Leadership succession: promising practices to develop a sustainable leadership pipeline at a secondary school

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Content Running head: LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES

1

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE
LEADERSHIP PIPELINE AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL

by

April Lynn Kiser-Edwards

___________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2016

Copyright 2016 April Lynn Kiser-Edwards

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The decision to begin my doctoral story was not one that was taken lightly and was not
made in isolation. You see, a high school education should have been the pinnacle of life for a
person of my background. However, through the support of many I was able to not only begin
but to complete requirements for a doctoral degree. I would like to sincerely acknowledge those
who made my journey possible with their support and encouragement. Foremost, I acknowledge
the support and sacrifices of my husband, Todd. To you, Todd, I owe a deep debt of gratitude for
being my editor, therapist, comforter and biggest fan. Thank you for always rooting for me and
being the rock of the family while I was hidden away in my doctoral nook. I will forever be
grateful. I love you.
To my children, Megan and Chace, who too often were reminded of the schoolwork
mommy had to complete. Your unconditional smiles, hugs and kisses guided me when I wanted
to just throw in the towel. May you always know and cherish the value of determination,
dedication, and education.
Much aloha to my magnificent dissertation committee! I would like to say “thank you” to
Dr. Kathy Stowe, Dr. Lawrence Picus, and Dr. Courtney Malloy for believing in me. Your
encouragement was so appreciated. To Kathy, my amazing chair, you always knew exactly what
I needed to grow and be successful. I am not sure you realize how much your positive
affirmations guided me throughout this process. To Dr. Picus, you are one of the best professors
and I love your insight on educational matters. To Courtney, you are such a warm spirit and
thank you for sharing your expertise and knowledge. I am sincerely blessed to have had such a
wonderful team of professionals to guide me in the dissertation process.
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To my friends and colleagues, Dave Parcell, Rhea Vega, Mona Shigekane, Dr. Deyon
Nagato and Dr. Maureen Ikeda, thank you for supporting me throughout this amazing journey. I
am sincerely grateful for your support and encouragement. You are so appreciated.
To my fellow doctoral sojourners: Loha, Shelly, Janice, and Deb, thank you for being my
cheerleaders throughout this learning process. You always believed in me and your laughter and
encouragement was just what I needed to make it to the next step.
To the eight school leaders at the participating institution I want to thank you for candidly
sharing your perspectives and insights on this important topic. I enjoyed learning from you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 2
List of Tables 6
List of Figures 7
Abstract 8
Chapter 1: Overview of the Study 9
Introduction 9
Background of the Problem 11
Statement of the Problem 14
Purpose of the Study 16
Research Questions 17
Significance of the Study 17
Limitations of the Study 18
Delimitations 19
Glossary of Terms 19
Organization of Dissertation 20
Chapter 2: Literature Review 21
Organization of Literature Review 21
Historical Context 22
Theoretical Leadership Structures 27
Development of the School Leader 32
Leadership Pipeline Development 39
Challenges to Sustained Leadership 45
Summary 46
Chapter 3: Methodology 49
Research Questions 49
Research Design 50
Sample and Population 52
Overview of Organization 53
Theoretical Framework 54
Conceptual Framework 55
Data Collection 58
Instrumentation 60
Data Analysis 61
Ethical Considerations 62
Summary 63

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Chapter 4: Results 64
Unit of Study 65
Findings by Research Question 68
Summary 99
Chapter 5: Summary 101
Purpose of the Study 102
Research Questions 102
Summary of Findings 103
Implications for Practice 107
Recommendations for Future Study 111
Conclusions 111
References 113
Appendices 124
Appendix A: Participant Recruitment Letter 124
Appendix B: Interview Protocol 125
Appendix C: Observation Protocol 128
Appendix D: Participant Consent Form 130
Appendix E: Academic Financial Plan Documents 133
Appendix F: Teacher Survey 135
Appendix G: Meeting Agendas/Minutes 136
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Participants in Study 59
Table 2. Research Question Instrumentation 61
Table 3. Participant Pseudonyms and Background 67

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Conceptual framework for sustainable leadership 57
Figure 2. Creswell’s (2014) model for qualitative data analysis 62

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ABSTRACT
The study applies leadership frameworks that include the Transformational Leadership Theory
linked with the Kouzes and Posner’s exemplary practices to understand the process for
developing a leadership pipeline. The purpose of this study was to examine the promising
practices designed to support leadership succession at one high school. The goals of the study
were to identify the practices, explore the participants’ perceptions of the practices and factors
that facilitate and inhibit these practices for building leadership capacity. A qualitative case study
method was utilized to examine the promising practices for building leadership capacity through
the lens of one high school’s administrators and teachers who succeeded into leadership roles.
Eight participants were interviewed and six participants observed. The interview and observation
protocols explored the experiences of the participants and school documents were used as
additional sources of data. The findings from the study indicate that there are many promising
practices that impact the succession planning at the high school in a positive manner. The
development of future leaders were dependent upon the practices to identify, develop and
support candidates while learning to assume a leadership role. Furthermore, the factors of a team
culture facitiliated the practices whereas a lack of resources inhibited the practices designed to
develop the next generation of leaders. The study demonstrates the importance for policy makers
and school system leaders to implement practices consistent with the leadership exemplary
practices and succession plan theories to build leadership capacity from within an organization.

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CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Introduction
Streamlined leadership succession planning is essential to continuous improvement of
organizations. Today’s educational institutions are advised to restructure and develop a method
for building and sustaining leadership capacity to address the needs of a diminishing qualified
workforce (Barker, 2006; National Association of Secondary School Principals [NASSP], 2002).
According to Northouse (2013), effective organizations cultivate competent management and
skilled leadership. Education organizations that support and encourage the development of
quality principals are significant to building human capital to maintain and sustain school
improvement. Educational agencies across the globe have examined leadership succession
planning in an effort to address school improvement regarding student achievement. Effective
school leadership is key to ensuring the academic success of a student (Darling-Hammond,
Orphanos, LaPointe, & Weeks, 2007; Goddard & Miller, 2010). Many education systems in the
United States have not established a formal leadership succession plan to ensure the adequate
development of human capital (Hargreaves, 2005; NASSP, 2010).
Succession planning of principals entails the strategic development of human capital. The
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) recommends the development of
a formalized system for the recruitment and development of quality applicants (NASSP, 2010).
The identification and development of potential candidates at different levels is a strong
component of succession planning. School systems recognize the shortage in talented principal
candidates in the competitive and evolving world of education. Therefore, a systematic approach
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in addressing the preparation and continuous development of a high-quality principal workforce
is needed (Bottoms & O’Neill, 2001).
The maintenance of a high-quality principal workforce will remain an issue for education
institutions to address. Education systems have a vested interest in the succession of school
leaders, as the principal role is considered a key position to school success (Leithwood, Louis,
Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). In the United States, more than 61 million citizens will retire
over the next 30 years and create a gap between the number of personnel needed and the number
of personnel available in the labor market (Rothwell, 2002). This gap is evident in education as
many principals are included in the aging baby-boomer generation, persons born between 1946
and 1964. Sixty percent of the baby boomer generation principals are expected to retire over the
next 10 years (Hargreaves, 2005; Toossi, 2012). If the projected trend occurs, a shortage in
talented personnel will require education institutions to focus on a system that supports the
cultivation of leaders.
Succession planning is often referred to as long-term leadership capacity building
(Flanary, 2009). Leadership succession planning is a global focus in education. A study
conducted by Ryan and Gallo (2011) found that New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and
Australia reported that there are few candidates for the principal position. New Zealand
confirmed that 53% of their school leaders were 50 years of age and approaching retirement
eligibility (Ryan & Gallo, 2011). Furthermore, a case study on leadership succession was
conducted at a United Kingdom high school during a 10-year period. The analysis demonstrated
that the successful transition from one leader to another was critical to sustain improvement
(Barker, 2006). Barker (2006) suggests that education institutions should manage the arrival,
induction and departure of school leaders. Correspondingly, Fink and Brayman (2006) conducted
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a 30-year study to explore school leadership succession and the challenges of change. The
findings indicated that the rapid turnover of school leaders created significant barriers to
educational change. Further, succession plans and processes encouraged leaders to commit to a
process of grooming potential successors in schools that have been performing well over a period
of time (Fink & Brayman, 2006). Hargreaves (2005) noted:
One of the most significant events in the life of a school is a change in its leadership. Yet
few things in education succeed less than leadership succession. Failure to care for
leadership succession is sometimes a result of manipulation or self-centeredness; but
more often it is oversight, neglect, or pressures of crisis management that are to blame.
(p. 163)
The purpose of this study was to identify practices utilized to build leadership capacity
via a sustainable pipeline in a secondary school. The study highlights the strategies and practices
utilized by a secondary school to fill the pipeline with qualified future administrators.
Background of the Problem
Educational leadership has been identified over the past decade as a method to improve
schools. As the nation continues to address student achievement, school reform efforts appear to
regulate the United States’ education system. The landmark report published in 1983 titled A
Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education [NCEE], 1983) reported that
our schools were failing our students and required improvements. The report initiated the age of
educational accountability and the role of the principal was examined regarding the influence on
school performance. The role of school leaders in developing high-performing schools has been
researched to provide guidelines that identify causal factors to address the low achievement issue
effectively. School leadership is indirectly connected to students’ academic success (Branch,
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Hanushek, & Rivkin, 2013; Ross & Gray, 2006). The manner that leadership is demonstrated is
relevant to promoting student achievement via quality instruction. A study conducted by Branch
et al. (2013) that examined the specific relation between the principal and growth in student
achievement found that a highly effective principal is able to increase a typical student’s growth
by two to seven months of learning in a single year.
The role of the school principal has evolved from the administrative manager to an
instructional leader to meet the needs of the nation’s education system. Educational leadership is
complex, demanding and important to overall school success (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe,
Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen, 2007). The school leader’s role has changed to meet the demands of
current educational reforms to include specific responsibilities that encompass specialized
knowledge and skills. In the past, the responsibility of the school leader was central to discipline,
managing personnel funds and strategic planning (Lynch, 2012). Over time, the expertise of
school leaders requires a variety of instructional knowledge and skills. Cordeiro and
Cunningham (2013) postulate that today’s principals’ instructional knowledge and skills includes
a deep understanding of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and the knowledge of numerous
components and operational systems. Furthermore, the school leader facilitates student learning,
building professional learning communities, fostering teacher professional development and
providing instructional feedback (Cordeiro & Cunningham, 2013). Thus, a school leader’s
professional knowledge is important to the overall task of teaching and learning (Marzano,
Waters, & McNulty, 2005).
As the era of school accountability began in the 1980s with the A Nation at Risk report
(NCEE, 1983), the role of the principals shifted from school manager to school instructional
leader and school reform leader. In accordance with Hentschke and Wohlstetter (2004),
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accountability is essentially a contractual relationship between two parties, a provider and
director, to achieve a certain objective delivered by the provider. Principals are accountable
internally to the teachers and externally to higher levels within the state department of education
and the community for developing and improving schools measured via student achievement.
School accountability systems are designed to measure a leader’s success as related to test
scores. The results of the tests are grounds to remove a principal from their position (McGhee &
Nelson, 2005). This type of accountability may result in a demanding environment for today’s
school leaders and serve as a critical component in school improvement through the reshaping of
the principal’s role.
A common concern for educational leadership is central to the aforementioned changing
role of the principal resulting in the reduced pool of qualified and willing applicants available to
schools (Myung, Loeb, & Horng, 2011; Young & Creighton, 2002). The predicted shortage of
qualified and ready applicants of school principals may be influenced by the additional
responsibilities and accountability via federal, state and district mandates (Darling-Hammond,
Orphanos, et al., 2007). School leadership shortages may not be attributed to a lack of applicants.
On the contrary, the Wallace Foundation report examined the principal shortage in schools and
postulates that there are many “certified” applicants but a scarce number of candidates equipped
with the leadership skills to improve schools (Roza, Celio, Harvey, & Wishon, 2003).
Despite warnings of the impending leadership crisis, many school districts in the United
States do not have training programs for aspiring leaders. According to the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES, 2011-12), the majority of United States’ school leaders do not
receive leadership training. Approximately 43 states have less than 5% of the states’ school
districts that have a training program for aspiring school administrators (NCES, 2011-12). A
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formalized system designed to recruit principals that are considered quality applicants is central
to building and sustaining leadership capacity in a school (NASSP, 2002). This absence of a
formalized system to prepare future leaders contributes to the qualified applicant shortage in the
education systems across the United States.
It is critical for school leaders to build leadership capacity for all involved in education to
effectively restructure schools (Ackerman & Mackenzie, 2006). Many secondary education
institutions do not have a systemic process for nurturing school leaders with attributes to improve
student achievement via quality instruction. Principals are important to developing candidates
that will be the next generation of school leaders (Myung et al., 2011). Although a plethora of
research on leadership is available, there is minimal literature pertaining to identifying promising
practices to build leadership capacity within a school.
Statement of the Problem
Succession planning is vital to building a leadership pipeline with effective leaders that
contribute to school success and sustainability. In order for schools to meet the needs of the
evolving world of education, school leaders need to create a culture that is centered on
developing leadership capacity from within. Donaldson (2006) posits that public school systems
in the United States are facing the crisis of unreliable applicant pools for administrative and
formal teacher leadership roles. Leadership systems that support and encourage the development
of quality principals are significant to building human capital to maintain and sustain school
improvement. School leaders are key to ensuring the academic success of a student (Goddard &
Miller, 2010; Marzano et al., 2005). For the overall success of schools, it is important to explore
the development of leaders capable of filling future vacancies.
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In the K-12 setting, there is a growing concern regarding the future employment of
qualified school leaders (Myung et al., 2011; Roza et al., 2003; Young & Creighton, 2002). The
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) occupational outlook reports a 6% growth in the
need for K-12 principals between the years of 2012-2022. Although, the aforementioned labor
statistic forecasts an excess of available administrative positions, research demonstrates a limited
number of qualified school administrators to fill the positions (Myung et al., 2011; Roza et al.,
2003; Young & Creighton, 2002). The scarcity of quality leaders to fill administrative positions
will create a gap in school systems around the country.
Although there is a perceived shortage of qualified principals at the elementary, middle
and high school levels, researchers suggests the vacancies of the high school principalship is a
more serious issue faced by educational institutions (Pounder & Merrill, 2010; Whitaker, 2003).
The shortage of secondary principals exists in education systems across the country, specifically
in high-poverty, predominantly minority or low-performing schools (Roza & Swartz, 2003).
According to a survey of 400 superintendents conducted by the Association of California School
Administrators (ACSA, 2001), 90% of the respondents reported a shortage in the pool of
applicants for high school principal openings. Likewise, Mississippi superintendents reported
difficulty filling high school principal openings and the Maryland State Department of Education
conveyed that a shortage of qualified secondary principals exists in Maryland (Roza et al., 2003).
Pounder and Merrill (2010) recognized the shortage of high school principal candidates
as a result of a significant decrease in job desirability. The educational literature supports the
lack of interest in school leadership because of the changing role that includes an increased
demand of time (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, et al., 2007; Myung et al., 2011; Pounder &
Merrill, 2010). Due to the nature of high school problems associated with older children and
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evening activities that require attendance of an administrator, many prospective candidates are
not willing to apply for the principalship (Pounder, Galvin, & Shepherd, 2003; Powder, 1998).
Pounder and Merrill’s (2010) research revealed that of the 170 assistant high school principals in
the study only 30% of qualified potential candidates conveyed the desire to apply for
principalship. Additionally, Winter and Morgenthal (2002) examined the principal recruitment
process of assistant principals from within a high school and found that qualified candidates
demonstrated a strong aversion to the principal position particularly in low-achieving schools.
Research reflects that many schools in the K-12 education system are not prepared to
create a sustainable leadership pipeline. Many school districts are not able to support efforts in
recruiting personnel from outside the system because it is time-consuming and an expensive
endeavor (Winter & Morgenthal, 2002). The lack of consistent plans to develop school leaders
will impact education institution’s overall success (Rothwell, 2002). Although today’s
educational institutions have been advised to restructure and develop a method for building and
sustaining leadership capacity, few succession plans are evident in schools (NASSP, 2002). This
study examined the promising practices a secondary educational institution has in place to
recruit, prepare and retain leaders to promote a sustainable leadership pipeline.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to explore the current system for building leadership
capacity within a high school in Hawaii. This study provided information about the factors
utilized in the secondary school’s leadership system to build leadership capacity. The goals of
the study were to identify the promising practices the school employs to develop leaders from
within their schools and then share the findings to assist other institutions develop a system to
build the next generation of leaders. To gain a full understanding of the succession strategies
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identified, the perceptions of administrators and teacher leaders were examined. In addition, to
gain a broader understanding of the components of practices that influence the succession in a
high school, the supporting and challenging factors that exist in the succession of leadership
were explored.
Research Questions
In an effort to understand building leadership capacity at one secondary school, the
following questions were formulated in a thematic group and are addressed in this study:
1. In what ways does a secondary school work to build the next generation of leaders?
2. What are the perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the influence of
those practices?
3. What are the factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and
implementation of strategies designed to build leadership capacity?
Significance of the Study
The study was significant based on the limited literature available in the area of building
leadership capacity in secondary schools. This research provides policy makers and schools with
the details of successful strategies and promising practices for building leadership capacities
from the pool of current faculty. The results provide policy makers with the information to
understand the importance of school leadership succession planning and may guide policy
makers to invest resources to support strong leader preparation programs and assist schools in
building leadership capacity. Furthermore, the secondary school in the case study may serve as a
model for educational institutions that seek to build leadership capacity via internal talented
faculty. The secondary school has demonstrated promising practices and has a reputation of
providing effective leaders to other educational institutions. The school leader of the secondary
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school selected in this case study has been recognized by his peers as being invested in shaping
the next generation of leaders. The practitioners in educational institutions may utilize the
strategies and practices identified as a result of the study to create a pathway for aspiring leader
candidates.
In addition to assisting policymakers and schools, the study’s findings may enhance the
current research on leadership capacity building in secondary schools. Through the examination
of the secondary school’s structure for building leadership capacity, research is now available to
a plethora of schools in the United States to utilize the discovered strategies and practices to
create a pipeline of future leaders equipped to improve student achievement.
Limitations of the Study
The study’s limitations are beyond the control of the researcher and may affect the
results. There are many high schools in the state of Hawaii and throughout the United States.
This case study utilized a small sample population of one high school in the state of Hawaii on
the island of Oahu. This small sample size may prevent a generalization of the results. Further
limitations in the study include the following:
1. Researcher bias: The acknowledgement that a researcher has personal biases, a
conscious effort was made to lessen the effects of this bias. The researcher bias was
the researcher’s perceptions developed from personal and professional knowledge
and experiences. The use of multiple sources of data via the process of triangulation
was used to minimize this limitation.
2. Time: The data was collected over a short period of time due to constraints of study
timeline. The study was allotted a 3-month span for data collection to align with the
graduate course of study program.
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3. Participants: The researcher was limited to the subjects who agreed to participate
voluntarily. Further, the researcher was not able to control the biases of participants
during the interview. The validity of the study is dependent on the reliability of the
respondents.
Delimitations
The delimitations of this study were under the researcher’s control and may not be
generalizable to other settings. The initial delimitation pertains to the administrators and teachers
that participated in the study. Participants selected for the study served in a leadership role at
their school. The second delimitation was the school serves 9th through 12th grade level students
and services at least 2,000 pupils in the state of Hawaii. The school was identified as a successful
school when the school has characteristics of leadership succession planning in place. The level
of leadership succession planning provided a foundation needed to learn about the impact of the
strategies and factors on building leadership capacity.
Glossary of Terms
Many terms were relevant to and referred to in this study. For the purpose of clarifying
language used in throughout this study, a list of terms with definitions is provided:
Leadership capacity: there are a significant number of skillful leaders who understand the
shared vision in the school, the full scope of the work and are able to carry it out. This also
signifies a level of commitment by the leaders that include reflection, inquiry, conversations, and
focused action.
Leadership development: a term referring to any activity that enhances the quality of
leadership within an individual or organization.
Leadership pipeline: a flow of qualified candidates within a system that is self-sufficient.
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Succession planning: a systematic approach to building leadership capacity to ensure
leadership continuity, developing potential successors in ways that best fit their strengths,
identify best candidates for categories of positions, and concentrating resources on talent
development processes to yield return.
Distributed leadership: leadership practice that shifts in focus from the attributes and
behaviors of individual leaders to a more systematic perspective where leadership is conceived
of as a collective social process.
Organization of Dissertation
The study explored the process of leadership development within a high school in
Hawaii. The leadership structure presently utilized in a high performing Hawaii high school was
important to understanding the promising practices that establish and sustain a pool of quality
leaders for the future. Chapter 1 provided an overview of the study and established the
importance of building leadership capacity in today’s schools. Chapter 2 offers a review of
literature pertaining to sustainable leadership and the development of school leaders. This
chapter describes the theoretical framework for the study. Chapter 3 includes the research
methodology and the reasons for selecting a qualitative approach. This chapter also provides
detailed information about the sample, participant selection, instrumentation, and the framework
for data collection and analysis. The conceptual framework is presented. Chapter 4 discusses the
findings of the research and answers the research questions in relation to existing literature.
Chapter 5 shares the implications of the identified promising practices of leadership succession
in secondary schools. This final chapter offers recommendations and implications for future
studies.

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Organization of Literature Review
Education institutions in the United States strive to successfully develop a system with
the capacity to build the next generation of quality leaders. Effective leadership is essential to a
school’s overall academic success and leadership succession (Goddard & Miller, 2010). The
accountability measures attached to school reform efforts has guided school systems across the
United States to prioritize educational leadership. With the demand for school system leaders and
educational institutions to address the recruitment, preparation and ongoing development of a
high-quality principal workforce this study is significant to providing awareness of operative
leadership succession (Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, & Meyerson, 2005).
Effective leadership is essential to improving schools. The impact of school leadership on
students’ academic success is only second to the classroom teacher (Branch et al., 2013; Ross &
Gray, 2006). The investment in cultivating school leaders via a systematic structure is imperative
to providing schools with highly qualified leaders. Research indicates the effective preparation of
school leaders is central to addressing the academic inconsistencies among students in the United
States (Slater, 2008; Dodson, 2014). With promising practices in place that reflect research-
based leadership structures, preparation programs and approaches to constructive succession
planning the impending school leadership crisis may be addressed.
The literature review examines research in the area of educational leadership with a focus
on building leadership capacity and approaches to manage the task of succession planning. The
review is divided in four sections. The first section provides a historical perspective on the
concept of leadership. The review discusses the changing perspectives of school leadership, the
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principal’s role within the context of school reform and the impact on student achievement. The
second portion will describe theoretical frameworks of leadership that provides information on
the effective leader. The section focuses on the models of leadership providing insight on the
characteristics to develop the quality leader. The third section focuses on the development of the
school leader based on elements utilized to prepare leaders via leadership programs with relevant
content, internship experiences and support systems. Leadership preparation is complex and
includes much more than a list of objectives candidates need to know. The fourth section
identifies the methods and elements of developing a leadership pipeline. The section addresses
research conducted within the area of developing a detailed leadership succession plan. Barriers
that educational organizations encounter in attempting to carry out succession plans are
discussed. Finally, the chapter will conclude with a summary of the key elements of the literature
review and how the elements relate to the present study.
Historical Context
The changing context and understanding of leadership has had a significant impact on
school leadership. Understanding the evolution of the school leader provides a historical context
of the leadership challenges experienced by educational institutions today. The 1983 landmark
report, A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983), established the climate that focused directly on school
leadership as an influential factor in student academic achievement. As a result of the 1983
report, school reform efforts began and the role of the school leader was transformed to reflect
the needs of the 21st century education system.
Defining Leadership
Leadership is a term that has been interpreted in various ways over the years. Kouzes and
Posner (2012) suggest that leadership encourages change in people and organizations that yields
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advancement. The definition of leadership provides institutions with a strong foundation for
building the capacity of future leaders. Notably, in the 1980s many scholars shared a variety of
definitions for leadership that involved perceptions that a leader is free to do what they see fit,
has influence, embody certain traits and encompasses the capacity to transform a follower’s
motivation (Northouse, 2013).
Although there are many different understandings of leadership, Northouse (2013)
identified four components central to the concept of leadership. The components are (a)
leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs in groups, and (d)
leadership involves common goals (Northouse, 2013).
Researchers found that true leadership exemplifies the mobilization of people’s
commitment to actions that are designed to improve things (Fullan, 2007; Kouzes & Posner,
2012). People are committed to the actions because there is a basis of trust and a common sense
of purpose for making a difference. Similarly, Northouse (2013) recognized that successful
leadership is inevitable when a leader has specific knowledge to develop a vision, communicate
effectively, demonstrate integrity and the capacity to build trust. These leadership elements are
fundamental to developing powerful relationships that complete objectives purposefully
(Northouse, 2013). Fullan (2007) asserts effective leadership provides a venue for accountability
in measures and indicators of success.
Leader of the School: The Principal
The principal was first identified as the leader of a school in the 19th century as a
pragmatic approach to simply manage grade schools. Rousmaniere (2007) posits that the
principalship was established on the premise of convenience and not to improve learning or the
school operations. Initially the principalship was created to address educational institutions’
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minor tasks. The duties included maintaining attendance and ringing school bells, duties that are
not recognized within current leadership preparation. The role of the principal was not
commonly defined at this time.
Over the past decades, the public assumed that the principal had the ability to control the
organization sufficiently to impact change. According to Donaldson (2006), this leadership
mindset is a misfit for work-life realities within schools. With this leadership paradigm,
principals and teacher leaders are unable to adjust to the demands of the traditional leadership
model with the realities of schools. Many principals are leaving their positions due to burnout
associated with this misalignment of duties and responsibilities. Educational institutions now
face a crisis as applicant pools for administrative and formal teacher leadership roles are less
desired due to the change in the role of the principal (Donaldson, 2006).
The leader of the school is a multifaceted and contrary figure in educational leadership.
As time progressed the role of the principal reflected a professional quality. The change in the
role was apparent with the addition of academic qualifications and a clear distinction between the
teacher and administrator’s preparation was defined. During the years between 1960 and 1980,
the principal was recognized as a professional and became individually responsible for the
improvement of a school (Goodwin, Cunningham, & Eagle, 2005). School improvement was
precipitated by the national report, A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983), which increased achievement
and accountability and changed the public’s perception of school leadership (Center for
Education Reform, 1998).
School reform. The perspective on school leadership has evolved in accordance with
school reform. The 1983 report A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983) has impacted every aspect of
public education. The report stressed the need for policy makers to begin a process to address the
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25
issue of schools failing children. The reform efforts of the 20th century changed the focus of
American schools. The shift in public schools that stemmed from the A Nation at Risk report was
student achievement. Accountability for student achievement was key to educational reform. The
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that was legislated in 2002 to raise student achievement for
every child was pivotal to the lack of qualified and willing principal candidates. Accountability
is a common thread among today’s schools that influences aspiring leader’s responsibility of
student achievement.
The era of school reform was the catalyst that transformed the principal’s roles and
responsibilities to directly support student achievement via teachers. Principals today are
expected to be visionaries, instructional leaders, and accountable to multiple stakeholders for
student success. This change in expectations is reflective of the current educational initiatives
related to the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Consortium high stake
testing. Another change is the knowledge and skills of school leaders to include attributes of an
instructional leader (Lynch, 2012). With the new job description, principals are obligated to
accept the responsibilities of an instructional leader and are accountable for student learning
(Lynch, 2012). The new accountability of student learning has embedded a system that develops
teacher leaders and supports a sustained leadership pipeline.
The school reform initiatives have impacted the succession planning of school leadership.
In the past, there were numerous qualified personnel seeking principalship. In the 21st century
schools are faced with the prospect of fewer qualified and interested candidates for the complex
job of the principal (Myung et al., 2011). The expectations for schools have multiplied and
include aspects of policies that are more prescriptive and lack leadership development (Fullan,
2003). Principals needed for today’s schools are not just applicants with specific characteristics,
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skills or behaviors but individuals that are highly competent leaders. According to Fullan (2003),
public schools require principals that are Level 5 leaders. Collins (2001) states the Level 5 leader
is a highly capable individual, a contributing team member, a competent manager, an effective
leader and has a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Schools with a
Level 5 principal will have the capability to achieve the goal of student academic achievement.
Additionally, the literature related to school reform as a means to improve student
achievement focuses on defining the attributes of effective school leaders, which aligns with the
Level 5 leader description. According to Marzano et al. (2005), there are 21 responsibilities of
the school leader that have a high correlation with student academic achievement. Of the 21
responsibilities the Situational Awareness, Flexibility, Outreach, Discipline and
Monitoring/Evaluating yielded the highest correlation to student achievement (Marzano et al.,
2005). Situational Awareness is the extent to which the school leader is aware of the details and
undercurrents in the running of the school and uses this information to address current and
potential problems (Marzano et al., 2005). Flexibility is the ability of the school leader to adapt
leadership behavior to the needs of a situation (Marzano et al., 2005). The principal that serves as
an advocate for the school to all stakeholders exhibits the responsibility of Outreach (Marzano et
al., 2005). Further, discipline is evident in a leader that protects teachers from issues that detract
from implementing instruction. The leadership responsibility of Monitoring/Evaluating
encompasses a leader to monitor the effectiveness of the school practices and the impact on
student learning.
21st Century School Leadership
The 21st century view on school leadership reflects the demands of a collective approach.
The principal is often referred to as the head stakeholder of a school (Donaldson, 2006). The
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principal cannot be expected to address the challenges of education alone. Today’s school
leadership incorporates a group of key personnel within an education institution working toward
a common goal. School leadership is an essential element in organizing people to work
collectively to serve the needs of children and the demands of society (Donaldson, 2006).
Leadership in schools has changed to reflect a collective process and includes the classroom
teacher. According to Bolman and Deal (2010), the effective principal cooperatives with teachers
and students to elevate learning for all.
School leadership in today’s educational setting now includes the teacher as a leader.
Developing the teacher as a leader is important to a sustainable leadership pipeline that will
ensure school success. Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001) stated that every school has teachers
capable of making changes to underpin education improvement. The key to implementing
change in schools occurs when a principal guides and assist teachers to develop and become
school leaders (Thompson, 2004). The principal plays an important role to improving schools
and is expected to develop teachers as leaders. This is accomplished when principals assign
meaningful leadership roles to teachers based on strengths to improve student learning and
contribute to building leadership capacity (Thompson, 2004). To build leadership capacity
internally, principals may utilize theoretical structures of leadership to assist in the process of
developing teachers as leaders.
Theoretical Leadership Structures
Theoretical leadership structures identify a set of principles that provide guidelines for
creating effective leaders within a school. According to Marzano et al. (2005), theories of
leadership have been designed to guide the school leader’s development. The effective school
leader is a key stakeholder to developing successful educational institutions and enhancing
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student achievement (Marzano et al., 2005). The principal has a variety of responsibilities that
can be guided by different approaches to enacting leadership. Leadership frameworks that
include theory and practices are important to developing succession systems that support current
and future leaders in schools. In particular, the Transformational Leadership Theory intertwined
with Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) exemplary practices provides a theoretical foundation for
schools to develop aspiring candidates with the capacity to lead.
Leadership Frameworks
Theory of leadership. Transformational leadership is a model that demonstrates a
relationship between the leader and follower that increases motivation and engagement in both
leader and follower (Northouse, 2013). The transformational approach is characterized by
building trust with a clear vision, collaborating effectively with people, empowering followers
and nurturing change (Northouse, 2013). Leithwood and Janzti (2005) conducted an intensive
review of research on transformational leadership. Of the 33 studies reviewed in the meta-
analyses, about half were judged to show that transformational leadership had a small indirect
influence on academic or engagement. The review did not involve calculation of effect size
statistics (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005). In addition, Leithwood and Jantzi’s (2005) meta-analyses
found four significant conclusions regarding transformational leadership. The four conclusions
include: (1) Transformational leadership effects on perceptions of organizational effectiveness
are significant and large; (2) Transformational leadership effects on objective, independent
measures of organizational effectiveness are less well documented and less uniform in nature but
are positive and significant, although modest in size; (3) Evidence about transformational
leadership effects on independently measured student outcomes, in particular, seems quite
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promising though limited in amount and (4) Recent evidence about transformational leadership
effects on students’ engagement in school, while modest in amount, is uniformly positive.
Exemplary leadership practices. According to the educational literature, leadership
practices designed to address the leadership challenge faced by today’s schools are significant to
building leaders for the next generation. Kouzes and Posner (2012) recommend five practices for
exemplary leadership that include: (1) Model the Way, (2) Inspire a Shared Vision, (3) Challenge
the Process, (4) Enable Others to Act and (5) Encourage the Heart. This framework of effective
leadership practices is evidence based. The five practices provide educational institutions with a
model for leading that is essential to what is needed by an individual school.
Leech and Fulton (2002) investigated the leadership behaviors and practices of middle
and high school principals. The behaviors and practices were analyzed through the lens of
Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) exemplary practices. Kouzes and Posner’s practices of leadership
are embedded within the relationships between the leaders and followers. The findings
demonstrated the need for principal preparation programs to provide experiences that nurture the
skills necessary to promote strong learning communities. Leech and Fulton (2002) recommend
further exploration on the relationship of the leadership practices of school principals and student
achievement using the Kouzes and Posner’s construct of leadership.
The initial leadership practice of Model the Way appears to be self-explanatory and
similar to the saying “lead by example.” As a leader, modeling the way is not just about sharing
common words but demonstrating actions that support the foundational ideals of the institution.
To achieve high standards and gain commitment, leaders model the behaviors they expect of
others (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). To effectively Model the Way, the leader’s guiding principles
must be clear in clarifying their values (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Principals play an important
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role in establishing and maintaining norms and culture at school (Spillane, 2004). The actions of
the principal strengthen the core purpose and value of the school’s vision and mission. The
affirmation of a school’s shared values is required in an effective school. Donaldson (2006)
suggests that visibility of support for learning and professional skill enhances the school’s
capacity to meet the objective of the institution. The principal’s challenge to modeling the way
relies on their ability to “walk the talk” and inspire the best professional practices in others.
The effective principal sets the example when actions are aligned with shared vision and
inevitably elicits a shared vision among stakeholders. The second exemplary leadership practice
is Inspire a Shared Vision. Kouzes and Posner (2012) found that stakeholders describe their
personal-best leadership experiences when they imagine a prosperous future for their
organization. The power of truly believing in a vision is at the heart of this leadership practice.
The communication of a positive mind-set is vital to inspiring a shared vision within an
organization. The stakeholders’ commitment to a vision requires a leader that is able to appeal to
common aspirations (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). The vision has to be clear and support the
importance to all involved. A leader that is able to clarify the reasoning behind a vision is able to
inspire and motivate those around them. According to Sinek (2009), great leaders are able to
inspire people to act with a sense of purpose or belonging. Case in point is the infamous civil
rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who inspired tens of thousands of average citizens to
unite in a single ideal and changed the country. It is evident that Martin Luther King, Jr.
exhibited this leadership practice via his commitment to the vision of equality, which inspired
the shared vision of the masses.
The third exemplary practice of Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) leadership framework is
Challenge the Process. Principals in today’s education setting are required to achieve significant
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growth contributing to school improvement. This practice represents the leader that seeks
opportunities and plans for innovative ways to improve the opportunities. Taking risks, making
mistakes, and dealing with failures is important to change. The best leaders are the best learners
that enjoy experimentation and taking risks (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). In this leadership practice
of Challenge the Process, leaders must be willing to accept that sometimes risks are beneficial
and remember that without risks there will be no gain or change.
The fourth exemplary leadership practice advocated by Kouzes and Posner stresses the
importance of a team effort to accomplish goals, Enable Others to Act. The practice is evident in
leaders that foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships. Trust is important
to creating greater performance of a school. Fullan (2003) describes trust as reciprocal and
established over a period of time. Building trust to create collaborative work is a dilemma faced
by school leaders today. Investing in the development of trust to build a team is instrumental in
building leadership capacity because it provides educators the opportunity to learn and be
supported during the process of growth. During this process, leaders are able to nurture educators
into leaders for the next generation (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Encourage the Heart is the fifth recommended leadership practice needed by future
leaders in education. According to Kouzes and Posner (2012), this leadership practice recognizes
contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. This recognition may be
exhibited in different forms and simple actions. When people feel cared for they are more likely
to engage in the vision of the organization. A strong sense of collective identity is developed
when people perceive their value is acknowledged (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). One of the school
leader’s jobs is to show appreciation for the contributions of educators, which may encourage the
educators to pursue leadership. The theoretical framework utilized to guide this case study will
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incorporate the practices of Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, and Enable Others to Act.
Educational organizations have the potential to build leadership capacity through the strategic
focus on developing future school leaders that are able to collaborate, set an example, and create
culture based on a common understanding of goal.
Development of the School Leader
Leadership is a critical linchpin that may determine the success of a school. Strong
leadership skills are imperative to developing competent students that are academically prepared
to graduate from high school and attend college (Hallinger, 2011; Lesnick, Goerge, Smithgall, &
Gwynne, 2010). Student academic achievement gaps are intertwined with the readiness of school
leaders (Goddard & Miller, 2010; Marzano et al., 2005). Amagoh (2009) suggests that leadership
development be comprehensive and systematically aligned with an organizational culture to
produce leaders with the capacity to lead. The development of leaders must be multi-faceted to
improve schools.
The conscious development of school leaders is pertinent to building leadership capacity
in an institution. This section will discuss the preparation of school leaders through formal
leadership programs that incorporate research-based curricular and professional standards.
Within the formal leadership programs, the experiences and support provided to the candidates is
vital to developing principals for the next generation. The final portion of this section focuses on
the challenge pertaining to school leadership development.
Elements Utilized to Prepare School Leaders
Leadership programs. The public’s perception of the impending shortage of school
leaders has guided studies to identify characteristics of effectual leader preparation programs.
Effective program design was identified as essential to developing effective leaders (Davis et al.,
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2005). Research on principal preparation programs suggests that selected features of a program
are key to establishing the effective program. The features of an effective program include but
not limited to (1) research-based and coherent curricular, (2) provides real world experience, (3)
cohorts, and (4) mentoring (Davis et al., 2005).
Curricular
Research-based. Many research studies found that effective principal preparation
programs utilize content that reflects the current research in school leadership. In a
comprehensive review of research, Davis et al. (2005) identified that leadership preparation
programs’ content should include the knowledge of instruction, organizational development as
well as leadership skills. The researchers found that revisions of the content would be more
effective to the development of principals. The changes incorporated in programs are the
development of knowledge that allows leaders to promote successful teaching and learning,
collaborative decision-making strategies, distributed leadership practices, a culture of
community, processes for organizational change and renewal, and the use of data and
instructional technologies to guide school improvement (Davis et al., 2005).
Marzano et al. (2005) posit that professional knowledge is the responsibility of the school
leader and important to the overall task of teaching and learning. A study conducted to address
the criticism of educational leader preparation programs found that a number of the programs
were both exceptional and innovative (Jackson & Kelley, 2002). In these programs, there was a
clear, well-defined curriculum that was relevant to the knowledge base needed by school leaders.
Furthermore, the content of the highly effective programs were aligned to the Interstate School
Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards that emphasizes the knowledge base that
today’s leaders require to improve schools.
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Professional association standards alignment and coherence. Curricula utilized in
preparation programs based on the ISLLC Standards and good leadership practices are vital
elements to preparing aspiring administrators. The standards provide programs with common
requirements for knowledge and skills of school leaders that is based on effective teaching and
learning. In 1994, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the
NASSP, and the National Policy Board for Educational Administration combined efforts and
developed the standards to define and guide school leaders’ work. The ISLLC revised the ISLLC
Standards in 2008. The current ISLLC six standards (Council of Chief State School Officers,
2008) include:
• Standard 1: Setting a widely shared vision for learning.
• Standard 2: Developing a school culture and instructional program conducive to
student learning and staff professional growth.
• Standard 3: Ensuring effective management of the organization, operation, and
resources for a safe efficient, and effective learning.
• Standard 4: Collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to
diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.
• Standard 5: Acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
• Standard 6: Understanding, responding to, and influencing political, social, legal, and
cultural contexts.
A coherent principal preparation program aligns effective school leadership practices,
and ISLLC Standards with goals and learning activities. The sequence of learning and teaching is
logical in a coherent program and is linked to theory and practice (Davis et al., 2005). Davis et
al. (2005) found that coherent programs provide candidates with an environment that scaffolds
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learning and fosters reflection. When the content is learned, the candidate will require the
opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills in relative practice. Educational institutions
require preparation programs with effective and relevant leadership content and authentic
experiences to assist in building leadership capacity.
Fieldwork/internship. Research studies consistently find real world experiences crucial
to developing school leaders. Real world experience pertains to the hands-on experience utilized
to develop leadership knowledge and skills of a candidate under the guidance of a supervisor.
The optimal method to develop principals is through opportunities to apply skills in an authentic
setting (Amagoh, 2009; Davis et al., 2005). McCall (2004) posits that experience not programs
should be the centerpiece for leadership development. The challenge for programs is the proper
use of experience for aspiring school leaders. However, as programs are equipped with the
knowledge of how learning occurs, a candidate’s experience may develop talented leaders the
educational systems will need to improve schools (McCall, 2004).
Thessin and Clayton (2013) conducted a study to identify how current K-12 district and
school leaders of an educational program acquired essential skills and experiences. The
researchers found leaders in the study learned from experiences afforded by the internships. The
internships were identified as the most practical component of the leadership program. Strong
internship experiences provide leadership candidates with multiple opportunities to address the
real-word demands of the school leader with appropriate assistance from the program support
structures. Amagoh (2009) affirms the experience-based approach is a comprehensive manner to
combine on-the-job experience, life experience, and specific skill development. Pounder and
Crow (2005) state that field experiences strengthen the link between theory and practice. To
achieve an effective learning experience for the candidate, programs should link the leadership
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development activities with the real work assignment. With the application of learned knowledge
and skills through the fieldwork experiences, quality candidates are available to fill a school’s
leadership pipeline.
Cohort structure. Programs are grouping principal candidates in cohorts to provide
learning experiences that support the adult learner. Barnett, Basom, Yerkes, and Norris (2000)
recognized that the cohort structure emphasized shared learning, opportunities for collaboration,
and practice in teams. The advantages of utilizing the cohort structure within a leadership
preparation program are the development of interpersonal skills, academic performance and
higher completion rates of candidates (Jackson & Kelley, 2002). The collaboration of cohort
members helps candidates build group and individual knowledge, think creatively, and
restructure problems (Davis et al., 2005). The cohort model is important to providing aspiring
leaders with optimal learning experiences.
The study on cohorts revealed the positive affect of this learning structure on candidates’
academic performance and interpersonal skills. The individual support and encouragement
experienced by members through the interactions with other members support motivation for the
learning process. The academic performance and interpersonal skills acquired via the cohort
structure may support candidates’ completion rates to assist in the predicted leadership crisis in
the United States. Pounder and Crow (2005) recognized the importance of support systems such
as cohorts in building leadership capacity. The peer support systems established within the
cohort structure are vital to establishing candidates with the desire for a long-term career in
school leadership.
Mentoring. The emerging theme in school leadership development relevant to building
leadership capacity is the support system of mentoring. The path to nurture aspiring leaders
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competencies for leadership in schools is via mentoring that provides ongoing support with
professional development opportunities (Malone, 2002). Mentoring is a learning experience that
supports leadership improvement and contributes to building leadership capacity by cultivating
quality leaders. Groves (2007) conducted a study with a variety of healthcare organizations and
found mentoring as a pivotal approach to the development of employees. The organizations’
employees achieved positive outcomes that included enhanced job performance, promotion and
compensation. Collaboration between the veteran and new or aspiring leader can promote an
environment that is conducive to high levels of student achievement (Clayton, Sanzo, & Myran,
2013). In addition, the relationship between mentor and mentee is instrumental in motivating and
developing the mentee’s confidence while increasing competencies (Solansky, 2010).
Clayton et al. (2013) conducted a case study in one small, rural school district to
understand the mentoring relationship between the veteran school leader and the aspiring leader.
The results of the study demonstrated that the time pressures related to accountability and the
development and sustainability of the relationship between the veteran and aspiring leader were
central to the positive outcomes of mentoring. The authors recommend that mentoring programs
be refined to acknowledge the challenges of sustaining a productive mentee and mentor
relationship (Clayton et al., 2013). The social interactions among the mentee and mentor may not
always be constructive. Similarly, Mullen and Cairns (2001) conducted a case study of a
graduate leadership preparation program to explore mentoring as a promising practice to assist
aspiring leaders with relevant learning experiences. The findings support the vital collaborative
relationship as a priority in leader development programs to continue building leadership
capacity for educational institutions (Clayton et al., 2013; Sosik & Lee, 2002).
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Challenges to School Leadership Development
Principal preparation concerns. Research on leadership programs suggests that the lack
of capable school principals is due to the traditional preparation program (Darling-Hammond,
LaPointe, et al., 2007; Hess & Kelly, 2005). Despite the understanding of the components of
effective leadership, few programs for school leaders provide professional development
opportunities for the aspiring principal. Most programs in the United States offer courses related
to general management principles, school laws, administrative requirements, and procedures.
The literature on leadership programs demonstrates little emphasis on student learning, effective
teaching, professional development, curriculum and organizational change (Elmore, 2000;
McCarthy, 2002).
McCarthy (2002) identified trends that characterize the preparation of school leaders. The
trends revealed challenges for future school leaders and the schools preparing leaders. Principal
programs rarely have a connection between the curriculum and the actual demands of the school
leaders’ everyday practice (McCarthy, 2002). The challenge for preparation programs is the lack
of data needed to correlate the reform efforts of a school leader to the results achieved. The
available data do not portray a positive outlook on school principals’ preparation in improving
student performance (McCarthy, 2002). With this knowledge, many educational programs are
reforming the programs to reflect the use of cohort groups, courses aligned with professional
standards, and strengthening field experiences (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, et al., 2007;
McCarthy, 2002). The strategic development of candidates is essential to filling the leadership
pipeline with qualified and willing candidates.
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Leadership Pipeline Development
A school’s success in building leadership capacity is dependent on a pipeline that
promotes the supply of qualified and willing candidates. In this section, the importance of a
systematic approach for developing a leadership pipeline is discussed. Next, the literature that
provided significant factors for filling the pipeline with aspiring leaders is discussed. Lastly, the
management of an established leadership pipeline is explored.
Effective planning for leadership succession occurs when the right people are in the right
place at the right time (Collins, 2001). Succession planning in education is a primary focus for
school reform mandates. The building of leadership capacity requires a strategic plan to ensure
schools are equipped with the next generation of leaders. The vital component of a school’s
ability to promote and sustain change to facilitate reforms is effective succession planning
(Fullan, 2002). Productive succession planning is about an organization growing talent from
within to ensure a prosperous future. The literature pertaining to succession planning is focused
on developing a systematic approach to building sustainable leadership pipelines. The pipeline
refers to qualified candidates for leadership positions (Fink, 2011). Succession planning
recognizes that some positions are the core of the organization and too critical to be filled by an
unqualified person. It is vital for the education institutions to create an effective process for
recognizing, developing and retaining top leadership talent to ensure student achievement.
Literature on succession planning in secondary schools presents highlights of critical
features of effective leadership capacity that is often missing in schools. Feeney (2009) examined
and critiqued the leadership capacity of department leaders in high school. The purpose of the
qualitative study was to gain an understanding of how department leaders perceive and define
their role in leadership and school improvement. The findings of the case study revealed an
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absence of teacher leadership necessary to promote a system for building leadership capacity to
impact student achievement (Feeney, 2009). Feeney (2009) recommends a framework of features
for department leaders and administrators to build leadership capacity. The four features include:
(1) Define roles related to practice, not position. (2) Focus on learning, (3) Define improvement,
and (4) Structure collaboration.
The utilization of a formal succession plan is vital to a principal’s success as a leader.
Talbot (2000) conducted a case study to explore the succession experience of a first year
principal in Utah. The participant was a 28-year veteran of many teaching and administrative
assignments and began her high school principalship. There was no formal transition plan and
she experienced more failures than successes (Talbot, 2000). The findings of the study
demonstrated a need to include real-life applications to support the succession of new leaders in
high schools. The real life applications included role taking, role making, and socialization
tactics both professional and organizational.
Similar to Talbot’s conclusions, Parkay, Currie, and Rhodes (1992) used a multiple case
study design to understand the professional socialization of 12 first-time high school principals
during a 3-year period. Parkay et al. (1992) recommends training, networking, and coaching as
methods to support principals as they become socialized into the profession. Therefore, sustained
leadership capacity may be accomplished with a systematic approach that supports the
development of potential leader candidates.
Systematic Approach to Sustained Leadership: The Pipeline
Many researchers define succession planning as an on-going process that helps an
organization align goals and needs with a systematic approach for building a leadership pipeline
or talent pool that ensures leadership continuity (Conger & Fulmer, 2003; Butler & Roche-Terry,
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2002; Mamprin, 2002). The literature related to building leadership capacity within an institution
recommends the adoption of effective similar succession-planning models. Conger and Fulmer
(2003) suggest the following guidelines for building a sustainable leadership pipeline: (1) Focus
on development, (2) Identify linchpin positions, (3) Make it transparent, and (4) Measure
progress regularly.
Similarly, Groves (2010) describes the effective succession planning for leadership with
six steps. The six steps are (1) Build the business case for talent management, (2) Define high-
potential leaders, (3) Identify and codify high-potential leaders, (4) Communicate high-potential
designations, (5) Develop high-potential leaders, and (6) Evaluate and embed talent-management
system. Groves’ succession planning steps one through four may essentially meld into Conger
and Fulmer’s steps one to three and the final step for each focuses on the accountability of the
succession plan. The selection and recruitment of leader candidates is the primary target of each
of the recommended succession plans. Experts have recognized leadership strength as a key
indicator of sustainability (Conger & Fulmer, 2003; Rothwell, 2002).
Leadership succession is often overlooked and neglected in education. One of the most
influential factors to building leadership capacity is the willingness of the individual to undertake
the responsibilities of the school leader. It is important for organizations to develop a culture that
interprets leadership roles as a desirable career option (Fink, 2011). Fink (2011) studied the
government succession planning in three countries and stressed the importance of creating not
only a pool of candidates to fill the pipeline of future leaders but an additional reservoir source.
This change in perspective regarding succession planning may assist in recruiting willing
candidates for the principalship.
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The effective succession plan involves the identification of specific characteristics of
potential candidates. Slater (2008) found that building leadership capacity in others requires
effort, insight, and explicit skills on the part of the leaders. Fink (2011) noted the essential
principles of sustainable leadership: (1) Depth, (2) Length, (3) Breadth, (4), Social Justice (5)
Diversity, (6) Resourcefulness, and (7) Conservation.
1. Depth. Sustainable leadership creates and preserves sustaining learning.
2. Length. Sustainable leadership that lasts. It preserves and advances the most valuable
aspects of life over time, year upon year from one leader to the next.
3. Breadth. Sustainable leadership spreads. It sustains as well as depends on the
leadership of others. Sustainable leadership is distributed leadership.
4. Social Justice. Sustainable leadership benefits all students and schools.
5. Diversity. Sustainable leadership develops environmental diversity and capacity.
6. Resourcefulness. Sustainable leadership develops and does not deplete material and
human resources.
7. Conservation. Sustainable leadership undertakes activist engagement with the
environment. (Fink, 2011, p. 672)
The sustainable leadership principles provide a foundation for educational institutions to
begin developing a pipeline of leaders that are not only qualified but possess the talent to lead
schools to success (Fink, 2011).
Filling the Pipeline with Aspiring Leaders
An organization’s ability to plan and implement a succession plan is dependent on the
availability of willing candidates to take leadership positions. Rhodes and Brundrett (2009)
examined factors that assist in the leadership development of teachers in various career stages
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and factors that hinder leadership succession planning across a sample of 70 schools in the
United Kingdom. The early development of teachers as leaders provides a pipeline of potential
willing candidates. In this study, the development of teachers as leaders was identified as an
approach to increase a candidate’s commitment to assuming a school leader position (Rhodes &
Brundrett, 2009). Notably, culture-related teamwork, trust, confidence building, availability of
advice, a commitment to professional learning, and the support of leadership learning are
important to encouraging leadership successors in schools (Rhodes & Brundrett, 2009). The
findings support that a coherent and coordinated approach to leadership learning and
development is essential to building leadership capacity (Rhodes & Brundrett, 2009).
The identification of talented people is an area schools should consider when developing
a succession plan. Much like the United States, the United Kingdom allocates the responsibility
of identifying leadership talent to education professionals. Although, talent identification remains
an under-researched area of leadership Rhodes and Brundrett (2009) assert that a credible
assessment of an individual’s leadership talent and potential is the key to getting the right person
in the right leadership position at the right time and filling vacancies in leadership positions. The
study did not reveal a specific assessment to identify potential leaders but calls for schools to
evaluate current practices for identifying and retaining talented and committed people.
Similarly, Conger and Fulmer (2003) conducted a study to examine three companies that
have a process for building leadership capacity. The process for building leadership capacity
included the identification of linchpin positions essential to the success of the organization. This
rule for succession planning focused on the identification of the essential position rather than
details of a potential candidate. Whereas, Pounder and Crow (2005) conducted a study to explore
issues related to building a stronger pipeline of school administrators and suggest school leaders
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encourage teachers that demonstrate leadership potential to chair standing committees or other
challenging tasks.
Rogers (2005) explored the applicability of two motivation theories, Porter/Mazlow’s
need-priority and Herzberg’s maintenance-motivation models, to the challenge of identifying
individuals who aspire to the role of leadership. The qualitative study was conducted on the
faculty members in a school of medicine utilizing a Teacher Leadership Readiness Instrument.
The faculty was asked to complete self-reflections to demonstrate awareness of their needs and
motivations. The study was based on two research questions: (1) How to identify the potential
leaders from faculty that may be dispersed among several teaching or clinical sites and (2) What
are the characteristics of medical school teachers, particularly clinicians who have leadership
potential or leadership aspiration? The Porter/Mazlow need-hierarchy model assumes that
people are driven from within to realize their full growth potential and Herzberg’s two-factor
model describes maintenance factors as potential sources of dissatisfaction but not motivation
(Rogers, 2005). Rogers (2005) found that as faculty members became aware of their needs and
motivations they were able to realize personal leadership aspirations and seek to become teacher-
leaders. Nurturing and supporting emerging leaders may assist in building leadership within an
organization. Moreover, the management of a succession plan with the right leaders is an
important factor to building leadership capacity from within an organization (Conger & Fulmer,
2003; Groves, 2010).
Management of the Pipeline
The development of a system for sustained leadership is a long-term process. Once the
right people are in the right place the care of the succession plan is needed. The quality assurance
of succession planning is important to the success of an organization. A succession plan
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measurement system will help institutions identify gaps and determine next steps. Conger and
Fulmer (2003) introduced a metric of guiding questions to measure an organization’s leadership
pipeline. The questions to consider while regularly measuring progress of a succession system
are (1) How many important positions have been filled with internal candidates?, (2) How many
succession plans have two or more “ready now” candidates? and (3) How many of the same
employees are “ready now” candidates on more than three different succession plans? (Conger &
Fulmer, 2003).
The effective management of succession plans is apparent as institutions adopt a “talent
mind-set.” This talent mind-set is evident when time is allotted for in-depth talent assessment, a
differentiation of strong and weak performers, and the distribution of challenging assignments to
inexperienced but high potential leaders (Conger & Fulmer, 2003).
Challenges to Sustained Leadership
Educational institutions face challenges when succession planning for school leadership.
There is a significant decline of interested applicants to fill the position of principal in schools
(Myung et al., 2011). The challenges underpinning the lack of interested applicants are related to
job desirability. The issues specific to job desirability include a candidate’s view regarding
satisfaction and the resource of time.
Willing and High-Quality Aspiring Leaders
There is a shortage of potential willing and high-quality leaders in education (Fink, 2011;
Myung et al., 2011; Young & Creighton, 2002). The changing role of the principal has
contributed to the difficulties in recruiting and retaining principals (Whitaker, 2003). Many
principals view the increased pressure for student achievement, weekly working hours that
average 60-80 hours, and dealing with staff resistant to change as factors that discourage job
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satisfaction (Hewitt, Denny, & Pijanowski, 2011). Hewitt et al. (2011) explored the challenge
schools face in recruiting teacher leaders with leadership potential to assume the principalship.
The participants, teachers and superintendents, completed a survey with questions addressing
eleven factors that may discourage teachers from seeking a career in administration (Hewitt et
al., 2011). The findings identified stress, time commitment and accountability demands of
standardized testing as the three factors that discourage potential leaders from applying.
Furthermore, Pounder and Merrill (2010) examined the job desirability of high school
principals from the potential candidate’s point of view. The study reviewed factors that influence
a potential candidate’s job perceptions and job intentions regarding the high school principal
role. The strongest predictors of job attraction were the desire to achieve and influence
education, the time demands of the position and the position’s salary and benefits. The findings
confirmed the candidates’ did not report the administrator’s salary schedule and benefits as a
deterrent to pursuing leadership. However, the time required to enact the role of a principal did
not yield positive responses from the candidates (Pounder & Merrill, 2010).
Pounder and Crow (2005) investigated issues within a school that may be addressed to
ensure a strong pipeline of effective administrators. With the complexity of the principal’s role
many candidates are not willing to accept the intense leadership position. Pounder and Crow
(2005) suggested de-stressing and redesigning the role of the principal to encourage more
candidates to step into the role of a school leader.
Summary
This literature review suggests a shift in perspectives on educational leadership that
requires the consideration of different strategies and practices to build and sustain capacity for
the next generation of leaders. Educational research continues to attend to the role of the
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principal as schools are challenged by the accountability mandates within the school reform
efforts. In addition, there is much research that indicates that a key factor in student achievement
and the success of schools is attributed to leadership quality.
School leaders recognize the importance of collaborative work to improving student
achievement. Literature on education leadership is intertwined with the educational reforms
imposed by policy makers. The theoretical leadership structures revealed throughout the
literature provide guidance for school leaders to improve school effectiveness and student
learning (Elmore, 2000; Marzano et al., 2005).
The research pertaining to leadership development focuses on the preparation of school
leaders via programs that have key features of research-based curricular, real-world experiences,
cohort structure, and mentoring. These features are recommended as an attempt to gain a better
understanding of school leadership. Furthermore, the literature on leadership development
discusses the challenges of principal preparation programs.
Education institutions understand the importance of leadership succession planning, as
the vacancies of positions will require willing candidates with leadership skills. The literature is
consistent with the demand for schools to identify, recruit and develop aspiring leaders and
leadership programs that encompass structures to support growth. The research underlines the
models of effective leadership succession plans, the importance of planning and the barriers to
effective succession of leaders. The literature is limited on the process of the principals’
leadership succession in schools and there is a growing need for literature on the succession of
educational leaders (Fink & Brayman, 2006; Hargreaves, 2005).
The purpose of this study was to examine how one secondary school builds leadership
capacity from within the organization. The goals of the study were to identify the promising
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practices within the succession plan. The next section addresses the research methods employed
to determine the promising practices and strategies experienced by the leaders at the selected
secondary school.

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
A minimal number of empirically based studies exist on leadership succession planning
at secondary schools. This scarcity of attention to identifying promising practices to support a
succession plan has been most notable in the area of educational leadership (Fink & Brayman,
2006; Schechter & Tischler, 2007). The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation
of promising practices for leadership succession planning at one secondary school. The study
examined the strategies and practices utilized by a secondary school to fill the pipeline of
qualified future administrators. Furthermore, the investigation of the secondary school’s
practices in building leadership capacity includes the perceptions of stakeholders and the
recruitment and selection strategies.
The chapter outlines the research design process of the study. In addition, the qualitative
methods, sample and population, overview of the organization, theoretical and conceptual
framework, data collection approach, instrumentation, data analysis, and ethical considerations
are presented. Finally, a summative conclusion to the data collection approach is shared.
Research Questions
In order to understand building leadership capacity at one secondary school, the
following questions were developed in a thematic group and are addressed in this study:
1. In what ways does a secondary school work to build the next generation of leaders?
2. What are the perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the influence of
those practices?
3. What are the factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and
implementation of strategies designed to build leadership capacity?
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Research Design
The research questions provided a foundation for the study and guided the selection of a
qualitative research method for data collection. According to Merriam (2009), qualitative
research is important to obtain data that provides detailed descriptions and focuses on
understanding the experiences of people. A qualitative research design was selected because the
focus of the study is central to understand the experiences of administrators and teachers and to
identify and understand the leadership succession strategies and practices at one school. Thus,
the qualitative case study method was implemented to provide in-depth and rich descriptive
details of data collected (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007). Merriam (2009) suggests the method of
utilizing a case study facilitates the experiences of stakeholders as well as understanding the
case. A case study focuses on real-world scenarios and demonstrates a holistic version of a single
phenomenon within a bounded system (Merriam, 2009). To answer the qualitative research
questions, the stakeholders were necessary participants to answer the research questions because
of their direct experiences and knowledge afforded by the position within the school and
leadership role. Additionally, to understand how the teachers and administrators at a secondary
school supports succession, it was appropriate to examine the behaviors of those who influence
the selection, recruitment and retention of school leaders.
Qualitative data collection depends on a plethora of sources to gather information that
include interviews, observations, and document analysis (Creswell, 2014). This study utilized the
qualitative technique of interviews as the primary tool for gathering data because it is an
effective manner to elicit rich and descriptive data of the participants’ experiences and
perceptions (Weiss, 1994). The method of interviewing was important because this technique
provided an approach to gathering information about experiences in which the interviewer does
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not partake and may yield more data (Merriam, 2009; Weiss, 1994). Furthermore, the interview
data was helpful to learning how the participants interpret practices and strategies and their daily
leadership roles in the school.
Observations were selected for this study to assist in answering the research questions.
The observation tool provided the means to describe actual settings and behaviors of the
participants (Maxwell, 2013). The study utilized observations in a variety of settings to include
meetings and professional development sessions. It was important to observe the administrators
and teachers in their natural setting to understand how they genuinely participate in the
implementation of leadership succession practices. An advantage to utilizing the observation is
that interviews may provide only a second hand account of each participant’s perceptions,
whereas the observation is a firsthand account of the phenomenon (Merriam, 2009). Specifically,
the data gathered in the observations were unfiltered, without bias.
The collection and review of documents selected for this qualitative research provided
context and a verification of findings from the other data sources. The document analysis
provided a third point of data for triangulation. The employment of multiple data sources in
research is referred to as “triangulation.” The advantage of employing the process of
triangulation increases the opportunities to enhance the inquiry process and gain different
perspectives while building a strong case for the findings (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).
Furthermore, the use of multiple sources of data assisted in establishing credibility and validity
to a study (Patton, 2002). For this study, Pono Pond High School’s (PPHS) internal leadership
recruitment forms, academic financial plan, and meeting agendas were utilized to develop an
understanding of the organization’s leadership practices historically.
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Sample and Population
This study examined one secondary school. The sample was small as to afford the
researcher the opportunity to discern promising practices of building leadership capacity. The
school site was selected based on the criterion that includes evidence of beginning promising
practices for building leadership capacity, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC) accreditation and the demonstration of a system for school improvement in accordance
with the Strive HI Performance Index components. The Strive HI Performance index utilizes the
components of achievement, growth, readiness, and achievement gap in an effort to understand
school performance and progress (Hawaii State Department of Education [HIDOE], 2013). A
preliminary interview was conducted to gather information about two secondary schools. The
interview included five questions to understand the organization’s overall approach to building
leadership capacity from within. The questions were as follows: (1) How many new school
administrators does your school have this year?, (2) Is there a formal mentorship program for
teachers/administrators in the school? (3) How do teachers who are interested in school
administration get more information or apply for a leadership position? (4) What are some ways
leadership identifies aspiring leaders? and (5) What type of professional development
opportunities are offered for your teachers and administrators? Each principal shared views on
building leadership capacity. The secondary school site for this study enacts an open door policy
between staff and leaders and an internal form that provides aspiring teachers a means to
communicate an interest in leadership roles. The school site selected employs the principal that
mentored the school leader interviewed from the second organization and had an informal
process to assist aspiring leaders gain experience to lead.
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The eight participants were selected for this study on the criteria of a purposeful,
convenience sampling. Each participant was employed at PPHS and available during the time of
the study. According to Maxwell (2013), the purposeful selection of participants can be utilized
to work with groups or participants who are best suited to answer the research questions. The
purposeful sampling allowed the researcher to select teachers and administrators who possess an
interest in building leadership capacity. The respondents selected for this study met the following
requirements: (1) each participant must be leader at a secondary school and (2) each participant
has served in a leadership role for a minimum of one year. Additionally, Maxwell (2013)
encourages researchers to make decisions regarding samples based on a researcher’s relationship
with study participants. The first interview respondent was the PPHS principal and then referred
interviewees were identified. Merriam (2009) conveys that this process of referral is a type of
purposeful sampling known as snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is a process that
researchers utilize to find the appropriate people to interview by asking the first person to refer
others as well. This type of sampling was useful because the respondents are current professional
colleagues.
Overview of Organization
PPHS is an educational institution that is guided by the belief that the school’s role is to
be at the heart of the growing community with personalized learning. The school is relatively
new and recently celebrated its 14th anniversary. PPHS asserts to be at the heart of the
community with an exciting and dynamic student-centered learning environment. PPHS has
approximately 2000 students, 6 administrators, 85 general education classroom teachers and 28
special instruction teaching staff. The school’s mission is to create a learning environment to
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help students meet and exceed Hawaii Common Core Standards and the Hawaii Content and
Performance Standards (HIDOE, 2006-2014).
PPHS is located on the border of a large urban city. The school serves general education
students, special education students, and English Language Learner (ELL) students from 9th to
12th grade. The demographic groups attending PPHS are diverse and includes: 23.8% are
Filipino, 14.2% are White, 31.1% are Native Hawaiian, 5.0% are Black, 4.9% are Hispanic,
5.5% are Samoan, 6.4% are Japanese, 1.1% are Portuguese, 1.0% are Indo-Chinese, 1.5% are
Chinese, .7% are Guamanian, .5% are Micronesian, .7% are Other Pacific Islander, 1.6%
Multiple with two or more, .6% are Tongan, .3% Other Asian, and .8% are Korean (HIDOE,
2006-2014). Fifty one percent of the students participate in the free or reduced cost lunch
program. PPHS implements a teacher-mentoring program to ensure teachers are supported and
guided by veteran teachers. Additionally, the school strives to make changes for improvements
in existing programs and processes, as well as creating new programs to help serve students
needs.
Theoretical Framework
In order learn about promising practices of leadership succession, it was necessary to
utilize theoretical research as a foundation to study the phenomenon. As explained in Chapter 2,
leadership practices are designed to address the leadership challenges faced by today’s schools
when planning to build leaders for the next generation. The transformational leadership theory
was instrumental in selecting a theoretical framework for this study. The primary foundation for
the transformational leadership theory was the focus on individualized support for others, which
contributes to building leadership capacity in an organization (Northouse, 2013). The Kouzes
and Posner (2012) model is intertwined with the transformational theory framework with the
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focus on the development of others. Kouzes and Posner (2012) recommended the five practices
for exemplary leadership that include: (1) Model the Way, (2) Inspire a Shared Vision, (3)
Challenge the Process, (4) Enable Others to Act and (5) Encourage the Heart. The theoretical and
conceptual framework for this study focused on three of the five recommended practices because
of the close alignment to the literature on transformational leaders and the 21st century school
leader. As Kouzes and Posner’s practices of leadership are embedded within the relationships
between the leaders and followers. The three leadership practices of Model the Way, Inspire a
Shared Vision and Enable Others to Act were selected as each practice demonstrates the
importance of investing in the development of human capital.
The first exemplary practice guiding this study was Model the Way. This practice is
evident when a leader’s guiding principles are clear in clarifying their values (Kouzes & Posner,
2012). The principal’s challenge to modeling the way relies on their ability to demonstrate vision
and mission in daily actions to inspire the best professional practices in others. To achieve high
standards and gain commitment, leaders model the behaviors they expect of others (Kouzes &
Posner, 2012). The second exemplary leadership practice utilized in this study was Inspire a
Shared Vision. The stakeholders’ commitment to a vision requires a leader that is able to appeal
to common aspirations (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Another practice that guided this research
emphasizes the significance of a team effort to accomplish goals, Enable Others to Act. The
practice is evident in leaders that foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating
relationships (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Conceptual Framework
In order to effectively examine a secondary school’s ability to build leadership capacity
internally, a systematic approach to leadership succession is warranted. The identification of
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leaders, the development of the leaders’ knowledge and skills and the support practices are three
practices recommended to develop and sustain a leadership pipeline. As discussed in Chapter 2,
throughout history leadership has been viewed as an important factor to school improvement.
The historical influence of school reform has led to the vital role of leadership in education to
student achievement.
The literature appears to be clear about the need to prepare educational institutions with
sustainable leadership succession plans (Hargreaves, 2005). If schools are not able to create an
environment that encourages the potential leaders, the implementation of the school
improvement will not be successful. A foundation for the conceptual framework (Figure 1) was
developed around the recommendations to implement effective leadership succession plans.
According to Conger and Fulmer (2003) and Groves (2010), there are specific guidelines to
implement a sustainable leadership pipeline. These researchers recommend the following three
means to develop a leadership pipeline (1) identification and recruitment of leader candidates, (2)
development in knowledge and skills and (3) support systems for future leaders. The following
conceptual framework was developed collaboratively with the thematic group based on emerging
themes in the literature.
The conceptual framework in Figure 1 demonstrates the key concepts in the study. The
map depicts an organization’s goal of establishing an effective succession plan for sustainable
leadership. The three arrows depict the recommended promising practices to build leadership
capacity in an organization. As organizations utilize these promising practices for building
leadership capacity, there are challenges that may arise that include finding willing candidates,
acquiring adequate resources and the implementation of an evolving curriculum and knowledge.
The entire process of building leadership capacity is guided by Kouzes and Posner’s (2012)
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leadership practices of modeling the way, inspiring a vision, and enabling others to act when
developing candidates with the relevant and essential knowledge to lead. The process has the
potential to yield candidates with the capacity to lead and then become mentors to new
candidates. This framework may be developed in organizations as a resource to build future
leaders that are willing and able to assume the role of leadership.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework for sustainable leadership

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Data Collection
The interview data collection methods were selected to ensure a measure of validity.
Validity is not guaranteed by specific methods but is essential to achieving credibility of findings
(Maxwell, 2013). For this study, a voice recorder and a transcription service to transcribe was
employed to ensure accuracy of the data collection. These options were selected as Maxwell
(2013) states that the interviews enable the interviewer to collect rich data and the verbatim
transcripts are significant to achieving this detailed data. The interview data is noted on the
interview protocol.
The observation protocol was designed to allow for the drawing of the setting of the
physical space and location of participants, take notes and to record reflection field notes
(Appendix C). The drawing and reflection was completed to incorporate portions of the meeting
not recorded during the observation (Merriam, 2009). The use of the computer to record data was
not considered due to the possible distraction to participants in meetings. Merriam (2009) states
that this manner of recording may appear to be conspicuous and make participants apprehensive.
Hence, the method of paper and pencil for note taking was used.
The data collection process for recruiting and obtaining consent from the participants will
be shared in this section. To gain access or entry, it is important to negotiate relationships with
participants studied (Maxwell, 2013). Maxwell (2013) posits that interviewers need relationships
that allow for information gathered ethically and answers the research questions. For this study,
each prospective interview respondent was communicated with either in person, phone, or email
to schedule the interview and observation times to obtain access to information that answers the
research questions. An email of the interview protocol was sent to participants within two days
of the interview. According to Bogdan and Biklen (2007), researchers should pursue participants
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59
that appear to be open to supporting the study. The selected leaders demonstrated an interest in
the study.
A Participant Consent Signature Page (See Appendix D) was used to gain consent for the
interview and observation phase of the study. The participant consent form includes the purpose
of the study and language pertaining to each participant’s right to confidentiality. Merriam
(2009) refers to the consent form as a vital element of the ethical issues checklist utilized in
qualitative research. The respondents signed the consent form prior to participating in the
interview. Table 1 provides details of each participant regarding their length in current role, data
collection activity, and gender information that was important to the data collection process.

Table 1
Participants in Study
Role Length in Role Data Collection Activity Gender
Principal 5 Interview; observation Male
Assistant Principal 7 Interview; observation Male
Assistant Principal 3 Interview Female
Assistant Principal 0 Interview; observation Male
New Teacher Mentor 2 Interview Female
Lead Mentor 1 Interview; observation Female
Data Lead 0 Interview; observation Female
Curriculum Coordinator 0 Interview; observation Female

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Table 1 provides an overview of the participants in the study. All personnel are school
level leaders. The study participants included four administrators and four teacher leaders. The
teacher leaders have specific leadership roles that include mentor teacher, data lead and
curriculum coordinator.
The interviews and observations were conducted at the school site. The interview
protocol (see Appendix B) was used as a format to elicit responses from the participants. The
observation protocol was developed collaboratively in a thematic dissertation group (see
Appendix C). The observation focused on gathering data of the interactions between the leaders
and meeting participants. The observation protocol included the communication and the physical
environment in which the meeting operated.
Instrumentation
This study employed semi-structured interviews and observations with the eight
participants, as well as document analysis. Merriam (2009) refers to the semi-structure interview
design as a means to increase the comprehensiveness of the data and makes the data collection
systematic for the respondent. This semi-structure afforded flexibility in sequencing and wording
to create opportunities to probe for the interviewer (Merriam, 2009). Furthermore, the selection
of the semi-structure interview design stemmed from my novice skills as an interviewer.
The interview and observation protocols were developed in conjunction with a thematic
dissertation group. The research questions were aligned with the type of data collection in the
study (Table 2).

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Table 2
Research Question Instrumentation
Research Question Interviews Observations Documents
1. In what ways does a secondary school work
to build the next generation of leaders?
X X X
2. What are the perceptions of administrators
and teachers regarding the influence of those
practices?
X
3. What are the factors that both facilitate and
inhibit the development and implementation of
strategies designed to build capacity?
X X X

The interviews and observations provided essential data to answer all the research
questions. The interview protocol includes questions that are clear and concise and directly relate
to the research questions. The collection of documents provided supplemental data to triangulate
the results in accordance with the research questions. The school’s internal leadership
recruitment forms, academic financial plan and meeting agendas were utilized to understand the
organization’s leadership practices.
Data Analysis
Data analysis in research provided answers to the research questions (Merriam, 2009).
Creswell’s (2014) six steps for data analysis provided a guiding framework for this case study’s
data analysis process. An illustration of Creswell’s model (Figure 2), developed by a 2015
thematic dissertation group, is included below to demonstrate the process utilized in the analysis.

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Figure 2. Creswell’s (2014) model for qualitative data analysis

The model demonstrates the initial step of organizing the data collected from the
interviews, observations, and documents. The second step requires the researcher to review the
documents thoroughly to make sense of the information and identify prevailing themes or
umbrella concepts. The third step pertains to the coding of the data into similar categories. A
description of the participants and setting to begin the coding process is the fourth step. The fifth
step guides the researcher to make decisions on how the descriptions and themes will be
represented in the study. The sixth step involved the researcher examining the data to make
meaning of the findings.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations were fundamental to the data collection and analysis process. The
researcher followed the university procedures for ethical conduct in research defined by the
Institutional Review Board (IRB). The participants in the study were not coerced in any manner
and voluntarily offered to participate. The credibility and trustworthiness of a study is
Step 1
Organize and
prepare data for
analysis
Step 2 Read
through all data
Step 3 Begin
analysis and
coding of data
Step 4 Code
data to identify
main themes
and categories
Step 5 Decide
how to use
themes and
categories in
study narrative
Step 6
Interpret and
make meaning
of the data
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interdependent with the ethics of the investigator (Merriam, 2009). The researcher employed
steps to ensure the study was done ethically and to guarantee confidentiality to respondents. To
accomplish this guarantee Patton’s (2002) ethical checklist that includes (1) explaining the
purpose of the inquiry and methods to be used, (2) confidentiality, (3) informed consent, (4) data
access and ownership, and (5) advice from professors and colleagues was utilized.
Supplementary, participants’ names were not used and all data was kept in a secure location.
Summary
This chapter provided an overview of the qualitative case study research method and
design used in the implementation of this study. The methods include interviews, observations
and documents. The chapter described the population sample at one secondary school site. Also
reviewed was the theoretical and conceptual framework. Creswell’s model served as a guide to
conduct data analysis. Lastly, the ethical considerations were shared. In Chapter 4, the reviews of
the findings from the data collection were examined with the purpose of the study in mind and
support recommendations for future research.

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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to examine the promising practices implemented at one
high school to build leadership capacity internally. This study was conducted in response to the
projected need for qualified leaders in high school administrative roles. The researcher sought to
identify prominent leadership development practices and understand how administration and
teacher leaders perceived the influence of those practices. Accordingly, all participants were
asked to share their experience as a leader and the ways in which the organization builds
leadership capacity. These high school leaders’ experiences may be valuable to other educational
institutions that seek to develop or augment their leadership succession plan. This chapter
presents and summarizes details about the selected high school and participants in the case study.
The findings are presented by research question.
In order to discern the ways in which the secondary school builds the next generation of
leaders, the thematic dissertation group created three research questions. The interview and
observation protocols were generated from the following questions:
1. In what ways does a secondary school work to build the next generation of leaders?
2. What are the perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the influence of
those practices?
3. What are the factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and
implementation of strategies designed to build leadership capacity?
The data collection included participant interviews, observations, meeting agendas and
the school’s Academic Financial Plan (ACFIN). The method of triangulation was utilized to
provide reliability and validity to the case study’s findings. To protect the confidentiality of the
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study, the name of the school and participants were changed to pseudonyms. Participants were
assigned the identifiers of Teacher Leader A, B, C, and D, and Administrator 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Following a brief introduction of the unit of study to include the site and participants, the case
study’s findings are shared regarding the research question and followed by a discussion of each
research question.
Unit of Study
Overview of High School
Pono Pond High School (PPHS) is a secondary school in a complex located on the island
of Oahu, which borders a large urban city. The school serves a population of approximately
2,000 students from various backgrounds. As mentioned earlier in Chapter 3, the demographics
at PPHS include a variety of ethnic groups: 23.8% are Filipino, 14.2% are White, 31.1% are
Native Hawaiian, 5.0% are Black, 4.9% are Hispanic, 5.5% are Samoan, 6.4% are Japanese,
1.1% are Portuguese, 1.0% are Indo-Chinese, 1.5% are Chinese, .7% are Guamanian, .5% are
Micronesian, .7% are Other Pacific Islander, 1.6% Multiple with two or more, .6% are Tongan,
.3% Other Asian, and .8% are Korean (HIDOE, 2006-2014). More than half of the students
qualify for the free or reduced cost lunch program.
The mission of PPHS is to create a learning environment to help students meet and
exceed common core and the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards. The school strives to
achieve the mission by engaging students in project-based learning as a foundation of an
academically rigorous curriculum. At every grade level students participate in project-based
learning, which challenges them to make connections with the academic content and real-life.
PPHS has been placed in the Continuous Improvement category on the Hawaii’s Strive
HI rating system for the school year 2014-15. The Strive HI report is an annual snapshot of key
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school progress in reading, math and science scores, student achievement, growth, and
achievement gaps. PPHS received a composite score of 206 of 400 points, which is an
improvement of ten overall points as compared to the 2013-14 composite score. Essentially, the
score measures several categories that include student academic proficiency and achievement,
student growth since entering high school, college and career readiness, and the school’s ability
to serve students identified as high risk. PPHS’ current achievement gap score earned 23 of 40
points for serving the lower performing students in relation to the higher performing students.
This gap score is an increase from the 2013-14 year points when PPHS earned 11 of the 40
points. There is an 81% graduation rate at PPHS and 60% of those students attend college.
PPHS’ leaders continue to implement improvement strategies and practices to reform the school
through strong leadership.
Overview of Participants
Of the eight participants, four were categorized as school administrators and four as
teacher leaders. For this case study, administration is recognized as a principal or an assistant
principal and a teacher leader is defined as an educator that has responsibilities outside of
classroom duties. Administration participants consisted of one principal and three assistant
principals. The teacher leaders specific roles include a New Teacher Mentor, Lead Mentor, Data
Lead and a Curriculum Coordinator. The school leaders volunteered to contribute to the study
through an in-person interview and observations. All participants are current school leaders at
PPHS. The length of time the participants have been in their current leadership roles range from
0-7 years. As a whole, the participants share a minimum of three years experience in a leadership
role and a maximum of 28 years. Table 3 categorizes each respondent by pseudonym, current
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leadership role, years of service in the position, the leadership role previously occupied and the
years of leadership experience and role.

Table 3
Participant Pseudonyms and Background
Pseudonym Role/Years in Role
Position Prior to
Leadership Role Years in leadership
Administrator 4 Principal/
5 yrs
Athletic Director
(AD)
15 yrs as AD
Administrator 1 Assistant Principal/
7 yrs
Athletic Director
(AD)
28 yrs of Admin
experience
Administrator 2 Assistant Principal/
3 yrs
Curriculum
Coordinator
7 yrs as Curriculum
Coordinator
Administrator 3 Assistant Principal/
0 yrs
Curriculum
Coordinator
3 yrs as Curriculum
Coordinator
Teacher Leader A New Teacher Mentor/
2 yrs
Department
Head/Curriculum
Coordinator
8-9 yrs as Department
Head & CC
Teacher Leader B Lead Mentor/
1 yr.
Department Head 3 yrs as Department
Head (Health
Academy)
Teacher Leader C Data Lead/
0 yrs
Classroom
Teacher/Data Lead
9 yrs as Department
Head
Teacher Leader D Curriculum Coordinator
Full-time/
0 yrs
Classroom Teacher 6 yrs as Department
Head

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The case study participants experienced varying routes as they advanced to leadership at
the secondary school. Although the participants’ leadership routes differed, a common thread of
available opportunities and a purposeful support system was evident as each leader progressed
into their current leadership role. All participants were encouraged and supported to develop as a
leader. The role of Curriculum Coordinator was held by four of the eight leaders that include two
of the administrators and two of the teacher leaders. The participants attribute their active
engagement in a leadership role at the school to the encouragement of peers and colleagues
rather than a sense of personal motivation to attain the authoritative position.
As a group, the participants described the institution as one that exemplifies a unified
belief that building leadership capacity from within is essential to the success of the organization.
Evidentially, all eight participants are products of building leadership capacity at PPHS. Based
on the study’s qualitative designation, the experience and perception of each of the participants
was instrumental to gain an understanding of the strategies utilized by PPHS to build leadership
capacity from within. According to Merriam (2009), predominant themes are established when
conclusions are drawn on the basis of the majority responses of participants. The following
section reveals the study’s results by research question and themes as discerned from the
participant interviews, observations, teacher survey, PPHS’ strategic plan document and meeting
agendas.
Findings by Research Question
Results of Research Question 1: A Secondary School’s Practices to Build the Next
Generation of Leaders
The first research question for this study aimed to discover the practices a secondary
school employs to develop future school leaders. Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) three exemplary
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leadership practices of leaders, the Transformational Leadership Model and the concept of
sustainable leadership provided a framework to examine the data. The framework provided
guidance to establish a foundation to identify the strategies and practices utilized by PPHS to
build leadership capacity. After reviewing the data, three overarching themes were predominant
regarding the ways in which PPHS builds the next generation of leaders from within: valued
leadership, an expectation for learning and an emphasis placed on implementing support
structures for leaders.
Valued leadership. The data collected at PPHS revealed a staff and faculty who value
leadership as a means to accomplish the organization’s goals. The participants shared that
leadership was central to student achievement, the focal point of PPHS’ school mission. This
value of leadership was evident as Administrator 1 stated, “so building leadership capacity on
behalf of the student is so important, . . . we want to build more capacity . . . we want to build
more teacher leaders.” Likewise Teacher Leader C shared, “so we have to build capacity and
people need to know that part of their job is to become a teacher leader.” All participants shared
the view that leadership is important and the identification of future leaders is vital to build
capacity by contributing to the school’s leadership pipeline. The practices for identifying
aspiring leaders at PPHS include the deliberate inquiry to discover interested candidates and
assessments of the leadership potential of candidates by looking at attributes and his or her
ability to perform stretch assignments.
Exploration of potential leaders through inquiry. The question a leader asks conveys
the message about the organization’s priorities and directs attention to core values (Kouzes &
Posner, 2012). All case study participants recognized the method of inquiry as a practice that is
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utilized at PPHS and its importance for identifying future leadership candidates. PPHS
implemented the practice of inquiry to recognize aspiring leaders.
The study established that PPHS distributes a teacher survey each year to inquire about
faculty career aspirations. The preference sheet contains open-ended questions that encourage
teachers to freely communicate interests in leadership positions at PPHS (see Appendix F).
Teacher Leader B and D expressed the importance of this formal yet personalized mode used by
school leaders to identify aspiring candidates. Teacher Leader B stated, “Principal always says,
‘I’m not going to know what you want to do unless you tell me’ . . . so this is the chance to fill
out the form…well we want to do this.” Teacher Leader D confirmed the use of the formal
communication in building leadership capacity:
Each year at the very end . . . actually and admin actually does ask whole staff which
other than their actual teaching positions, what other positions they would actually try . . .
curriculum coordinator is one of those roles. We have all of the other teaching positions
like this student activities coordinator type positions that are not actual teaching content
roles that are available and if they volunteered on that survey Admin asked us for input as
far as which . . . if we kind of would like to step out of our teaching role.
The PPHS teacher survey is a formal inquiry tool used to identify interested potential leaders and
then continue inquiry verbally to learn more about the desire of each candidate.
To further the inquiry practice to identify potential leaders at PPHS, administrators and
teacher leaders alike shared they had informal conversations regarding leadership roles with the
candidates and internally among the current leadership team. Administrators 1 and 2 expressed
that once a candidate has expressed interest in leadership, conversations with the potential
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teacher leader is necessary to select the next generation of leaders. When asked about the
practice of identifying potential leaders Administrator 1 responded:
[W]e certainly would ask them . . . what are their plans, where do they see themselves
within the next 2 years, 5 years . . . then of course we’ll go up and revisit, remember a
couple of years ago you talked about wanting to go into admin.
Administrator 2 affirmed the use of inquiry as a practice to identify future leaders. She stated:
I think we have a lot of good teachers here . . . they demonstrate good leadership
qualities, but maybe not ready yet or just personally they’re not ready to take on bigger
role sometimes. When they’re ready they ask and we certainly aren’t afraid to approach
them.
Her response demonstrated the practice of inquiry with the use of ongoing follow-up
conversations between current leaders and potential leaders. All participants shared the use of
inquiry with potential candidates as a promising practice in building leadership capacity. This
follow-up inquiry with potential leaders was evident in a conversation between Administrator 3
and the principal. Prior to accepting the administration role this school year, Administrator 3
shared a discussion with the principal regarding his role as a curriculum coordinator:
He says is this what you want? And if the answer is not totally sure then he’ll say you
gotta do something else, cause he told me, I said well I’m getting a little tired of
curriculum, ‘cause I promised him only for three years and its just . . . it’s harder and he
basically told me like it’d be a failure if you went back to the classroom, unless you go
back and you implement all this stuff with fidelity so you’re like this living model of all
the curriculum you’ve been teaching . . . he’s like that’s the only way you’d be able to do
that . . . otherwise you gotta go state office or something.
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In addition to current leaders asking potential candidates about leadership aspirations, the
practice of inquiry is embedded within the conversations of the school’s nucleus leadership team,
which includes the administrators and curriculum coordinators. The practice of inquiry was
evident as the leadership team inquired to learn about a candidate’s leadership potential. This
level of inquiry was evident as Administrator 3 stated:
[T]he informal to me is that conversation among admin about who its gonna be . . . it’s a
little bit of an insider’s conversation because who can judge who can run a program? . . .
in that conversation you might share a name, and somebody will be like ugh and they’ll
share things that make you say oh this person cant work with somebody.
Similarly, Administrator 4 discussed inquiry among the leadership team as a means to pursue
potential leaders at PPHS. For example, he shared that the leadership team may simply pose a
question about a specific candidate by stating, “hey did you notice so and so? You know I went
to one of their team meetings and they did a fantastic job leading it.” The inquiries within the
leadership team support the process of identifying future leaders. Specifically, the principal or
school leader will contact the identified candidate to inquire further about career aspirations.
Once a leadership career aspiration has been determined by leadership inquiry, candidates are
assessed according to preferred attributes of a leader and the ability to perform leadership stretch
assignments at PPHS.
Assessment of potential leaders. The study’s findings demonstrated the significance of a
candidate’s characteristics and leadership capability when identifying the next generation of
leaders. The participants shared PPHS’ desire to identify candidates with specific qualities and
abilities to perform leadership assignments.
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Preferred characteristics of leaders. The importance of identifying candidates with
specific characteristics was ubiquitous among the respondents. When the participants were asked
about selecting future leaders to tap or “plant the seed,” the ability to develop relationships and
demonstrate strong knowledge and skills aligned with professional standards were preferred
individual characteristics. Administrator 4 confirmed that future leaders at PPHS posses
preferred characteristics, when he stated, “gotta be able to work with people, charisma,
educational practices within them too . . . professional knowledge.”
The responses of the administrators and teacher leaders aligned regarding the preferred
characteristics of potential leaders. The participants further explained that a candidate that is
accessible and approachable would have the ability to build relationships with others. Case in
point, Teacher Leaders A and B selected attributes of “approachable” and “relatable” as desired
traits for potential leaders at PPHS. The teacher leaders focused on the qualities they possessed
and administration confirmed these qualities as important to identifying potential candidates.
Administrators shared the qualities identified by the teacher leaders were supportive of having
the capability to work well with others. Administrator 1 detailed the importance of leadership
developing relationships with students, teachers and parents. Administrator 2 further supported
the importance of a candidate’s ability to build relationships; she shared “I think we are
constantly looking at what teachers demonstrate leadership, that have good relationships with
other teachers.” This preferred characteristic was evident as Administrator 3 suggested the
teacher that is able to build relationships to lead a team is a potential candidate. He stated, “so if I
have a team of three teachers, the leadership potential is usually the person who leads the three.”
The teacher that is able to lead has developed relationships based on respect and trust with the
group.
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The participants shared the significance of a candidate’s level of professional knowledge
as a desired characteristic when identifying future leaders. Teacher Leader C shared that
potential candidates must have high knowledge base, which is evident in previous
accomplishments. When asked about identifying future leaders within her grade level Teacher
Leader C shared “we designated one of our 9th grade teachers, ‘cause he’s really good at
technology.” Likewise, Administrator 3 stated that to be identified as a potential leader “they’ve
already proven themselves in the classroom.”
The assessment of potential candidate’s characteristics at PPHS guides the current leaders
in selecting candidates to then provide stretch assignments as an additional assessment. The
stretch assignments were utilized to evaluate candidates as they demonstrate professional
capabilities and be recognized for leadership potential.
Stretch assignments. The school leaders at PPHS succinctly attributed their ability to
build leadership capacity to the promising practice of stretch assignments as potential leaders are
assessed for future leadership roles. Teacher Leader A explained, “Our school is really about
giving everyone the opportunity to take leadership positions . . . giving the opportunity to lead,
the different assignments include Focus on Learning [FOL] Professional Learning Community
[PLC] . . . there’s always room for people to try leadership.” Stretch assignments provide a
context in which candidates can demonstrate their leadership potential in a real time experience.
Administrator 3 stated, “There’s multiple ways to get noticed. Run a program, run a support,
really stand out in your team and in your teaching.” PPHS’ stretch assignments include but are
not limited to positions of department head, data lead, mentor, athletic coach, WASC
accreditation team, and Focus on Learning lead. As these specific roles are utilized as stretch
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assignments, the leadership team is able to identify future leaders based on their performance of
assigned tasks.
PPHS’ practice of stretch assignments to build leadership capacity was implemented
purposefully. The stretch assignments utilized at PPHS provided developmental experiences that
challenge potential candidates in new ways and confirmed the candidate’s capacity to lead.
Administrator 3 shared:
[T]he department head is a proving ground . . . when we do data team leads and ART
[Academic Review Team] leads, those are people we trust, when you look at our support
systems, like our mentor program, that’s going to let you in leadership and give you a
chance to prove yourself.
Furthermore, Administrator 4 described his experience regarding the use of stretch
assignments as an assessment tool for building leadership capacity. This capacity-building
strategy enabled new leaders to be identified when the candidate demonstrates solution-oriented
actions as a result of the assignment. Administrator 4 shared that this assessment of future
leaders using the stretching method was acquired from the previous administer. Specifically, the
previous administrator assigned a candidate a big idea or concept and allowed the candidate to
demonstrate an approach to make the concept work. For example, Administrator 4 stated the
former leader would say:
I’m going to give you a big idea, you find a way to make it work . . . whether it be you’re
looking to use athletes as a mechanism to provide community support or whether it’d be
the student who wants to be a musical engineer to get him into a community college
instead of going to his senior year . . . and he’d say “run with it” . . . you run with it, you
live by it . . . so you live by your mistakes as well as he successes.
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This approach allowed potential candidates to implement assignments with autonomy and assists
leadership in the identification process of future leaders.
In addition, the stretch assignment approach used to challenge potential candidates to
demonstrate leadership abilities was evident during an observation of a leadership meeting.
Administrator 4 provided a stretch assignment for Teacher Leader B to take on and continue
developing her as a leader through the challenging opportunity that entailed leading a student
service project. In the meeting, Administrator 4 spoke with Teacher Leader B about working on
a project for students. Administrator 4 spoke directly to Teacher Leader B saying, “We can do
student service project . . . even if it’s painting, give half credit . . . I bet if we organize that . . .
[as Administrator 4 makes eye contact in the meeting with Teacher Leader B, and continues] . . .
we will talk later.” The researcher observed Teacher Leader B nod her head in agreement and
then remain silent as the meeting continued. To build a leadership pipeline, researchers Rhodes
and Brundrett (2009) determined the early development of willing candidates is essential to the
sustainability of the leadership pipeline. Administrator 4’s actions demonstrated the early
development of a willing candidate, Teacher Leader B, with the opportunity to lead the student
service project for PPHS.
Thus, the intentional implementation of assessments guided by specific characteristics of
candidates and the ability of a candidate to demonstrate leadership skills through the assessment
of stretch assignments aims to build leadership capacity with the identification of future leaders.
As future leaders are identified at PPHS, the candidates are then provided learning experiences to
gain professional knowledge.
An expectation for learning. The second theme recognized from the data was that PPHS
promotes an environment where learning is an expectation for all stakeholders, specifically
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leadership. The advocacy for learning and not simply already “knowing” aspects of leadership
was evident as Administrator 4 made a statement about potential leaders acquiring leadership
knowledge and skills. He stated, “they don’t have to be fully developed, but they just have to
have an inkling of it . . . so you got to have someone who has at least their blinders open and not
so narrow.” This expectation of learning was evident as Administrator 4 spoke about developing
teacher leads. He stated, “my focus is not only teacher leads but taking a teacher to go all the
way to the point of wanting to be a principal . . . always about how to improve yourself.” The
participants interviewed and observed also shared that learning is expected at PPHS. This was
apparent as the data revealed that five of the eight participants attended school turnaround and
technology-based mastery connect workshops over the summer and three of the eight assumed
new roles that provide on-the-the job training. Thus, at PPHS the data demonstrated that learning
experiences were achieved via professional development activities that included educational
workshops and a heavy dose of on-the-job training. The real world on-the-job experiences differ
from the stretch assignments in purpose. PPHS utilized the on-the-job training for candidates to
acquire professional knowledge and skills needed for leadership roles whereas the stretch
assignments are specific roles that enable a candidate to demonstrate leadership capability to
assume roles of administration or curriculum coordinators.
Professional development. The study’s evidence established a focus on professional
development that includes educational workshops as a learning experience for potential leaders.
The acquisition of knowledge from these school improvement and technology focused
professional development experiences supports PPHS’ overall mission of student achievement
and the development of future leaders. Teacher Leader A confirmed that attending workshops is
a strategy used to build leadership capacity at PPHS. When asked about building leadership
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capacity she shared her experience with professional developments, she stated, “I would also
attend workshops to be further trained. I work with mentors within our school and observe.”
Additionally, Teacher Leader D described the in-house professional development with the
organization’s former curriculum coordinators. Although workshops are a learning experience at
PPHS used to develop a potential leader’s knowledge and skills, the study participants described
the utilization of real world practical experiences at the school as a practice that supports the
preparation of leaders.
At PPHS, leadership candidates are professionally developed with on-the-job training
that includes hands-on, real-world experiences that develop leadership knowledge and skills of
future leaders under the guidance of a supervisor. The data demonstrated that the participants
found the most prominent on-the-job training at PPHS included the attendance of leadership
meetings and the experience as curriculum coordinator or interim administrative roles.
The data revealed the participants favored the practical and professional knowledge
gained while attending leadership meetings and described as essential to building leadership
capacity at PPHS. Teacher Leader D shared that attending leadership meetings was a notable
learning experience that increased her knowledge of pertinent school information. She stated,
“you would attend leadership meetings, as curriculum coordinator you also attend. You would
get information from leadership then issue it back to your department members.” This response
indicates the experience of the department head responsibilities were beneficial to her
development as a leader. Likewise, Teacher Leader A shared Teacher Leader D’s mindset on the
experience afforded to teacher leaders when she said “Ok well when I was a new teacher, lead
mentor, what I actually did was I sat in on leadership meetings . . . I sat in just so I knew the
goals.” This attendance of leadership meetings provided the teacher leaders an insider’s view of
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leadership and a real-time experience as a leader. This professional development activity
provided to teacher leaders supports the exemplary leadership practice of enabling others to act.
The meeting experience demonstrated collaborative work, which provided the educators an
opportunity to learn in a supportive environment (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Furthermore, it was evident that PPHS utilizes the use of specific roles to develop
candidates professionally. The experience as a curriculum coordinator and a temporary
administrator was most noted by participants as providing leadership knowledge and skills. The
responses revealed that Administrators 2 and 3 and Teacher Leaders A and D performed duties
of the curriculum coordinator at PPHS. The Teacher Leaders and Administrators in this study
shared their learning experience of performing the daily responsibilities of curriculum
coordinators and assistant principal. Administrator 3, who recently accepted the interim
administrative position expressed that curriculum coordinators are treated like administrators.
This treatment by administration assisted him in understanding what is expected of an assistant
principal. Administrator 2 described the position of curriculum coordinator as an experience that
supported her path to become an assistant principal because of the knowledge gained with the
administration conversations. She stated:
[O]ne of those opportunities happened when I was a curriculum coordinator and I get to
sit in on conversations with admin . . . having the opportunity to talk and then be willing
to ask questions as they came led me to do this temporary assigned [TA] position that I
was able to participate in the last three years.
Moreover, Administrator 2 described her experience as a TA assistant principal as a method to
groom her for leadership. She shared that PPHS’ on-the-job experiences was pivotal in her
learning leadership and choosing to stay in a leadership role. She stated:
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[T]hey’ve provided me with opportunities to learn all these skills, what am I going to do
with it? That was my attitude about it and so I had a nice conversation with the principal
about hey you know this might be a good transition now because I’ve had these
opportunities to do it and that’s how it all started.
Similarly, Administrator 3 shared that his experience as a curriculum coordinator was essentially
a track to leadership. This mindset was based on the curriculum coordinators responsibilities
being closely aligned with the assistant principals responsibilities. He stated:
Curriculum is treated very much like admin. Except for issues of employee discipline,
and a few things of confidentiality, you’re invited to everything and in fact that’s the
expectation, is that you’re part of that team. So it actually put you in that middle role
between a teacher and administration . . . I like that role in curriculum because it gave me
information that I could share with teachers that normal teachers can’t share with. And
then also, I could without necessarily revealing the person . . . I could share the concerns
of the teacher with admin. I would hear things that admin would never hear.
Overall, the learning experiences of workshops and on-the-job training at PPHS develop
identified candidates knowledge to building leadership capacity. Aspiring leaders at PPHS
gained knowledge and skills through different leadership workshops and real world leadership
scenarios. As the school leaders’ knowledge and skills were developed, strong systems of
supportive measures were in place to assist each leader to develop leadership capacity.
Support structures for leaders. The study established that PPHS builds leadership
capacity by providing support structures for leaders. The data revealed two supportive
components identified in the interviews and observations: mentoring and an informal cohort
structure. Mentoring occurred at PPHS to provide guidance for candidates and current leaders.
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Whereas, the informal cohort structure practice provided support for aspiring leaders by
developing an environment that enabled collaboration among peers to build and share knowledge
(Davis et al., 2005). These two support practices utilized to underpin new leaders were
instrumental to the process of creating a sustainable leadership pipeline.
Mentoring. The initial support structure that emerged relevant to the first research
question was the utilization of mentoring to develop candidates as leaders. The participants were
asked to speak on experiences that support leadership within the school. The eight participants
were unanimous in identifying mentoring as a strong influence on the development of leaders at
PPHS. According to PPHS academic financial plan (see Appendix E) there was a formal
mentoring program to support beginning teachers but not aspiring leaders. At PPHS, the data
revealed that an informal mentoring system exists for future leaders. This informal mentoring
was evident in an undercurrent of support for potential leaders when each participant shared how
mentoring occurs effortlessly at PPHS. For example, Teacher Leader C, currently the data lead
for her grade level, previously vacated the Department Head position and was asked about
mentoring the new science Department Head and she responded:
Yeah, that’s the plan, is that the first year you’ll be mentored by the one who was the
previous one and then the second year you’re on your own but of course you can always
ask for help and then the following year you will mentor the next person.
Teacher Leader C responded that it was a department decision to mentor the next leader and
expressed that anyone at PPHS taking on a leadership position receives much support from a
mentor. Administrator 3 confirmed that mentoring support is prevalent at PPHS when he stated,
“well I think the nice thing about the group here is that one that made me comfortable in
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accepting the position is you know, there’s a lot of people who help.” Still, Administrator 4
noted that a teacher leader facing challenges needs support. He stated:
[W]hen there is a teacher in leadership that is not ready and no one will listen to that
teacher leader, so that’s the kind of thing you still have to shape the teachers behavior too
and you got to work with that particular teacher. It make talk a little longer but you got to
give that teacher an opportunity.
The data also revealed the informal mentoring of future leaders at PPHS to promote teacher
leadership. Participants shared the utilization of mentoring encouraged aspiring leaders to
collaborate and work together with different school leaders. The participants shared the support
structure of mentoring enhanced PPHS’ ability to build leadership capacity by supporting
relationships between the mentors and mentees that promote the sharing of experiences and
concerns. It was evident that PPHS school leaders are supported by the development of
knowledge and skills through mentoring. Leader mentors were able to assist candidates make
content connections through conversations conducted in meetings and as required by a scenario.
Administrator 2 described these connections as an important factor to her becoming an assistant
principal. She stated that as a former Curriculum Coordinator the principal provided mentoring
support and now as an assistant principal she mentors new leaders. Specifically, she shared, “I
am responsible right now for facilitating our Academic Review Team [ART], and I also sit with
the curriculum team and help give suggestions.” Case in point, Administrator 2 mentors
curriculum coordinators and potential leaders with professional knowledge as she provides
guidance throughout the learning process. The suggestions provide the teacher leaders with
content bridges to problem solve and apply to the task at hand. Similarly, Teacher Leader D was
mentored as she performed the role as a Curriculum Coordinator on a part-time basis prior to
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assuming the role full time this school year. She stated, “we have a lot of admin who actually had
the curriculum coordinator role prior to myself stepping in. We have lots of support from them as
far as resources and contact.” When asked about her development as a leader she referred to
Administrator 2 and 3’s knowledge and support for her growth. In addition, Teacher Leader A
shared that she was given opportunities and the support to accomplish the task as a potential
leader. The data showed this support structure was implemented at all levels of leadership. All
participants noted the principal mentored new leaders. The principal mentored Administrator 3
when he was given short-term leadership positions and the ability to converse with current
school leaders. Administrator 3 discussed the principal’s role in his advancement to assistant
principal, he shared, “The principal is always available, you feel real supported and he provides
mentoring.”
PPHS utilizes mentoring as a supportive system to address candidates needs. Although
mentoring was vital to preparing leadership candidates, it was evident that PPHS also provided
an environment of peer support as another layer to sustain the next generation of leaders.
Cohort structure. Another support system prevalent at PPHS in building leadership
capacity was the concept of a cohort structure. This support system was evident as peers
collaborated to develop leadership skills and knowledge aligned with school goals during an
academic semester or year. The teacher leader and administrator responses were in sync
regarding the support of the cohort structure as an informal promising leadership practice at
PPHS. The data demonstrated the utilization of these relationships to support the next generation
of leaders. Administrator 1 stated:
Yes and then it’s almost like our own support group. So what happening in your grade
level today, maybe it happened the same in my grade level, so it’s sharing best practices I
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guess. Just keeping the lines of communication open and asking for help when needed to
have other people to bounce ideas from.
Administrator 3 expressed the diligence of the peer support structure to building leadership
capacity at PPHS. He stated that it was not simply meeting once a week “but we tend to make it
a point to kind of confer and talk to each other . . . pretty much daily.” The relationship
Administrator 3 has with the other administrators was vital for him to engage with the leadership
team and growing professionally. In addition, as a new member of the leadership team, Teacher
Leader D shared the importance of a peer support group to developing as a leader. She stated:
“we also as a curriculum team discuss what thing as far as initiatives are good for our school to
implement.”
Furthermore, the data showed the group support structure was apparent on the department
level as well. Teacher Leader C discussed the collaboration among her peers in the Science
Department. She shared that the team members are extremely supportive of one another. The
observation data of the Science Department meeting demonstrated a collaborative group of peers
learning and leading. During the observation, the team members were helping each other via
conversations and it was difficult to discern the identity of the department head shared out
equally. Teacher Leader C expressed that dialogue among the group is used to ensure all
members feel supported. This demonstrated a relationship among the group that was supportive
of building knowledge and skills in future leaders.
Discussion of Research Question 1
Based on the study’s findings, valued leadership, an expectation for learning and support
structures for leaders are themes that provide an insight to the ways in which PPHS builds the
next generation of leaders. The findings aligned with the theory of transformational leadership,
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an exemplary practice of leadership, and sustainable leadership. As described by Marzano et al.
(2005), transformational leadership communicates high expectations for all stakeholders and
attends to individual needs. The practices used to identify, develop, and support aspiring leaders
at PPHS demonstrated the values and expectations for leadership. Kouzes and Posner’s (2012)
work on exemplary leadership practice of Enable Others to Act was evident as PPHS focused on
the facilitation of relationships throughout the practices implemented to build leadership
capacity. The PPHS’ practices of inquiry, professional development and supportive structures
correlated to the literature for developing a sustainable succession plan. Specifically, the
identification of potential leaders was central to building the leadership capacity from within an
organization. Research suggests that an effective succession plan occurs when the right people
are in the right place at the right time (Collins, 2001). As such, data shows the identification of
future leaders, finding the right people, was a priority at PPHS, which provides the foundational
step to plan and fulfill a leadership pipeline. The data demonstrated that identified candidates are
provided learning experiences to develop knowledge and skills and supported through the
practices of mentoring and the cohort structure. These leadership practices encourage a strong
organizational pipeline. PPHS practices for building leadership capacity are available to cultivate
future leaders.
Results of Research Question 2: Perceptions Regarding the Influences of Leadership
Practices
The focus for the second research question was to understand the administrators’ and
teacher leaders’ perceptions regarding the leadership capacity building practices at PPHS. The
results are the exclusive perception of eight school leaders’ experiences. The experiences shared
demonstrate their thoughts on the influences of the leadership practices at PPHS and are not
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generalizable for the leader population at PPHS. After reviewing the data, two themes emerged
regarding the participants’ perceived influence of PPHS’ practices for leadership capacity
building: encourages candidates to pursue leadership roles and provides effective leaders for
other educational institutions.
Encourages leadership candidates. The data revealed the common theme of
encouragement among all participants regarding the influence of the leadership practices at
PPHS. Fink (2011) asserted that it was important to develop an environment that views
leadership roles as a desirable career option when building leadership capacity. Both
administrators and teacher leaders expressed that practices utilized at PPHS have a great
influence on the organization’s ability to motivate and help candidates pursue leadership. The
practices that encourage aspiring candidates to assume leadership roles have the potential to
sustain a pipeline of future leaders (Fink, 2011). Teacher leaders and administrator shared the
belief that strong relationships developed via the leadership capacity building practices
encourage potential candidates to seek leadership roles at PPHS.
The participants agreed that leadership practices at PPHS builds strong relationships
needed to acquire potential leaders. The strong relationships provide a supportive environment
for candidates. The data revealed that participants felt that candidates were more likely to try a
leadership role knowing they will receive guidance. The participants expressed the importance of
school leaders as an integral part of the department teams to build relationships and identify
future leaders. Administrator 2 shared that goals as school leaders was to support all teachers and
leadership will “try to get really involved in planning for teachers…I think that helps us
eventually as we look for principal positions.” This relationship development among
stakeholders was evident in an observation of the science meeting where Administrator 2
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demonstrated a collaborative and supportive discussion in the department meeting. He stated, “I
hear you, it’s a major concern I will make sure I address it, I understand . . . I will tell everyone
what the possibilities are and we will decide.” Administrator 2 messages appeared to be well
received by the science department teachers. The body language of both Administrator 2 and
teachers demonstrated a sense of mutual respect visible through the eye contact and attentiveness
of all present. The meeting demonstrated the teachers and teacher leaders collaborating with
administration to develop a strong relationship and in turn contribute to leadership succession at
PPHS. Definitively, the participants’ perceptions favored the practices as influential to
encouraging future leaders and further indicated that the practices were highly effective in
developing future educational leaders for education organizations.
Promising future leaders. The study’s data conveyed the perception that the leadership
capacity building practices were influential to developing effective leaders for the field of
education. This perception supports the mindset that candidates will be successful in any and all
educational leadership roles. Administrator 4 shared that it is important to develop candidates
that are able to assume leadership roles in the complex, district and state. The findings
demonstrated a perception that PPHS’ promising practices implemented support the development
of leadership to provide capable candidates for leader roles in the complex and state.
Administrator 4 asserted the candidates from PPHS are ready for leadership roles, “Last year we
had two CISLs at our school . . . two who applied for Certification Institute for School Leaders
(CISL) got in and they’re both successful.” He was stating that two teacher leaders at his school
applied to the Hawaii Department of Education’s (HIDOE) formal administration program.
Administrator 4 also stated the former teacher leaders of PPHS were not only accepted to the
program but have proven to be successful in other schools. Administrator 4 further noted that the
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principal at the new elementary school located in the complex was a former assistant principal at
PPHS. In agreement with Administrator 4, Administrator 3 was explicit on his thoughts that
PPHS practices influence leadership in the HIDOE. He stated:
[S]ome principals have a lot of history with PPHS . . . “Mr. Ned” [the principal at another
high school in the complex] just came from here . . . did a great job and then went there.
You know what I mean? Well, [he] worked in the middle school and “he” was just good
. . . or you look at somebody like Sunny, Doris, those were teachers inside our thing who
were encouraged to go into the CISL program [Certification Institute of School Leaders]
. . . or someone like Cal Fort or Kate Smile, those were vice principals that became
principals straight from here. Like they left us to be principal.
Supplementary, Teacher Leader C asserted that many PPHS candidates are prepared for
leadership and move on to other institutions radiating success. The responses of the participants
support the belief that if one is trained at PPHS they are prepared to assume a leadership
position. Administrator 2 stated the philosophy at PPHS is to “groom people to go out and
become principals, it just seems that way at work.” The PPHS leaders recognized the leadership
promising practices have developed leaders for educational institutions outside of the school.
Discussion of Research Question 2
As evidenced by the data, the school leaders’ perceptions align with the mindset that
leadership practices at PPHS are influential to building a leadership pipeline not only at PPHS
but other organizations. The respondents revealed the explicit perception that the promising
practices utilized at PPHS encourage candidates and enable highly qualified candidates to
assume leadership roles. The administrators and teacher leaders shared that strong relationships
at PPHS contributed to their personal decision to pursue a leadership position. The participants
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further expressed the perception that the practices were influential to preparing effective school
leaders capable of assuming roles anywhere in education.
Results of Research Question 3: Factors that Facilitate and Inhibit Leadership Practices
The final research question aimed to discern the factors that facilitated and impeded
leadership practices for building leadership capacity at PPHS. To maximize the findings, it is
important to understand the promising practices utilized for building leadership capacity and the
elements that support and inhibit the practices. With this understanding of factors that impact
leadership practices, educational organizations may be able to develop leaders and create a
sustainable leadership pipeline. Two themes emerged from the data regarding the practices for
building leadership capacity and will be described by factors that support the practices and the
factors that impeded practices: facilitating factors and inhibiting factors.
Facilitating factors. As evidenced by the data, PPHS demonstrated prominent factors
that facilitated the practices for building leadership capacity. The two facilitating factors
identified are: a team school culture and the supportive, actions of the primary school leader.
School culture of team. Based on the findings, a cohesive and supportive school culture
was a factor that facilitated the practice for building leadership capacity at PPHS. A cohesive
culture was obvious as each school leader discussed the importance of being a part of the team at
PPHS. The sense of “we’re all in this together” is essential to creating conditions for positive
teamwork (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Administrator 4 emphasized the importance of a school
culture that embodies a sense of community and cooperation when he stated, “you need to have a
team that’s committed, a team that understands the school’s vision and mission and to take
people where there strengths are.” The relationship among the stakeholders at PPHS was vital to
having a sense of community and cooperation, which contributed to the team school culture.
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The findings were consistent with a team of professionals at PPHS that empower the
shared vision of student achievement. Administrator 3 responded with a resounding belief that
team is essential to leadership and achieving the mission of the school. He stated, “team trumps
departments to a certain extent in English, Social Studies, and Math, cause you as assistant
Principal work with your team every day.” Likewise, when asked about experience as a leader
Teacher Leader C shared:
and we do it together, I don’t assume that I know how to do it right and I honestly believe
that all of our brains and all of us together is a better brain than my brain . . . the team of
us worked together even when differences occur . . . they seem to work it out.
For example, Teacher Leader C shared her experience when a difference occurs and the team is
able to overcome and focus on the important matters:
[S]omebody will cross the line, which is usually about the same people that cross the line.
But it’s dealt with a sense of humor so another teacher will give them some one liner
comment and the rest of use will giggle . . . but sometimes they get frustrated . . . but by
the time we come back, I think the friendships are more important than other stuff
because we have been together so long and we have been through life together.
The relationship among the school leaders in this study was indicative of a team culture.
Administrator 4 responded that building leadership capacity is about working together to ensure
all goals of the shared vision are met. He shared “for me, it means that we want our students to
be successful, then teachers also need to be successful as well.” This statement supports an
environment that includes all stakeholders. Similarly, Teacher Leader D emphasized the
importance of the relationships with the classroom teachers, “and I think it’s really important as a
leader to build relationships with the teachers . . . facilitates building leadership capacity.”
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Administrator 2 shared her thoughts on the relationship of the team at PPHS when she stated that
“we want our classrooms and our teachers to continuously soar . . . dynamic kind of
organization, so that students can get the best of being in school and in their community and
work a really . . . create a really strong partnership.”
Teacher Leader C asserted the factor of being a member of a team is vital to building
leadership capacity as she supports candidates. She stated:
So you still need to keep track of what’s going on, keep a close relationship so that they
feel comfortable to go ok, I’m stuck but if not to recognize they’re stuck. So I think if I
serve them, it helps them become better at what they do. But it all comes back to all of us
because we’re all one team so if somebody does something better, we all did something
better.
Likewise, Administrator 3 discussed the team mentality as an element that facilitates PPHS’
leadership capacity when he stated, “for us the team’s the key . . . and Mr. P’s there the whole
time, despite all the other people, and you know they just embrace you, they view you as part of
the team.” PPHS leaders indicated the elements needed to boost the leadership practices were
encompassed in the team culture that includes a shared vision and the supportive actions of the
primary leader. These influences enabled the development and implementation of the PPHS’
promising practices to build leadership capacity.
Shared vision. The data demonstrated the element of a shared vision among stakeholders
encouraged leadership growth. The shared vision provided a common foundation to attain a
sense of cooperation among stakeholders. Kouzes and Posner (2012) assert the most important
component to personal and professional growth within an organization is a common goal. PPHS
has a universal understanding that student achievement is the common goal. This shared vision
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was evident as Administrator 2 stated the goal of PPHS was for the “school to be hub of
community for student achievement.” Concurrently, Teacher Leader D shared her understanding
of the PPHS’ vision as “student centered basically.” Without an explicit roadmap of goals or the
shared vision, organizations may be unable to build leadership capacity.
With the common shared vision, leaders are more apt to be cooperative to implementing
the practices that build leadership capacity. Administrator 1 stated, “I think when we aligned our
mission and our philosophy, it has to match with what’s happening in the classroom.” The data
shows that cooperation of the faculty and staff was important to developing a culture that
supports building leadership capacity. Administrator 3 stated that cooperation at the school is
evident in the culture, visible as each stakeholder tends to “backing each other up and help each
other out.” The availability of potential candidates willing to assume a leadership role is
impacted by high levels of cooperation at PPHS. Administrator 2 insisted, “I would say 90% of
the time they [teachers] will step up to the plate if we ask them, that’s the beauty I think of our
school is that teachers are willing.” Correspondingly, Administrator 3 and Teacher Leader B
confirmed that the cooperation is evident in building leadership capacity because at PPHS this is
not a challenge. Administrator 3 expressed, “I mean to me finding the candidates has never been
that hard,” and Teacher Leader B confirmed that the “willingness of participants is not the
problem.” With the school culture that supports team and demonstrates a shared vision to
promote cooperation, PPHS is able to develop future leaders with the identified promising
practices.
The leader’s actions underpin leadership development. The school leaders in this study
referred to the principal’s actions as a factor that facilitated the practices for building leadership
capacity at PPHS. The responses revealed that the principal attends to leadership capacity
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building through the explicit actions of consistent encouragement that supports candidates on
their path to leadership and strategic announcements of opportunities.
Encouragement and supportive actions. As evidenced by the responses of the
participants, the principal facilitated promising practices by inspiring others to grow through
encouragement. It was evident that the principal encouraged the study participants to pursue and
reach professional goals by listening to candidate’s perspectives on leadership. Kouzes and
Posner (2012) found that it is important for leaders to adopt the view that visions come from the
top down and engage others in a collective dialogue about the future. The participants described
the principal as a leader that is a good listener and inspiring. An inspirational leader supports the
practices by building confidence of the candidates and increases the possibility of candidates
with the desire to select leadership as a career option. The data revealed that the principal
listened deeply to others to connect on a personal level to guide the candidate with professional
goals. Kouzes and Posner (2012) suggested that leaders know their constituents to provide a
voice to constituent’s feelings, which will enable the leader to inspire the individual by relating
to something that is personally meaningful. The active listening was evident as the principal
sought to learn about the candidate’s future plans through conversations. The data supported that
the art of “planting the seed” was accomplished with the principal’s communication method of a
two-way conversations. A two-way conversation requires both parties to listen and speak. An
example is when Administrator 4 shared a conversation he had with a potential candidate that
was about the future and things that were meaningful to the candidate:
[‘C]ause there will be some individuals who come to us and they’ll just say “you know
Mr. P, I appreciated you asking me, I’m never looking at anything other than being a
teacher . . . and I said, “well, you went into teaching ‘cause you wanted to teach right?”
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and they’d say yes and I’d say well you are going to teach, its just that its going to be
with adults now.
Similarly, Administrator 2 informed the researcher of an experience that the principal
demonstrates his skills as a good listener, she said, “so I had a nice conversation with Mr. P
about . . . hey you know this might be a good transition now because I’ve had opportunities to do
it.” Administrator 2 shared the conversation with the principal regarding her interests in pursuing
the assistant principal path. As a result of the conversation, Administrator 2 has since completed
the certification program for leaders in Hawaii and is now a permanent assistant principal in the
HIDOE. It is apparent that Administrator 2’s confidence was enhanced when the principal
listened and supported her during the leadership journey. Administrator 3 shared another
example of the encouragement through listening. He said, “Mr. P encouraged me to think about
being an administrator. And then when I decided to be an administrator, I mean, he was very
open to it.” The principal’s encouragement was based on his understanding of Administrator 3’s
personal and profession plan for growth in leadership. Administrator 3 clarified that the
principal’s believes to build leaders for education the organization must assist individuals meet
their goals. This belief was evident as the principal listened deeply to Administrator 3
contemplate his next career steps. Administrator 3’s stated:
[H]e never tries to keep somebody that’s good. He says, “is this what you want?” and
person is not totally sure then he’ll say “you got to do something else,” cause he told me I
said well I’m getting a little tired of curriculum cause I promised him only for three years
and its just . . . it harder. And he basically told me like, it’d be a failure if you went back
to the classroom, unless you go back and you implement all this stuff with fidelity so
you’re a living model of all the curriculum you’ve been teaching . . . otherwise you gotta
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go state office or something . . . and of course that’s just his opinion but you think about
it.
Administrator 3 also stated the principal encourages growth via unbiased conversations. When
asked about building leadership capacity at PPHS, Administrator 3 discussed that the principal:
. . . wants to hear like “I’ll be thinking about being a principal” or “I’ll be thinking about
working in the state office” — and he’ll espouse that to anyone in the leadership group.
He says if you’re an excellent assistant principal who could be a principal he’s like you
shouldn’t be at this school anymore.
Similarly, Administrator 2 recalled a conversation with the principal and shared that he (the
principal) “tells you what you need to do . . . not what you want to hear . . . helps with growth.”
Through the principal’s encouragement and support, aspiring leaders at PPHS gained the
confidence and disposition to pursue leadership opportunities and achieve desired professional
goals.
Actions regarding announcement of opportunities. The leader’s decision to communicate
informal leadership opportunities solely to in-house stakeholders was instrumental to developing
leadership capacity at PPHS. The leader’s actions regarding the dissemination of available
opportunities assisted PPHS to provide professional development for aspiring candidates. The
participants shared this action of the primary leader facilitated leadership development by
providing a consistent means for everyone to be made aware of the positions available that were
not formally posted. Administrator 4 expressed the vacancies occur throughout the year and not
always posted, making the manner of communication key to finding school leaders. He stated,
[M]any times we’ll have assistant principals transfers during the year and we might have
two years left. Rather than applying for a list at that particular time . . . we TA someone
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. . . through the process of which I send out memos to the staff. They inform me if they
want to be TA AP and then I talk to them.
Similarly, Teacher Leader D confirmed the action of the primary leader to only inform PPHS
stakeholders of available positions throughout the year as influential to building leadership
capacity. She shared that administration is “good” about being transparent regarding
opportunities to lead. Teacher Leader D stated:
[S]o we’re real open about things and really transparent . . . so everybody gets to see it
. . . so if you don’t read your email you don’t have a say, cause what happens is we end
up getting these open positions in the middle of the year . . . we end up with turnover all
the time.
Inhibiting factors. While factors were identified that facilitate the practices for
developing future leaders at PPHS, there were also factors identified at PPHS that inhibit the
implementation of the practices. Data analysis recognized the deficit of time and human capital
resources as major inhibitors to building leadership capacity.
Insufficient time. Based on the findings, one of the major challenges in building
leadership capacity at PPHS is the limited resource of time. The participants referred to the large
amount of time required to complete the job of an educator as a barrier to the building leadership
at PPHS. Lambert (2003) suggests that many educators feel discouraged by time. This feeling is
evident as today’s promising leaders expressed helplessness, as they must attend to many tasks
and agendas, making them less apt to apply for leadership roles (Lambert, 2003). This sense of
restraint was evident as Teacher Leader A responded to the question about factors that inhibit
building leadership capacity, she stated, “time is one, I mean there’s so many things that you
have to do, to take on another leadership position is really time consuming.” Additionally,
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Teacher Leader A and Teacher Leader D shared that there are so many things on teachers’ plates
and they unable to take on more responsibilities. When asked about challenges that hinder
leadership in the organization Teacher Leader A shared:
Time is one, I mean there’s many things that you have to do, to take on another
leadership position is really time consuming . . . I was part-time curriculum, part-time
mentor, still teaching in the classroom . . . now that was hard too . . . it’s a time factor.
Likewise, Teacher Leader D discussed time as a challenge to potential leaders, she stated, “I
know one major thing and I think it’s even on the teacher’s plate, its finding time . . . finding the
time is probably is the biggest thing.” In addition to the inhibitor of time, participants recognized
the resource of human capital as an obtrusive factor to the implementation of the promising
practices for building leadership capacity.
Transient human capital. The second challenge identified as a factor that inhibits
leadership capacity involves the resource of human capital. Based on the participants in the
study, the practices that identify, develop and support future leaders also creates an inhibitor
when building leadership capacity because of the constant movement of personnel. The
promising practices and philosophy at PPHS are conducive to a transient community in which
the belief is to develop leaders for upward mobility. As leaders are developed at PPHS, the rule
of thumb is for the leader to assume roles that may not be at the school in an effort to support
candidates with short and long-term goals. Thus, leaders at PPHS are encouraged to embrace
professional growth and pursue opportunities even outside of the organization.
This philosophy appears to be a double-edged sword to building leadership capacity but
one that PPHS embraces to ensure educational leaders are developed for the future. With the
departure of trained leaders at PPHS, the organization faces the constant challenge of filling the
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leadership pipeline. Administrator 1 shared the challenge to the process of building and fulfilling
the pipeline, “well the one challenge is we don’t have anybody right now” four of the teacher
leaders in the pipeline have transferred “they were trained in the last two years and brought up on
as teacher leaders, now into administrative roles.” The data suggest that school’s philosophy is to
prepare leaders for educational leadership and support continue growth that leads to the
expectation for candidates to eventually pursue roles outside of PPHS. Further, this cycle of
leader vacancies was evident as Administrator 3 and Administrator 1 confirmed the transition
impacts the professional and institutional knowledge among past and future leaders.
Administrator 3 stated:
so finding good people isn’t that hard . . . I think what’s hard is the . . . when people keep
moving, its like how do we keep a hold of good parts of that problem, of those policies of
whatever and how do we introduce that knowledge.
Discussion of Research Question 3
PPHS’ school culture encompasses the concept of team through a shared vision and a
supportive leader to support practices designed to build leadership capacity at PPHS. The study
demonstrated these two factors as beneficial to in-house development of leadership, a solid
foundation to care for the next generation of leaders. The testament of the participants are
consistent with the literature which demonstrates that although there are many practices to
support leadership capacity building, it is necessary to establish a school culture when
developing an internal succession plan. School leaders recognized the critical role of a shared
vision, clear communication and a leader’s support are to underpinning the school’s efforts to
develop leaders. The quality and outcome of future leaders is associated with the practices
implemented at PPHS and integrated with the facilitating factors. A succession plan that includes
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these factors may lead to more qualified leaders for the future. Furthermore, it was apparent in
the responses that the PPHS principal exemplified Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) leadership
practice of Model the Way by clarifying and demonstrating the value of leadership as evident in
his actions, “walking the walk, and talking the talk.”
At PPHS, it was evident that the resources of time and human capital were the biggest
inhibitors to creating a pipeline of future leaders. The two resources identified as inhibitors at
PPHS are intertwined and may be addressed by PPHS to continue building leadership capacity
and ensure potential candidates seek leadership roles (Conger & Fulmer, 2003; Lambert, 2003).
Summary
This chapter discussed the findings by research question and explored the specific
practices, the influences of the practices according to the participants and factors that may
facilitate and inhibit these practices. The findings of this study were based on multiple data
sources that included interviews, observations and document review to confirm reliability and
validity. The results indicate that when appropriate practices for building leadership capacity are
implemented an organization has the ability to sustain a leadership pipeline. The first research
question yielded practices that were utilized at a high school to build leadership capacity from
within. These practices include inquiry and assessments to identify aspiring leaders, the practice
of professional development to developing knowledge of candidates and then practices of
mentoring and cohort structure to support the future leader. It was further revealed that these
practices must be consistent to be effective. When the practices are effective organizations will
be able to encourage candidates to pursue leadership and provide effective leaders for the field of
education. The final research question designated the culture of a school and the actions of the
primary leader at a school as a catalyst to building leadership capacity from within an
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organization. After reviewing the challenges, resources of time and human capital were
highlighted as being a factor that inhibited the practices for developing future leaders.
Chapter 5 will summarize the details of the entire study as well as continue the discussion
on the findings as related to the literature reviewed in Chapter 2. The implications for practice,
future recommendations, and conclusions will also be presented in Chapter 5.

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CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY
As the United States continues to struggle with creating leaders to promote student
achievement, the development of leaders and leadership succession plans has become central to
addressing the issue. There have been multiple efforts to reform schools. Research on school
reform has confirmed that leadership is a key element to a school’s success. However, research
demonstrates that most states do not have leadership succession plans or adequate leadership
preparation. Consequently, schools are unprepared to provide future leaders with the capacity to
guide schools to desired outcomes. The inability to develop a successful leadership pipeline may
impact the ability of schools to support students’ current and future academic achievement.
In this era of school accountability, student achievement is the expectation and school
leadership has emerged as a focal point to accomplish desired outcomes. Goddard and Miller
(2010) assert that school leaders are fundamental to the academic success of students. Thus,
developing systems to support future leaders is important to ensuring the overall success of
schools. According to research, many schools are not equipped to develop and maintain a
sustainable pipeline of leaders. Public school systems in the United States are being forced to
deal with the dilemma of inadequate applicant pools for administrative and formal teacher
leadership roles (Donaldson, 2006). The lack of qualified applicants has been recognized as a
problem in the K-12 arena. However, research has demonstrated a need to address the pipeline
of the high school principalship due to the time required to accomplish the tasks assigned to a
high school principal and the problems associated with the age group of students.
This chapter will provide a summary of the components within the entire study, including
a brief overview of the study, the research questions and methodology. Also, included will be a
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discussion with the significance of key findings as related to the research questions and
limitations of the study. Additionally, this chapter will provide research implications and
recommendations for future studies and a conclusion.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to explore the current system of promising practices
designed to support a sustainable pipeline at a secondary school in Hawaii. The study provided
information about the practices and factors instrumental to the development of a sustainable
leadership pipeline at the high school. In examining the literature on educational leadership and
building leadership capacity, the development of a leadership succession plan is vital to ensuring
schools and students are successful (Branch et al., 2013; David et al., 2005; Goddard & Miller,
2010; Ross & Gray, 2006). For this reason, the study focused on identifying the ways in which a
secondary school develops future leaders from within. Additionally, the study sought to
understand the stakeholders’ perception of the influence of the practices and the factors that
facilitate and inhibit the practices. Thus, the practices implemented at a high school to develop
future leaders were the focus of the study and guided by three research questions.
Research Questions
The qualitative case study research design was used to address the research questions
through the perspectives of the participants. The study sought to understand how one high school
in Hawaii builds leadership capacity internally.
1. In what ways does a secondary school work to build the next generation of leaders?
2. What are the perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the influence of
those practices?
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3. What are the factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and
implementation of strategies designed to build leadership capacity?
Data collected to address the questions were gathered through the implementation of
interviews, observations and retrieving school documents. The participants included eight
HIDOE School Leaders, who met the interview criteria based on the research questions and
purposeful, convenience sampling.
Summary of Findings
The previous chapter discussed the study’s findings and summarized the practices,
stakeholder perceptions and factors that impact the ability of a high school to build leadership
capacity internally. The results illustrated that strategic efforts focused on developing future
leaders is instrumental to building a sustainable leadership pipeline and supporting the overall
success of a school. In accordance with the conceptual framework, three of the strategies (Talent
Identification, Development of Knowledge and Skills and Development Support Practices), the
exemplary leadership practices (Model the Way, Enable Others to Act, and Inspire a Shared
Vision) and the Transformational Leadership theory were present in the data collected. The
analysis of the data collected provided answers to the research questions. Generally, the
administrators and teacher leaders’ responses presented no significant differences to the
questions regarding the development of leadership capacity.
The candid responses of the participants revealed the strength of the organization was the
ability to develop future leaders through the strategic implementation of leadership practices.
PPHS’ leaders have developed a triage system for the application of the practices. This strategic
application of practices has enhanced the school’s leadership pipeline. The participants
emphasized the task of first identifying talent for leadership positions and then increase the
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knowledge of a candidate via learning experiences while simultaneously providing support
throughout to ensure future qualified leaders for an effective leadership succession plan. This
finding was important to the study because it provided the basic ways the high school worked to
build leadership capacity.
The data revealed that PPHS concentrated initial efforts on the selection and recruitment
of leader candidates. The participants indicated the implementation of the practices was
significant to the school’s ability to build leadership capacity from within. All eight participants
were developed as a leader at PPHS. The participants recognized the inquiry method of the
formal teacher survey and assessment through stretch assignments as a catalyst to their personal
leadership journey. Groves (2010) posits an effective succession plan for leadership utilizes six
steps; the first three steps are central to the talent management of high potential leaders.
Similarly, Rhodes and Brundrett (2009) asserted the essential element of succession planning is
the credible assessment of a candidate’s leadership potential and key to getting the appropriate
person to fill the position.
Participants further acknowledged that PPHS equally prioritized the practices of
providing learning experiences and support for future leaders. The leaders at PPHS
acknowledged the implementation of professional development practices were successful when
implemented in a supportive environment. Particularly, the learning practices and peer support
practices were indicated by participants as instrumental to building leadership capacity. The
learning practices encompassed professional development acquired through various workshops
and real-world experiences. Amagoh (2009) asserted the experience-based approach is an all-
encompassing method to combine on-the job training, life experience and specific skill
development. Specifically, the participants expressed the use of temporary assigned assistant
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principal position and the curriculum coordinator position was beneficial to developing a
candidate’s leadership skills. Moreover, the participants demonstrated a level of confidence they
attributed to the comfort of knowing that peer support would be available if and when they
decided to pursue a leadership position. Research supports the participants’ views as Pounder
and Crow (2005) found peer support systems to be a critical element when developing leadership
candidates.
The PPHS leaders were key players as mentors and peer support as they demonstrated
Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) practices of enabling others to act and modeling the way. The
candidates were provided an environment to learn and feel safe while developing skills and
knowledge as a leader. The leader mentors at PPHS demonstrated these practices by
strengthening others’ self-efficacy and developing competence with their guidance and
demonstrations. Through these supportive actions, all PPHS’ mentors enabled a strong
relationship among current and aspiring leaders. The relationship between the mentor and
mentee is instrumental in motivating and developing the mentee’s confidence while increasing
competence (Clayton et al., 2013; Solansky, 2010). While the support practices were identified
as essential to developing leadership capacity at PPHS, the participants shared the significance of
an environment that encourages collaborating with leaders, current and aspiring, as beneficial to
filling the leadership pipeline at PPHS.
In accordance with the participants, the organization must invest in a cohesive school
culture to develop a sustainable leadership pipeline. The participants expressed a cohesive school
culture has a shared vision. Although not an explicit finding, the data supported a seamless
presence of trust among the PPHS stakeholders. Trust is important to building a culture that
encourages stakeholders to work as a team and is a transformational leadership quality.
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Participants acknowledged the transparency of the school leaders’ practices as vital to building
trust among stakeholders. Trust is a part of the culture that is needed to advance a succession
plan. The principal played an important role in achieving an environment founded on trust as his
actions were aligned with the school vision. Kouzes and Posner (2012) assert that people watch
every action and determine if the leader is serious about values. Specifically, he inspired a shared
vision, enabled others to act and modeled the way as he cultivated a culture that supports
aspiring and current leaders in their development of knowledge and skills.
The participants articulated the importance of organizations developing leaders to
understand that limited resources of time and human capital will be inhibitors to the promising
practices of a succession plan. Pounder and Merrill (2010) recognized the time required to enact
the role of high school principalship as a deterrent to potential applicants. This was significant to
the study as it confirmed the need for educational organizations to address the management of
time. The professional growth of leaders is interconnected with advancement and inherently
contributes to transient personnel. Thus, when developing a leadership succession plan, as
presented in this study the human capital resource issue was recognized as an inevitable inhibitor
but necessary to continue developing the next generation of leaders in the field of education.
Overall, the practices identified at PPHS are indicative of an organization that cultivates
leaders to foster leaders (Donaldson, 2006). All participants agreed that building leadership
capacity via succession planning requires the attention of stakeholders at all levels in the
organization. According to Rothwell (2002), an effective succession plan is achievable when all
stakeholders are engaged in the process. As predicted by the literature on leadership succession
planning, the study’s organization was committed to the continuous process of building
leadership capacity and aligned the process with the school vision (Conger & Fulmer, 2003;
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Butler & Roche-Terry, 2002; Mamprin, 2002). The data demonstrated the participants were
leaders that value the growth of all stakeholders and embraced the challenges that are intertwined
with building leadership capacity from within.
Implications for Practice
The findings from this study suggests practice implications for higher education policy
makers and school district leaders regarding the practices utilized in the succession of school
leadership. The particular practices that emerged for developing future leaders in a high school
was central to implementing a strategic succession plan that includes practices for identifying
leaders, providing experiences to build knowledge and skills and support systems for candidates
to be successful. Educational institutions may find this study helpful in determining an approach
to develop school leaders from within the organization. The broader implications include
examining how the planning and management of succession in this high school can be used to
inform the succession needs of other public school systems.
Policy Makers
The exploration of leadership succession has significant implications for state
policymakers dealing with certification course requirements. Research shows there are growing
concerns regarding traditional administration preparation programs not meeting the needs of
educational institutions (Hess & Kelly, 2005). To become a school leader, a process of acquiring
leadership certification is required. This professional certification is governed by state
educational policy. Leadership preparation programs require candidates interested in obtaining
an administration certification to complete courses pertaining to educational operations, legal
matters and instructional issues. Research demonstrates that leadership programs in the United
States offer few courses designed to promote organizational change (Elmore, 2000; McCarthy,
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108
2002). Organizational change will require future leaders to cultivate new leaders (Donaldson,
2006). Schools are in need of effective leaders with the capacity to develop teacher leaders, thus
the state certification must be examined. The further examinations of leadership curriculum and
funding allocations that will assist new leaders apply evidenced-based practices for building
leadership capacity and may benefit educational institutions.
The revision of leadership preparation programs may be considered to assist students of
leadership and in turn benefit educational institutions. Specifically, the inclusion of leadership
theories, exemplary leadership practices and succession plans within the course designs are
important to achieve an effective succession plan. The new leader’s understanding of an
organization’s overall components that facilitates and inhibits a succession plan would provide
the candidate with a foundation to develop the next generation of leaders. Policy makers may
consider the significance of succession planning to restructure curriculum to develop leaders
with the capacity to sustain leadership pipelines for the long haul. While the literature focuses on
leadership, educational reform, and succession plans, attention to how these concepts may be
incorporated into the study of succession at a variety of educational systems should be pursued.
Although there are some discrepancies as to the steps to develop a succession plan regarding
candidates, a look at various existing theories addressing human capital management with the
lens of fulfilling a succession plan is worthwhile. The second study suggested would focus on the
knowledge of human resource management as a useful tool for new leaders to build a strong
pipeline of leaders. With this lens, educational professionals may be able to determine the next
steps for leadership succession regarding the effective management of personnel.
In addition to revising leadership preparation programs, policymakers should examine
funding allocations. The review of funding allocations may provide information on the adequate
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resources required for schools and districts to develop effective succession plan practices.
Research demonstrated the significance of resources to identify, develop and support school
leaders capable of building leadership capacity. PPHS was able to develop a leadership pipeline
for potential leaders as school funding was maneuvered to support the efforts. All schools do not
have the luxury of managing the resources to support leadership development. Thus many
schools rely on external funds to assist in building leadership capacity.
If leaders are key to student achievement (Goddard & Miller, 2010; Marzano et al., 2005)
and leadership succession is rarely a priority in education and usually unsuccessful (Hargreaves,
2005), then it would befit the “powers that be” to invest in building leadership capacity with an
attention to the certification process and providing adequate resources for schools. As the leaders
are enhanced in the knowledge of succession planning and resources provided, school district
leaders may be able to support school level leaders implement practices that underpin effective
succession of leaders.
School System Leaders
Effective succession planning is intentional and purposeful (Rothwell, 2002). The study
demonstrated the importance of aligning leadership development with the organization’s vision
and goals. District and school system leaders should be on the front line of developing
succession plans that are top down and support overall vision and goals. The plan at PPHS could
be used as a model for other schools within the district. In accordance with the findings, there are
two focus areas identified for the school system leaders’ practice to develop a leadership
pipeline: ensure a common vision across schools within a district and develop new leader criteria
to share with principals at the schools within the district. The first focus area for school district
leader to ensure the vision for building leadership capacity is common across schools within the
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110
system. The second focus area would require the district leader to communicate with school
principals on the desired criteria for new leaders in an effort to attain a sustainable leadership
pipeline.
The development of a common understanding regarding goals for building leadership
capacity that correlates with the organization’s vision is necessary to prepare a district of schools
to have a leadership pipeline. Kouzes and Posner (2012) recognized the leadership practice of
inspiring a shared vision as significant to building leadership capacity. When a leader is able to
convey a common purpose that inspires people, then the people will ensure the vision is achieved
(Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Research demonstrates that many educational institutions do not have
a formal succession plan and may benefit from having a universal understanding of developing
leaders.
School system leaders can provide principals with the common definition regarding the
kind of leader required to be effective in school. A key strength of sustainable leadership evident
in the research is the selection and recruitment of leader candidates (Conger & Fulmer, 2003;
Rothwell, 2002). The identification of specific leaders for specific organizations is essential for
effective succession planning (Conger & Fulmer, 2003). The identification of candidates should
align with the mission and vision of the district and the school. With the clear understanding of
the type of leader desired, the succession plan will be an effective means to meet the
organization’s goals. Collins (2001) asserts the development of leadership capacity is
interdependent on the human capital component and should be a priority for organizations to
achieve a sustainable leadership pipeline. Thus, the development of a pipeline designed to
identify potential leaders with desired skillset is crucial to maintaining a succession plan.
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Recommendations for Future Study
This study exemplified the practices for building leadership capacity, participant
perceptions of the practices influences and specific factors that inhibit and facilitate the
development of leadership as experienced by eight school leaders at a high school. As a result of
the findings and implications, two research studies are suggested to contribute to learning more
about the effective development of the next generation of school leaders: apply practices to
different educational sites and a longitudinal study of leaders developed at PPHS.
This study focused on a single high school that had consistently demonstrated promising
practices to develop leaders. Research supports the need for school leaders at the secondary level
and in the K-8 arena. A future study with an increase in the number of sites to include both
elementary and secondary schools may serve to strengthen the generalizability of the findings.
In addition, studies similar to this one at multiple sites can determine how the context in which
the practices are implemented influences the planning and management of leadership succession.
To guide the capacity of leadership in an upward direction, a longitudinal study of PPHS
leaders over time to assess the long-term impact of the implementation of the promising practices
is warranted. The study was limited to a set of high school leaders currently employed at the
school. The view of the high school leaders that have transferred to other organizations would be
helpful to show the quality of the leaders developed at PPHS. Many of the participants shared
that leaders prepared at PPHS are successful and a study would validate this assumption.
Conclusions
The investigation of practices utilized to build leadership at a high school was the focus
of this study. Evidence from the interviews, observations and school documents support the
findings that PPHS’ promising practices are conducive to developing a sustainable leadership
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pipeline. A successful leadership pipeline requires consistent practices to identify, develop and
support candidates. The study suggests that these practices are achievable when an organization
promotes a culture that values team over individual and then manages resources. It is necessary
for policy makers and school system leaders to assume responsibility for the care of developing
future leaders. Thus, a coherent plan for the implementation of a comprehensive succession plan
is vital to establishing a system for building leadership capacity within any organization.

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APPENDIX A
PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT LETTER
Dear Participant,

You are cordially invited to participate in this study because of your position in an organization
with promising leadership practices. I am a doctoral candidate in the Rossier School of
Education at the University of Southern California completing my dissertation. The purpose of
the study is to examine your organization’s leadership capacity building, which will contribute to
understanding best practices, and to assist other organizations looking to strengthen their
leadership development.

This study will address the following research questions:

1. In what ways does the organization work to build the next generation of leaders?

2. What are the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the influence of those practices?

3. What are the factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and implementation
of strategies designed to build leadership capacity?

Your participation is voluntary and at any time you may stop or withdraw from the study without
any consequences. Any identifiable information about you will be kept confidential at all times
during and after the study.

Your participation in this study will consist of the following during an 8 week period:

1. 45 minute interview

2. Observations in meetings, trainings, and field visits

If you have any questions or would like to participate, please contact me at ____.

Thank you for your consideration to participate in this study. Your input and contributions are
vital to the success of this study about promising leadership practices.

April Kiser-Edwards
Doctoral Candidate — Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California

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APPENDIX B
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Organization’s Name _______________________________________
Participant’s Name _______________________________________
Title of Participant _______________________________________
Location _______________________________________
Interviewer _______________________________________
Time Start_______ End_______ Total_____________

Administration:

I’d like to ask you some questions about your experience as a leader.

1. Tell me about your role in the organization.

2. What is your organization’s mission and vision?

3. Tell me about your experience as an administrator.

4. What or who influenced you the most to apply for a leadership role in this organization?

5. Tell me about how your organization prepared you for your administrative role.

Now, I’d like to ask you some questions about leadership succession planning.

6. What is your organization’s philosophy/belief about leadership capacity building?

7. What does a succession plan look like in your organization?
Probe: How is the succession plan implemented?

8. Are there any challenges to implementing your succession plan and what are they?

9. What kind of formal and informal leadership opportunities are available at your
organization?

10. How does your organization identify the next generation of leaders?

11. When you are thinking about tapping a leader what characteristics/qualities are you
looking for?

12. When you notice an individual who has those qualities, what do you do?

13. How do you support an individual who is not ready for a leadership position but is
interested?
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14. Are there any individuals that have stepped into a leadership role in the last two years? If
so, how many?

15. Given the succession pipeline right now, what are some changes you might implement?

16. What do you envision those changes to look like?

17. As we finish up this interview, I want to ensure that I understand your experiences with
leadership succession. I would like to provide you an opportunity to share anything you
feel is important about building leadership capacity internally that I have not asked.

Interview Protocol for Teacher Leader:

I’d like to ask you some questions about your experience as a leader.

1. Tell me about your role in the organization.

2. What is your organization’s mission and vision?

3. Tell me about your organization’s philosophy/belief about leadership capacity building.

4. How does your organization prepare leaders for administrative roles?

5. What opportunities of formal and informal leadership activities are available at your site?

6. How is it communicated to you?

7. What kind of support or opportunities have you received to pursue a leadership role or in
your current leadership position?

8. Who has been the most influential in helping you to develop in your role and how have
they assisted you in your development?

9. What traits and characteristics do you feel you possess in your leadership role?

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

11. How do you plan to achieve these goals?

12. What changes do you feel should be implemented to build leadership capacity in your
organization?

13. What do you envision those changes to look like?

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14. What do you feel are the challenges that hinder leadership opportunities in your
organization?

15. What are some barriers you faced when you transitioned into a leadership role?

16. What are some areas of growth you might want to focus on for your personal leadership
development?

17. As we finish up this interview, I want to ensure that I understand your experiences with
leadership. I would like to provide you an opportunity to share anything you feel is
important about building leadership capacity internally that I have not asked.

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APPENDIX C
OBSERVATION PROTOCOL
School Name _______________________________________
Type of Observation _______________________________________
Location _______________________________________
Participants _______________________________________
Time Start_______ End_______ Total_____________
Observation Field Notes:
1. Describe the physical setting. Include the arrangement of the furniture and represent all
participants in the picture. Please describe the physical setting and description of participants.
Total number of participants:_________

What are you looking for? Researcher Notes
• What does the environment look like?
• Physical set up?
• How are the people grouped?
• Who is leading?
• What is the agenda?
• Time intervals on each topic?
• Diversity/gender/age/ethnicities
• Attire of participants?

2. Focus on the interaction between the leader and others. Write a narrative of the observed
interactions/behaviors and record verbatim of the conversations. Be sure to time stamp all
events, no fewer than every 10 minutes.

Time What are you looking for? Researcher Notes

• Context of interaction?
(Hallway conversation,
informal/formal, etc.)
• Noteworthy interactions
• Engagement of Participants
• How actually engaged are
participants?
• Tone of the meeting (energy)
• Verbal/non-verbal
communication

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Post Observation Field Notes Reflection
Think about what happened during the observation that was not documented. Did the leader say
or do anything that is of particular interest to the study of leadership succession? Are there any
opinions you would like to share regarding building leadership capacity? What feelings do you
have about the leader’s interaction with the others in the meeting and how did/did not support
leadership succession? Do you have any interesting/new thoughts as a result of the observation?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

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APPENDIX D
PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES TO DEVELOP A
SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by April Kiser-Edwards and Kathy
Stowe (Ed. D.) at the University of Southern California, because you are a school leader at
Kapolei High School. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information below,
and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to participate.
Please take as much time as you need to read the consent form. You may also decide to discuss
participation with your family or friends. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign
this form. You will be given a copy of this form.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to research promising practices for building leadership capacity in a
secondary school in the Hawaii Department of Education. This study will explore the strategies
employed at the educational institution that have effectively contributed to the development of a
succession plan and examine factors that both facilitate and inhibit the development and
implementation of strategies designed to build leadership capacity.

STUDY PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to participate in a single interview
lasting no more than 45 minutes and an observation of a maximum of 30 minutes. The interview
will be conducted by the Co-Principal Investigator and can be conducted at a mutually agreed
upon location. The purpose of the interview is to discover the strategies and practices used by
secondary schools to build leadership capacity. You will receive interview questions ahead of
time via email. The interview will be recorded for the sole purpose of transcription and accuracy
in the data analysis phase of the study. Choosing to not be audio recorded does not jeopardize
your participation in the study and we would still appreciate and encourage you to participate.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no reasonable or foreseeable risks to you or your school by participating in this
study.The interview questions are not self-depriving or incriminating in any manner. Your
anonymity as well as that of your school and complex is guaranteed.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
The primary benefit of participating in this study is to provide information on leadership to
promote a culture of learning and sustain school success. The results of the study will indicate
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES

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what promising practices are utilized by a secondary school to develop a leadership pipeline.
Such findings cannot be generalized due to the small sample size being studied.

CONFIDENTIALITY
We will keep your records for this study confidential as far as permitted by law. However, if we
are required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential information about you. 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.

The records of the study will be kept private. Research records will be kept on a personal laptop
and in a locked file cabinet with one key and only researchers will have access to the records.
The laptop will be secured with a pass phrase only known by the Co-Principal Investigator. The
data for this study will only be accessible to the Principal Investigator/Faculty Advisor, although
you may review the audio recording and transcription of your interview if you choose. All audio
recordings will be destroyed after the minimum holding period of three years. All personal
identifiers will be protected by coding and pseudonyms, only known to the Co-Principal
Investigator and Principal Investigator/Faculty Advisor.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your participation is voluntary. Your refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of
benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your consent at any time and
discontinue participation without penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or
remedies because of your participation in this research study.

INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact.

April Kiser-Edwards (Co-Principal Investigator)
(804) 370-7474
kiseredw@usc.edu
91-1175 Waikapo’o Street
Ewa Beach, HI 96706

Kathy Stowe (Principal Advisor/Faculty Advisor)
(213) 740-8313
kstowe@usc.rossier.edu
Waite Phillips Hall
3470 Trousdale Pkwy
Los Angeles, CA 90089

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES

132
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu

SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT

I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have
been given a copy of this form.

AUDIO/VIDEO/PHOTOGRAPHS

□ I agree to be audio/video-recorded /photographed

□ I do not want to be audio/video-recorded /photographed

Name of Participant

Signature of Participant Date

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR

I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I believe
that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely consents to
participate.

Name of Person Obtaining Consent

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: PROMISING PRACTICES

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APPENDIX E
ACADEMIC FINANCIAL PLAN DOCUMENTS

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APPENDIX F
TEACHER SURVEY
Teacher/Counselor Teaching Line Survey
For School Year 2016-17
NAME:

What are you currently teaching (SY 2015-16)?

What would you like to teach in SY 2016-17? (Please be specific regarding course and grade
level)

Who would you like to work with on our team for the 2016-17 school year?

If you have the opportunity to teach or work outside your content area, what would you be
interested in doing? (i.e., assistant principal, curriculum coordinator, PLTW…)

Are you interested in teaching Advanced Placement? If so, classes please indicated what
course(s)?

Are you interested in creating a new Honors/AP Team? If so, please indicated below and list the
two other teachers you would be interested in working with?

What talents do you have that may not be known to the administration that you may be interested
in teaching in the event of a request from within or a specialized situation (i.e., able to speak or
translate a language, specialized skill in areas like: photography, hand crafting metal work,
building small engines, etc., or just something cool we never thought of)

Please keep in mind your input is for informational purposes only and will be used as a guide
should changes or openings occur. Mahalo nu for your cooperation.

Please return by Friday, January 22 to principal or your AP.

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APPENDIX G
MEETING AGENDAS/MINUTES
Meeting 1

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Meeting 2 (8/27)
Department Meeting minutes
Attendance: Science Department Members

Agenda

1. Go over lab fee questionnaire
a. Talk about how much money each person needs
i. Collect info on money needs per person
b. Explain processes
i. Concerns about how long it takes for the approval and withdrawal of money.
1. Neil: an account book, Dean Mandac has a “pcard”
2. Use of a “card system” may be contingent on frequency of shopping
visits
3. Purpose: better documentation of monetary transactions.
ii. Suggesting a school “pre-paid credit card” that can be set up by content
area/grade level
1. Some way to make it convenient
2. A point person-responsible for card
3. Create separate accounts for electives
4. Streamlined POs
2. Go over leadership minutes
a. Course offerings
i. Figuring out what we’re going to offer
b. Core discussion
i. What’s the justification of requiring academy core classes before academy?
ii. Taking away from course electives will be an issue
iii. Are they old enough to decide what they want to do?
1. Traditional route vs. Academy Pathway
2. Pro Traditional: can be tailored to student
3. Student centered
c. AP. Issue and ladder
i. Whoever’s teaching it needs to decide pre-reqs and if concurrent is acceptable
ii. Adjust the flow chart of courses
1. Need time to discuss, possible PD day
3. Concerns to report back to leadership
a. Can we send required ALL forms (i.e., Taug, GAFE, etc.) the year before? or ahead
of time so that the turnaround is faster?
b. Follow up on Academy Core justification
c. Ask for PD to re look at science courses flow chart

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Meeting 3

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Asset Metadata

Creator Kiser-Edwards, April Lynn (author)

Core Title Leadership succession: promising practices to develop a sustainable leadership pipeline at a secondary school

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Defense Date 03/04/2016

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

Tag leadership capacity,leadership development,leadership pipeline,OAI-PMH Harvest,succession planning

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Stowe, Kathy (committee chair)

Creator Email aprilq2@aol.com,kiseredw@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-219418

Unique identifier UC11278914

Identifier etd-KiserEdwar-4185.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-219418 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KiserEdwar-4185.pdf

Dmrecord 219418

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Kiser-Edwards, April Lynn

Type texts

Source 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 a...

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

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The study applies leadership frameworks that include the Transformational Leadership Theory linked with the Kouzes and Posner’s exemplary practices to understand the process for developing a leadership pipeline. The purpose of this study was to examine the promising practices designed to support leadership succession at one high school. The goals of the study were to identify the practices, explore the participants’ perceptions of the practices and factors that facilitate and inhibit these practices for building leadership capacity. A qualitative case study method was utilized to examine the promising practices for building leadership capacity through the lens of one high school’s administrators and teachers who succeeded into leadership roles. Eight participants were interviewed and six participants observed. The interview and observation protocols explored the experiences of the participants and school documents were used as additional sources of data. The findings from the study indicate that there are many promising practices that impact the succession planning at the high school in a positive manner. The development of future leaders were dependent upon the practices to identify, develop and support candidates while learning to assume a leadership role. Furthermore, the factors of a team culture facilitated the practices whereas a lack of resources inhibited the practices designed to develop the next generation of leaders. The study demonstrates the importance for policy makers and school system leaders to implement practices consistent with the leadership exemplary practices and succession plan theories to build leadership capacity from within an organization.