, professional developmental, etc.) to
enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Interview findings. Both principals and teachers were asked how the organization
supported them with the resources needed to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. All principals
65

65
articulated that the organization supported them with the resources they needed, whether it was
professional development, staffing, and/ or time. Principal 2 said, “Whether it's through
conditioning, or more professional development, or more materials, or whatever, I think we get
the support that we need.” Principal 3 there was no other school they had worked with that was
“resourced as well.” Principal 1 also articulated a variety of resources saying, “In terms of, of
resourcing, you know, when I did need things like FTE, or release time. By and large, I was
supported, those requests were heard. And I was able to find time for the educators who were in
fact enacting our program to collaborate and to do the work. So, I think those are crucial
supports.”
Teacher 1 said that implementing a 21st century skill curriculum effectively “requires a
lot of time. And in my past experiences in my last school, like we would meet every week, to
discuss, to plan those things. I'm finding that I rarely do that when with teachers or teachers don't
have the time to do that, as well.” Teacher 7 said they support “150%” and that they have access
to “state of the art equipment.” Teacher 2 used the word “spoiled” to describe their access to
physical resources such as texts, supplies and technology. Teachers 3 and 4 articulated they
would like access to off-campus learning experiences such as conferences or field trips to be able
to teach 21st century skills. Teacher 5 did mention the need for more training in the specific area
of 21st century skills.
Summary. All teachers and principals articulated that the school supports them with a
variety of resources specifically pertaining to professional development, materials, and spaces.
Some teachers articulated that time was a resource they were not afforded as much as they liked.
In addition, a few teachers articulated they would like more non-traditional resources for both
themselves and students, specifically access to off campus learning experiences. This indicates
an asset.
66

66
Influence 2
The organization has clearly articulated expectations to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum.
Interview findings. Both principals and teachers were asked to describe a time when
they set clear expectations for enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. Principals articulated that
the organization sets clear expectations for enacting a 21st century skills curriculum, but
accountability of those expectations may not be clear. Principal 2 said, “The school
communicates very clearly actually, not only to educators but also to parents and students, its
commitment to these skills.” Principal 1 said, “We set forth and we did a lot of, again,
professional development with people to say why we were doing that, and what it should look
like and how it would look in the end and what the result should be.” Principal 3 said the
expectations “definitely clear to the leadership team,” but questioning the effectiveness saying
“But has it been effective? If we don't measure? Well, and what impact has it had? on student
learning? We don't always measure well.”
Teachers were asked to describe a time when the organization clearly articulated
expectations for implementing a 21st century skill curriculum. Some teachers articulated that
there were clear expectations. While others did not. Teacher 1 spoke to clear long term goals but
lacked incremental steps saying “I think the goals have been repeatedly talked about. I think the
next step would be talking about the strategy and the implementation plan and how all this looks
along the way.” Teacher 3 said, “I think the school did a great job of explaining it sometimes. I
think we won't take it to the next step though. Like we were given something…but then there's
not the next step or that next accountability.” Conversely, Teacher 7 said they were given a clear
task to do saying,
67

67
“We were basically taking basically one of the [21st century skills] and making it the
ultimate goal of the unit. And yes, we were going to get content in the process. But
ultimately this was going to be an experience.”
Teacher 5 expressed a feeling of overwhelm with having far too many things to do
without a clear focus saying,
“There's only so many that we can do. A lot of the time, I feel a little bit overwhelmed
because there's so many activities that we all must do…a lot of times I feel like we're
trying to [to do], it's massive. It's too much.”
Teacher 6 said they didn’t feel safe to question expectations for clarity as “it's very much
top down, like, this is what you're going to do. And it's going to be like this.” Teacher 8 said
expectations were more implicit saying, “There's an underlying aspiration, that you're at least,
like, cognizant of those, you know, whether or not that actually gets implemented in like daily
curriculum plans, or daily, like lesson plans is a thing that remains to be seen.”
Summary. Two out three of principals demonstrated that the organization sets clear
expectations for enacting a 21st century skill curriculum, indicating a need; Four out of nine
teachers indicated they received clear expectations for enacting 21st century skills curriculum.
This indicates a need.
Cultural Models
Influence 1
The organization has a culture that allows for safety and risk taking.
Interview findings. Both principals and teachers were asked about the organization's
capacity to provide a culture for safety and risk taking. All principals said the organization has a
culture of safety and risk taking. Principal 2 said,
68

68
“People are taking a risk by doing it because they don't know exactly what it's going to
look like and they don't know what the end result is going to be…but if something fails,
you know, we're willing to sit with them and talk about how we can do a better job with
it.”
Principal 1 said the “school does support a culture of risk taking within bounds.” and
shared that it was important to set parameters for risk taking that do not harm students.” Principal
3 articulated, “We continue to have a lot of trust” even as the work can sometimes be “abstract”
when “it's hard to see what the clear targets are.”
Some teachers indicated that the organization supported a culture of safety and risk
taking, while others did not. Teacher 3 spoke to the diversity of the school and that the school
ensures “that everyone has their voice heard.” Teacher 8 said
“'I've only had positive experiences…I think the attitude, especially in our PLC at times
has been like, where are we tight, and where we are loose. And like one side, we have our
common assessment, we have these things, but once I want to try out X, Y, or Z, and
that's totally fine.”
Conversely, Teacher 1 spoke to some collaborative barriers that exist that prevents the
21st century skills curriculum from being implemented as a team approach. This teacher said,
“It would be helpful to minimize hierarchy, and support co-creation. Co-creation only
happens when you minimize hierarchy. And when that hierarchy exists, those structures,
that's where you're going to have, you're going to have one person creating things and
implementing them to the whole grade level, and they just follow those slides.”
Teacher 4, on the other hand, “I feel very safe taking risks here. I'm cool with trying new
things, and I've been told directly by administrators here…it's totally fine. Like, we don't expect
69

69
it to be perfect. We just want you to try this stuff.” Teacher 6 shared that they did not feel safe to
take risks saying,
“We have been in situations where we have asked questions to those two groups of
people and have been met with unprofessionalism. Talk about core values a lot, not one
single core value was shown. We have these like team norms and expectations, all of
them were broken… So, then it makes people not want to ask questions anymore.”
Summary. 100% of principals demonstrated that the organization provides a culture of
safety and risk taking. Five out of nine teachers indicated the organizations provided them with a
safe culture for risk taking. This indicates a need.
Summary of Validated Influences

Table 8, 9, and 10 show the knowledge, motivation and organization influences for this
study and their determination as an asset or a need.
Knowledge

Table 8 shows the factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge
influences and the determination of as an asset or a need.

70

70
Table 8

Knowledge Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data

Assumed Knowledge Influences
Factual Knowledge Asset or Need
Teachers and principals need to define 21st
century skills
Asset
Conceptual Knowledge Asset or Need
Teachers need to understand the
connection between disciplinary
knowledge and 21st century skills
Asset
Principals understand high quality
instruction
Asset

Procedural Knowledge Asset or Need
Teachers know how to design active
learning experiences that require
application of knowledge and skills
Asset
Teachers need to know how to design
performance assessments
Asset
Teachers need to know how to directly
teach 21st century skills
Need
Principals needs to be able to create an
effective school climate and culture
Asset
Principals need to be able to communicate
a clear vision and expectations
Need
Principals know how to distribute
leadership across the school
Asset
71

71
Principals know how to employ systems
for instructional feedback and professional
development
Need
Metacognitive Knowledge Asset or Need
Teachers need to know how to reflect and
refine their pedagogical practices based on
feedback
Asset
Principals need to be able to critically
reflect on their leadership practices
Asset

Motivation

Table 9 shows the motivation influences of value, self-efficacy and mood and
determination as an asset or a need.

72

72
Table 9

Motivation Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data

Assumed Motivation Influences Asset or Need
Value
Teachers and principals need to value a 21st
century skill curriculum
Asset
Self-Efficacy
Teachers and Principals need to feel
confident in their ability to enact a 21st
century skill curriculum
Asset

Mood
Principals need to be inspired through a
clear, moral purpose for enacting a 21st
century skill curriculum
Need

Organization

Table 10 shows the organization influences of cultural settings and cultural models, and
the determination as an asset or as a need.

73

73

Table 10

Organization Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data

Assumed Organizational Influences Asset or Need
Cultural Settings
The organization provides resources (time,
training, professional developmental, etc) to
enact a 21st century skill curriculum.
Asset
The organization has clearly articulated
expectations to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum.
Need

Cultural Models
The organization has a culture that allows
for safety and risk taking.
Need

The data tells us that the organization has many assets, particularly in the areas of
knowledge and motivation to ensure effective implementation of a 21st century skills
curriculum. However, there are specific needs that the organization needs to address. These
needs include specific knowledge of teachers directly teaching 21st century skills, principals’
skills, and the organization influence of communicating clear expectations, principals providing
instructional feedback, and the organization’s ability to create a culture of safety and risk taking.
This data will be used to inform recommendations for solutions. Chapter 5 will present
recommendations for solutions for these influences based on empirical evidence.

74

74

Chapter Five: Recommendations and Evaluation
The purpose of the study is to explore and understand leadership’s influence on teachers’
capacity to enact transformative curriculum on 21st century skills. The study identified the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that support or hinder successful
implementation of 21st century skills. The analysis began with a list of possible or assumed
causes and then examined these systematically to focus on actual or validated causes. As such,
the questions that guided this study are the following:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences for school principals
to support teachers having the knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum?
2. What are the teachers' knowledge and motivation in relation to enacting 21st century
skills curriculum?
3. What are teachers and principals' knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps that
interfere with the implementation of 21st century skills?
4. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Chapter One introduced the study, including the proposed conceptual framework.
Chapter Two reviewed literature pertaining to the components found in the proposed conceptual
framework using the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis model Chapter Three described the
methodology used for this qualitative study. Chapter Four began with analysis of interviews
conducted with teachers and principals and ended with conclusions the researcher drew from that
analysis. This chapter will provide a summary of the findings, specific recommendations for
improvement, and finally an implementation and evaluation package to ensure ongoing
effectiveness.
75

75
Recommendations to Address Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization Influences
This section consists of recommendations for knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences. Each section contains a brief overview, including a rationale for the need for those
needed to prioritize the validated causes. Tables with the validated causes and priority are
included to achieve the performance results. Each table will include the knowledge, motivation
or organizational cause, priorities for needs, and evidence-based principles that support the
recommendation. Following the table, a detailed discussion is provided for each high priority
cause, the principle, the solution, and support for the solution based on the literature.
Knowledge Recommendations
The knowledge influences in Table 11 include all assumed knowledge influences and
indicated assets and needs as well as priority to address. The knowledge influences used to
achieve the teachers’ and principals’ goal will be validated based on the most frequently
mentioned conceptual, procedural, and motivational knowledge influences to achieve the
stakeholder goal during semi-structured interviews and supported by the literature review. The
conceptual framework for this study is Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis. The knowledge
influences include the conceptual dimension that addresses the what, the procedural dimensions
that address the how and the metacognitive dimensions that address the self (Krathwohl, 2002).
As indicated in Table 11, these influences are indicated as either an asset or need and the priority
need to achieve the stakeholder goals. Table 11 also shows the recommendations for these highly
probable influences based on theoretical principles.

76

76
Table 11
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed Knowledge
Influence
Asset or
Need
Priority
Yes or
No
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Factual
Teachers and
principals need to
define 21st century
skills
Asset No Knowledge
enhancements are
required for job
performance when
people don’t know
how to accomplish
their performance
goals and when you
anticipate future
work will require
problem solving
(Clark & Estes,
2008)
Provide a clear
definition of
organizations 21st
century skills.
Conceptual
Teachers need to
understand the
connection between
disciplinary knowledge
and 21st century skills
Asset No Conceptual
knowledge allows
the individual to use
the interrelationship
of their foundational
knowledge
(Krathwohl, 2002).

21st century skills
are a clear set of
transferable skills
across disciplines
and contexts
(González-
Salamanca et al.,
2020)
Provide opportunities
for teachers to make
connections between
existing curriculum
and 21st century skills
Principals understand
high quality instruction
Asset

No Conceptual
knowledge allows
the individual to use
the interrelationship
of their foundational
Engage in ongoing
professional learning
on high quality
instruction through
observations and
feedback
77

77
knowledge
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Effective
instructional leaders
demonstrate
expertise of high-
quality instruction
(Johnson et al.,
2011)
Procedural
Teachers know how to
design active learning
experiences that
require application of
knowledge and skills
Asset No Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Teachers need to
design experiences
that involve students
actively learning
rather than rote
memorization
(Snyder & Snyder,
2008).

Provide ongoing
professional learning
to teachers on
constructivist learning
experiences that focus
on application.
Teachers need to know
how to design
performance
assessments
Asset No Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Performance
assessments
measure complex
thinking and
Provide clear criteria
for designing
performance
assessments
78

78
problem-solving
skills (Darling-
Hammond &
Adamson, 2014).
Teachers need to know
how to directly teach
21st century skills
Need Yes Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Teachers need to
explicitly teach 21st
century skills
through clear
models and
strategies (Saavedra
et al., 2021).
Provide training and
resources on how to
directly teach 21st
century skills.
Principals needs to be
able to create an
effective school
climate and culture
Asset No Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Effective leaders
Foster a culture of
risk taking and
provide autonomy
to teachers to try
new ideas
(Hollingsworth et
al., 2018)
Communicate areas to
take risks and monitor
teacher perception of
the climate and culture
Principals need to be
able to communicate a
clear vision and
expectations
Need High Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
Communicate vision
and purpose with clear
short-term
expectations
79

79
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

When goals are
clearly articulated,
stakeholders stay
connected to the
purpose of work
(Heifetz, et al.,
2009)
Principals know how to
distribute leadership
across the school
Asset No Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Effective schools
Provide structured
opportunities for
participatory
leadership in teams
(Tichnor-Wagner et
al., 2016).
Principals nurture and
empower teacher
leaders and teams to
effectively implement
the work.
Principals know how to
employ systems for
instructional feedback
and professional
development
Need Yes Procedural
knowledge provides
individuals with the
ability to decide
how to use their
skills and determine
the appropriate time
to implement
(Krathwohl, 2002).

Principal feedback
to teachers improves
classroom practice
(Garet et al., 2017).

Principals or other
leaders need to provide
ongoing feedback to
educators on frequent
basis
80

80

Metacognitive
Teachers need to know
how to reflect and
refine their
pedagogical practices
based on feedback
Asset No Metacognitive
knowledge is
important because it
allows the
individual to assess
their level of
cognitive awareness
(Krathwohl, 2002)

Teachers need to
examine data on
assessments and
consider changes to
instruction (Darling-
Hammond &
Adamson, 2014)
Provide ongoing
professional learning
and reflection time in
effective teaching
practices
Principals need to be
able to critically reflect
on their leadership
practices
Asset No Metacognitive
knowledge is
important because it
allows the
individual to assess
their level of
cognitive awareness
(Krathwohl, 2002)

Leaders need the
disposition to learn
to effectively lead
change (Robertson
& Earl, 2014)
Continue to practice
self-reflection and
publicly share to
demonstrate
vulnerability and build
relationships.

Factual Knowledge Solutions
All stakeholders need to have a clear understanding and definition of 21st century skills.
These skills include, but are not limited to creativity, technology proficiency, interpersonal and
social skills, critical thinking, and problem solving, and cross-cultural skills (González-
81

81
Salamanca et al., 2020; Silber et al. 2019; Trilling & Fadel, 2012; Van Laar et al., 2017). These
are transdisciplinary skills that can be applied in all classroom settings and disciplines.
SFS has a set of 21st century skills. Stakeholders were able to identify these skills but
may not have been able to point to a clear memorized list specific to the organization. While it is
not a high priority or area of need, these identified skills need to be continually communicated on
an ongoing basis to reinforce focus and upskill new faculty and staff. Clark and Estes (2008)
explain the importance of factual knowledge to ensure members of the organizations can meet
performance goals in the future. This clear set of 21st century skills will allow teachers to do
more complex work as implementation continues, as well as coherence and clarity.
Conceptual Knowledge Solutions
To effectively implement a 21st century skill curriculum, teachers need to understand the
connection between their existing curriculum and disciplines and 21st century skills themselves.
As 21st century skills are transferable across multiple disciplines and contexts, teachers need to
make those connections to implement (González-Salamanca et al., 2020). Krathwohl (2022)
explains that this conceptual knowledge allows the individual to make connections with their
factual knowledge.
As teachers were all able to make explicit connections between 21st century skills and
their current curriculum, it is not a high area of need for the organization to address. However,
the organization should continue to provide opportunities for teachers to make connections
between their existing curriculum and 21st century skills. This could be done through explicit
feedback from principals that focuses on promoting best practice and stimulating faculty
intellectually (Hallinger, 2003; Rigby, 2014).
Principals must demonstrate expertise in high quality instruction for them to be effective
instructional leaders. (Johnson et al., 2021). This allows principals to set clear expectations for
82

82
effective teaching and learning to support consistency in teaching practices. As principals
demonstrate their knowledge of instruction, they can build trust with those they lead and increase
motivation and teacher performance (Ovando & Ramirez, 2007).
As principals were able to describe the key components of high-quality instruction, it is
not a high need for the organization to address. However, evidence of knowledge of high-quality
instruction is often demonstrated through providing effective feedback (Johnson et al., 2021).
Some teachers articulated that they did not see their principal which could lead to a decrease in
teachers’ trust of principals’ conceptual knowledge of high-quality teaching. Thus, a
recommendation is to continue to observe classrooms and provide feedback on teaching. This
will build trust while also allowing principals to continually develop their “expert noticing” of
high-quality instruction (Johnson et al., 2021).
Procedural Knowledge Solutions
Teachers were not able to effectively articulate how they directly taught 21st century
skills, which indicates an area of need and priority. The organization should provide explicit
training and professional development to teachers on how to directly teach 21st century skills.
This includes clearly articulated strategies and models that support student learning in 21st
century skills like collaboration, creativity, and self-management (McBride & Duncan-David,
2021). To balance the experiential learning, direct instruction is needed to improve teaching and
learning of 21st century skills.
To effectively implement a 21st century skill curriculum, teachers need a variety of skills.
This procedural knowledge is important as it provides individuals with the ability to decide how
to use their skills and determine the appropriate time to use them (Krathwohl, 2002). Teachers
need to be able to design active learning experiences that focus on application of learning
83

83
(Snyder & Snyder, 2008). They need to be able to design performance assessments to measure
these complex thinking and problem-solving skills (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014).
Finally, they need to be able to directly teach the 21st century skills (Saavedra et al., 2021). As
teachers were able to demonstrate their knowledge of designing active learning experiences and
designing performance assessments, this is not a high area of need or priority for the
organization. The organization, however, should continue to provide ongoing professional
development and clear criteria to ensure sustainability.
Principals need to continually communicate clearly that it is safe to take risks and
monitor that this message is being received clearly (Grissom et al., 2021; Hollingsworth et al.,
2018). In addition, there are two areas of high need and priority. Principals need to better
communicate clear vision alongside clear short-term goals (Heifetz et al., 2009). While the
overall purpose of the work may be clear, there needs to be more tangible goals. These goals
should have a clear impact to obtain maximum tangible results (Fullan & Kirtman, 2019). In
addition, principals need to consider a more effective system to employ feedback to educators on
a frequent basis. As there is already evidence of effective distributed leadership, principals
should leverage those systems to allow teacher leaders to provide feedback to peers. However, it
is still important for principals to visit classrooms and provide feedback as it does positively
impact student achievement (Garet et al., 2017).
Principals need a variety of procedural skills to effectively implement 21st century skills
in the school. They need to be able to create an effective school climate and culture where there
is a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012). This culture
must also give teachers autonomy to try out new ideas and learn (Hollingsworth et al., 2018).
Principals also need to be able to build systems of distributed leadership that provide structured
opportunities for participatory leadership in teams (Teacher-Wagner et al., 2016). Principals also
84

84
need to be able to communicate a clear vision and expectations for the work so that stakeholders
stay connected to the purpose (Heifetz et al., 2009). Finally, principals need to know how to
employ systems for instructional feedback and professional development to improve classroom
practices (Garet et al., 2017). As there was evidence of principals’ ability to distribute leadership
across the school and to create an effective school climate and culture, they are not a high need
or priority.
Metacognitive Knowledge Solutions
Teachers need to be able to reflect and refine their practices based on feedback and data
(Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014). In addition, metacognitive knowledge is important
because it allows individuals to assess their level of awareness (Krathwohl, 2002). Teacher
reflection is often leveraged as a key component of professional learning and instructional
improvement
As teachers were able to demonstrate their ability to reflect and be metacognitive, this is
not a high priority for the organization. However, the organization should continue to provide
opportunities for reflection, which can be promoted through feedback and observation. High
performing organizations have learning opportunities that focus on instruction and building
capacity of teachers (Garza et al., 2014). The organization should continue to foster feedback to
promote reflection.
Similarly, principals need to critically reflect on their leadership practices. Leaders need
the disposition to learn to effectively lead change (Robertson & Earl, 2014). Principals engage in
ongoing reflection of dispositions, skills, values, and overall effectiveness on leading change.
This reflection also deepens connection to the organization.
As all principals were able to demonstrate their ability to reflect and be metacognitive,
this is not a high area or need or priority of the organization. While the institution has a principal
85

85
evaluation system that provides feedback to promote ongoing reflection, the principals should
continue to communicate these reflections. This vulnerability can build relationships and trust
between principals and teachers (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012). It can also demonstrate evidence of
care and emotional intelligence (Louis et al., 2016)
Motivation Recommendations
The knowledge influences in Table 12 include all assumed motivation influences and
indicated assets and needs as well as priority to address. The motivation influences of value, self-
efficacy and mood used to achieve the teachers’ and principals’ goal will be validated based on
the most frequently mentioned influences to achieve the stakeholder goal during semi-structured
interviews and supported by the literature review. The conceptual framework for this study is
Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis which emphasizes the importance of mental effort and
persistence in undertakings that make a difference. As indicated in Table 12, these influences are
indicated as either an asset or need and the priority need to achieve the stakeholder goals. Table
12 also shows the recommendations for these highly probable influences based on theoretical
principles. Table 12 lists the motivation causes, priority, principle, and recommendations.
Following the table, a detailed discussion for each high priority cause and recommendation and
the literature supporting the recommendation is provided.

86

86
Table 12
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed Motivation
Influence
Asset of
Need
Priority
High
Low
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Value
Teachers and
principals need to
value a 21st century
skill curriculum
Asset Low Motivation
increases when
people see the value
of the task and, due
to prior successes,
they have
confidence in their
ability (Eccles,
2006).
Provide opportunities
for colleagues to
collaboratively
dialogues on the value
of the work.
Self-Efficacy
Teachers and
Principals need to feel
confident in their
ability to enact a 21st
century skill
curriculum
Asset

Low Pajares (2006)
found that when
individuals can
successfully master
a task, self-efficacy
increases.
Celebrate successes as
teachers and principals
effectively complete
tasks
Mood
Principals need to be
inspired through a
clear, moral purpose
for enacting a 21st
century skill
curriculum
Need Low People who are
optimistic will
actively pursue
work goals (Clark &
Estes, 2008).

Provide professional
development and
reflection opportunities
for principals to reflect
on the purpose of their
work.

Value Solutions
Both teachers and principals need to value a 21st century skills curriculum. Motivation
increases when people see the value of the task and, due to prior successes, they have confidence
in their ability (Eccles, 2006). In addition, effective principals have a clear moral purpose for
87

87
doing the work that excites and motivates them (Bolman & Deal, 2013). This idealism and
dreaming fosters a common purpose for all (Kouzes & Posner, 2017).
As both teachers and stakeholders were able to demonstrate their value of a 21st century
curriculum this is not a high priority for the organization. However, the organization should
continue to provide opportunities for all stakeholders to have conversations on the value of the
work. Clear communication of these values can build shared expectations, commitment, and
overall satisfaction (Price, 2012).
Self-Efficacy Solutions
Both teachers and principals need to demonstrate self-efficacy and feel confident in their
ability to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. Pajares (2006) found that when individuals can
successfully master a task, self-efficacy increases. As such, teachers and principals need to be
successful in the ability to both teach and lead. This can support ongoing mental effort and
persistence to continue to enact a 21st century skill curriculum (Clark & Estes, 2008).
As both teachers and stakeholders were able to demonstrate their self-efficacy in enacting
a 21st century skills curriculum, this is not a high priority for the organization. The organization
should continue to foster this self-efficacy by celebrating and communicating successes.
Storytelling is an effective way to motivate and excite people to do the work (Bolman & Deal,
2013). These shared conversations can also encourage risk taking and foster collaboration and
trust between principals and teachers (Kouzes & Posner, 2017)
Mood Solutions
Principals need to feel inspired through a clear moral purpose for enacting a 21st century
skill curriculum. They need to have a sense of optimism. People who are optimistic will actively
pursue work goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Optimism can be fostered by revisiting the purpose
and vision of the work and builds trust and collective efficacy (Bevel & Mitchell, 2012).
88

88
While not all principals were able to demonstrate a positive mood around the work, and
thus a need, it is not a high priority. As all principals were able to clearly articulate their value in
the curriculum as well as self-efficacy, leveraging those assets should minimize mood. Research
shows that principals should continue to revisit the moral purpose on a regular basis to build
internal motivation and drive (Bolman & Deal, 2013). This vision and purpose can also support
leaders in times of uncertainty, fear, and change (Reeves, 2020). This in turn, can support mood.
Organization Recommendations
The organizational influences in Table 13 include all assumed organizational influences
and indicated assets and needs as well as priority to address. The organizational influences used
to achieve the teachers’ and principals’ goal will be validated based on the most frequently
mentioned cultural models and cultural settings influences to achieve the stakeholder goal during
semi-structured interviews and supported by the literature review. Even when stakeholders have
the knowledge and skills and are motivated, Clark and Estes (2008) suggest that a lack of
effective organizational resources and cultural settings/models may prevent stakeholders from
achieving their performance goals. According to Rueda (2011) cultural settings are the visible
characteristics of the who, what, when, where, why and how of the daily workings in an
organization, while the cultural models are often invisible and a shared mental representation of
the organizations structures, values, practices, and policies that develop in the specific work
settings. The cultural setting influence is the organization’s ability to provide resources and clear
expectations. The cultural model influence is the organization’s ability to provide an
environment that supports change and includes an environment that includes trust. will be
evaluated to determine any organizational gaps. Table 13 lists the organizational causes, priority,
principle, and recommendations. Following the table, a detailed discussion for each high priority
cause and recommendation and the literature supporting the recommendation is provided.
89

89
Table 13
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Organization
Influence
Asset or
Need
Priority
High
Low
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Cultural Models
The organization has a
culture that allows for
safety and risk taking.
Need High Organizational
performance
increases and trust is
promoted when
individuals and
leaders
communicate
openly and
constantly about
plans and progress
(Clark & Estes,
2008).
Provide clarity on what
is negotiable and non-
negotiable in terms
teaching and learning
Cultural Settings
The organization
provides resources
(time, training,
professional
developmental, etc.) to
enact a 21st century
skill curriculum.
Asset Low Organizational
effectiveness
increases when
leaders ensure that
employees have the
resources needed to
achieve the
organization’s goals
(Clark & Estes,
2008).
Provide ongoing
professional learning
and resources needed,
specifically in time.
The organization has
clearly articulated
expectations to enact a
21st century skill
curriculum.
Need

High Organizational
performance
increases when the
organization has a
vision, goals, and
ways to measure
progress (Clark &
Estes, 2008).
The organization
should clearly
communicate not only
long terms, but short-
term actionable goals
and expectations

90

90
Cultural Models Solutions
There is a disconnect between the principals perceived ability to create a safe culture and
climate to take risks and perceptions of teachers. While principals are demonstrating effective
strategies to create a safe climate and culture, teacher evidence demonstrates this as a need. Thus,
this is a high priority for the organization. As such, principals need to be clearer on the level of
autonomy and risk taking allowed. Clear expectations predict teacher satisfaction and cohesion
(Price, 2012). A key leverage point for this is the Professional Learning Community structure.
When principals are unable to work directly with PLCs, they need to work through the leaders to
leverage internal expertise and engagement (Printy, 2008). Principals must continue to support
the ongoing maintenance of PLCs and prioritize their effectiveness (Park et al., 2019) One
ongoing challenge for the organization is determining the autonomy teachers have within the
PLC structure. PLCs must have common assessments aligned to common learning agreements,
but teachers must have the freedom to try out new strategies to meet the needs of students
through high quality initial instruction, intervention, and extension (DuFour et al., 2020;
Marzano, 2016). To foster clear autonomy and risk taking, principals should communicate
teachers have the space to take risks in how they teach, intervene, and extend learning. This
shared clarity will clarify the types of risks allowed and when they can occur.
To effectively implement the 21st century skill curriculum, the organization needs to
have a culture that allows for safety and risk taking. Organizational performance increases and
trust is promoted when individuals and leaders communicate openly and constantly about plans
and progress (Clark & Estes, 2008). The organization develops the leadership capacity,
encourages risk taking, and rewards said risk taking (Heifetz, et al., 2009; Hollingworth et al.,
2018). This distributed leadership can build trust and collaboration and build opportunities for
ongoing leadership and foster a safe climate (Reeves, 2020; Sebastian et al., 2016).
91

91
Cultural Settings Solutions
To effectively implement the 21st century skills curriculum, the organization needs to
clearly articulate expectations to its stakeholders. Organizational performance increases when the
organization has a vision, goals, and ways to measure progress (Clark & Estes, 2008). Principals
in effective organizations not only create a compelling vision, but also clear action steps; a
blueprint for change where teachers know their personal role in enacting that change and see a
clear path (Reeves, 2020). Another key is the communication of these expectations to ensure that
the expectations are clear to all, which builds commitment to the organization (Price, 2012).
Both stakeholders of principals and teachers demonstrated evidence that there was a lack
of clarity in clear expectations for implementing 21st century skills curriculum. Thus, clear
expectations and goal setting is a need and high priority. Principals need to both set long term
goals, as well as tangible goals that have impact and can be completed (Foster, 1989; Fullan &
Kirtman, 2019). These goals need to share a long-term version and at the same time focus on
measurable results in the shorter term (Bolman & Gallos, 2021). In addition, the organization
should consider clear evaluation structures related to instruction of 21st century skills to hold
teachers accountable (Grissom et al., 2021; Ovando & Ramirez, 2007).
To effectively implement the 21st century skills curriculum, the organization needs to
provide resources, including training, time, materials, and professional development to its
stakeholders. Organizational effectiveness increases when leaders ensure that employees have
the resources needed to achieve the organization’s goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). A principal must
balance both managing and controlling resources as well as facilitate shared learning and
professional development (Early & Evans, 2003). Principals as leaders need to manage the “nuts
and bolts” of the organization while enacting and visioning change (Bolman & Deal, 2021).
92

92
Both principals and teachers were able to demonstrate that the organization provides
them with the resources needed to enact the 21st century skill curriculum, thus it is not a need
nor a priority. It’s important that the organization continues to provide the resources needed. This
includes time for formal collaboration on the curriculum, assessment, and instruction (Tichnor-
Wagner et al., 2016). The organization should continue to provide formal training and resources
to support teacher learning (Lieberman & Mace, 2008).
Summary of Knowledge, Motivation and Organization Recommendations

A priority knowledge recommendation is that the organization should provide explicit
training and professional development to teachers on how to directly teach 21st century skills.
This includes clearly articulated strategies and models that support student learning in 21st
century skills like collaboration, creativity, and self-management (McBride & Duncan-David,
2021). Another priority recommendation is for principals to better communicate clear vision
alongside clear short-term goals (Heifetz et al., 2009). In addition, principals should employ
improved systems for instructional feedback and professional development to improve classroom
practices (Garet et al., 2017). These priority knowledge recommendations will be the focus of the
implementation and evaluation plan.
The organization should consider the following knowledge recommendations, although
they are not of high priority. The organization should continue to communicate the identified
21st century skills on an ongoing basis to reinforce focus and upskill new faculty and staff. It
should continue to provide opportunities for teachers to make connections between their existing
curriculum and 21st century skills. The organizations should continue to provide ongoing
professional development and clear criteria on active learning experiences and performance
assessments to ensure sustainability. The organization should also continue to provide
opportunities for reflection, both for principals and teachers.
93

93
Principals must continue to demonstrate expertise in high quality instruction for them to
be effective instructional leaders. (Johnson et al., 2021). To do this, principals must continue to
observe classrooms and provide feedback on teaching. This will build trust while also allowing
principals to continually develop their “expert noticing” of high-quality instruction (Johnson et
al., 2021). Principals should continue to attend an effective school culture and climate,
specifically the culture of risk taking. Principals need to continually communicate clearly that it
is safe to take risks and monitor that this message is being received clearly.
The organization should consider the following motivation recommendations, although
they are not of high priority. The organization should continue to provide opportunities for all
stakeholders to have conversations on the value of the work. Clear communication of these
values can build shared expectations, commitment, and overall satisfaction (Price, 2012). In
addition, the organization should continue to foster this self-efficacy by celebrating and
communicating successes. Principals, specifically, should continue to revisit the moral purpose
on a regular basis to build internal motivation and drive (Bolman & Deal, 2013). This vision and
purpose can also support leaders in times of uncertainty, fear, and change and thus improve
mood (Reeves, 2020).
Two key organizational priorities have been identified. First, the organization, through
principals, needs to both set long term goals, as well as tangible goals that have impact and can
be completed (Foster, 1989; Fullan & Kirtman, 2019). These goals need to prioritize that come
from a long-term version and at the same time focus on measurable results (Bolman & Gallos,
2021). In addition, the organization should consider clear evaluation structures related to
instruction of 21st century skills to hold teachers accountable (Grissom et al., 2021; Ovando &
Ramirez, 2007). Secondly, Principals should communicate teachers have the space to take risks
in how they teach, intervene, and extend learning to foster clear autonomy and risk taking. This
94

94
should be done through supporting ongoing maintenance of PLCs to prioritize their effectiveness
(Park et al., 2019). These priority knowledge recommendations will be the focus of the
implementation and evaluation plan.
Overall, the organization should continue to provide formal training and resources to
support teacher learning (Lieberman & Mace, 2008). This is not a high priority. It’s important
that the organization continues to provide the resources needed. This includes time for formal
collaboration on the curriculum, assessment, and instruction (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2016).
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
The organization’s mission is to be a “leader in education creating the best thinkers and
learners prepared for the future.” Both stakeholders are responsible for enacting a 21st century
skills curriculum. The overall performance goal for the organization is that by September 2024,
the school principal will implement an informal walkthrough program (composed of peer
teachers and site leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and
motivation in their teaching of 21st Century skills. The stakeholders of focus for this study are
principals and teachers. Both stakeholders contribute to organizations goals of being a leader in
education that create the best thinkers and learners that will be prepared for the future. Principals
are responsible for effectively leading the schools in the organization, and they do this through
supporting teachers. Teachers are responsible for teaching their students effectively to ensure the
organization meets its goal. Both stakeholders are responsible for enacting a 21st century skills
curriculum. Table 14 illustrates the alignment of organizational mission, performance goal, and
stakeholder goal at SFS. The intended outcomes from the recommendations are to ensure both
stakeholders groups and are to effectively meet both their stakeholder goals as we as the
organizational mission.

95

95
Table 14

SFS Mission and Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
A Leader in Education Creating the Best Thinkers and Learners Prepared for the Future
Organizational Performance Goal
By September 2024, the school principal will implement an informal walkthrough program
(composed of peer teachers and site leaders) to ensure that teachers demonstrate the knowledge,
skills, and motivation in their teaching of 21st Century skills.
Principal Goal Teacher Goal School Goal Student Goal
By June 2024,
Principal leadership
will self-report
through surveys the
motivation and skills
that affect change in
teachers’ instructional
practice to enact 21st
century skills.
By June 2024,
teachers will self-
report through
surveys the
instructional ability,
capacity, and
motivation to
consistently enact a
21st century skills
curriculum
By January 2027, the
school’s accreditation
report will show data
of consistently
reporting student
achievement in 21st
century skills
By June 2025,
Students will
demonstrate high
achievement in
assessments aligned
to 21st Century
Skills

Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The model that guided the design of this implementation and evaluation plan is the New
World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), based on the original Kirkpatrick
Four Level Model of Evaluation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006). In the New World Model,
the four levels of reactions, learning, behavior, and results are considered in reverse so that
training and education can be backwards designed to ensure accountability for clearly intended
outcomes. In the sections that follow, Level Four is considered first as the desired internal and
external outcomes are defined. Level Four outcomes are informed by the organization’s mission
96

96
and goals, and in this study the outcomes align to the stakeholder group of teachers and
principals in their ability to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. Level Three follows with
defining the critical behaviors that must be cultivated in the teacher and principal stakeholder
groups, identifying the necessary drivers to correct or adjust knowledge and motivation
influences, and articulating the necessary organizational support structures to enact the drivers.
In Level Two the learning goals are articulated in support of the desired critical behaviors, and a
program is planned to both target and evaluate declarative and procedural knowledge, attitude,
confidence, and commitment. In Level One a plan is developed for measuring teachers’ and
principals’ reaction including, engagement, satisfaction, and their perception of the relevance of
enacting a 21st century skill curriculum. The inverted use of the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick
(2006) levels is meant to increase the likelihood that enduring learning, behavior change, and
organizational results are the ultimate outcomes of education or training interventions.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Table 15 shows the proposed Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators on internal and external
outcomes and the metrics and methods that could be used to evaluate them. In addition, the
results and leading indicators focus on the high priority needs articulated earlier in this chapter.
The outcomes are the lead indicators of continual, successful attainment of the long-range goal to
achieve an effectively implemented 21st century skill curriculum. The leading indicators are
used to measure accomplishments and/or undesirable outcomes by tracking the critical behaviors
impact on the desired outcomes (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The short-term observations
and measurements that would indicate if the stakeholders were achieving the desired outcomes
are surveys, observations and walkthroughs, interviews, and audits. Table 15 shows the specific
external & internal outcomes, metrics and methods used to monitor progress and gauge
effectiveness.
97

97

Table 15

Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes

Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
Improved faculty
commitment to the
organization
Decrease frequency of teacher
resignations from the
organization
Exit-interviews, resignations
Internal Outcomes
Increased teacher
knowledge and skill in
directly teaching 21st
century skills
One to two examples of directly
teaching a 21st century skill
demonstrated in classroom
walkthroughs
Peer and principal walkthroughs
every semester
Increased teacher
knowledge of and skill in
assessing 21st century
skills
Two performance assessments
aligned to the 21st century skill
curriculum
Performance assessment
curriculum audit annually
Principals improved
leadership in safe school
culture
Increased percentage in
satisfaction from faculty
Leadership survey annually
Principals improved
leadership in clearly
articulate mission, vision,
and goals
Increased percentage in
satisfaction from faculty
Leadership survey annually
Increased feedback
provided to teachers from
principals and teacher
leaders
Increased frequency in number
of observations
Teachboost observation tracking
software
Improved culture of risk-
taking and safety
Increased percentage in
satisfaction from faculty and
principals
Faculty and principal
satisfaction survey annually
Improved clarity of short-
term and long-term
experiences
Increased percentage in
satisfaction from faculty and
principals
Faculty and principal
satisfaction survey annually

Level 3: Behavior
Critical Behaviors
Level 3 measures the critical behaviors stakeholders need. Critical behaviors are the few
actions, which will have the biggest impact on the desired results if performance consistently
98

98
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The first critical behavior will be to have principals and
teacher leaders conduct walkthroughs and observations to provide feedback on the
implementation of 21st century skills. The second critical behavior will be to have both
principals and teachers attend professional learning community meetings to provide feedback
and make sure expectations are clear to all. Third, teachers will need to engage in ongoing
professional development on how to directly teach 21st century skills. Fourth, principals and
teachers will need to facilitate meetings to reflect on the work and celebrate successes. Fifth,
principals will need to clearly communicate expectations including purpose for the work as well
as long-term and short-term goals. Table 16 articulates the critical behaviors, metrics, methods,
and timing for evaluation.

99

99

Table 16

Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s) Method(s) Timing
1) Principals and
teacher leaders
conduct
walkthroughs and
observations to
provide feedback
on the
implementation of
21st century skills
Number of
observed instances
of directly
teaching 21st
century skills
Observations will occur
in small teams to
observe different
classrooms and contexts
Weekly for the first
quarter, then
biweekly for the
rest of the semester
2) Principals and
teachers attend
professional
learning
community
meetings to
provide feedback
and clarify
expectations
Number of
attended meetings
Professional learning
community team
meetings that occur each
week
Monthly
3) Teachers engage
in ongoing
professional
learning on how to
directly teach 21st
century skills
Feedback survey Within existing team
meetings or full day
training sessions outside
of the classroom
Once a month,
either during formal
pull-out training or
in existing team
meetings
4) Principals and
teachers facilitate
team meetings to
reflect on
implementation of
work and
celebrate
successes
Feedback survey Through existing
weekly faculty meeting
structure
Each semester
5) Principals
communicate
clear vision,
mission, and goals
of the
organization
Feedback survey Through existing
weekly faculty meeting
structure
Each semester

100

100

Required Drivers
Level 3 also articulates the required drivers. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) that these
are systems and processes that reinforce, monitor, encourage, and reward the performances for
the critical behaviors indicated above. Teachers require the support of their principal, peers, and
the organization to reinforce, encourage, reward, and monitor their activities. Similarly,
principals need feedback and support from the organization to also reinforce, encourage, and
monitor their leadership practices. Reinforcement is used to remind participants of what they
learned and provide ongoing training to remind them of best practices. Encouragement is a
formal way to provide support through coaching and mentoring. Rewarding involves recognition
for successes. Monitoring ensures accountability by monitoring performance of the participants
through a variety of methods and tools. Table 17 shows the recommended drivers to support
critical behaviors of the big advisor.

101

101

Table 17
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors
Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Provide training and professional
development on teaching 21st
century skills instructional
practices
Ongoing 1, 3
Professional Learning Community
meetings to collaborate and reflect
upon best practices being
implemented
Weekly 2,3,4,5
Encouraging
Teacher peer observations and
feedback of instructional strategies
aligned to 21st century skills
Ongoing 1
Rewarding
Public recognitions of successes
implementing 21st century skill
curriculum at faculty meetings
Each semester 3,4
Sharing individual teacher
successes at team meetings
Weekly 4
Monitoring
Classroom walkthrough and
observations for evidence of 21st
century skill teaching strategies
Ongoing 1, 4
Teachers submitted high quality
assessment tasks with principals
Each semester 1,2
Leadership practice surveys
submitted by teacher
Annually 2,5

Organizational Support
The aforementioned critical behaviors in Table 16 and required drivers described in Table
17 are predicated on the implementation of the recommendations on the organizational level. To
ensure the effective implementation of the 21st century skills curriculum, the cultural models and
102

102
settings must be addressed. Specifically, the organization should continue to support resources,
especially professional development, and teacher learning. This professional development should
focus on directly teaching 21st century skills. In addition, the organization should clearly express
its expectations for this area of need. It should clearly set long term goals for directly teaching
21st century skills as well as short goals so that teachers are held accountable. This will support
the critical behavior that principals need to set clear long term and short expectations. Part of this
professional learning would also need to be focused on time for principals and teachers to
observe, be observed, and engage in ongoing data collection and feedback loops. A clear teacher
observation or evaluation framework would also support encouraging and monitoring. The data
collected can also be used to reinforce and reward teachers for successful implementation.
Finally, team meetings and professional learning communities should focus on the work of
implementing the 21st century skill curriculum. The organization already has this structure in
place, and this will support the critical behavior of having principals attend and provide feedback
to those teams, as well as provide clarity of expectations.
Level 2: Learning
The following program learning goals target the level 3 critical behaviors to support both
teacher and principal behavior change to achieving the internal leading indicators at level 4 to
ensure alignment to larger organizational and stakeholder goals. Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick
(2016) define learning as the degree to which participants acquired the knowledge, skills,
attitude, confidence, and commitment as they engage in training and professional development.
Teacher Learning Goals
Following the implementation of the recommended solutions, the teacher stakeholder group
will be able to do the following:
1. Define the articulated 21st century skills of the organization (D)
103

103
2. Make connections between existing curriculum and 21st century skills (C)
3. Design authentic, application-focused learning experience and performance assessments
to assess 21st century skills. (P)
4. Directly teach 21st century skills through a variety of instructional strategies (P)
5. Indicate confidence in their ability to teach and assess 21st century skills (confidence)
6. Value the learning experiences that teach 21st century skills (value)
7. Commit to ongoing development of teaching and learning experiences that teach and
assess 21st century skills (commitment)
Principal Learning Goals
Following the implementation of the recommended solutions, the principal stakeholder group
will be able to do the following:
1. Define the articulated 21st century skills of the organization (D)
2. Understand high quality instruction that fosters the teaching of 21st century skills (C)
3. Provide ongoing feedback to teachers and teams in their ability to implement a 21st
century skill curriculum (P)
4. Clearly communicate the purpose of implementing a 21st century skill curriculum as well
as set clear long-term and short-term goals (P)
5. Foster a safe and collaborative culture where it is safe to take risks (P)
6. Indicate confidence in their ability to lead and effectively enact a 21st century skills
curriculum (confidence)
7. Value the learning experiences that teach 21st century skills (value)
8. Commit to ongoing implementation of a 21st century skills curriculum (commitment)
Both stakeholder learning goals are derived from the knowledge, motivation, and organization
solutions articulated at the end of Chapter Four. They are a list of what stakeholders need to
104

104
know and be able to do following the learning event and implementation of the program to
perform the critical behaviors listed above.
Teacher Program
The organization will need to institute formal training and professional development to
support teachers in effectively teaching and assessing 21st century skills. This would be a series
or modules or faculty training meetings that occur within one semester. The sessions should
involve the principals clearly articulating the purpose of the work as well as concrete goals for
the semester. This should include expectations related to explicitly teaching 21st century skills as
well as assessment practices. The sessions should be led by both the principal and other
instructional leaders such as coaches, department leaders and deputy principals. In addition, the
program should provide a resource site or toolkit that allows teachers quick and easy access to
instructional materials and resources to effectively implement after the training session itself.
This program will support teachers in their learning to enact a 21st century skills curriculum.
Evaluation of the Teacher Components of Learning
To determine the effectiveness of the program for teachers, there will need to be
assessment of knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence, and commitment. Assessing these will
ensure that knowledge and motivational influences are positively impacting teachers’ ability to
implement a 21st century skill curriculum. Table 18 highlights the methods and timing for
evaluating the knowledge and motivational components of learning.

105

105
Table 18
Evaluation of the Teacher Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Likert scale survey items connected to teacher
program modules on teaching and assessing
21st century skills
After implementation of teacher program
training modules
Audit of curriculum and assessment tasks End of semester
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Likert scale survey items connected to teacher
program modules on teaching and assessing
21st century skills
After implementation of teacher program
training modules
Ongoing professional learning community
team meetings
Weekly
Classroom observations of teaching 21st
century skills
Ongoing, informal
Audit of curriculum and assessment tasks End of semester
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Likert scale survey items connected to teacher
program modules on teaching and assessing
21st century skills
After implementation of teacher program
training modules
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
teacher program modules on teaching and
assessing 21st century skills
End of semester
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Likert scale survey items connected to teacher
program modules on teaching and assessing
21st century skills
After implementation of teacher program
training modules
Ongoing professional learning community
team meetings
Weekly
Faculty meetings to share successes Monthly
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
teacher program modules on teaching and
assessing 21st century skills
End of semester
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Goal setting conversation with supervisor,
either principal or deputy principal
Yearly
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
teacher program modules on teaching and
assessing 21st century skills
End of semester

106

106
Principal Program
While principals will be part of the teacher program indicated above, they will need their
own learning session. This will involve two components. The first is leadership training and
retreat at the beginning of the semester. In this session, central leadership and principals will
collaborate to not only set clear goals for enacting a 21st century skills curriculum, but also
engage professional development themselves on how to effectively lead the work. This retreat
will also include some direct instruction on and exposure to the toolkit and resources indicated in
the teacher program which houses instructional materials on how to teach 21st century skills.
The second part of the program will be ongoing leadership coaching with an outside consultant.
Here the principals will connect monthly with their coach to reflect on the specific leadership
behaviors indicated above, including setting clear expectations and goals, creating a culture of
safety and risk taking, and employing and providing feedback to teachers on their instructional
practice.
Evaluation of the Principal Components of Learning
To determine the effectiveness of the program for principals, there will need to be
assessment of knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence, and commitment. Assessing these will
ensure that knowledge and motivational influences are having a positive impact on principals
and their leadership. Table 19 highlights the methods and timing for evaluating the knowledge
and motivational components of learning.

107

107
Table 19
Evaluation of the Principal Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Likert scale survey items connected to learning
goals of principal program
End of the learning program initial session
Principal team meeting Monthly
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Likert scale survey items connected to learning
goals of principal program
End of the learning program initial session
Email communication to teachers on the goals
and expectations for 21st century skills
curriculum
Beginning or the semester, midway through
semester
Leadership survey results that target a variety
of leadership skills, data provided from faculty
Yearly
Email communication of findings and goals
from leadership survey to faculty
Yearly
Senior Leadership team meeting “Leadership
journey” share-outs that focus on principal and
leadership development
Each principal shares once a semester
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
“Elevator Pitch” activity where principals
share their vision and purpose
End of the learning program initial session
Senior Leadership team meeting “Leadership
journey” share-outs that focus on principal and
leadership development
Each principal shares once a semester
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
leadership coaching sessions
End of semester
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Likert scale survey items connected to
leadership coaching sessions
At the end of the semester
Senior Leadership team meeting “Leadership
journey” share-outs that focus on principal and
leadership development
Each principal shares once a semester
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
leadership coaching sessions
End of semester
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Goal setting with Deputy Superintendent Yearly, or more frequent as needed
Feedback from Superintendent Weekly
Delayed Likert scale survey items connected to
leadership coaching sessions
End of semester

108

108
Level 1: Reaction
Level 1 evaluation seeks to measure reactions to the program in the categories of
engagement, relevance, and satisfaction (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Table 20 indicates
the methods or tools for evaluating these reactions and indicates the frequency and timing of
each evaluation specific to teachers. Table 21 indicates the methods or tools for evaluating these
reactions and indicates the frequency and timing of each evaluation specific to principals.

Table 20
Components to Measure Reactions to the Teacher Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Likert scale survey connected to training on
21st century skills
End of training sessions
Observations by training sessions facilitator
(principal, deputy principal)
Ongoing during the trainings
Completed curriculum and assessment tasks End of training sessions
Relevance
Likert scale survey connected to training on
21st century skills
End of training sessions
Informal check-ins with teachers by training
sessions facilitator (principal, deputy principal)
Ongoing during the trainings
Customer Satisfaction
Likert scale survey connected to training on
21st century skills
End of training sessions

109

109

Table 21
Components to Measure Reactions to the Principal Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Likert scale survey connected to
implementation of 21st century skill
curriculum
End of initial leadership training and retreat
session
Observations by training sessions facilitator Ongoing, during initial leadership training and
retreat session
Relevance
Likert scale survey connected to
implementation of 21st century skill
curriculum
End of initial leadership training and retreat
session
Informal check-ins with teachers by training
sessions facilitator
Ongoing, during initial leadership training and
retreat session
Leadership coaching feedback survey After each leadership coaching session
Customer Satisfaction
Likert scale survey connected to
implementation of 21st century skill
curriculum
End of initial leadership training and retreat
session
Leadership coaching feedback survey After each leadership coaching session

Evaluation Tools
Immediately Following the Program Implementation
Tables 18, 19, 20 and 20 mentioned survey items and evaluations as specific examples of
ways to measure Level 1 and Level 2 outcomes immediately following program implementation.
In this evaluation plan, Level 1 questions are intended to measure both teacher and principal
perceptions of engagement, the relevance of the material, and overall satisfaction using a four-
point, forced choice, Likert scale.
Level 2 evaluations are intended to measure declarative and procedural knowledge,
confidence, attitude, and commitment. The Level 2 rating items in this evaluation plan are
designed to include an immediate post-program assessment using a 4 point, forced choice, Likert
110

110
scale. The items intend to measure both the effectiveness of the programs in achieving the
learning goals as well as perceptions of opportunities for growth in knowledge, confidence,
attitude, and commitment. Appendix F provides Level 1 and Level 2 rating items that could be
used for the teacher program evaluation. Appendix G provides Level 1 and Level 2 rating item
that could be used for the principal program evaluation
Delayed For a Period After the Program Implementation
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) advise additional program evaluation after the initial
program to allow for required drivers and critical behaviors to manifest. This allows us to
measure progress after time has been given to implement key knowledge and skills. While this
recommended timeframe may vary depending on the organization, it is recommended to occur
after 90 days from the initial learning program (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Delayed
evaluation tools intend to assess not only Level 1 and 2 reactions and learning, but also Level 3
and Level 4. Level 3 assesses the extent to which participants have been able apply their
knowledge and skills, and thus demonstrate a change in behavior. Level 4 assesses the extent to
which participants are getting results from the learning program. The delayed evaluation plans
design includes both open-ended and 4-point, forced choice, Likert scale items. Appendix H
provides rating items that could be used for the delayed teacher program evaluation. Appendix I
provides rating item that could be used for the delayed principal program evaluation
Data Analysis and Reporting
The suggested implementation and evaluation will generate a significant amount of data.
It's important that pitfalls are avoided in the data collection and analysis. The suggested data
analysis and reporting method intends to avoid spending too much time and Level 1 and 2
feedback, asking questions that don’t generate usable data, making data analysis presentations
that are too complicated and not using the data to inform next steps (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
111

111
2016). The organization should work with its data analyst and central office to create PowerPoint
presentations for both initial and delayed evaluation tools that articulates 1) Data points to
celebrate 2) Data points of urgent concern and 3) data points that require no action but should be
monitored. This will allow leaders to celebrate successes and focus on the most urgent data to
prioritized next steps. The presentations should have three clear slides that share the data analysis
followed by pie charts of the results of Likert scale items and coding of key items and
frequencies in the open response questions. The data analysis should be confidential and remove
any clear markers to protect the identity of those who submitted their responses. From this,
leaders could engage in data protocols to predict the data they might see before revealing it,
examine key points, make inferences on possible causes, and then determine next steps. This will
allow for a focused conversation where leaders spend time uncovering the data without rushing
to next steps that might not address the issues or challenges evident from the data. Once this
analysis and reporting is complete for leaders, a similar report should be communicated to
faculty on an ongoing basis to build transparency and trust. It should highlight key areas of
strength and growth, and next steps that have been determined by the leadership team.
Summary of the Implementation and Evaluation
The New World Kirkpatrick Model was employed to design an integrated
implementation and evaluation plan to enact recommended solutions to the challenges of
implementing a 21st century skills curriculum (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This was
designed using backwards planning, starting from the Level 4 leading indicators of goal
attainment and Level 3 stakeholder critical behaviors. The suggested program articulated
specific professional development and actions for both the stakeholders of teachers and
principals. For teachers, this was a series of training and professional sessions. For principals,
this was an initial training or retreat followed by leadership coaching. Following the
112

112
implementations of these programs, there is a suggested evaluation tool to measure Level 1
reactions and Level 2 learning goals for both teachers and principals. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick
(2016) recommend gathering data early and during implementation, rather than the end of
implementation. This will ensure that there can be strategic interventions to correct critical
behaviors and ensure required drivers are in place to move toward effective implementation. In
addition, these interventions can focus on gaps in learning from Level 2. A delayed evaluation
tool was suggested for both teacher and principal stakeholders to measure Level 1 reactions and
Level 2 learning goals, as well as Level 3 critical behaviors and Level 4 results to be used as a
tool to use data to drive needed interventions. Frequent and repeated data collection allows the
organization to explore the following three questions about outcomes at any of the four
Kirkpatrick levels: (a) Does this outcome meet expectations? (b) if so, why?, and (c) and if not,
why not? (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). As implementation improves and changes, new
evaluation tools will need to be created to assess new learning goals, critical behaviors and
results that will emerge.
The New World Kirkpatrick Model is meant to clearly articulate expectations from the
outset of implementation and identify clear indicators of success to measure the success of the
program (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This will ensure return on expectations, defined as
the ultimate indicator of the value of the training program. It allows leaders to clearly assess if
they were successful, rather than having to prove or justify if they were successful after the fact.
The New World Kirkpatrick Model will allow SFS to set clear targets for improving the
implementation of a 21st century skills curriculum as well as assess progress along the way,
providing a greater likelihood of the implementation being successful.
Limitations and Delimitations
113

113
Potential limitations and delimitations of the study were first considered in the design and
methodology, as can be seen at the conclusion of Chapter Three. With data analysis and
recommendations now complete, a broader discussion and summary of limitations and
delimitations of the results can be presented.
As it is a qualitative study, its generalizability is limited, and thus the study itself may not
be as applicable to other contexts (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The study is not prescriptive.
This is especially true when the questions directly name the specific context of an affluent,
private, international school. While other schools may draw on ideas of the study, they cannot
completely account for the specific context of the organization they are a part of.
One key limitation for the study is the small sample size of both teachers and principals.
Not all grade levels, disciplines and contexts are represented in the sample size. While the choice
of participants across different teaching contexts provided a cross section of teacher responses, it
did not account for every grade level or discipline, thereby ignoring other possible perspectives.
In addition, as the sample size was across the full grade levels of the school, it does not provide
data on specific results or recommendations for the elementary, middle, and high school
respectively.
The meaning made from the data is influenced by the concepts, literature, theories, and
models, and thus reveal and conceal findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). There are only three
principals in the organization, which represents a limited sample size to make generalizability
likely. The study focuses on key influences principals have as leaders, but also doesn’t key all
leadership influences. The study is designed intentionally not to include other administrators in a
similar role, such as assistant or deputy principals, thus perspectives and leadership influences of
other administrators are not accounted for. This ignores an important voice of leadership as part
of study in leadership, which may seem counterintuitive. Similarly, student and parent
114

114
stakeholder voice are not included, which may limit data and insight into voices who are
impacted by school leadership.
Another key limitation is the time at which the study occurred. The organization is
currently in the process of enacting a 21st century skill curriculum with current stakeholders. As
such, conditions change, and current knowledge, motivation, and organization influences change,
as the organization continues to work towards its performance goals. For instance, as teachers
build their capacity to enact the curriculum, they may need new knowledge and motivation.
Similarly, principals’ knowledge, motivation, and organizations influences may adapt as the
organization moves closer to meeting its performance goal. In addition, these stakeholders may
leave the organization, indeed, some stakeholders will have departed after completion of the
study. This in turn may influence the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences with
stakeholders new to the organization.
Recommendations for Future Research
This study sought to explore the knowledge-based, motivation, and organizational root
causes for both teachers and principals in the implementation of a 21st century skills curriculum.
This focus was selected because research showed that principals, particularly in instructional
leadership, have influence on the teachers they lead and ultimately the students they serve. The
study highlighted one area of contradiction between principals’ perceived strength in providing
feedback and teacher stakeholders sharing competing evidence. It is worth further exploring how
such a contradiction can manifest not only in terms of feedback but also in other areas of
leadership where principals and teachers might disagree about a principal's ability to lead
effectively for change.
In addition, the focus of leadership in this study focused on principals as the leader that
can leverage change. However, deputy and assistant principals serve in similar capacities and
115

115
roles to lead instructional change. Further studies should illuminate different levels of leadership
and their instructional leadership and influence on teacher’s ability to implement a 21st century
skills curriculum. This could include team leaders, department heads, instructional coaches, and
other important mid-level leadership.
Finally, to truly understand the impact of this important work to implement a 21st century
skills curriculum, further research is needed on the impact on students themselves, both from a
qualitative and quantitative perspective. It is worth exploring if the changes in teacher practice
are having a positive or negative impact on student learning. Ultimately student achievement is
the goal of an educational organization. A mixed method approach that includes document
analysis and classroom observations would provide more data and a well-rounded assessment of
implementation. Thus, it is important that future studies explore the many ways students are
impacted by the change, both in terms of traditional measures like standardized testing and in
engagement and overall satisfaction of learning.
Conclusion

This study explored principal leadership influences on teacher’s capacity to implement a
21st century skills curriculum using the Clark and Estes’ (2008) KMO framework. A deeper
understanding of both principal and teacher knowledge and motivation as well as organizational
influences provided the opportunity to evaluate progress thus far and generate recommendations
for the ongoing implementation of a 21st century skills curriculum at the organization. The
Singapore School of the Future (SFS) articulates their vision through specific 21st century skills,
called “Learning Transfer Goals.” The Learning Transfer Goals include “Critical Thinking,”
“Collaboration,” “Communication,” “Creativity,” and “Cultural Competence.” While these
Learning Transfer Goals have existed as part of the schools’ vision for many years, the new
strategic framework explicitly has a focus to ensure every classroom and co-curricular program
116

116
reflects these 21st century skills through an aligned curriculum and assessment practices by
2027. The organization is in the process of implementing these 21st century skills into classroom
practice to make a direct impact on student learning.
At the conclusion of this study, this work is critically important to the organization and
evidence showed many assets in both their principals and teachers that the organization can
continue to leverage. However, the broad study of all the KMO factors for teachers and
principals demonstrated areas of improvement. Evidence showed that teachers are both highly
motivated to engage in the work as well as in effective instructional practices to support
implementation. However, teachers need more specific training and support in directly teaching
21st century skills in addition to their strengths in experiential and application-based learning
experiences. Evidence also showed that principals have high motivation and strong leadership
skills. However, while principals perceived they were effective in providing feedback on
instruction, teacher evidence pointed to the contrary, indicating a need to improve systems for
feedback on teaching and learning in the organization. In addition, while the organization
provided resources needed, evidence showed that the organization needs to improve the culture
of risk taking and safety and be clearer around expectations, including long-term and short-term
goals. As the organization continues to implement the 21st century skills curriculum, they can
continue to improve as they collect data and make decisions to improve student learning.
117

117
References

Akcanca, N. (2020). 21st Century Skills: The Predictive Role of Attitudes Regarding STEM
Education and Problem-Based Learning. International Journal of Progressive Education,
16(5), 443–458.
Anderson, M. (2017) "Transformational Leadership in Education: A Review of Existing
Literature." International Social Science Review, vol. 93, no. 1, p. C1+. Gale Academic
OneFile,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A510297514/AONE?u=usocal_main&sid=AONE&xid=494a4f5
8. Accessed 24 Jan. 2021.
Barni, Danioni, F., & Benevene, P. (2019). Teachers’ self-efficacy: The role of personal values
and motivations for teaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(JULY), 1645–1645.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01645
Baker, L. (2006). Developmental differences in metacognition: Implications for metacognitively
oriented reading instruction. In S. E. Israel, C. Collins Block, K. L. Bauserman, & K.
Kinnucan-Welsch (Eds.), Metacognition in literacy learning (pp. 83–102). New York,
NY: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781410613301
Berliner, D. C. (2009). MCLB (much curriculum left behind): A U.S. calamity in the making.
The Educational Forum, 73(4), 284-296. Retrieved from
http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy2.usc.edu/scholarly-
journals/mclb-much-curriculum-left-behind-u-s-calamity/docview/220664943/se-
2?accountid=14749
Bevel, R. K., & Mitchell, R. M. (2012). The effects of academic optimism on elementary reading
achievement. Journal of Educational Administration, 50(6), 773-787.
Blazer, Ch. (2011). Unintended consequences of high-stakes testing. Research Services 1008.
118

118
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (1994). Looking for leadership: Another search party's report.
Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(1), 77-96.
Clark, R. E., & Estes, F. (2008). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the right
performance solutions. Charlotte, NC: Information Age
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher
learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24(May), 249–305.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x024001249
Deal, T. E. and Peterson, K. D. (1999) Shaping School Culture: The Heart of Leadership (San
Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass).
Dede, C. (2010). Comparing frameworks for 21st century skills. In J. Bellanca & R. Brandt
(Eds.), 21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn (pp. 51–75). Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree.
DeMatthews, D. (2014). How to Improve Curriculum Leadership: Integrating Leadership Theory
and Management Strategies. The Clearing House, 87(5), 192–196.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2014.911141
DuFour, R., DuFour, R. B., Eaker, R. E., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2020). Learning by doing:
A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Solution Tree Press.
Eaker, R., & Dufour, R. (2002). Introduction. Getting started: A conceptual framework for
creating a professional learning community. In Getting started: Reculturing schools to
become professional learning communities (pp. 1–8). Solution tree Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004
Eaker, R. (2002). Cultural shifts: Transforming schools into professional learning communities.
In Getting started: Reculturing schools to become professional learning communities (pp.
9-29). Solution tree Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004
119

119
Eccles, J.S. (2005). Subjective task value and the Eccles et al. model of achievement-related
choices. In A.J. Elliot & C.S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation
(pp.105-121). New York: Guilford Press.
Eccles, J. (2006). Expectancy value motivational theory. Retrieved from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/expectancy-value-motivational- theory/
Elliott, B. (1999). Curriculum Leadership as Mediated Action. Teachers and Teaching, Theory
and Practice, 5(2), 171–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354060990050203
Elmore, B. R. F. (2002). Bridging the gap between standards and achievement: The imperative
for professional development in education. Albert Shanker Institute.
Elmore, R. F. (2006, June). International perspectives on School Leadership for Systemic
Improvement. OECD Activity on Improving School Leadership: International conference
Fink, S., & Markholt, A. (2011). Leading for instructional improvement: How successful leaders
develop teach. John Wiley & Sons.
Freiberg, H. J. (1999) School Climate: Measuring, Improving and Sustaining Healthy Learning
Environments (Philadelphia, PA: Falmer Press).
Fullan, M. (2005). Leadership & sustainability: System thinkers in action. Corwin Press.
Gallimore, R., & Goldenberg, C. (2001). Analyzing cultural models and settings to connect
minority achievement and school improvement research. Educational Psychologist,
36(1), 45–56. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3601_5
Gill, R. (2002) Change management--or change leadership? Journal of Change Management,
3:4, 307-318, DOI: 10.1080/714023845
González-Salamanca, J. C., Agudelo, O. L., & Salinas, J. (2020). Key Competences, Education
for Sustainable Development and Strategies for the Development of 21st Century Skills.
120

120
A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 12(24), 10366. MDPI AG. Retrieved
from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su122410366
Gordon, J., Halsz, G., Krawczyk, M., Leney, T., Michel, A., Pepper, D., Putkiewicz, E.,and
Wisniewski, W. (2009) Key competences in Europe. Opening doors for lifelong learners
across the school curriculum and teacher education (Warsaw, Center for Social and
Economic Research on behalf of CASE Network). Available online at:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/more-information/moreinformation139_en.htm, accessed 5
April 2010.
Gulmez, & Negis Isik, A. (2020). The Correlation between School Principals’ Self-Efficacy
Beliefs and. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 12(1).
https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2020.01.020
Hallinger, P. (2011), “Leadership for learning: lessons from 40 years of empirical research”,
Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 125-142.
Hallinger, P. and Heck, R. H. (1998) Exploring the principal’s contribution to school
effectiveness: 1980–1995. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 9(2), 157–191.
H. Heck, R., & Hallinger, P. (2014). Modeling the longitudinal effects of school leadership on
teaching and learning. Journal of Educational Administration, 52(5), 653-681.
Johnson, J. F., Uline, C. L., & Perez, L. G. (2011). Expert noticing and principals of high-
performing urban schools. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 16(2), 122-
136.
Kirkpatrick, D., & Kirkpatrick, J. (2006). Evaluating training programs: The four levels. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.
Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation.
ATD Press.
121

121
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview. Theory Into Practice,
41(4), 212–218. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D. & Steinbach, R. (1998) Leadership and other conditions which foster
organizational learning in schools, in: K. Leithwood & K. Seashore Louise (Eds)
Organizational Learning in Schools (Lisse, Netherlands, Swets & Zeitlinger).
Leithwood, K., & Sun, J. (2012). The nature and effects of transformational school leadership: A
meta-analytic review of unpublished research. Educational Administration Quarterly,
48(3), 387-423.
Lieberman, A., & Mace, D.H.P. (2008). Teacher learning: The key to educational reform.
Journal of Teacher Education, 59(3), 226–234. doi:10.1177/0022487108317020
Lochmiller, C.R. & Lester, J. N. (2017). An introduction to educational research: Connecting
methods to practice. Sage Publications.
Louis, K. S., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K. L., Anderson, S. E., Michlin, M., & Mascall, B.
(2010). Learning from leadership: Investigating the links to improved student learning.
Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement/University of Minnesota and
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, 42, 50.
MacNeil, A., Prater, D., & Busch, S. (2009). The effects of school culture and climate on student
achievement. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 12(1), 73–84.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120701576241
Marzano, R. J. (2016). Collaborative teams that transform schools: The next step in plcs.
Marzano Research.
McBride, C., & Duncan-Davis, B. (2021). Ready for the workforce: Engaging strategies for
teaching secondary learners employability skills. Solution Tree Press.
122

122
McPhail. G., (2018) Curriculum integration in the senior secondary school: a case study in a
national assessment context, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50:1, 56-76, DOI:
10.1080/00220272.2017.1386234
Merriam, S., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation
(4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Minarechová, M. (2012). Negative impacts of high-stakes testing. Journal of Pedagogy, 3(1), 82-
n/a. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy2.usc.edu/10.2478/v10159-012-0004-x
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership. SAGE.
Pajares, F. (2006). Self-efficacy theory. Retrieved from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/self-efficacy-theory/
Pan, Nyeu, F.-Y., & Cheng, S.-H. (2017). Leading school for learning: principal practices in
Taiwan. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(2), 168–185.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2016-0069
Pintrich, P. R. (2003). A motivational science perspective on the role of student motivation in
learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 667–686.
doi:10.1037/0022-0663.95.4.667
Printy, S. (2008). Leadership for Teacher Learning: A Community of Practice Perspective.
Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(2), 187–226.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07312958
Richardson, Karabenick, S. A., & Watt, H. M. G. (2014). Teacher motivation: theory and
practice. Routledge.
Robinson, L. (2008). The Impact of Leadership on Student Outcomes: An Analysis of the
Differential Effects of Leadership Types. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(5),
635–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X08321509
123

123
Rueda, R. (2011). The 3 dimensions of improving student performance. New York, NY:
Teachers College Press.
Schleicher, A. (2012). (Ed.). Preparing teachers and developing school leaders for the 21st
century: Lessons from around the world. Paris, France: OECD.
Schunk, D. (2020). Learning theories: An educational perspective (8th ed.). Boston, MA:
Pearson Education.
Shaked, H., & Schechter, C. (2016). Holistic school leadership: Systems thinking as an
instructional leadership enabler. NASSP Bulletin, 100(4), 177-202.
doi:10.1177/0192636516683446
Skaalvik. (2020). School principal self-efficacy for instructional leadership: relations with
engagement, emotional exhaustion, and motivation to quit. Social Psychology of
Education, 23(2), 479–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09544-4
Snyder, L. G., & Snyder, M. J. (2008). Teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 50(2), 90-99. Retrieved from
http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/scholarly-
journals/teaching-critical-thinking-problem-solving-skills/docview/61902571/se-
2?accountid=14749
Stronge, J. H., & Xu, X. (2021). Qualities of effective principals. ASCD.
Supovitz, J., Sirinides, P., & May, H. (2010). How Principals and Peers Influence Teaching and
Learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46(1), 31–56.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670509353043
Tican, a, & Deniz, a. (2019). Pre-service Teachers’ Opinions about the Use of 21st Century
Learner and 21st Century Teacher Skills. European Journal of Educational Research,
8(1), 181–197. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.1.181
124

124
Voogt, J., & Roblin, N. P. (2012). A Comparative Analysis of International Frameworks for 21st
Century Competencies: Implications for National Curriculum Policies. Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 44(3), 299–321.

125

125
Appendix A: Email to Recruit Research Participant - Principal Stakeholder Group

Subject: Andrew Miller: Dissertation
Dear Divisional Principals,
As many of you know, I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of
Southern California and am conducting an important study on the influences principals have on
teachers' capacity to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. This study requires divisional
principals to be interviewed. I will conduct all the interviews, and the interview will take about
60 minutes. I am asking you to participate. You can choose to have your interview take place in
person or via Zoom, and we will arrange for a convenient time for you. The interview is
confidential and will not be disclosed in the study. Please read the attached Information Sheet for
Exempt Research to learn more about the study and your voluntary role.
During the interview, I will utilize a recording device to capture all your responses wholly and
accurately. This recording will not be shared. The recording will be transcribed using
Speechmatics.
If you are interested, please contact me directly via email no later than ______. Please also don’t
hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Andrew Miller

126

126
Appendix B: Email to Recruit Research Participant - Teacher Stakeholder Group

Subject: Andrew Miller: Dissertation
Dear Teachers,
As many of you know, I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of
Southern California and am conducting an important study on the influences principals have on
teachers' capacity to enact a 21st century skill curriculum. This study requires K-12 classroom
teachers to be interviewed. I will conduct all the interviews, and the interview will take about 60
minutes. I am asking you to participate. You can choose to have your interview take place in
person or via Zoom, and we will arrange for a convenient time for you. The interview is
confidential and will not be disclosed in the study. Please read the attached Information Sheet for
Exempt Research to learn more about the study and your voluntary role.
During the interview, I will utilize a recording device to capture all your responses wholly and
accurately. This recording will not be shared. The recording will be transcribed using
Speechmatics.
If you are interested, please contact me directly via email no later than ______. Please also don’t
hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Andrew Miller

127

127
Appendix C: Informed Consent/ Information Sheet
Informed Consent/Information Sheet
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles CA, 90089

PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP INFLUENCE ON TEACHER CAPACITY TO ENACT 21ST
CENTURY SKILLS CURRICULUM
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study aims to analyze the influences principals have on teachers' capacity to enact a 21st
century skill curriculum. It will analyze data from principals and teachers to provide an evaluation
of the organization’s ability to meet its performance goal of enacting a 21st century skill
curriculum.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 45-60-minute interview
with the researcher.

CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address or other identifiable information will not be collected.

The members of the research team, the funding agency, and the University of Southern
California’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews
and monitors research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
The Principal Investigator is Andrew Miller, (andrewkm@usd.edu, +6592364010)
The Faculty Advisors are Darline Robles, (drobles@usc.edu,) and Lawrence Picus,
(lpicus@usc.edu,)

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

128

128
Appendix D: Interview Protocol – Teacher Stakeholder Group

Interview Protocol - Teacher Stakeholder Group
Researcher: Andrew Miller
Research Question(s)
1) What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences for school principals
to support teachers having the knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum?
2) What are the teachers' knowledge and motivation in relation to enacting 21st century
skills curriculum?
3) What are teachers and principals' knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps that
interfere with the implementation of 21st century skills?
4) What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?

Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed as part of my study. Before we get started, I want to
remind you about this study, the overview for which was provided to you in the Study
Information Sheet and answer any questions you might have about participating in this interview.
I’m investigating leadership influence on teachers' ability to implement our 21st century skill
curriculum. I’m talking with classrooms to understand their perspective. Your role as a teacher
will provide important information for the study. I will also be talking with school principals to
get their perspective as well. What questions do you have, if any?
The interview will take about 60 minutes. Does that still work for you?
I don’t anticipate that there are any risks associated with your participation, but you have the
right to stop the interview or withdraw from the research at any time. May I have your
permission to record this interview? The recording is solely for my purposes to best capture your
perspectives and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. Thank you. This
interview will be confidential. I will also keep your identity confidential in the dissertation itself.
Introductory Questions
First, I’d like to start with some background questions to learn more
about you...

First, tell me about your background in education
a. How did you become interested in the field of
education?
b. How long have you worked in the field?
c. What roles or positions have you held?
Notes

129

129
What subject(s) did you teach?
a. Tell me about your role in the program/school.
Knowledge Questions
I’m going to start with some questions related to knowledge related to
teaching a 21st century skill curriculum...
1) If a colleague asked you to define 21st century skills, what
would you say?
2) From your perspective, how does your current curriculum
connect to 21st century skills, if at all?
3) Describe a learning experience that you designed to teach 21st
century skills, if at all
4) If a colleague were to ask you how to design a performance
assessment, what would you say to them?
5) If you were operating at your best as a teacher, what would it
look like to directly teach 21st century skills?
6) Describe a time when you reflected on feedback to refine your
teaching of a 21st century skills curriculum, if at all.

Motivation Questions
Next, we are going to switch gears to some questions on motivation...
7) What do you personally find valuable about implementing a
21st century skill curriculum in your school, if anything?
8) Tell me about the last time you felt successful in teaching a
21st century skill curriculum, if at all.
Organization Questions
I’d like to transition to questions related to the school,
9) From your perspective, how does the school support you with
resources needed to enact 21st century skills, if at all?
10) Describe a time when the organization clearly articulated
expectations for implementing a 21st century skill curriculum,
if at all.
11) Tell me how the organization supports a culture of safety and
risk taking, if at all.

Closing Question
Finally, as we come to the end of the interview, would you like to
share anything else?

130

130

Thank you again for your time. I really appreciate your time and willingness to share. I plan on
sharing my initial findings to check to see if I captured your ideas and verify if you’d like. I
really appreciate your time and willingness to share. If I find myself with a follow-up question,
can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? I plan on sharing my initial findings to check to see if
I captured your ideas and verify if you’d like. Again, thank you for participating in my study.

131

131

Appendix E: Interview Protocol with Principal Stakeholder Group

Interview Protocol with Principal Stakeholder Group

Researcher: Andrew Miller
Research Question(s)
5) What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences for school principals
to support teachers having the knowledge and motivation to enact a 21st century skill
curriculum?
6) What are the teachers' knowledge and motivation in relation to enacting 21st century
skills curriculum?
7) What are teachers and principals' knowledge, motivation and organizational gaps that
interfere with the implementation of 21st century skills?
8) What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?

Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed as part of my study. Before we get started, I want to
remind you about this study, the overview for which was provided to you in the Study
Information Sheet and answer any questions you might have about participating in this interview.
I’m investigating leadership influence on teachers' ability to implement our 21st century skill
curriculum. I’m talking with the three building principals to understand their perspective. Your
role as a principal will provide important information for the study, as principal leadership
influence is a key component of the study. I will also be talking with the faculty of the school to
hear their perspective. What questions do you have, if any?
The interview will take about 60 minutes. Does that still work for you?
I don’t anticipate that there are any risks associated with your participation, but you have the
right to stop the interview or withdraw from the research at any time. May I have your
permission to record this interview? The recording is solely for my purposes to best capture your
perspectives and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. Thank you. This
interview will be confidential. As there are only three principals in the school to be interviewed, I
will also do my best to keep your identity confidential in the dissertation itself.
Introductory Questions
First, I’d like to start with some background questions to learn more
about you...

First, tell me about your background in education
Notes
132

132
a. How did you become interested in the field of
education?
b. How long have you worked in the field?
c. What roles or positions have you held?
Knowledge Questions
I’m going to start with some questions related to knowledge related to
leadership
1) If a colleague asked you to define 21st century skills, what
would you say?
2) From your perspective, what is high quality instruction?
3) Describe what you do currently to provide a safe school
culture, if at all.
4) Describe a time when you had to communicate the goals for
implementing the 21st century skills curriculum to faculty,
staff and/or parents. What did you say?
5) From your perspective, how important is it for principals
distribute leadership when enacting a 21st century skill
curriculum
6) If you were operating at your best as a principal, what would
you be doing to provide feedback and professional
development to support teachers in enacting a 21st century skill
curriculum
7) Describe a time when you reflected on a specific leadership
practice

Motivation Questions
Next, we are going to switch gears to some questions on motivation...
8) What do you personally find valuable about implementing a
21st century skill curriculum in your school, if anything?
9) Tell me about the last time you felt successful in teaching a
21st century skill curriculum, if at all.
10) How do you feel about the idea of enacting a 21st century skill
curriculum?
Organization Questions
I’d like to transition to questions related to the school...
11) From your perspective, how does the school support you with
resources needed to enact 21st century skills, if at all?
Notes
133

133
12) Describe a time when the organization clearly articulated
expectations for implementing a 21st century skill curriculum,
if at all.
13) Tell me how the organization supports a culture of risk taking,
if at all.

Closing Question
Finally, as we come to the end of the interview, would you like to
share anything else?
Notes

Thank you again for your time. I really appreciate your time and willingness to share. I plan on
sharing my initial findings to check to see if I captured your ideas and verify if you’d like. I
really appreciate your time and willingness to share. If I find myself with a follow-up question,
can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? I plan on sharing my initial findings to check to see if
I captured your ideas and verify if you’d like. Again, thank you for participating in my study.

134

134

Appendix F: Sample Survey Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2 for Teacher
Program
1. This course consistently held my interest. (Level 1 Engagement)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
2. I was constantly learning and growing in this course. (Level 1 Engagement)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
3. The learning that was the focus of this course will have relevance in my life beyond this
course. (Level 1 Relevance)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
4. I enjoyed the course overall. (Level 1 Satisfaction)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
5. I can define the 21st century skills of the organization (Level 2 Knowledge)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
6. I can make connections between existing curriculum and 21st century skills (Level 2
Knowledge)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
7. I can design authentic, application learning experiences (Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
8. I can design performance assessments (Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
135

135
9. I can directly teach 21st century skills through a variety of instructional strategies (Level 2
Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
10. I see the value in implementing a 21st century skills curriculum (Value)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
11. I feel confident in my ability to teach 21st century skills (Confidence)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
12. I am committed to implementing a 21st century skills curriculum (Commitment)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree

136

136

Appendix G: Sample Survey Items Measuring Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2 for Principal
Program

1. This course consistently held my interest. (Level 1 Engagement)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
2. I was constantly learning and growing in this course. (Level 1 Engagement)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
3. The learning that was the focus of this course will have relevance in my life beyond this
course. (Level 1 Relevance)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
4. I enjoyed the course overall. (Level 1 Satisfaction)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
5. I can define the 21st century skills of the organization (Level 2 Knowledge)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
6. I understand high quality instruction that fosters the teaching of 21st century skills (Level 2
Conceptual)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
7. I can provide ongoing feedback to teachers and teams in their ability to implement a 21st
century skills curriculum (Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
137

137
8. I can clearly communicate the purpose of implementing a 21st century skills curriculum.
(Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
9. I can communicate long-term and short-term goals for implementing a 21st century skills
curriculum (Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
10. I can foster a safe and collaborative culture where it is safe to take risks (Level 2 Skills)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
10. I see the value in implementing a 21st century skills curriculum (Value)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
11. I feel confident in my ability to lead implementation of a 21st century skills curriculum
(Confidence)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree
12. I am committed to implementing a 21st century skills curriculum (Commitment)
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree

138

138

Appendix H: Sample Teacher Evaluation Items Measuring Kirkpatrick
Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4

Open-Ended Questions for Revisiting Level 1 and Level 2
1. What learning or content continues to be relevant to you? (Level 1 Relevance)
2. Knowing what you know now, what would you change about the initial training offered?
(Level 1 Customer Satisfaction)
3. What teaching and assessment practices have you implemented in your classroom?
(Level 2 Procedural Knowledge)
Four-Point Scale Questions for Evaluating Level 3 Critical Behaviors
4. I have observed another teacher teaching 21st century skills (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
5. I have participated in team meetings focused on implementing 21st century skills (Level
3 Critical Behaviors)
6. I have reflected with my team on the implementation of the 21st century skills curriculum
(Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
7. I have engaged in ongoing professional development on how to teach 21st century skills.
(Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
8. I have engaged in celebrating success in our ability to implement a 21st century skills
curriculum. (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
Open-Ended Question for Evaluating Level 3 Critical Behaviors
139

139
9. If you indicated “Strongly Disagree” or “Disagree”, please explain what prevented your
ability to accomplish the behavior. (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)

Level 4 Indicators and Results Sample Metrics
10. I have noticed the following continued positive outcomes from my participation in the
initial training. Check all that apply.
🗹 I see evidence of improved student collaboration skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student communication skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student creativity skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student cultural competence skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student critical thinking skills
🗹 I feel more confident in my ability to teach 21st century skills
🗹 I feel more confident in my ability to assess 21st century skills
🗹 Students are more engaged in class
🗹 Students can apply their learning of 21st century skills
🗹 I can give feedback to other teachers about their ability to teach 21st century
skills
🗹 I have received feedback from other teachers about my ability to teach 21st
century skills
🗹 I have received feedback from my principals about my ability to teach 21st
century skills
🗹 I feel safe to take risks and try out new strategies
🗹 I have received feedback from other teachers about their ability to teach 21st
century skills
140

140
🗹 I understand the long-term and short-term goals of implementing a 21st century
skills curriculum
🗹 Other positive outcomes, please specify __________________________
🗹 None of the above - I don’t feel any continued positive outcomes.

Appendix I: Sample Principals Evaluation Items Measuring Kirkpatrick
Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4

Open-Ended Questions for Revisiting Level 1 and Level 2
11. What learning or content continues to be relevant to you from the initial training? (Level
1 Relevance)
12. Knowing what you know now, what would you change about the initial training offered?
(Level 1 Customer Satisfaction)
13. What learning or content continues to be relevant to you from the leadership coaching?
(Level 1 Relevance)
14. Knowing what you know now, what would you change about the leadership coaching
(Level 1 Customer Satisfaction)
15. What leadership practices have you implemented in your school? (Level 2 Procedural
Knowledge)
Four-Point Scale Questions for Evaluating Level 3 Critical Behaviors
16. I have observed teachers teaching 21st century skills (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
17. I have participated in team meetings focused on implementing 21st century skills (Level
3 Critical Behaviors)
141

141
18. I have provided feedback to teachers in their ability to teach 21st century skills (Level 3
Critical Behaviors)
19. I have communicated the purpose of implementing a 21st century skills curriculum to
teachers (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
20. I have communicated the short-term goals for implementing a 21st century skills
curriculum to teachers (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
21. I have facilitated ongoing professional development on how to teach 21st century skills.
(Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
22. I have engaged in celebrating successes in our ability to implement a 21st century skills
curriculum. (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)
Open-Ended Question for Evaluating Level 3 Critical Behaviors
23. If you indicated “Strongly Disagree” or “Disagree”, please explain what prevented your
ability to accomplish the behavior. (Level 3 Critical Behaviors)

Level 4 Indicators and Results Sample Metrics

24. I have noticed the following continued positive outcomes from my participation in the
initial training. Check all that apply.
🗹 I see evidence of improved student collaboration skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student communication skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student creativity skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student cultural competence skills
🗹 I see evidence of improved student critical thinking skills
🗹 I see evidence of teachers directly teaching 21st century skills
🗹 I see evidence of teachers assessing 21st century skills
142

142
🗹 Students are more engaged in class
🗹 Students can apply their learning of 21st century skills
🗹 Teachers understand the long-term and short-term goals of implementing a
21st century skills curriculum
🗹 I am providing to teachers on a more frequent basis
🗹 Teachers feel safe to take risks and try out new strategies
🗹 Teaching teams are discussing the implementation of the 21st century skills
curriculum in their team meetings
🗹 Other positive outcomes, please specify __________________________
🗹 None of the above - I don’t feel any continued positive outcomes.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study examined the performance gap of principals’ leadership influence on teachers’ capacity to enact a 21st century skill curriculum at Singapore School of the Future (SFS). The purpose of this study was to apply the gap analysis problem solving framework (Clark & Estes, 2008) to identify root causes of the knowledge, motivation and organizational factors that prevented teachers and principals from effectively enacting a 21st century skills curriculum. The subjects of this study were principals and teachers at SFS. Interview data was collected and analyzed and used to validate and inform possible solutions for the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. Research-based solutions were recommended to close the knowledge, motivation, and organization gaps. These recommendations included target professional development and training for teachers on how to explicitly teach 21st century skills, and principals employing feedback systems on instruction. In addition, recommendations were made to the organization to foster a culture of safety and risk taking and communicate clear expectations and goals with support of principals as a clear vision is communicated. Critical behaviors of the stakeholders were also examined, and recommendations included engaging in collaborative professional learning and observations of classrooms and using team meetings as an opportunity to provide ongoing feedback on practice and clarify expectations. The outcomes of this study may be used by this school and others to improve implementation of a 21st century skill curriculum.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Evaluating the implementation of 21st century skills and learning

PDF

Strategies California superintendents use to implement 21st century skills programs

PDF

Building 21st century skills for school-age children in Colombia: lessons from a promising practice

PDF

Principal leadership -- skill demands in a global context

PDF

The development of 21st century skills among incarcerated youth: a needs assessment of teachers

PDF

Preparing students for the future - 21st century skills

PDF

Instructional leadership: the practices employed by elementary school principals to lead the Common Core State Standards and 21st century learning skills

PDF

A case study of 21st century skills programs and practices

PDF

A study of California public school district superintendents and their implementation of 21st century skills

PDF

Preparing students for the 21st century labor market through liberal arts education at a Chinese joint venture university

PDF

Judaic/Israel studies curriculum for the 21st-century learner – An innovation study

PDF

The influence of leadership on the development of 21st century skills throughout Irish schools

PDF

STEM integration: a case study of a 21st century skills professional development program for math and science teachers in an urban school

PDF

Teachers assumptions on the importance of executive function: a gap analysis evaluation study

PDF

A study of California public school district superintendents and their implementation of 21st century skills

PDF

A study of California public school district superintendents and their implementation of 21st-century skills

PDF

Embracing globalization and 21st century skills in a dual language immersion school

PDF

Developing standards-based Chinese curricula in international schools: a gap analysis for Eagle American School

PDF

The role of the school district toward preparing students for the 21st century

PDF

The enactment of equitable mathematics teaching practices: an adapted gap analysis

Asset Metadata

Creator Miller, Andrew Kenneth (author)

Core Title Principals’ leadership influence on teachers’ capacity to enact 21st-century skills curriculum

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/29/2022

Defense Date 04/07/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 21st century skills,curriculum,Education,leadership,OAI-PMH Harvest,Principal,principals,teacher,teaching

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Robles, Darline P. (committee chair), Fisher, Douglas (committee member), Picus, Lawrence (committee member)

Creator Email andrewkm@usc.edu,betamiller@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111136623

Unique identifier UC111136623

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Miller, Andrew Kenneth

Type texts

Source 20220428-usctheses-batch-934 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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 Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu