Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
Cultivating effective and resilient urban principals: empowering school leaders to create enduring success in the inner city
(USC Thesis Other)
Cultivating effective and resilient urban principals: empowering school leaders to create enduring success in the inner city
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
Running head: CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 1
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS: EMPOWERING
SCHOOL LEADERS TO CREATE ENDURING SUCCESS IN THE INNER CITY
by
Rene Francis Quon
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
December 2019
Copyright 2019 Rene Francis Quon
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 2
DEDICATION
This study is dedicated to my parents, Aida and Wilken, who, through love and hard
work, always provided our family with everything we needed despite the hardships of growing
up in urban Los Angeles. From my mom, who led our family’s journey to America from the
Philippines, I learned how to be adventurous and how to reach impossible goals through patient
and unrelenting willpower. From my dad, who was born and raised in South Central Los
Angeles and who served in the Vietnam war, I learned how to face the greatest of life’s
challenges, including prejudice and systemic inequity, with grace and kindness.
I would also like to dedicate this study to my grandmother, Josefina, who was a
schoolteacher in the Philippines. She was the sweetest person who ever lived, and I strive to
embody her loving spirit every day.
Finally, this study is dedicated to anyone and everyone who fights every day to disrupt
systems that perpetuate inequity in our world. Achieving true equity in education for minority
students may seem hopelessly far off, but our collective efforts and our indomitable will will
eventually and assuredly reform the system, and create a world of unbounded opportunity for our
children. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study would not have been possible without the support of my awesome EdD
cohort! I could not have survived this journey alone, and I truly benefitted from the knowledge,
experiences, and support of my EdD colleagues. It is reassuring and energizing to know that
there are like-minded social justice leaders serving schools all across Los Angeles. I also want to
thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Briana Hinga, for her guidance and support. I feel blessed to
have had such a brilliant and caring mentor, whose insights regarding education and research
inspired me to think differently. Thanks to my friend Dr. Mynor Mendoza, who was always
available to answer my questions, whether they were about the study or about health and fitness!
I must also thank my brother Joey, for allowing me to spend many weekends with him in San
Diego, so I could write countless pages for my study without distraction.
I also want to thank my dissertation committee, Dr. Briana Hinga, Dr. Darline Robles,
and Dr. Michael Massa, for sharing their time and expertise in order to make my study as
powerful as possible. A special thanks to Dr. Massa who inspired me to begin the program in the
first place! I want to thank the nine principals who agreed to be participants in my study. Your
openness was very much appreciated, and your stimulating viewpoints represent the core of this
study. I would like to acknowledge my USC professors for all of the thought-provoking lessons
over the last three years, especially Dr. Michael Escalante whose leadership insights and career
advice have helped shape and refine my professional roadmap. I also greatly appreciate how
swiftly and thoroughly Ms. Guadalupe Garcia Montano edited my study.
I want to take a moment to thank all of the organizations and affiliations that significantly
contributed to my educational and professional journey: Loyola High School; UCLA School of
Engineering and Applied Science; UCLA Unicamp, which changed the course of my career and
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 4
life; Oakland Teaching Fellows; Castlemont High School (Oakland Unified School District);
Alliant International University (San Francisco); Locke High School (Green Dot Public
Schools); UCLA Principal Leadership Institute; Wallis Annenberg High School (Accelerated
Schools); and of course Monseñor Óscar Romero Charter School (Youth Policy Institute Charter
Schools), whose students and community I have the honor of serving now.
Finally, I could not have completed this study without the love and support of everyone
else in my life whom I haven’t already mentioned. I want to thank the following people for
deeply influencing me and helping me become the educational leader and conscious person that I
am proud to be. I want to express my sincerest love and appreciation for my sister Jeannie; my
nephews Gian Carlo, Mateo, and Rocco; my closest friends, including Ryan, Paul, Rodney, and
Dave; my good friends from Locke, the CTG crew: Joaquin, Sofia, Nirorth, Cynthia, Uriah,
YooLee, and Miguel; and my Ironman training team, Team in Training.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
List of Tables 7
Abstract 8
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 9
Background of the Problem 10
Statement of the Problem 11
Purpose of the Study 12
Research Questions 13
Significance of the Study 13
Organization of the Study 13
Chapter Two: Literature Review 15
Theoretical Framework 15
Critical Race Theory 16
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory 17
Review of the Literature 19
Qualities of Effective and Resilient Urban Principals 19
Recruiting Effective and Resilient Urban Principals 29
Continuous Training and Development for Urban Principals 34
Creating Supportive Conditions to Allow an Urban Principal to Thrive 40
Figure 1. Diagram – conceptual framework of the study. 45
Summary 45
Chapter Three: Methodology 48
Context of the Study 50
Positionality 51
Participants 53
Data Collection and Instruments Protocols 55
Phenomenological Interviews 55
Process 56
Data Analysis 57
Limitations and Delimitations 58
Credibility and Trustworthiness 59
Credibility and Trustworthiness 59
Transferability 59
Dependability 60
Confirmability 60
Chapter Four: Results 62
Participants 63
Information About the Schools 63
Characteristics of the Participants 65
Results for Research Question One 69
Common Motivations, Backgrounds, and Experiences of Effective Urban Secondary
Principals 70
Organizational Recruitment and Preparation of New Leaders 75
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 6
Organizational Values, Conditions, and Practices that Attract Strong Leadership 76
Challenges of Urban Secondary Leadership 78
Conditions That Support the Retention and Success of Urban Secondary Principals 87
Organizational Practices That Support the Retention and Success of Urban Secondary
Principals 91
Summary 96
Chapter Five: Summary and Discussion 98
Discussion of Findings 100
Implications for Practice 104
Recommendations for Further Research 105
Concluding Remarks 107
References 109
Appendix A Interview Protocol 115
Appendix B Consent Form 117
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 7
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Description of the Types of Schools Included in This Study 64
Table 2: Basic Demographic Information – Participants, Schools, and Districts 69
Table 3: Summary of Emergent Themes for Research Question One 78
Table 4: Summary of Emergent Themes for Research Question Two 96
Table 5: Summary of Findings 100
Table 6: Summary of Implications for Practice 104
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 8
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to understand how effective and resilient urban secondary
principals in Southern California describe what attracted them to their sites and what supportive
conditions allowed them to sustain strong, long-term leadership amidst the challenges they faced.
Using phenomenological interviews and qualitative analysis, nine resilient urban high school
principals were interviewed to understand how leaders endure past barriers to success in inner-
city education. All principals in this study led schools which served grades nine through twelve
and served populations of over 65% minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
Each principal served for at least three consecutive years at their respective school and has
demonstrated improvements in student success as indicated by at least two mid-level to high-
level indicators on the California School Dashboard.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 9
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time… The obligation
of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible – and particularly those of you who deal
with the minds and hearts of young people – is to examine society and try to change it
and to fight it – at no matter what risk (Baldwin, 1963, p. 1)
Today’s educational system is fundamentally broken. Despite the vast social and
technological advancements of the past few centuries, the achievement gap between students of
color and their White peers in America is as large as it has ever been and continues to widen
(Ladson-Billings, 2006). Although some systems of overt racism and segregation in our country
have been challenged and overcome, our most underserved and oppressed communities are left
with a seemingly insurmountable education debt (Ladson-Billings, 2006). This debt represents a
deeper and more pernicious problem than the observable achievement gap in academic success
between students of color and their White peers. The education debt exists as the net effect of
decades of institutionalized racial and educational inequity, established over “many generations
of bad faith and cruelty” (Baldwin, 1963, p. 1). Furthermore, this educational debt is growing
larger (Ladson-Billings, 2006), as quick-fix, surface-level solutions do not address
sociohistorical educational issues and are not based on understanding nor addressing the
underlying systems, culture, and conditions perpetuating inequitable and exclusionary
educational practices (Shields, 2013).
Baldwin’s call to action for educational reform remains relevant. Today’s educational
leaders are charged with the responsibility of preparing our diverse youth for success in college,
career, and life in the competitive landscape of the 21st century. To execute this charge,
effective school leaders must also take up the mantle of social justice leaders and assume the task
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 10
of re-educating adults at all levels of the educational system in addition to their students (Shields,
2013). Principals can no longer just manage their school sites. Studies highlight the importance
of engaging adults in critical reflection over their beliefs and biases about students of color and
how current institutions of power perpetuate these students’ marginalization (Lynn & Parker,
2006; Shields, 2013). Only by challenging these prevailing beliefs using frameworks such as
critical race theory (CRT) and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) can leaders begin to
disrupt the systems perpetuating inequity. However, there are many challenges and barriers to
progress.
Background of the Problem
One of the factors perpetuating the inequitable degree of educational success for minority
students is the condition of inner-city, or urban, schools, which tend to primarily serve minority
students, students of low socioeconomic status, and other high-need groups (Jacob, 2007; Kozol,
1991, 2012). As a result of education and housing policies, many students of color live in
impoverished communities and attend similarly impoverished schools (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
Public urban schools also tend to serve larger populations of students with disabilities as well as
students who are learning English than suburban or private schools. Despite the higher needs,
school funding formulas tend to result in smaller incomes for these schools when compared to
their suburban counterparts (Jacob, 2007; Sauter, Frohlich, Stebbins, & Comen, 2015). This is
mainly due to funding formulas often being based on students’ average daily attendance as well
as property taxes in the city where the school resides (Sauter et al., 2015). Marginalized students
who reside in inner-city districts often have more difficulty attending school regularly and on
time than students in more affluent neighborhoods, which has an adverse effect on school
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 11
funding. Also, more affluent neighborhoods accrue much higher property taxes, which, in
addition to contributions made by wealthy families, equate to greater school funding.
Because of historically low funding and support from society, urban schools are in need
of revitalization. However, inner-city schools have become particularly difficult environments
for change because they are often plagued by repeated, failed attempts at change, which
contribute to a skepticism amongst teachers, students, and parents (Dolph, 2017). The condition
of inner-city schools often make it impossible for school leaders to provide the level of support
necessary to fully meet the educational needs of the children they serve (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
While some of these schools found success in meeting high educational outcomes, the vast
majority have not (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
In addition to challenging conditions, high-need student populations, and low levels of
financial support, urban schools are beleaguered by high staff turnover. Many studies examined
the detrimental effects of high teacher turnover in urban schools. For example, according to
Jacob (2007), “teachers play a critical role in schooling, particularly in inner-city school districts
where children often have less support at home” (p. 130). Yet, urban schools have much more
trouble recruiting and retaining quality teachers than suburban, affluent schools (Jacob, 2007).
Statement of the Problem
While the effects of strong leadership on urban schooling and the deleterious impact of
staff turnover are understood, the literature is missing an understanding of principals’ decisions
to stay in or leave their schools. Numerous studies document the effect of strong school
leadership has on students’ academic performance (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008;
Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003; Reed, 1982; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). Successful urban
school leaders include principals who can effect significant improvement in student achievement.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 12
However, as difficult as it is to hire and retain quality teachers in the inner city, urban districts
across the nation also found it difficult to recruit and retain successful, effective principals,
especially at the secondary level (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Williams, 2008).
Strong school site leadership may help close the education debt through the powerful
revitalization of academic programs and even by supporting practices which increase teacher
support and retention. However, promising change initiatives are virtually guaranteed to fail
once the principal who is leading the charge leaves. Therefore, it is important to explore the
stories of strong school leaders who had an impact and persisted in the urban setting despite
challenges. Understanding and replicating the circumstances behind these success stories can
affect and improve all aspects of the educational experience in urban schools, including teacher
retention.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to understand how successful, long-term urban high school
principals in Southern California describe what attracted them to their site and what supportive
conditions allowed them to thrive and to focus on effective instructional leadership amidst the
challenges and responsibilities they face. In the context of this study, an urban school is one
serving a population consisting of over 65% students of color and over 65% of students who are
at or below the poverty line. This study also uses the term “secondary” to refer to high schools,
which serve students between the grades of nine through twelve. In-depth specifics regarding
the characteristics of schools and participants included in this study are outlined in Chapter
Three.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 13
Research Questions
1. How do successful, long-term urban secondary principals in Southern California describe
what informed their decision to be a principal at their school?
2. How do successful, long-term urban secondary principals in Southern California describe
what conditions and supports have allowed them to serve as urban school leaders for
many years without burning out?
Significance of the Study
Understanding how successful principals are recruited and retained in inner-city schools
will improve educational equity for students of color. Urban schools are not traditionally
afforded the funding, resources, and personnel to support their students and communities’ higher
needs (Kozol, 1991, 2012). However, a strong leader who is passionate, driven, and
knowledgeable about the needs and conditions of the inner city can make increase student
achievement by focusing on the high-leverage areas of transformation for their school.
Dolph (2017) argues the effectiveness of school leaders is the most significant contributor
to inner-city school reform. He specifically cites the impact of “understanding how to lead
change, enhance school culture, and improve instructional practices” to directly improve student
outcomes (p. 383). Dolph’s research provides well-developed guidelines for effective urban
school transformation, led by the principal. This study explored how urban schools and
organizations can work to ensure these exceptional leaders are placed in the environments where
they are most needed.
Organization of the Study
This study is arranged into five chapters. This first chapter provided an overview of the
study including the background of the problem, statement of the problem, purpose of the study,
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 14
and the research questions to be addressed by the study. The second chapter includes the
literature review, which provides a summary and analysis of current research regarding the
difficulties and successes experienced by urban schools in securing strong and persistent
leadership. This chapter also includes descriptions of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks
in which the study is framed.
The third chapter details the methodology and processes used to conduct the study. This
includes the setting of the study, a statement regarding the positionality of the researcher, the
criteria and participant selection, and the methods for data collection and analysis. Lastly, this
chapter also specifies the study’s limitations and delimitations, a description of practices which
enhance the study’s credibility and trustworthiness, and ethical considerations with regards to the
research. The fourth and fifth chapters detail the findings and conclusions drawn as a result of
the study.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 15
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Using the lenses of CRT (Lynn & Parker, 2006) and CHAT (Foot, 2014), and within the
context of the education debt, this literature review provides a summary and analysis of current
research regarding the difficulties and successes experienced by urban schools in securing strong
and persistent leadership. The first section explores the attributes and experiences effective
urban principals commonly possess. The second section summarizes the practices and programs
urban districts and schools implemented to recruit successful principals. Third, the chapter
delves into the research regarding how effective urban principals are continuously trained and
mentored as they lead their schools. Lastly, the fourth section explores how districts and schools
create supportive organizational conditions and incentives for urban principals to promote
student success, to focus on instructional leadership, and to continue serving the inner-city
community in a sustainable manner.
Theoretical Framework
This study employed CRT (Lynn & Parker, 2006) as an overarching theory to provide the
backdrop for how the confluence of sociopolitical, economic, and historical conditions created
and perpetuate the education debt for students of color. The study also utilized CHAT (Foot,
2014) to analyze professional work practices employed by urban schools and organizations
regarding the effective recruitment and support of principals from a multi-dimensional lens. The
historical framing of the topic was based on the concept of the achievement gap, coined by
Ladson-Billings (2006).
Historical Framing of Topic
Ladson-Billings (2006) asserted the disparity in achievement of students of color versus
White students in the United States was larger than researchers previously characterized it
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 16
(2006). Ladson-Billings stated the persistence of this achievement gap, as measured by metrics
such as standardized testing scores and graduation rates, could not be diagnosed by simply
looking at current practices and conditions. Instead, she introduced the concept of an education
debt, which was the accumulation of historical, economic, political, and moral decisions which
widen the achievement gap (Ladson-Billings, 2006). This notion of an education debt also helps
understand the challenges inner-city schools face.
Because of the education debt, inner-city schools are tasked with overcoming decades of
socioeconomic, political, economic, and moral inequity to reach the students they serve (Ladson-
Billings, 2006). Therefore, they need school leaders who will not only close the achievement
gap by raising test scores and graduation rates, but who will also chip away at the larger, more
insidious education debt by overturning long-held beliefs and systems marginalizing students of
color. These expectations make it difficult to find and recruit worthy candidates. Even when
this talent is found, the dedication and action required daily might exhaust the individual, leading
to burnout and turnover. This study aimed to determine how districts and schools successfully
recruit and retain effective urban principals to battle the education debt.
Critical Race Theory
This study employed CRT as a high-level paradigm for understanding the genesis of
educational inequities for students of color. CRT is an analytical framework on race and racism
in law and society that begins with the insight that “racism is normal, not aberrant, in American
society” (Lynn & Parker, 2006, p. 259). Racist policies and structures have saturated our
country’s culture, rendering them invisible and unrecognizable to American society at large
(Lynn & Parker, 2006). The cumulative effect of institutionalized racism permeated our
educational system, as evident in urban schools’ continuing to receive the least funding and
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 17
while serving the majority of our minority populations (Kozol, 1991, 2012). CRT essentially
provides the lens that elucidates how the historical deprivation of equity and opportunity for
minority students contributed to both the education debt as well as the shortage of effective
urban school leadership, which are two of the central themes undergirding this study.
As it pertains to this study, CRT describes the historical conditions and decisions
resulting in the troubled state of inner-city education and the inequitable opportunities afforded
to students of color. The effective leadership required to overcome and disrupt the systems
perpetuating this inequity include an understanding of CRT and leaders’ ability to reframe biases
and deficit perspectives their staff may have regarding students of color (Lynn & Parker, 2006).
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
This study also employed CHAT as a more focused lens on how the confluence of power,
money, culture, and history dictate and affect professional work practices in urban schools (Foot,
2014). CHAT is used to reflect on “previous, current, and anticipated practices” using
“multilevel sociocultural, political-economic, and institutional contexts” to ultimately develop
“new ideas about how to improve future practices” (Foot, 2014, p. 345). The professional
practices the study was most interested in are the systems of recruitment and support of urban
school principals.
CHAT is especially useful in considering “chronically stressed organizations” which are
“chronically hyperaroused, have lost the capacity to manage emotions institutionally, and as a
result fail to learn from experience” (Foot, 2014, p. 330). In these institutions, emotionally-
charged information has become “undiscussable,” leaders are likely to become authoritarian and
punitive, and workers respond in more “aggressive and passive-aggressive behavior” until the
entire environment “becomes progressively more violent and unjust” (Foot, 2014, p. 330).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 18
Ultimately, these organizations tend to become trapped in “repeat[ing] the past” leading to steady
deterioration of effectiveness in enacting the organizational vision and meeting goals (Foot,
2014, p. 330). Inner-city schools, as chronically stressed environments, need powerful and
persistent leadership to shake them out of a cycle of deterioration, which precipitates the need for
this study.
A final aspect of CHAT particularly suited to this study is its conceptualization of how
contradictions, conflicts, and breakdowns inform organizational improvement. A contradiction
is defined as “a misfit within elements, between them, between different activities, or between
different developmental phases of a single activity” (Foot, 2014, p. 337). Essentially, the CHAT
framework does not view contradictions as points of failure or deficits, as problems or obstacles,
nor as ending points (Foot, 2014). Instead, contradictions are defined as “illuminative hinges”
which reveal “new vistas of understanding” (Foot, 2014, p. 337). Contradictions are inevitable
eventualities in any endeavor, which serve as “starting places,” and as “opportunities for creative
innovations” (Foot, 2014, p. 337). Contradictions highlight the union of historical, political,
social, cultural, and economic influences on a particular facet of an organization, which reveal
distinct “divergent directions” in which the activity can take depending on the actions or in-
action of the organization (Foot, 2014, p. 338). In the context of inner-city education, historical
inequity has produced many contradictions in urban schools, which according to CHAT reveal
many possible starting points and divergent directions a strong school leader can identify, take
initiative on, and guide towards successful student outcomes.
CHAT worked together with CRT in this study in the sense that CRT framed the cultural
and historical aspects of each activity the study analyzed using CHAT within the framework of
race and racism in American society. For example, inner-city schools embodied the “chronically
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 19
stressed organizations” (Foot, 2014, p. 330) described by CHAT, specifically as a result of racist
systems and practices in American education and housing which led to the creation of inner
cities as well as the under-resourced schools residing in them (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
Review of the Literature
Four topics are covered in this literature review. First, the chapter explores what the
research identifies as the core attributes and qualities of strong urban principals. Hiring and
retaining these leaders requires understanding and defining a quality leader. Second, the chapter
summarizes research on how these principals are most effectively recruited and hired.
Determining the recruitment strategies employed throughout the country is important,
specifically to identify the most successful leaders for inner-city schools. Third, the chapter
examines programs and supports provided to principals at urban schools. This serves to
ascertain which programs provide adequate levels of training and support to face challenges and
grow in practice. Lastly, the final section of the literature review explores how districts and
schools provide supportive conditions to ensure these leaders can focus on priorities and prevent
burnout.
Qualities of Effective and Resilient Urban Principals
Having a well-defined blueprint for an effective urban school leader will aid in
understanding how inner-city organizations can best attract, empower, and support such a leader.
Therefore, it is important to review the research on the core qualities and competencies of an
effective and resilient urban school principal.
Urban schools and districts face many additional challenges and barriers to success when
compared with non-urban, more affluent schools (Friedman, 2004; Reed, 1982; Rodriguez-
Campos, & Rincones-Gomez, 2000; Shen, Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). For example, urban
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 20
schools often face high rates of declining enrollment, vandalism, violence, absenteeism,
dropouts, drug usage, and poor academic performance (Reed, 1982). Within the organizations
themselves, these schools also often experience inadequate funding, slow-moving bureaucracy,
limited access to technology, and a lack of many other quality personnel and resources needed to
meet their students’ needs (Friedman, 2004). Finally, even the belief systems in urban schools
are in disrepair. These schools are often characterized by a “culture of low expectations” for
their students, which is reinforced not only by teachers and school leaders, but also by “parents,
the community, and the general public at large” (Friedman, 2004, p. 211). Given the degree of
challenges an urban leader is expected to face, it is no surprise districts seek principals who can
“walk on water” and “wear a superhero’s cape” (Peterson & Kelley, 2001, p. 4).
It takes a special kind of leader to succeed in the landscape of inner-city education. The
research provides ample lists of positive qualities attributable to successful school leaders, both
in urban and non-urban environments (Ahmad, Khawaja, Hussain, Panhwar, & Farshad, 2017;
Grace, Buser, & Stuck, 1987; Friedman, 2004; Reed, 1982; Schulte, Slate, & Onwuegbuzie,
2010; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). However, when researching effective
school leadership in urban environments specifically, a few recurring themes and qualities were
emphasized because these elements of leadership made a difference in supporting students and
teachers in these challenging environments. This section explores five recurrent themes in the
literature regarding aspects of effective urban principalship: emotional and social intelligence;
transformational leadership; distributed, democratic, and collaborative leadership; instructional
leadership; and culturally responsive practices.
Emotional and social intelligence. Principals of urban schools face more numerous and
more intense barriers to success than principals of non-urban schools as well as the heightened
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 21
pressure of meeting the same high expectations for academic success more privileged students
are held to (Friedman, 2004; Reed, 1982; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). The
challenges faced by inner-city leaders include developing and maintaining instructional programs
for students who are further behind in readiness levels and who face more trauma in their daily
lives than their more affluent peers (Kozol, 1991, 2012). Also, urban principals are tasked with
leading a larger degree of certificated and classified staff who are inexperienced and underpaid,
and, therefore, more easily stressed and frustrated (Kozol, 1991, 2012). Due to these heightened
levels of need in terms of students and staff readiness, inner-city principals often must manage a
greater complexity of interpersonal conflict. For these reasons, “evidence strongly suggests
emotional and social competencies are the differentiating factors in success” when isolating what
makes a leader more effective in the inner-city environment (Williams, 2008, p. 39).
In 1983, Howard Gardner began writing about “multiple intelligences” and proposed
“intrapersonal” and “interpersonal” intelligences, or emotional and social intelligences, are just
“as important as the type of intelligence typically measured by IQ and related tests” (Cherniss,
2000, p. 3). Emotional intelligence is defined as an individual managing their emotions and
mindset. Leaders with high emotional intelligence make the right decisions even when the
choices are difficult, take criticism gracefully and actually grow from it, and stay focused on the
most important school priorities despite encountering distractions and experiencing fatigue
(Williams, 2008).
Social intelligence describes successfully and easily interacting with others in various
contexts and for different purposes. In a leadership context, social intelligence is a leader’s
ability to “lead and manage others to get the desired results” (Williams, 2008, p. 46). Fleishman
and Harris (1962) asserted leaders with high social intelligence establish rapport with
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 22
subordinates and gain their trust and respect. Ultimately, these leaders were much more effective
in leading and managing their team to achieve collective goals.
Educational researchers generally concur outstanding urban school leaders possess the
intra-personal and inter-personal competencies Gardner described. According to Reed (1982),
effective principals must be knowledgeable and skilled in the areas of “group dynamics,
motivation, communication, conflict resolution, … and school-community relations” (Reed,
1982, p. 6), all of which involve social and emotional intelligence competencies. Additionally,
Williams (2008) identified six specific emotional and social intelligence areas differentiating
effective urban school principals from their less-effective peers: self-confidence, achievement
orientation, initiative, organizational awareness, leadership, and teamwork/collaboration.
In summary, a command of emotional and social competencies is at the core of effective
urban school leadership. A principal who has mastered their own emotions as well as leadership
and communication with others will be equipped to respond to the high demands of leadership in
the inner city.
Transformative leadership. As established above, leaders within urban school
environments face higher expectations to address the achievement debt. However, urban schools
often experience simplistic and ineffective leadership practices, including “hierarchical
command and control (structures), prescriptive programs, (and) narrow accountability measures”
(Shields, 2013, p. 8). For urban schools to make progress towards increased student success,
leaders must adopt a transformative approach to leadership (Friedman, 2004; Shields, 2013;
Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). Transformative leadership, which is also called transformational
or change leadership, focuses on the “critical analysis of beliefs, values, practices, and policies
which need to be changed in order to promote equity” (Shields, 2013, p. 11). In other words, the
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 23
transformational leadership approach lies in contrast to one-size-fits-all, disconnected leadership,
in which leaders deploy programs and initiatives designed to improve the school without first
earning a deep understanding of the needs of the school and community. Instead, the vision for
transformative change must be rooted in an awareness of the specific strengths, weaknesses, and
challenges of the school and community they serve (Shields, 2013).
According to Williams (2008), after determining the specific needs of a school, a
transformative principal then must establish a direction and vision for the school designed to
address these needs. The principal must then align staff and resources with this direction and
anticipate and address problems which threaten the accomplishment of this vision (Williams,
2008). Furthermore, Friedman (2004) asserts transformational leadership must be focused on
empowering others and attracting followers, rather than being focused on criticizing gaps in the
current instructional program or practices. In other words, transformative leaders take just
enough time to uncover and understand the areas of growth for a school. However, they
intentionally and ultimately spend most of their time and energy finding solutions and
establishing practices and programs which lead the school closer towards their vision. Friedman
(2004) noted an urban principal, to achieve transformational leadership, must possess a degree of
charisma, and employ a “variety of approaches” to “address the unique problems and issues
inherent in the multiple contexts in which school leadership finds itself” (p. 206). This connects
with what was explained about social and emotional intelligence because empowering and
motivating others requires regulating their own emotions as well as communicating and
empathizing with constituents.
In summary, transformative leadership is an essential practice for an effective inner-city
school principal. Given the challenges in urban schools, principals must determine the unique
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 24
needs of the students and staff they serve to establish and champion a precise vision to meet
these needs. This is “not a theory for the faint-hearted,” according to Shields (2013, p. 23), and
requires “courage…vision, understanding, clarity, and agility” to challenge inequitable
conditions in education and society” (p. 23).
Distributed, democratic, and collaborative leadership. Amongst the myriad of
challenges faced by inner-city schools, turnover of teachers and leadership remain one of the
most difficult to address (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Mitgang, 2003). Due to the
transient nature of school staff in urban schools, it is difficult for a school to maintain steady
progress towards a cohesive vision, let alone to collectively establish a cohesive vision all
stakeholders find compelling in the first place (Friedman, 2004). Ineffective, top-down
leadership compounds this issue by not allowing faculty and staff to have a voice in the
governing of the school (Ryan & Rottmann, 2009). Dewey (1939) championed the idea of
collaborative, democratic leadership, highlighting the deep significance of giving teachers and
staff a voice in a shaping their school and creating a culture of shared ownership, distributed
control, and mutual respect.
Democratic leadership goes beyond the staff of an organization and extends to the
community, including the students and parents of a school. Engaging disenfranchised
community members can disrupt systems of inequity. For example, the inclusion of
undocumented parents in civic improvement initiatives and school leadership can help to close
the “civic achievement gap” (Rogers, Mediratta, & Shah, 2012, p. 45) between people of color
and Whites and Asians, by empowering marginalized groups to use their voice where they may
previously have felt powerless. At its core, engaging everyone in accountability for planning
allows school leaders to systemically uncover and meet the needs of all stakeholders while
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 25
empowering those involved to become active agents in improving their own circumstances as
leaders of the school in their own right.
In addition to empowering stakeholders to take ownership of the school, democratic and
collaborative leadership also allows school leaders to more closely understand the needs of the
school, which is at the core of effective transformative leadership described in the section above.
Since public institutions such as schools are designed to serve the people, they must remain
“accountable and responsive to the needs of their constituencies” (Rogers et al., 2012, p. 44). To
do this, school leaders must stay in tune with the needs of students, teachers, and parents by
involving them in decision making (Friedman, 2004; Shen et al., 2000). Stakeholders must be
involved in decision making, because, as Dewey (1939) highlighted, those affected by policy
possess information relevant to successful school governance, namely they can readily identify
“where the shoe pinches … (and what) troubles they suffer from” (p. 4). Staff and students can
quickly identify problems affecting them, and Noguera (2007) affirmed people also “put forward
practical, common sense insights into why certain practices are ineffective” based on their direct
experience with these practices (p. 206). Although Noguera referred to students, the sentiment
also works for adults. Consequently, faculty and staff provide an invaluable source of
information for school leaders, who ignore this source to their disadvantage.
To summarize, the effects and benefits of democratic leadership are far-reaching. All
stakeholders are affected significantly and positively by inclusion in decision making. When
they invite teacher, student, and parent voice and create a true distributed leadership structure,
they have access to an invaluable source of information which allows them to confidently make
the right decisions for their school community. Faculty and staff benefit from democratic
leadership by feeling a strong sense of authentic ownership for the school as well as a powerful
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 26
sense that what they say and do matter (Friedman, 2004; Shen et al., 2000). Students involved in
democratic practices gain similar feelings of empowerment from inclusion in decision making as
adults. Finally, the power of democratic leadership extends into the community. It can inspire
and encourage otherwise unheard voices such as those of undocumented parents. Involving
these previously disempowered groups to participate in decision making at the school
exemplifies the main goal of social justice leaders (Shields, 2013). Opportunities must be
created for marginalized populations to embrace a “claim to [the] development of their own
powers” (Dewey, 1939, p. 4) and challenging the idea of the mandate to lead and make decisions
being “confined to a superior few” (Dewey, 1939, p. 4).
Instructional leadership. The main purpose of a school is to teach students so they can
learn. Therefore, amidst the multitude and complexity of responsibilities urban school leaders
are held accountable for, they must primarily serve as leaders of learning (Friedman, 2004; Gadja
& Militello, 2008; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). However, it is difficult for
principals to maintain a focus on instructional leadership given the “increasingly constraining
environment” of urban leadership coupled with the seemingly ever-increasing expectations for
educational leaders across the nation (Shen et al., 2000, p. 490).
In addition to serving as the instructional leader for the school, the principal also acts as
the lead manager for all non-instructional programs and operations at the school site (Gadja &
Militello, 2008; Shen et al., 2000). This management responsibility tends to conflict directly
with leading instruction to the detriment of student learning and success, although studies show a
strong positive correlation between effective instructional leadership and increased academic
achievement (Shen et al., 2000). According to Suber (2012), effective principals are “both
physically and psychologically involved with individual classrooms and the school” (p. 2).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 27
Williams (2008) describes effective instructional principals as leaders who are
focused on academic goals; hold high expectations for staff performance and student
achievement; observe and work directly with teachers to improve instruction; minimize
disruptions to ensure efficient use of instructional time; creatively use resources; monitor
student achievement results; and use data to guide planning. (p. 38)
Essentially, a strong instructional leader guides their faculty towards achieving higher
educational outcomes above all other priorities at the school site.
Urban school principals must prioritize instructional leadership above all else and resist
the pressure to spend a majority of their time managing operations. Principals need to establish
an academic vision and goals, lead their staff in developing the knowledge and skills to reach
these goals, and be present in classrooms and supportive to each teacher as they work towards
achieving the school’s academic goals.
Culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy. Projections show that, by the year
2050, African American, Asian American, and Latino students will constitute close to 57% of all
U.S. students (Howard, 2003). As a result, an “increasingly homogeneous teaching population
(mostly White, female, and middle class)” will interface at an even greater scale with an
“increasingly heterogeneous student population (primarily students of color, and from low-
income backgrounds)” in the inner city (Howard, 2003, p. 195). Educational leaders must,
therefore, challenge their faculty to develop pedagogical practices with “relevance and meaning
to students’ social and cultural realities” (Howard, 2003, p. 195). Otherwise, school staff’s
limited understanding about the culture and language of their students will have a negative
impact on achievement (Hollie & Orange, 2014).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 28
Culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy (CLR) teaching and learning, ensures
the cultures of all students are “validated and affirmed” to build bridges to lead students to
academic achievement (Hollie & Orange, 2014, p. 67). Celebrating the unique cultural and
linguistic background of every individual is central to meeting their needs, especially when they
are taught by individuals who do not share their culture. An effective urban principal must
create an environment which validates and affirms students’ home culture. They must also train
teachers in providing CLR pedagogy in every classroom to authentically meet the students
“where (they) are culturally and linguistically” and to “bridge the student(s) to success in the
culture of academia and mainstream society” (Hollie & Orange, 2014, p. 67).
The main shift in mindset necessary for educators in implementing CLR pedagogy is the
“rejection of deficit-based thinking about culturally diverse students” (Howard, 2003, p. 197).
According to Brown-Jeffy and Cooper (2011) faculty need to introduce the mainstream culture
of academia to students in a way that does not erode their appreciation of their own culture.
Teachers can accomplish this by valuing the cultural and social capital students bring with them
to school (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011). Such “intentional inclusion” and affirmation of
students’ backgrounds demonstrates the important distinction between “difference and
deficiency” (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011, p. 68).
School leaders and teachers must challenge deficit thinking wherever they see it,
especially in such insidious places as the words they use to describe marginalized students. For
example, teachers must move away from using adjectives such as “underachieving” and
“underperforming” which imply deficits within the students themselves (Muhammad & Hollie,
2012). More appropriate words include “underserved” and “marginalized,” which are more
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 29
accurately based on the premise that “students are clients who are not being served adequately by
[urban] schools” (Muhammad & Hollie, 2012, p. 83).
Changing the mindset of others to embrace CLR pedagogy and avoid deficit thinking is
perhaps a leader’s most difficult task. According to Howard (2003), asking teachers to engage in
critical reflection can be an arduous task because it forces the individual to “ask challenging
questions that pertain to one’s construction of individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural
backgrounds” (p. 198). For some educators, this means reflecting on and questioning
assumptions and values they have lived with their entire lives, and which were handed down to
them by their parents and families. However, critical reflection is central to the concept of CLR
pedagogy because it is necessary for educators to uncover “how their positionality influences
their students in either positive or negative ways” (Howard, 2003, p. 197).
In an educational system whose demographics are becoming more and more diverse by
the minute, the “mismatch between teaching styles and the home-community culture of students”
(Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011, p. 67) is emerging as the central impediment to public school
students’ success. Effective urban school leaders champion CLR pedagogy to address this issue,
to affirm and validate the cultural and linguistic background of each student, and to “make
positive the negative stereotypes of nonmainstream cultures and languages” (Hollie & Orange,
2014, p. 68).
Recruiting Effective and Resilient Urban Principals
This section explores how schools can recruit and hire leaders with the common traits of
highly effective urban principals articulated in the previous section. Organizations and districts
have difficulty finding and hiring skilled principals for reasons such as low pay and a
challenging work environment (Coggshall, Stewart, & Bhatt, 2008; DeStefano, 2002; Gadja &
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 30
Militello, 2008; Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003). In response to these difficulties, many
organizations developed programs and practices aimed at increasing the successful recruitment
of strong leaders in the inner-city setting (Coggshall et al., 2008; DeStefano, 2002; Gadja &
Militello, 2008; Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001).
Challenges in recruiting effective and resilient urban principals. One of the main
challenges in recruiting skilled urban principals is the fact that urban schools are known to have
extremely demanding settings, which can be unattractive for prospective principals (Coggshall et
al., 2008; Friedman, 2004; Reed, 1982; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012). The volume of
responsibilities expected of urban principals is extensive. Not only are principals expected to be
instructional leaders, but they must also “be managerial leaders, communicate effectively with
parents, encourage and support teachers, manage school budgets, understand technology, and …
raise test scores” (Harris, 2001, p. 11). They must often move from task to task, switching their
focus and mindset constantly. As Peterson and Kelley (2001) describe, principals’ daily work is
“characterized by hundreds of short tasks of enormous variety – one minute talking with a
teacher about materials, the next coping with a student issue, followed by another dozen
questions, issues and problems to be solved” (p. 1). In summary, being a principal “has always
been the most demanding job on the planet,” but with the current challenges of the inner-city
setting “the job has become overwhelming” (Harris, 2001, p. 13).
Another challenge to recruiting quality leadership is inadequate funding and need to
stretch all resources to meet the needs of at-risk populations. Ultimately, urban schools often
cannot afford to pay at levels comparable to those of more affluent districts, which reduces
attraction for skilled leaders (Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). As
Mitgang (2003) reports, in terms of salary, urban principals experienced an increasing
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 31
disadvantage over the last decade, contributing to the “reportedly weak and small applicant pools
for leadership positions” (p. 9). Peterson and Kelley (2001) highlight that, especially given the
additional responsibilities of attending evening meetings and events, some principals make “the
same or less on a per diem basis than some teachers” (p. 2).
The role of principal has always been demanding. While many aspects of the job are
rewarding and fulfilling, there are also many drawbacks to the role. These include difficulty
balancing home and work life, being held accountable for expectations exceeding their level of
authority, lack of parental support, low job security, and limited interaction with students
(Coggshall et al., 2008). These factors are amplified in the inner-city setting to create more
difficulty finding and enticing strong principals.
Programs and strategies designed to recruit effective and resilient urban principals.
In response to the need for effective leadership, various urban schools and districts have devised
a variety of strategies and programs to recruit strong principals. This study focused on
recruitment strategies administered by schools and districts, as opposed to third party
organizations such as New Leaders for New Schools.
In the last decade and a half, many researchers reported a shortage of qualified principal
applicants for urban schools (Bryant, Escalante, & Selva, 2017; Coggshall et al., 2008;
DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Williams, 2008). According to Gadja and Militello
(2008), this shortage can be attributed to the challenging working conditions in the urban setting,
large populations of impoverished students, and limited resources with which to serve these
students.
In contrast, Browne-Ferrigno and Muth (2008) assert there is no actual shortage of
principal candidates due to the “proliferation of [principal] preparation programs in recent
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 32
decades” (p. 22). Mitgang (2003) agrees there is “no statistical evidence of a nationwide
shortage of certified candidates for the principalship” (p. 4). Mitgang (2003) explains, in reality,
enough qualified principal candidates are trained throughout the nation to meet the needs of
America’s urban schools. However, these potential applicants are simply not applying to
principal positions at the volume necessary to meet the leadership needs of inner-city schools.
Gadja and Militello (2008) similarly argue, in many states, there is “ample supply for the
demand” with “nearly twice as many educators holding administrator licenses as there are
principalship positions” (p. 16). The issue is encouraging these candidates to apply. Many
schools have developed practices to encourage and entice these qualified, yet reluctant,
candidates.
Several organizations have identified a major reason it is difficult to recruit and retain
qualified principals is the higher ages of principal candidates compared with leaders in other
industries (Gadja & Militello, 2008; Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001;
Shen et al., 2000). At the time of Harris’ study in 2001, the average age of current principals
was 50, and 40% of them were eligible to retire within the next five years. Shen et al. (2000)
concur with this trend, sharing there is a very low percentage of urban principals under the age of
39. Specifically, between 1988 and 2000, the proportion of principals under 40 shrunk from
38% to 12% (Mitgang, 2003). This is mainly due to the fact that principal candidates are
expected to have many years of classroom and leadership experience as well as advanced
educational degrees, which can take decades to acquire (DeStefano, 2002; Mitgang, 2003; Shen
et al., 2000).
Schools are adjusting to this reality by updating their hiring practices. Human resource
directors have found success in moving away from the more traditional hiring practices and
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 33
expectations which are difficult to achieve in a reasonable amount of time (DeStefano, 2002;
Mitgang, 2003). Instead, organizations are clarifying what they really want in principal
candidates, which ultimately boils down to “the ability to lead and motivate staff and execute a
school improvement strategy” (Mitgang, 2003, p. 10), and seek candidates who meet these
specific expectations, without being stringent on the additional standards of experience and
education. While experience and education are important, it is advantageous to consider less
experienced leaders with the fundamental characteristics of effective leadership. Similarly,
Destefano (2002) advocates for reconsideration of principals’ certification requirements to focus
more directly on principals’ accountability for the success of their schools to increase the
applicant pool of potentially strong urban school leaders.
Some organizations have responded to the principal shortage by creating grow-your-own
programs, which build leadership application pools within their own organizations (Green Dot
Public Schools, 2018; Harris, 2001). For example, Miami-Dade County Public Schools created
the Leadership Development Institute, which consists of a two-year training program to prepare
promising teacher-leaders for administration (Harris, 2001). Des Moines Public Schools created
a program to pair aspiring principals with practicing principals, so these candidates can gain
experience and mentorship as they prepare for leadership (Harris, 2001). Green Dot Public
Schools created the Administrators-in-Residence Program, which directly seeks to increase the
number of highly effective school leaders who are “successfully turning around the country’s
most persistently low-performing schools” (Green Dot Public Schools, 2018, para. 2). Lastly,
there are effective principal training programs operating independently from school districts.
Some of them are affiliated with universities, such as the Principal Leadership Institute at UCLA
and UC Berkeley, while some are independently operated, such as the New Leaders for New
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 34
Schools program (Coggshall et al., 2008; Harris, 2001; University of California Berkeley, 2018;
University of California Los Angeles, 2018). Ultimately, Coggshall et al. (2008) posit enhancing
principal preparation is “unlikely to address the…supply problem” because “many prepared
individuals will continue to shun the principalship because of the deterrents” and “drawbacks” of
the position, such as high demands and low compensation previously discussed (p. 9).
A final consideration which may seem simple in theory but has not been widely observed
is the need for competitive compensation (Coggshall et al., 2008; DeStefano, 2002; Harris, 2001;
Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). Simply put, urban principals work harder than
average school leaders in less-demanding environments, and their efforts need to be
compensated adequately. Applicants for urban school principalships need to know the hard work
and dedication expected of them to meet the expectations of inner-city education will be valued
and appreciated.
Continuous Training and Development for Urban Principals
Once strong urban school leaders are identified, recruited, and hired, it is incumbent upon
the school and district to provide effective training and development so these leaders continually
grow and evolve to meet the unique needs of their school communities. An effective principal
support system, including professional development, is key to the retention of quality inner-city
school leaders once they are hired (Baker & Bloom, 2017; Coggshall et al., 2008; Gadja &
Militello, 2008; Mosrie, 1990; Peters, 2008; Tewel, 1987). Mosrie (1990) cites the inadequate
preservice preparation of principals across the nation, which has led to a much-needed greater
emphasis on the training and support for practicing principals. Similarly, Peters (2008)
highlights the responsibility of districts to “socialize new leaders into the norms and values of the
culture” (p. 2) through professional development as well as to provide coaching and targeted
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 35
preparation for the tasks they will be expected to perform. This section explores how districts
and organizations provide professional development training for principals, how this training is
differentiated based on various factors such as experience levels, how districts provide
opportunities for networking and mentoring, and how principals’ supervisors provide direct
training, mentorship, and support to their principals. This study is particularly focused on the
principals’ training and development once they are on the job and not before, since districts and
schools generally have little to no influence on the training and support provided to the principal
prior to their hiring.
Professional development for urban principals. Various districts have provided
professional development opportunities and programs for their principals to support their
continual growth as a school leader (Harris, 2001; Mosrie, 1990; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). For
example, New York City’s Community School District 10 in the Bronx developed the
Professional Development Leadership Center to support the professional needs of its
administrators (Harris, 2001). The center provides a variety of hands-on workshops, including
“Developing a Vision and a Mission for Your School” (p. 12) as well as explores avenues to
keep principals motivated despite the challenges they face on daily.
The Miami-Dade district goes one step further to recognize the difficulty principals face
in finding time to attend professional development training, and piloted an online professional
development program for its administrators (Harris, 2001). In Brevard County, Florida, the
district created a human resource management and development plan (HRMD) which focused on
the recruitment, training, and support of principals (Mosrie, 1990). The HRMD initiative
provided “intensive training sessions related to the competencies identifies in high-performing
principals” (Mosrie, 1990, p. 13), which was powerful not only because principals gained
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 36
necessary skills, but also because they were clear on which competencies the district valued most
and expected to see at their schools. A final example is in Cincinnati, where local foundations
and businesses funded a facility called the Mayerson Academy to provide principals with
ongoing and focused training (Peterson & Kelley, 2001).
Differentiated training and support for urban principals. In addition to the variety of
development programs districts offer for their principals, many organizations also provide
differentiated support for their leaders. The different levels of training and support are generally
based on the various experience levels of principals, but are sometimes specialized based on
different school contexts such as enhanced support for urban principals versus non-urban
principals. Many examples of this differentiated support exist. For example, in the Sacramento
City Unified School District, each new principal is assigned a mentor for two years in addition to
having a university professor as a coach (Harris, 2001). Alternatively, New York City’s
Community School District 10 focuses on specialized training for principals with six or more
years of experience so they can develop their skills as a coach or mentor to inexperienced leaders
(Harris, 2001).
Peters (2008) describes a mentoring program being developed for new principals which
can include face-to-face meetings, school walkthroughs, and clear development of goals for each
new principal. The Chicago Public Schools, in cooperation with the Chicago Principals and
Administrators Association, have developed the LIFT program to support and train first year
principals through hand-on seminars and mentoring (Peterson & Kelley, 2001). Chicago Public
Schools have also developed the Chicago Academy for School Leaders which focuses on
supporting more experienced administrators through in-depth programs, case-studies,
simulations, reflective analysis, and coaching (Peterson & Kelley, 2001).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 37
The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) provides an annual
Principals’ Center Summer Institute designed to ignite conversations about leadership and values
for principals with at least three years of experience (Peterson & Kelley, 2001). ACSA also
partners with the Alumni Advanced Symposium to connect these principals with nationally
recognized experts (Peterson & Kelley, 2001). ACSA offers the Colloquium for New and
Aspiring Principals to provide training and strategies for new leaders as they take on the
principalship for the first time (Peterson & Kelley, 2001). Finally, ACSA conducts a Principals
Academy, which is an intensive seven-session academy for experienced principals designed to
help “refine applied leadership and management skills” (Peterson & Kelley, 2001).
Mentorship and networking opportunities for urban principals. Some of the most
impactful support of urban principals does not come in the form of training and professional
development, but in the form of collaborative experiences such as mentorship, networking, and
the opportunity to work with a cohort or professional learning community. The research
provides ample examples of such programs and opportunities for urban principals. Coggshall et
al. (2008) describe the design of cohort-based networks which provide well-trained and
accountable mentors for practicing principals. These cohorts provide leaders with the
opportunity to collaborate on a regular basis and to reflect upon and develop strategies for
achieving high-level academic goals for their school sites (Coggshall et al., 2008).
For example, the Boston New Principal Support System provides monthly meetings for
new principals, encouraging them to discuss their experiences in improving school culture,
developing a vision for the school, managing budgets, hiring teachers, and many other aspects of
the principalship new teachers may need support in navigating (Coggshall et al., 2008). In
Brevard County, Florida, administrators have a three-member support team consisting of a
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 38
supervising principal, another practicing administrator with experience at that school site, and the
area superintendent (Mosrie, 1990). This direct mentorship and individualized support allow
principals to have access to veteran leaders who can guide them through their time as a new
leader.
The Ocean City Public School District has designed a principal support cohort (PSC) to
orient new principals to district policies and culture (Peters, 2008). The PSC is a two-year
program that meets monthly, involves district-level personnel who visit and join the
conversations from time to time, and covers a variety of topics such as effective time
management, leading effective meetings, and other key practices related to the principalship
(Peters, 2008). Finally, the Educational Research Service developed key guidelines for principal
support which were adopted by several schools and districts (Peters, 2008). The two guidelines
most pertinent to the current discussion are the need to create formal and informal opportunities
for networking among principals and the implementation of a master principal, similar to that of
the master teacher, where the master principal takes responsibility for directly mentoring and
guiding an apprentice who is new to school leadership (Peters, 2008).
Direct supervisory coaching and support for urban principals. So far, the
professional development, mentoring relationships, collaborative networks, and cohorts
discussed do not directly utilize a potentially powerful relationship every principal has: their
direct supervisor. As early as 1987, Tewel documented principals’ expressed need for feedback
and support from within the organization, ideally from their supervisor. Specifically, principals
repeatedly voiced frustration about the lack of a “local mechanism” for sharing ideas and for
obtaining moral and psychological support … (from) the school’s formal and informal
organization” (Tewel, 1987, p. 111). They expressed the need for information on successful
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 39
school improvement strategies, guidance with self-reflection, and a structured mentoring
program, specifically from the school organization (Tewel, 1987). The principal’s direct
supervisor, whether they are a director, area superintendent, or chief executive officer, is perhaps
the best poised to provide direct mentorship and support to a principal since they already should
be monitoring and evaluating the progress of the principal and school closely. The principal’s
supervisor also already has a defined relationship with the principal and presumably has more
experience in school leadership than the principal which can contribute to a valuable and
meaningful mentorship.
Baker and Bloom (2017) researched a program based in Long Beach, California, which
created the infrastructure for principal supervisors to provide meaningful and effective support to
their principals. This program is based on the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Model
Principal Supervisor Professional Standards, which challenge traditional practices of principal
supervision. The program asserts principal supervisors must make principal development a
priority to “dedicate their time to helping principals grow,…coach and support individual
principals,…(and) to help principals grow as instructional leaders” (Baker & Bloom, 2017, p.
62). The district supports this initiative by reducing the caseloads of principal supervisors, which
allows them to provide deeper support to a more concentrated group of principals (Baker &
Bloom, 2017). As a result, principal supervisors spend more than half of their time in school
buildings “coaching, guiding, and assessing principal needs” (Baker & Bloom, 2017, p. 63). A
component of the program includes professional learning communities for principal supervisors
centered around “lab days,” where supervisors clarify their roles and expectations as supervisors,
align feedback and performance expectations with the district vision, and practice supporting
principals “using the language of coaching-based supervision with the goal of raising student
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 40
achievement in all schools” (Baker & Bloom, 2017, p. 64). The dedication and focus on having
effective principal supervisors in Long Beach represents an innovative and powerful principal
support systems. It also reinforces and models effective leadership at multiple levels of the
organization, including the school leader and above.
Creating Supportive Conditions to Allow an Urban Principal to Thrive
Finding the right leaders and equipping them with tools for success are key components
of achieving effective urban school leadership. However, districts play a big role in ensuring
they are also providing supportive conditions for urban principals to succeed (Coggshall et al.,
2008; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). Mitgang (2003) posits the main issue
underlying the urban principal shortage is working conditions in the inner city are seen as “too
forbidding, the chances for success too slim, and the incentives, including salaries, don’t
adequately compensate for the added stresses and growing challenges of these leadership
positions” (p. 9). Districts can alleviate some of these concerns and create supportive conditions
for urban principals. This section discusses how districts consider factors to set up new urban
principals for success, allow them to focus on instructional leadership, incentivize their success,
and empower them to make the best decisions for their site without undue oversight or
micromanagement.
Supportive conditions and considerations for new principals. New principals, like
new teachers, require increased attention, support, and guidance to develop into effective school
leaders. This section explores how districts need to intentionally socialize new leaders so they
can accept and embody the vision, norms, and values of the organization (Peterson & Kelley,
2001). New leaders also need to be trained to meet the varied expectations accompanying the
role (Harris, 2001; Peterson & Kelley, 2001; Williams, 2008). Additionally, the research of
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 41
Baker and Bloom (2017) has determined one of the main considerations for ensuring new
principals’ success of is simply not to place them in the most difficult environments. This is
often easy to say but difficult to put into practice, especially given that many veteran principals
also hope to avoid the most difficult environments and they use their experience, relationships,
and leverage in the district to secure the less difficult placements. To truly set up new principals
for success, districts need to have the strength to place seasoned, veteran principals in the more
difficult environments, compensate them appropriately, and allow them to initiate their practice
in an environment where they have a fair chance at succeeding.
Allowing urban principals to focus on instructional leadership. The scope of
responsibilities expected of current day principals is vast. According to Williams (2008), the
principal responsibilities leading to academic success are “affirmation; change agent; contingent
rewards; communication; culture; discipline; flexibility; focus; ideals/beliefs; input; intellectual
stimulation; involvement in curriculum, instruction, and assessment; knowledge of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment; monitoring/evaluating; optimizer; order; outreach; relationships;
resources; situational awareness and visibility” (p. 39). However, it is rare that a principal can
focus on these facets of instructional leadership due to managerial responsibilities, including
being the “manager of school finances, operations, [and] client relations” (Coggshall et al., 2008,
p. 13).
At one time, school leaders in America were known as “principal teachers” (Coggshall et
al., 2008, p. 13), suggesting they were primarily focused on leading teachers, presumably with a
focus on instruction. Research confirms principals’ focus on instructional leadership has the
greatest impact on students’ academic success (Coggshall et al., 2008; Friedman, 2004; Gadja &
Militello, 2008; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). Coggshall et al. (2008) asserted
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 42
a pressing need to reconceptualize leadership so “we no longer imagine that each leader must
embody the entire range of knowledge and skills the organization requires” (p. 13). Mitgang
(2003) similarly asserted it is time to redefine the job of principal so they “concentrate on student
learning above all else” (p. 11). This can be done by dividing principals’ managerial and
instructional responsibilities among two or more individuals (Coggshall et al., 2008). Principals
are best supported when they have an administration manager or operations manager to focus on
non-instructional tasks and responsibilities, clearing the way for the principal to focus on
instructional excellence (Coggshall et al., 2008). Gadja and Militello (2008) concurred with this,
citing principals must be allowed to focus on their primary role as chief academic officer and
instructional leader.
To create the conditions for success for urban principals, schools and districts need to
value the principal’s capacity to focus on the instructional program above all else.
Organizational executives can do this by reviewing the organizational chart and hiring
appropriate support staff who can take away the noninstructional responsibilities from the
principal’s workload.
Incentivizing success for urban principals. The principalship in an urban setting can
be unimaginably difficult, due to the pairing of high expectations for student success with the
deep levels of student and family need as well as minimal resources and support. Urban
principals, like urban teachers, may join the profession energized and driven to make positive
change, but can lose steam after years of facing deeply rooted systems and conditions
perpetuating inequity in educational outcomes for inner-city youth. Schools and organizations
have a responsibility to motivate and celebrate their school leaders, if for no other reason than to
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 43
show appreciation for their efforts to fight educational inequity day after day and year after year
(Peterson & Kelley, 2001).
Some important ways to value hard work and to continuously keep urban principals
motivated are to provide financial incentives, opportunities for professional growth, and
opportunities for career advancement (Coggshall et al., 2008). Compensation, in the form of
salary and benefits, should be commensurate to the sizeable degree of expectations, workload,
and responsibilities these principals take on (Coggshall et al., 2008; Harris, 2001; Mitgang,
2003). Focus groups agreed current salaries for urban principals fail to “offset the preparation,
investment, and sacrifice required” to do the job well (Coggshall et al., 2008, p. 14). The focus
groups suggested increased salaries, of course, but also bonuses for staying in a high-need school
for three or more years as well as bonuses for excellent leadership and performance (Coggshall
et al., 2008). Harris (2001) and Mitgang (2003) likewise cited a lack of adequate compensation
as a deterrent for potential candidates to apply for leadership roles in the inner-city as well as a
reason why urban principals fail to stay in the profession. Lastly, Peterson and Kelley (2001)
described a loan forgiveness program for principals in North Carolina, which incentivizes the
retention of school leaders by covering their school loans when they provide at least two years of
service.
True principal empowerment and site-based decision making. A final, but very
significant consideration in creating supportive conditions for the success of urban principals and
schools is the empowerment of site leaders to make decisions without undue oversight or
micromanagement from the district. Tewel (1987) interviewed principals who were frustrated by
a lack of financial support from the district in implementing systems to lead to greater student
success. In essence, the district was failing to empower them to make decisions which had a
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 44
financial impact on the organization. Similarly, participants in Peters’ study (2008) bemoaned a
lack of consistent and effective support from their district office as well. They also argued they
should have a say in how much support is provided, since at least one principal had experienced
a revolving door of consultants with questionable experience and credentials who were tasked
with mentoring her (Peters, 2008). Ultimately, the district office was non-responsive to the
concerns of their principals, and made unilateral decisions which essentially undermined and
failed to respect the voice of the site leader.
In contrast, New York City district leaders granted their principals with “greater decision-
making authority” coupled with a “multi-layered approach to principal evaluation” (Coggshall et
al., 2008, p. 16). This will allow principals to retain more independent decision-making abilities,
which will keep them accountable through an improved accountability system which does not
involve micromanagement. In direct contrast to the vignette referred to above, New York City
principals have the authority to choose the types of support they receive from district offices and
have more power over budgets and programs, including “access to more money to hire teachers
or guidance counselors” (Coggshall et al., 2008, p. 16).
According to Coggshall et al. (2008), “decisions are best for students when they are
happening close to the students at the school level” (p. 16). Summarily, urban principals need to
have true site-based decision-making authority to move the levers of student success, because
they have a much better sense of the needs of the students and school than district officers who
likely have limited knowledge of the school.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of this study is depicted below in Figure 1. It starts by
articulating the five qualities of an effective and resilient urban principal as detailed earlier in
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 45
this chapter. Then, it depicts the recruitment process, within the framework of CHAT, which
uses a sociohistorical and cultural lens to analyze organizational interactions and practices. This
study utilizes CHAT to uncover the underlying mechanisms behind organizational practices to
determine how to maximize the recruitment and retention of effective and resilient inner-city
principals. Next, within the reality of the education debt and the lens of CRT, which are both
discussed in depth earlier in this chapter, the major barriers to success for inner-city principals
and schools are listed. Finally, the conceptual framework concludes by depicting the
organizational efforts to retain and support the principal despite the challenges they face within
the urban setting.
Figure 1. Diagram – conceptual framework of the study.
Summary
According to CRT, institutional racism over hundreds of years in America has produced
an expansive education debt for students of color. To close this debt, urban schools, which
mainly serve minority populations, need effective leadership. However, these schools
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 46
continually fail to attract and retain strong leadership because they tend to have limited resources
with which to serve their high-need students. The conditions of inner-city schooling are a direct
result of the education debt as well as socioeconomic, political, cultural, and historical factors
described by CRT.
This study used CHAT to analyze the practices and systems employed by urban schools
to successfully recruit, train, and support effective urban principals. CHAT was used as a multi-
dimensional approach to uncover the complex set of variables underlying specific school actions
and systems with the goal of identifying innovate ways to recruit and retain capable individuals.
A review of the relevant literature and research reveals effective principals in the urban
setting share many common traits, mindsets, and leadership styles. These include having strong
emotional social intelligence; enacting transformational leadership; providing distributed,
democratic, and collaborative leadership; focusing on instructional leadership; and finally,
ensuring students receive culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy throughout the school.
Schools have faced many challenges in recruiting leaders with these qualities, which include
inadequate compensation as well as inadequate resources with which to fund school programs,
creating a less-than-supportive environment under which principals. Other challenges involve
the fact that inner-city schools are demanding environments to work in, with high expectations
for success despite low levels of support in reaching these goals. Schools have responded to
these strategies by finding ways to increase compensation for urban school leaders. They also
have created grow-your-own programs to train people from within the organization to take on the
leadership mantle. Finally, schools and districts are successful at sharpening and focusing the
requirements for prospective new principals, allowing their organizations to expand the pool of
candidates considered by not focusing on non-essential qualifications.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 47
Once capable principals are hired, schools and districts must ensure their retention by
providing adequate training and mentorship as well as creating supportive conditions to allow
them to thrive. Effective development for urban principals include providing meaningful
professional development programs, differentiating this training based on experience and skills,
providing mentorship and networking opportunities, and ensuring leaders have direct supervisory
support and coaching. The successful creation of supportive conditions to allow urban principals
to be successful include providing operational and managerial support so principals can focus on
instructional leadership; incentivizing success through compensation, bonuses, and opportunities
for advancement; and finally, empowering them with site-based decision making so they create
programs and practices which promote student success without interference from the district.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 48
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Chapter Three describes the design and procedures used in conducting the study. The
chapter begins with an explanation of and rationale for the specific methodology utilized. Next,
the chapter explores how data were collected, including the context and setting of the study, the
participants involved, and the data collection instruments and protocols used. Finally, this
chapter reviews how data were analyzed to address the research question, including limitations
and delimitations of the study, the positionality of the researcher, the credibility and
trustworthiness of the study, and any ethical considerations inherent in conducting the study.
Methodology
This study employed a phenomenological methodology to explore and better understand
the “essence and underlying structure” of the successful recruitment and support of effective
urban school leaders in the inner city (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 24). Phenomenology is a
type of qualitative research, which means its main goal is to understand how participants
construct meaning out of the events and experiences they are engaged in (Maxwell, 2013).
Furthermore, qualitative research also seeks to understand the particular context and the process
by which certain phenomena occur in an inductive, open-ended manner (Maxwell, 2013).
Phenomenology is a study of people’s conscious experience of their life and world, based
on the assumption of “an essence or essences to shared experience” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p.
26). This essence can be extrapolated through exploration, observation, and questioning.
Therefore, the primary source of data was the phenomenological interview. Additionally, it is
especially significant in a phenomenological study that the researcher addresses their personal
“prejudices, viewpoints, and assumptions,” which I did in the positionality section of this chapter
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 27).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 49
This study employed three specific practices in concert with the phenomenological
approach. First, the study used phenomenological reduction to continually frame all aspects of
the study around the essence of urban principal support to derive the structure underneath this
complex topic (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Secondly, horizontalization was used to initially lay
out all the collected data for examination as pieces with equal weight, so all perceptions were
granted equal value, and the essential aspects of the experience emerged naturally (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Thirdly, the study employed imaginative variation to view the data from various
perspectives much like “walking around a modern sculpture” to see “different things from
different angles” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 27).
As discussed in Chapter Two, this study initially employed CRT and the concept of the
education debt to provide the backdrop for the sociopolitical and historical conditions which
created the high-need environments of urban schools. CHAT is utilized as the main framework
to examine the complexity of interactions and relationships between urban organizations and the
effective leaders they seek to find and keep. CHAT provides a framework for uncovering the
true nature of every interaction between an organization and a client, based on the cultural,
historical, political, and social elements informing each action. In the context of this study,
CHAT allowed us to deeply examine the successful recruitment and support systems put into
practice by urban school organizations with the cultural, sociopolitical, and historical
understanding of how these extreme needs and practices emerged in the inner city.
Once again, the purpose of this study was to explore and analyze the practices employed
by urban schools who have successfully recruited and retained effective principals despite the
challenges this involves. A phenomenological methodology aligned well with this study, since
the study ultimately sought to uncover the essence of how to provide deep and authentic
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 50
empowerment for urban school leaders. Additionally, the tools provided by phenomenology
helped ensure the topic is explored from various angles and that data were collected and
analyzed inductively.
Context of the Study
This study was conducted at nine urban public high schools in Southern California. For
the purpose of this study, an urban school was defined as high-minority and high-poverty,
specifically having a student population of over 65% students of color and over 65% students at
or below the poverty line. Secondary schools generally refer to schools serving students in
grades six through twelve. However, this study focused on schools serving students at the high
school level. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, the term “secondary school” refers
specifically to a school serving students between grades nine through twelve. This study focused
on public schools, which include public charter schools, primarily funded by the state based on
average daily attendance. This study did not focus on any particular district.
According to the U. S. Census Bureau (2018), about 15.3% of the total population in the
area where the study was conducted were between the ages of 5 and 18 and were attending
primary or secondary school. About 70.6% of the total population of this area was identified as
non-White, with 48.5% of the total population identifying as Hispanic or Latino, 10.7%
identifying as Asian, and 9.8% identifying as Black or African American (U.S. Census Bureau,
2018).
Across the nation, urban schools are usually impoverished and predominantly populated
by students of color (Kozol, 1991, 2012). The data above provide a snapshot of the high levels
of need educators fight to meet in the inner cities of Southern California. This helps
contextualize the challenges urban schools have in adequately serving their populations as well
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 51
as the expectations and difficulties that urban principals face as they fight for their students’
success.
Positionality
It is important in qualitative research, particularly in a phenomenological study, to
identify one’s positionality as a researcher. Merriam and Tisdell assert “a basic assumption of
critical theory, feminist theory, dis/ability theory, CRT, queer theory, and
postcolonial/poststructural/postmodern theory is that the world is informed by structured power
relations based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, dis/ability, or religion” (2016, p. 62). It
follows then, that the researcher must attend to “an examination of the power relations in the
research act itself” by identifying their own position in relation to the study and its participants
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 62).
In this section, I have done my best to express my positionality by sharing information
about my background and experiences as they relate to this study. I was born in South Central
Los Angeles and attended both public and private schools in Los Angeles as a child. My parents
are both first-generation college graduates. My mother immigrated to America from the
Philippines, while my dad, who is of Chinese descent, was born and raised in South Central Los
Angeles. I earned a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from UCLA. However, my
studies and experiences at UCLA, particularly my experiences within an organization called
UCLA Unicamp, also greatly transformed my awareness of the vast social, cultural, economic,
and racial disparities and inequities I had experienced and observed in my life. I decided to leave
a short career in software engineering and instead pursue opportunities to utilize my knowledge
and skills to fight for educational equity for students of color.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 52
I joined the Oakland Teaching Fellows in 2006, acquired my teaching credential, and
taught high school math at Castlemont High School for four years. My experiences while
working with the Oakland Unified School District allowed me to witness firsthand the plight of
inner-city education. At Castlemont, I worked under two different principals over four years,
with a third principal entering even as I left. I then moved back home to Los Angeles and taught
math for five years at Locke High School in Watts. This was my first experience working with a
charter organization, Green Dot Public Schools. In five years of teaching at Locke, I worked
under three different principals. In 2015, I joined Wallis Annenberg High School in South
Central Los Angeles as an assistant principal. When I became the principal in 2016, I had the
distinction of serving as the third person to assume the role within the previous four years. In
2018, I became the principal of Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter School in the Pico-Union area
of Los Angeles, where I am the third principal to join the school in the last three years. Within
my career in urban education, the rapid turnover of school leadership has had a negative impact
on students’ sustained progress.
I have experienced both privilege and oppression throughout my life. I have attended
high-minority public schools and lived in deeply impoverished areas of Los Angeles. However,
I also have attended low-minority, high-achieving private schools and succeeded in college with
my parents’ steady encouragement and financial support. As a result, I experienced and
witnessed firsthand the wide disparity between the high quality of educational resources afforded
to students of privilege versus the low quality of resources afforded to students of color.
Consequently, I have dedicated my career towards disrupting systems perpetuating inequity for
students of color and have worked exclusively in inner-city schools ever since.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 53
My frustration with the lack of resources and lack of effective leadership in the inner city
as well as my own experiences as an urban principal motivate me to conduct this study.
However, these factors also inform my positionality as a researcher. I am often critical of the
systems, practices, and policies of educational organizations when they seem to be motivated by
financial or convenience factors, rather than increased opportunities for equity for students of
color. Perennially, I have seen this manifested in an inability of inner-city schools and
organizations to adequately equip and support their principals. Predictably, this leads to high
administrative turnover, which inevitably leads to the reality in which our highest-need schools
can never sustain any sense of progress since their leaders are leaving at a dizzying rate.
I have conducted this study to find bright spots in regards to urban principal retention and
success and to derive what is at the essence of these successes. I hope my experience in inner-
city school leadership as well as my drive to understand the successful sustainability of the urban
principalship have added depth and precision to this study. I have also conducted this study with
the highest degree of objectivity and open-mindedness possible so the findings and results are
based purely on observational data, rather than the prior assumptions and viewpoints of the
researcher.
Participants
In this study, nine urban high school principals were interviewed and purposeful and
unique sampling was employed to ensure each participant possessed a specific set of experiences
useful to the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The study focused on a unique sample of urban
secondary principals in Southern California who have led their respective sites for at least three
consecutive years, and who have demonstrated improvements in student success during that time
as demonstrated by having met the standard of mid-level to high-level performance on at least
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 54
two out of five indicators on the California School Dashboard. The California School Dashboard
is an online tool that assesses and communicates the success of various schools based on several
common indicators. According to the website,
The California School Dashboard provides parents and educators with meaningful
information on school and district progress so they can participate in decisions to
improve school learning. The California School Dashboard goes beyond test scores
alone to provide a more complete picture of how schools and districts are meeting the
needs of all students. (California Department of Education, 2019, para. 1)
The five common indicators the dashboard assesses for high schools are college/career,
graduation rate, suspension rate, English language arts, and mathematics. The success of each
indicator is depicted on a five-color scale, from red indicating the lowest level or performance to
orange, yellow, green, then blue, which indicates the highest level of performance. This study’s
threshold of seeking schools which have demonstrated mid-level to high-level success on only
two indicators reflects the reality that it would realistically take more than three years for a
strong principal to more comprehensively overcome the sociocultural and economic forces that
have historically plagued inner-city education. Having selected participants and schools with
these qualities ensured participants have demonstrated success in uplifting the academic
performance of students in an urban school in a sustainable manner which allowed them to
continue leading the school without getting burned out.
Aligned with the tenets of phenomenology, this study derived what is at the essence of
powerful recruitment and support of urban secondary leaders. This was done by selecting a
sample population of principals who work at schools with a high variation of contexts while still
meeting the requisite qualities outlined in the study. Patterns consequently emerged from this
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 55
variety of contexts, which helped ensure the study’s findings are widely applicable (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). All of the leaders selected were principals at the high school level. The leaders
selected worked at a combination of comprehensive public high schools, small public high
schools, and charter schools. The distinction between these types of schools is further detailed in
the next chapter. The principals have also worked at schools of varied sizes: small, which this
study defines as having an enrollment of under 950 students; medium, which this study defines
as an enrollment of 950 to 2,000 students; and large, which this study defines as a population of
over 2,000 students. Finally, the principals selected represented both schools with a teachers
union as well as schools without one.
This study used snowball sampling, which is also called chain or network sampling, to
select participants who meet the criteria outlined above. Snowball sampling involves starting
with at least one participant who meets the criteria of the study and asking them to refer the
researcher to other participants (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This is considered an effective way
of leveraging the networks of participants who likely share similar characteristics.
Data Collection and Instruments Protocols
Phenomenological Interviews
This study used phenomenological interviews as its data collection tool. Interviews were
used to “enter into the other person’s perspective” (Patton, 2015, p. 426) and to capture the
thoughts, feelings, and experiences of participants as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Specifically, the participants who were interviewed met the criteria specified in the previous
section to explore how these principals describe how they were recruited to their specific site as
well as what supportive systems and practices employed by their school allowed them to sustain
the fight for educational equity in the inner city year after year.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 56
The interviews were designed with a semi-structured approach to standardize the
questions asked to each respondent while also allowing for the flexibility to explore unexpected
areas of interest which arise (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This was an ideal for this study because
it created an initial structure for the flow of the interview while allowing the researcher to pursue
different elements of recruitment and support which were not initially anticipated.
Sixteen interview questions were designed to focus on key concepts from the research
design including the core qualities of effective urban school leadership, the recruitment of urban
principals, and how urban principals are supported, mentored, and successfully retained by inner-
city educational organizations. Furthermore, the questions were developed in accordance with
the elements of effective interview questions and processes outlined by Merriam and Tisdell
(2016). The interview questions began with demographic, background, and experience questions
to establish the respondent’s role at the school and how they interact with students (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Next, opinion and value questions were asked to capture the respondent’s
philosophies and perspectives when it comes to education (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
remainder of the interview focused on sensory questions to elicit specific data about what was
seen, heard, or experienced with regards effective recruitment and support on behalf of the
school and district (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The full interview tool is included in the
appendix section (Appendix A).
Process
The first step was to gain access to the participants and school sites of interest to the
study (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Phone calls or emails were made describing the study to the
principals or site leaders who were then asked permission to conduct the interviews.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 57
Before each interview took place, the participants were given a consent form, which was
read to them by the researcher. This included a script which informed the subject of the purpose
of the study and assured them their responses would be kept confidential. Then the potential
participants were explicitly asked permission to conduct the interview and notified that, if they
did not feel comfortable answering a particular question, they could elect not to respond. The
participants were also asked for permission to record the interaction and asked to sign the
consent form, which is included in the Appendix B. The researcher then began asking questions.
The interviews took between 50 and 70 minutes each. With permission from each
participant, recordings were taken and were subsequently transcribed.
Data Analysis
The data analysis, or making sense out of the data, began early in data collection, as soon
as the first pieces of data were collected. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), it is
important to begin analysis of the data simultaneously along with its collection. This is because
the design of a qualitative study is emergent, which means the findings from one piece of data
can inform the data collection decisions moving forward and potentially take the study in
unexpected directions.
The first step in data analysis was to open code the data, which describes the process of
assigning shorthand designations or notations to “summative, salient, and/or evocative
attribute(s) for a portion of language-based or visual data” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 199).
Once the interviews were transcribed, codes were noted down in shorthand on hard copies of the
transcription. Next, each open code was transferred onto an excel spreadsheet and defined.
Identifying “recurring regularities” in the data followed next, with the ultimate goal of
finding answers to the main research question (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 203). Accordingly,
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 58
meaningful categories, themes, and findings which repeatedly occurred were identified. From
these categories, assertions and declarative statements emerged reflecting the themes and
patterns inherent in the data and which also addressed the research question (Miles, Huberman,
& Saldana, 2014). Finally, these assertions led to hypotheses and deep findings which
uncovered the essence and underlying structure behind the results of the study. These findings
are reported in the next two chapters of this study.
Limitations and Delimitations
If the study were unbounded by time and resources, the ideal sample population would
have included all urban schools in America. However, given the constraints of time and
resources, delimitations were considered. The first of these was isolating the study to a specific
city in Southern California, which was convenient to the researcher for the purpose of easily
gathering data. The second major delimitation was the restriction of the sample set to nine urban
secondary principals. This sample size allowed for an adequate amount of variation in responses
and contexts, while also respecting realistic time considerations on the behalf of the researcher.
This study contains some inherent limitations. First, the number of participants in the
sample was kept to nine for the researcher to have realistically collected detailed and in-depth
data from each participant. However, a larger sample can more reliably represent the population
of urban school principals in Southern California and, ultimately, in the nation. A second
limitation was that the participants were principals who were extremely busy leading school
sites. This may have restricted the actual sample set to principals who not only met the criteria
for the study but who were also willing to devote the time to grant an interview. A final
limitation was that the design and nature of the study was such that the target population, was
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 59
very small. Therefore, there was some difficulty in finding enough principals who met the
criteria.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Various measures were taken to ensure the findings of the study are valid and reliable, or
credible and trustworthy as they are termed by qualitative researchers. Below, the qualitative
considerations of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability are defined as well
as strategies employed by this study to ensure each are observed.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Credibility and trustworthiness refer to the qualities of the study which ensure the data
and findings are plausible, believable, and accurate (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). To ensure the
trustworthiness of this study’s findings, the sample set of participants was selected to include
adequate variation to allow for a greater range in the application of the findings (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). This is manifested in the selection of secondary urban principals from different
types of school settings, different school sizes, and schools with unions versus schools without
unions.
The study also employed adequate engagement in data collection, which describes
making sure data were collected long enough to get as close as possible to participants’
understanding of a phenomenon (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this study, data collection
persisted until the findings began to repeat themselves. Data collection ceased when the amount
of new information emerging from additional data began to dwindle.
Transferability
Transferability, or external validity, refers to the extent to which findings of a study are
generalizable and apply to other situations and contexts (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). However, in
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 60
qualitative research, a purposeful sample is selected intentionally so the phenomena being
studied can be understood in depth within a particular context. Therefore, generalization is not
usually a major goal or concern for qualitative studies (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Of course, even if the findings are not widely transferable, the deep understandings and
even design of the study can certainly be generalizable to observe similar phenomena under
different contexts. To ensure transferability in this sense, a thick description of the processes and
data base was applied, meaning a strong data base was collected and analyzed so others wishing
to replicate the study can make informed decisions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Finally, the very
design of a phenomenological study is such that the researcher seeks out the essence and
underlying structure of the phenomena being studied. These deep level understandings will
reveal much about the human experiences and interactions analyzed in the study, which can
certainly be generalizable to other scenarios, contexts, and activities in the human experience.
Dependability
Dependability refers to the consistency, trackability, and logic of the research design
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Ensuring dependability is largely a matter of paying close attention
to detail in the design of the study and the meticulous collection and analysis of data. This study
took measures to record accurate data, using recordings, transcripts, and written notes. The study
also sought to fully report and disclose the processes used in collecting and analyzing data as
well as share all of the collected data. The research included careful and methodical coding data
as well as matching the research and design of the study.
Confirmability
Confirmability refers to tracking data such as field notes, interviews, and observations,
back to the original sources (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This study supported confirmability by
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 61
creating an audit trail, or residue of records by fully disclosing raw data, data reduction by use of
memos, data reconstruction in which themes are developed, process notes in which strategies are
being developed, as well as instrument development, particularly the interview tool.
Ethics
The following methods were enacted to ensure the study was conducted ethically. First,
potential participants were notified about the study, about the researcher’s involvement and
interest in conducting the study, and how the researcher intended to utilize their feedback. The
participants were given sufficient information to make informed decisions about their
participation in the study (Glesne, 2011). Participants were explicitly given the choice of
withdrawing from the study if they wished (Glesne, 2011). Along with this consideration,
participants were not selected from the same school or organization as the researcher in case they
might have felt compelled to participate based on their relationship with the researcher.
Additionally, measures were taken to ensure risks to a research subject were eliminated
(Glesne, 2011). In the case of this study, permission was asked of each principal or site leader
beforehand in case there were any concerns about how the interviews would affect the
participant or organization. Each principal was informed responses would be kept strictly
confidential, so there would be no risk, perceived or otherwise, resulting from their participation.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 62
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
This chapter presents the data collected from interviews with nine urban high school
principals to explore the conditions and practices which lead to the successful recruitment,
support, and retention of effective and resilient urban high school principals. The study’s
research questions examined how successful, long-term urban high school principals in Southern
California described what informed each of their decisions to become a principal at their
particular school as well as what conditions and supports allowed them to avoid burning out,
despite the myriad of challenges in the urban setting.
This chapter first describes the participants, followed by a discussion of findings which
emerged thematically from the research questions. Findings are summarized and highlighted in
sub-categories under each research question and relevant studies are cited for the purpose of
referencing.
The data obtained from the selected participants was analyzed through Creswell’s (2012)
six steps for data analysis. Research Question One examined how successful, long-term urban
high school principals in Southern California described what informed their decision to become a
principal at their particular school and setting. The subcategories include the motivations, life
experiences, and traits which led principals to seek out school leadership in the urban setting as
well as the district and school values and practices which attracted them to their respective sites.
Research Question Two examined what conditions and supports allowed the principals to avoid
burning out, despite the multitude of challenges associated with urban school leadership. The
subcategories include the challenges of urban school leadership, as well as the organizational
conditions and practices which supported them in facing these challenges.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 63
Participants
To maintain the confidentiality of the principals, schools, districts, and organizations in
this study, pseudonyms are used for each participant, school, and organization. This section
describes each participant’s demographic information as well as relevant information regarding
the school and district or organization which they serve.
Information About the Schools
Of the nine schools where interviews were conducted, one is a comprehensive public
high school, one is a pilot high school, four are small district high schools, and three are charter
high schools. The selection of schools for this study does not represent every type of school in
Southern California. For example, this study did not include private schools, continuation
schools, online schools, magnet schools, nor schools serving incarcerated students. Descriptions
of the school types represented in this study are outlined below and summarized in Table 1.
Comprehensive high schools are traditional public schools under the supervision of one
principal. The comprehensive sites are governed by the state educational code, district policy,
and the collective bargaining agreement between the district and the teachers union. Pilot
schools are a network of public schools belonging to the district, but have autonomy over budget,
staffing, governance, curriculum, assessment, the instructional program, and the school calendar.
District small schools are public schools operating under the same guidelines as the
comprehensive sites, but with a significantly smaller student population and staff. All of the
district guidelines are applicable to small schools, and they may be co-located with other small
schools, pilot schools, or charter schools. Charter schools are public schools which are also
funded by the state and offer free education for students. Charter schools must be authorized by
a public agency such as a public district, county of education, or the state educational agency.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 64
However, their day-to-day operations are mainly conducted independently of the public school
district in which they reside. This includes having autonomy over budget, staffing, governance,
curriculum, assessment, the instructional program, and the school calendar. Charter schools may
or may not have a teachers union.
Table 1
Description of the Types of Schools Included in This Study
School Type Publicly
Funded
Direct Governance Typical School
Size
Public (Comprehensive) Yes Public School District Large
Public (Small) Yes Public School District Small
Pilot Yes School Site Leadership Small
Charter Yes Charter Management Organization Small
Charter schools operate either independently, or under a Charter Management
Organizations (CMO), which functions similarly to a traditional school district in that the CMO
provides governance and oversight over the charter schools in their network. In this study, the
terms “district” and “organization” will be used generally and interchangeably to refer to both
public school districts and CMOs.
All schools in this study serve students identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged,
with the percentage of these students within each school ranging from 66% to 99%. Five of the
schools are relatively small in size, including all three charter schools, with student enrollment
ranging from about 350 to 620 students. The small schools are Savanna School of Arts, Little
Valley Tech, Liberty Charter High School, Green Meadows Charter High School, and Faraday
Charter School of Sciences. Three of the schools are medium-sized, with student enrollment
ranging from about 940 to 1,150. The medium-sized schools are Mammoth School of
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 65
Innovation, Da Vinci High School, and Highland High School. Only one school was relatively
large: Pleasant Grove High School. Pleasant Grove has an enrollment of about 2,200.
Characteristics of the Participants
Nine urban high school principals were interviewed for this study. All nine have held the
position of principal at their respective high school for at least three consecutive years. All
principals serve schools who, according to the 2018 California Schools Dashboard, have
achieved mid to high-level performance ratings in at least two of the five high school success
indicators: suspension rate, graduation rate, college/career, English language arts proficiency,
and math proficiency.
Ralph is the principal of Pleasant Grove High School, which is a comprehensive high
school under the Independence Unified School District. Pleasant Grove has an enrollment of
about 2,200 students, 80% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Ralph has served as
principal at Pleasant Grove for six years, although he has served as an administrator at various
schools within the Independence Unified School District for 27 years. On the 2018 California
Schools Dashboard, Pleasant Grove High School reports high performance on the suspension
rate, graduation rate, college/Career, and English language arts indicators. However, Pleasant
Grove demonstrates low performance in mathematics. Pleasant Grove has a teachers union.
Kenny is the principal of Savanna School of the Arts, which is a pilot school under the
Independence Unified School District. Savanna has an enrollment of about 450 students, 97% of
whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Kenny has served as principal at Savanna for seven
years. He also served as an administrator within Independence Unified for six years before
working at Savanna, which gives him 13 years’ experience as a school leader. On the 2018
California Schools Dashboard, Savanna reports high performance on the suspension rate and
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 66
college/career indicators. However, Savanna demonstrates low performance in mathematics,
graduation rate, and English language arts. Savanna has a teachers union.
Judith is the principal of the Mammoth School of Innovation, which is a small district
high school under the Independence Unified School District. Mammoth has an enrollment of
about 1,150 students, 66% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Judith has served as
principal at Mammoth for five years. She served as an administrator within Independence
Unified for eight years before becoming the principal of Mammoth, which gives her 13 years’
experience as a school leader. On the 2018 California School Dashboard, Mammoth reports high
performance on the suspension rate, graduation rate, college/career, and English language arts
indicators. However, Mammoth demonstrates low performance in mathematics. Mammoth
School of Innovation has a teachers union.
Estella is the principal of Da Vinci High School, which is a small district high school
under the Independence Unified School District. Da Vinci has an enrollment of about 1,080
students, 75% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Estella has served as principal at
Da Vinci for five years, although she has been a school leader for nine years, all within
Independence Unified. On the 2018 California Schools Dashboard, Da Vinci HS reports high
performance on the college/career and English language arts indicators. Da Vinci also
demonstrates mid-level performance in mathematics, suspension rate, and graduation rate. Da
Vinci HS has a teachers union.
Wilton is the principal of Little Valley Tech, which is a small district high school under
the Independence Unified School District. Little Valley Tech has an enrollment of about 350
students, 96% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Wilton has served as principal at
Little Valley for seven years, although overall he has been an administrator for nine years within
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 67
Independence Unified. On the 2018 California Schools Dashboard, Little Valley reports high
performance on the college/Career and suspension rate indicators. However, Little Valley
demonstrates low performance in mathematics, graduation rate, and English language arts. Little
Valley Tech has a teachers union.
Cristina is the principal of Highland High School, which is a small district high school
under the Vista Unified School District. Highland has an enrollment of about 940 students, 92%
of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Cristina has served as principal at Highland for
four years. She originally served as an administrator within Independence Unified for four years
before transferring to Vista Unified, which gives her eight years of experience as a school leader.
On the 2018 California Schools Dashboard, Highland HS reports high performance on the
suspension rate and graduation rate indicators. However, Highland demonstrates low
performance in mathematics, college/Career, and English language arts. Highland HS has a
teachers union.
Nicole is the principal of Liberty Charter High School, which is a charter high school
within the CMO named Summit Charter Schools. Liberty Charter has an enrollment of about
560 students, 90% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Nicole has served as principal
at Liberty Charter for four years, although she he has been an administrator for seven years,
having previously served other charter schools and organizations. On the 2018 California
Schools Dashboard, Liberty Charter reports high performance on the suspension rate and
college/career indicator. However, Liberty Charter demonstrates low performance in graduation
rate, mathematics and English language arts. Liberty Charter HS does not have a teachers union.
Clive is the principal of Green Meadows Charter High School, which is a charter high
school also within the CMO Summit Charter Schools. Green Meadows has an enrollment of
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 68
about 540 students, 96% of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Clive has served as
principal at Green Meadows for three years, which encompasses all of his administrative
experience. On the 2018 California Schools Dashboard, Green Meadows reports high
performance on the suspension rate indicator, mid-level performance in English language arts
and graduation rate, and low performance in mathematics and college/career. Green Meadows
HS does not have a teachers union.
Lastly, Serena is the principal of Faraday Charter School of Sciences, which is a charter
high school within the CMO named Central Charter Schools. Faraday Charter School of
Sciences has an enrollment of about 620 students, 99% of whom are socioeconomically
disadvantaged. Serena has served as principal at Faraday for three years, but, in total, has been a
school leader for six years, all within Central Charter Schools. On the 2018 California Schools
Dashboard, Faraday reports high performance on the graduation rate indicator, mid-level
performance in English language arts, and low performance in suspension rate, mathematics, and
college/career. Faraday School of Sciences has a teachers union.
A summary of the demographic information of the participants and the schools and
districts they work within is depicted in Table 2 below.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 69
Table 2
Basic Demographic Information – Participants, Schools, and Districts
Participant Name of High
School
District /
CMO
School Type %
Socioecon
omically
Disadvant
aged
Years as
Principal
at
Current
School
Ralph Pleasant Grove
High School
Independence
Unified
Public
(Comprehensive)
80% 6
Kenny Savanna
School of Arts
Independence
Unified
Pilot 97% 7
Judith Mammoth
School of
Innovation
Independence
Unified
Public (Small) 66% 5
Estella Da Vinci High
School
Independence
Unified
Public (Small) 75% 5
Wilton Little Valley
Tech
Independence
Unified
Public (Small) 96% 7
Cristina Highland HS Vista Unified Public (Small) 92% 4
Nicole Liberty Charter
High School
Summit
Charter
Schools
Charter 90% 4
Clive Green
Meadows
Charter HS
Summit
Charter
Schools
Charter 96% 3
Serena Faraday
Charter School
of Sciences
Central
Charter
Schools
Charter 99% 3
Results for Research Question One
As discussed in the first chapter of this study, any school’s success relies on strong and
sustained leadership, yet urban districts and schools serving the highest needs students have
historically had the most difficulty finding and retaining strong leadership (DeStefano, 2002;
Gadja & Militello, 2008; Williams, 2008). The first research question in this study asked, “How
do successful, long-term urban high school principals in Southern California describe what
informed their decision to become a principal at their school?” This question was designed to
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 70
identify the backgrounds, motivations, and experiences shared by effective urban secondary
principals as well as how districts and organizations recruited these strong leaders.
In this section, the participants’ common motivations, backgrounds, and experiences are
discussed. This section also outlines the recruitment efforts practiced by districts and
educational organizations as well as the aspects of the mission and core values of these
organizations which attracted quality leadership candidates to them. A summary of the emergent
themes as well as notable trends in terms of the responses to research question one can be found
in Table 3 at the end of the section.
Common Motivations, Backgrounds, and Experiences of Effective Urban Secondary
Principals
The participants were asked what aspects of their life and experience best prepared them
for urban school leadership. In response, they shared many details about their backgrounds,
beliefs and experiences, including personal life experiences and career history. The most
common themes were the development of a strong social justice mindset as well as having had
impactful personal experiences in their life which led them to adopt such a mindset. This section
discusses both of these themes.
Social justice mission. Six out of the nine participants conveyed a strong sense of social
justice as a core motivating factor driving them to become an urban principal. The University of
Southern California’s Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice defines social justice as
the mission to “eradicat[e] all forms of discrimination based on the intersection of an individual’s
identities that include religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and disability” (Center
for Education, Identity and Social Justice, 2019, para. 1). Serena, principal at Faraday Charter,
cited her experience with Teach for America as a powerful force in terms of her awareness of
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 71
social inequities and her drive to seek out educational equity for students of color as a school
leader. Teach for America is a non-profit educational support organization which “finds
outstanding leaders who commit to expanding educational opportunity… Corps members go
beyond traditional expectations to support the academic and personal growth of their students …
in the classroom” (Teach for America, 2019, para. 3).
Nicole, principal at Liberty Charter, cited her experience as a volunteer camp counselor
for UCLA Unicamp as a catalytic experience which led her to pursue urban educational
leadership. UCLA Unicamp is a program which takes underserved students from Southern
California to summer camp in the San Bernardino mountains (University of California Los
Angeles, 2019). Furthermore, Nicole elaborated on her drive to create change in urban school
leadership by saying,
I wanted to make an impact at a deeper level with our kids and our community. As an
immigrant, as a [daughter] of immigrants, my parents always told me that education is the
key to success in this country and I really do believe in the idea that education is the great
equalizer and I want all of my students to have that opportunity: to be able to compete, be
successful, to get a college degree and earn a career … [because] a college degree creates
multi-generational change.
Cristina, principal of Highland High with Vista Unified, describes the evolution of her drive to
fight for social justice in the inner city:
There’s a greater need down here in the inner city. Not saying that there isn’t a need in
other areas, but I know that there is a greater need here. Then it became a mission of mine
to get as many Black and Brown children into four-year-universities as I can, to where
they are successful. It turned into “I want to come down and give back to the community
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 72
because there is great need down here.” Then, it turned into “I want them to be able to
come back and [influence] their own community.”
Clive, principal of Green Meadows Charter, described equity in educational opportunity in the
context of representation:
The urban city was where there was more need, especially for people of my color. I think
it is important for students to see that students like themselves [can be] in positions of
leadership: teachers and eventually admin. Growing up, I think I only had one teacher
that was Latino in my entire high school--and I’m talking about 20 years ago. So I always
felt that there was a need for us to be present for our youth.
The drive to fight for social justice and educational equity was expressed frequently by the
participants in addressing what led them to become urban school leaders. This was one of the
first and most prominent themes to naturally emerge from the interviews.
Impactful life experiences. During the interviews, participants were asked what
prepared them for their role as an urban school leader, whether it was a job, an educational
program or a life experience. Five participants discussed their upbringing and how their
experiences growing up led them towards inner-city school leadership. For example, Ralph,
principal of Pleasant Grove HS, grew up in East Los Angeles. He recounts the urban setting is
all he has known his entire life, both personally and professionally. Therefore, urban school
leadership was an obvious path for him.
Clive also shared his experiences growing up in an inner-city environment shaped his
path towards urban educational leadership. Clive grew up in Lynwood, California, and struggled
through the public school system. He attributes his career success to a few teachers who made
an effort to help him, saying “I’m here because of those teachers. I wanted to come back and
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 73
reach out to my community and really make sure that students like myself in similar situations
get the supports that they need.”
Wilton, principal of Little Valley Tech, shared his parents immigrated from Colombia
and settled in the same community where he is a principal, and attended an English language
school that no longer exists. He said,
When I see the students, I see my parents. When I see their parents, I see my parents as
well. These are families that are looking for a better life, better resources. That was the
drive: I want to be in an environment where I can support this burgeoning community
and help them navigate the system that is so dead set against them being successful.
Before Wilton because a principal at his school, he accumulated much knowledge and
experience regarding educational inequity through his studies and travels. He described his
undergraduate experience in Indiana, saying, “I hated it there. I was one of very few Latinos in
the school population.” Wilton decided to study abroad during his third year in college and
eventually earned his degree at a university in England. Later on, he lived and worked in China
for four years as a teacher and academic director. Wilton returned and studied in the UCLA
Teacher Education program, about which he said,
I’m reading Paulo Freire. I’m reading Pierre Bourdieu. I’m understanding, like “oh, it
wasn’t me—my high school didn’t prepare me.” Society didn’t have high expectations
for me. I wasn’t put in a situation of success going in. That really had me think a lot:
how do we create the conditions for creating success at a school, particularly a school in
an urban area?
Lastly, Estella, principal of Da Vinci HS, shared her story which encompasses her
lifelong experience in Independence Unified, from her public school experience as an immigrant
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 74
student who was learning English to her career as a teacher and administrator within the same
district:
I left my birth country at 17 without speaking English and coming to a new country with
new norms, mores and without my mother and siblings. The experiences that I faced as
an immigrant young woman gave me all the resilience I need for my job.
When Estella arrived in the U.S., she was enrolled into tenth grade at a public high school with
Independence Unified. She later became a teacher’s assistant, a teacher, and then a counselor all
at that same school, staying with the school for 17 years. Recognizing her leadership potential,
Independence Unified then asked her to leave the classroom and become an administrator,
placing her in a high-need middle school in Watts, California. As a new administrator there, she
gained great experience and eventually ended up at her current high school where she now has
been principal for five years. Her journey from student to teacher to administrator within
Independence Unified over the last 25 years can be summarized with one quote from her
interview: “I am [Independence Unified].”
Another formative experience shared by four of the participants as a major influence on
their decision to become an urban principal was their experience as an inner-city schoolteacher.
Serena initially taught for five years at the same inner-city school where she eventually became
principal. Ralph taught for 10 years in high-need settings before becoming an administrator for
the next 27 years. As detailed earlier, Estella was a teacher for about 17 years in same public
high school where she was also a student. Cristina was an urban schoolteacher for her entire
career before she moved became an administrator for eight years.
Many participants detailed a life experience such as the ones shared above as the major
influence on their decision to become an urban principal. While participants also shared about
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 75
job experiences and educational programs which catapulted their growth and better equipped
them to fight for educational equity, it was usually their personal life experiences which started
them on that path to begin with.
Organizational Recruitment and Preparation of New Leaders
When asked about how districts and organizations recruited the participants, eight shared
the hiring district or organization did not actively recruit for these positions. Ralph shared
Independence Unified does a much better job of recruiting for teachers than they do for
principals, and, instead, the district primarily promotes from within. In terms of district-
sponsored, principal preparation programs, Kenny from the Savanna School of the Arts shared
Independence Unified does have an aspiring principal program for current assistant principals.
However, he has heard “mixed reviews” about the effectiveness of the program and opined the
district “doesn’t know how to develop leaders.” Judith from Mammoth School of Innovation,
whose school is also with Independence Unified, described the district’s recruitment and hiring
of administrators as “sketchy,” since the district seems to shuffle leaders around to various sites
based on rationale more aligned with seniority than fit. On the other hand, Serena from Faraday
Charter was trained through Central Charter Schools’ principal development program and
described it as a very educational experience. This program allowed Serena to be a temporary
administrator at multiple sites, to shadow principals, and to get feedback from principal mentors
for one year before moving into the principal role herself.
While nearly all of the participants described principal recruitment as severely lacking,
three of the participants also described the public school district’s internal principal preparation
program as ineffective. There was only one report of success regarding a charter school’s
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 76
principal preparation program. This shows principal preparation programs can develop strong
leaders internally, but they must be done right.
Organizational Values, Conditions, and Practices that Attract Strong Leadership
Despite a reported lack of effort on behalf of districts to recruit effective leadership, five
participants described being attracted to their school based on qualities, practices, and values the
organization promoted. Wilton said of his school, Little Valley Tech:
I was one of the founding teachers here at the school. I liked the approach; it was a
project based learning approach; it was a team-teaching approach. We pioneered an
advisory program before advisories were ubiquitous in [Independence Unified]. There
were a lot of things that we were trying out new that now [Independence Unified] has but
didn’t have 15 years ago. That’s what drew me to this school.
Estella also recounts being attracted to Da Vinci High School’s mission and vision which was
“to inspire and achieve.” Estella said this was an important factor in deciding to join her school.
Serena similarly articulated the fact that Central Charter Schools’ vision was compatible with her
own was a significant reason for choosing to work with that particular CMO.
Nicole worked in Summit Charter Schools’ home office before becoming principal at
Liberty Charter High Schools, which is in the Summit Charter Schools network. She shared
many aspects of Summit Charter Schools attracted her to the network
[I appreciated] all of the core values that are part of our network: high expectations and a
college-going culture, highly qualified administrators and teachers serving students,
increased instructional time, working with parents as partners. All of those core values
were things that I was really excited about—I’ve always believed in supporting our kids
to be college and career ready… so I was drawn to the network there… I love that our
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 77
network is about getting our kids to and through college. We have an alumni mentorship
program. We have a team that works with getting our kids to graduate from college.
After college we actually support them through mentorship in terms of networking,
finding jobs, resume building, applications, interview skills. I just love that we continue
to maintain contact and communication and support with our kids after they graduate
from high school and college.
Five of the participants reported being attracted to their school because of its small size.
Estella said she really appreciates being able to focus on what is important and not having to
attend football games and other athletic events as her colleagues in larger schools do. Kenny
recounted he initially worked at a large comprehensive public high school in Southern
California. Later, when he joined the Savanna School of the Arts, a much smaller school, he was
“bought-in to the small schools model.” He describes the difference saying, “Small schools can
actually keep students from falling through the cracks,” whereas at larger schools, staff often
can’t remember the names of the students. Wilton, from Little Valley Tech, said the following
regarding his school’s small size:
I really appreciate the personalization approach. There are 365 students at the school; I
know them. That’s important. When I talk to a teacher: ‘Hey, tell me about this kid,’
they can give me their whole back story.
Many participants were drawn to their current schools and organizations because of the
positive values the district promoted. Participants were excited by the innovative educational
strategies employed or the promise creating innovation at their school sites.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 78
Table 3
Summary of Emergent Themes for Research Question One
Theme Section Number of
Applicable
Responses
Notable
Trends in
Responses
Social justice mission Common motivations, backgrounds,
and experiences of resilient principals
6 of 9 N/A
Impactful life
experience(s)
Common motivations, backgrounds,
and experiences of resilient principals
5 of 9 N/A
Experienced effective
recruitment for principal
role
Recruitment and preparation of new
Leaders
1 of 9 N/A
Attracted by
organizational values,
conditions, and practices
Recruitment and preparation of new
leaders
5 of 9 N/A
Results for Research Question Two
The second research question in this study asked, “How do successful, long-term urban
secondary principals in Southern California describe what conditions and supports have allowed
them to serve as urban school leaders for many years without burning out?” This question was
designed to identify what caused effective and resilient urban principals to defy the statistically
high turnover rates for urban school leaders and to persevere in such a demanding job.
In this section, the following topics are explored: the challenges of urban secondary
leadership, the conditions which most contributed to the participants’ resiliency, and the
organizational practices and supports provided by the district which provided the greatest support
to interviewees. A summary of the recurrent themes as well as notable trends in terms of the
responses to research question two can be found in Table 4 at the end of the section.
Challenges of Urban Secondary Leadership
Participants were asked to articulate one or two of the main challenges they faced as
urban school leaders. Several recurrent themes emerged from these discussions: a stifling sense
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 79
of distrust from the district leadership, having to work with the disconnect and disorganization of
these districts, the challenges of forging a strong team at the school site, and coping with
personal stress due to the massive sense of responsibility that urban school leadership entails.
This section discusses all of these themes as well as an analysis of whether working with teacher
unions posed additional challenges.
Distrust from the district. The most common challenge and frustration shared by the
participants had to do with apparent lack of trust their district had regarding their principals.
Wilton was one of six principals to share this frustration. Wilton described Independence
Unified School District meetings as being about “compliance and fear.” Judith, who is in the
same district, also shared principals’ meetings are characterized predominantly by “anger from
lack of support, while an overwhelming amount of work is being added.” She reported the
district has been digging deeper into obscure data points that schools are asked to be accountable
for improving without the training nor support to do so. According to Judith, “I feel like they are
asking us to be political operatives, especially after the strike… I used to hear that being a
principal was the best job, now I’ve only heard about how awful it is.” Estella laments that, even
after being principal for five years at her school, she still does not have “the autonomy to make
decisions on my own. I still have memos to follow. I might have ideas that don’t necessarily fit
the district’s plan, and I can’t deviate.” Kenny said the little communication Independence
Unified does have with principals tends to be top-down or one-way. He described frustration of
being unable to talk with his supervisor about being overwhelmed for fear he would be
negatively judged. Kenny believes the district needs to do a much better job of building
relationships which are, in his words, “not punitive.”
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 80
Despite a great variety of challenges, many participants focused on their relationship with
the district as one of the major barriers to success. The public school administrators in the study
conveyed much more frustration with their relationships with their districts, while the charter
school principals focused on other challenges, or even praised their district’s support. Clive, for
example, shared he appreciated the autonomy given to him by Summit Charter Schools, despite
being principal for only three years. In fact, he recounts a time when he had to miss several
monthly principals meetings due to crises at his school site and he was very grateful for the
support and understanding granted by Summit Charter Schools.
Disconnect and disorganization from the district. In addition to feelings of distrust
propagated by public districts, five of the participants also cited the disconnect and
disorganization of public districts as a major challenge in urban education. Disconnect refers to
the lack of awareness and alignment of the vision, goals, and needs of the district with those of
the school sites. Estella, whose school is under Independence Unified, states one of her primary
frustrations is “not getting true support from the big district … not having that understanding
from our superiors of what we live and experience at the school on a daily basis.” Her local area
superintendent has upwards of 120 schools to manage, which is a very large caseload.
Wilton, who is also with Independence Unified, described his primary job as principal as
“being the buffer from what the district says our school should do and what I know our school
should do for our students.” Wilton said the district was primarily concerned with the
performance of students on state tests, while the students and community had a large need for
socioemotional supports. “We need to overcome the system of testing” according to Wilton, for
districts and schools to adequately provide students with the supports they need to be successful.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 81
Kenny, whose school is with Independence Unified as well, describes the relationship with the
district as follows:
I would wish that it would be more like a partnership. I feel what I have are many, many
bosses. I don’t think that as a principal that I thought that they would see me as a
subordinate… The support feels more like directives and demands—everything comes in
the form of “don’t forget to do this, reminder to do that.”
Kenny described a recent principals meeting:
It was about four hours of “Does our voice really matter here?” It doesn’t feel like we are
in it together… We joke at the principals meetings—just go through the motions and let
us go to happy hour afterwards and we can really talk.
Estella and Judith both expressed frustration regarding a recent district directive for local schools
to host a college signing day with little to no notice from the Independence Unified. According
to Estella, “I get frustrated… I can’t ask my boss, “what are you thinking about sending this
college signing day, this big activity, the Friday before AP exams begin?” Those, to me, are
very frustrating because we can’t do anything [about it].” According to Judith,
Right now, we’re in the middle of testing, and they had directed us to have college
signing day and they’re all gonna get on a bus and come through school to school and
have a big celebration right in the middle of testing. They didn’t ask us the day, they
didn’t ask us the time, they didn’t provide funds, they just said do it because it will be fun
for us to see it. And the approach that they shared with us, I mean, that was off. The fact
that they didn’t recognize that it was testing week; having this big event on the day before
AP exams starts, which interrupts all of our AP teachers and AP classes. It’s stuff like
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 82
that—it appears that they forgot what it’s like to be on campus. I think it would be
helpful if they spent more time on campuses to just see or remember what it’s like.
Ralph, also with Independence Unified, shared,
Superintendents in our district, they need to be more visible on the school site. And not
just an “I gotcha” but “I’m here to check it out because I don’t want to be stuck in the
office. I want to be where the action is”… I think I saw the mayor more than I’ve seen
the superintendent!
Four participants cited specific situations where district disorganization or
mismanagement led to significant challenges for them. For example, Ralph shared that, far too
often, the district promotes people into positions of leadership who do not have the requisite
experience. Wilton shared, in his seven years as principal at Little Valley Tech, he has had six
different supervisors, which did not allow for enough time and relationship building to forge a
strong partnership. While Wilton stated Independence Unified had far too much “red tape” in
the way of effective decision making, he expressed he was grateful to have “created enough
capital to be supported with most decisions.” Lastly, Judith, from the Mammoth School of
Innovation, stated, “There just aren’t physically enough bodies to do the amount of work that has
been asked. And none of it is bad, but there’s just no way to do it.”
Again, the public school administrators expressed the most frustration with their district’s
practices and communication, compared with charter school leaders who generally had more
positive feedback regarding the supports that their district provided. The supportive practices of
public and charter districts are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 83
Difficulty in cultivating a strong school site team. Another major theme to emerge
regarding difficulties faced in inner-city education was the difficulty in cultivating a strong team
at the school site. Serena, from Faraday Charter, stated,
The biggest challenge is the team that you have to cultivate at your school. I am very
happy with my team, but I think that’s the difference between success and failure.
Retaining quality teachers and then recruiting quality teachers when you need new ones.
Making sure that you have a school environment where everyone can continue to grow.
The biggest challenge for schools and the difference between success and failure is
cultivating that team.
Nicole, from Liberty Charter, similarly said “making sure you sustain talent” was the greatest
challenge that urban principals face:
We’re not working in the easiest of settings. The students and families have a lot of
challenges that they face and its difficult sometimes in urban settings to keep your best
teachers, keep your best administrators, keep your best leaders on your sites. Maintaining
and sustaining highly qualified, exceptionally caring, loving staff has been a challenge in
urban settings.
Kenny, from Savanna School of the Arts, similarly cites staffing as a major challenge in urban
schools. He states it is important to find the right people and to support and intervene with those
staff members who are not performing well.
Estella, from Da Vinci HS, shares a major challenge in fighting for educational equity in
urban settings involves earning buy-in for her vision. She recommends cultivating
buy-in from all stakeholders of the community. Really trying to make people see your
vision and your philosophy—why it would work. It’s hard because there’s still that idea
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 84
of like, ‘Oh, you’re just here with an ulterior motive.’ So that has been a big challenge for
me.
Clive, from Green Meadows Charter, also expressed continually getting buy-in from the staff
was a barrier to success. Asked what are the major challenges he faced in urban educational
leadership, he said, “Getting everybody to understand that it’s a never-ending job. It’s not like
we finish this in a year, we’ve done it, we’ve found the formula. [It’s a challenge] pushing
everyone towards the same vision and goal.”
Essentially, the participants conveyed it is difficult to recruit and retain quality teachers
and staff. It can also be very difficult to get them all on the same page, working together towards
a common goal.
Effect of teachers union on success of school and leader. Seven participants work in a
district with a teachers union. Participants were asked how having a union or not having a union
affects their success. Serena, Judith, and Kenny reported positive relationships with union
representatives. Serena stated her union representative and she were “on the same team” and had
a very collaborative relationship. The union representative at Judith’s school was a founding
teacher alongside Judith, so they enjoyed a positive relationship. Kenny was a former union
representative himself, and strongly supports and empathizes with the union’s work. Ralph
reported his relationship with the union representative became “lukewarm” when the district
went on strike. Ralph said the relationship would have been better had the strike not occurred.
Estella, Wilton, and Cristina all state the union has not been an issue in terms of their
ability to positively lead their schools. Cristina made it a point to become well versed in the
collective bargaining agreement between the union and the district. Doing this allows her to
avoid many issues involved with adhering to the teacher contract.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 85
Finally, Nicole and Clive both work for Summit Charter Schools, which does not have a
union. They were both asked how they perceive the effect of not having a union on their
leadership. Clive formerly worked for a school with a union, but now does not. Clive said the
following regarding his experiences:
I feel like, by not having a union, I have to be aware that I have to treat my staff with
respect, and I have to really listen to them and get to the bottom of what they are
asking… and they feel that, if they have a union, that you’re going to work less, if they
have a union they will get paid more. I shared my experience with a teacher who had
asked openly, I said I had been part of the union. It was never for the students. In fact, in
some cases, students had more to lose than to gain. By not having a union here, it allows
us to be more like a family and talk more about ideas than talk about the people.
Nicole said the following about her school not having a union:
I personally haven’t worked in a union environment, so I don’t know whether that would
make it better or worse. I love that we can be really agile at my site. Like when my
teachers wanted to choose a new curriculum, we could do that, we could make decisions
very quickly. When we wanted to change the new bell schedule, we were able to do that
very quickly. When we wanted to do some different programming for PBIS, teachers got
together, made decisions, done. I love how quickly and how responsive we can be to
meet the individual needs of our school.
Overall, principals did not cite union activity as a major challenge or barrier to their
success, and it was repeated it was very important to cultivate positive relationships with the
union representative. The two principals who did not have a union expressed they appreciated
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 86
not having to work with a union because of the collaborative environment fostered and the
ability to make decisions quickly.
Personal stress. Five participants cited one of the largest challenges of urban leadership
was the great sense of responsibility accompanying the role of school leader, which leads to
personal stress. Kenny from Savanna School of the Arts shared,
I feel that the job is really about carrying everything on your shoulders: all the stress, all
the responsibility… just everything. The buck stops here… The one thing that you can’t
possibly understand, and nobody ever told me this was the weight of the role. The
constant knowledge that if something goes wrong it is all on you. As an [Assistant
Principal], if something went wrong it was never on me. There was no pressure. I used
to go get these massages and they would say, “What do you do?” because I was so [tense]
all of the time.
Kenny shared he had a difficult time during the last school year, even after working for the
community for 20 years:
Last year, I did not think that I was going to be able to stay motivated… Just stepping
back, I don’t know if I enjoy the principalship—I don’t know if I will ever say “I love it.”
I love it and I hate it, it’s like the best job you’ll ever hate or perhaps the worst job you’ll
ever love. My first year, my eye didn’t stop twitching the entire year. I’ve never felt
unstressed.
Clive from Green Meadows Charter expressed:
I think the challenge for me personally is to try to keep the socioemotional balance
because I care about the kids so much. I get home and I think about “oh, this kid, that
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 87
kid,” and always worrying about them. It’s hard to leave that at work and get to my
home... It’s a never-ending job.
Wilton from Little Valley Tech shared:
This position can be very isolating. Very few people, unless they are principals, know
what it entails to be a principal. And very few people know what it entails to be a small
school principal, if you don’t have APs, you don’t have a lot of resources, you have to be
a jack of all trades.
Finally, Nicole from Liberty Charter said about the role of urban school principal: “It’s really,
really tough. It is really, really difficult work.”
Participants openly shared that the job of principal is extremely difficult, even more so in
the inner-city. The following sections explore what conditions and organizational practices
worked to mitigate the levels of responsibility and stress that accompany the role.
Conditions That Support the Retention and Success of Urban Secondary Principals
This section explores how successful and resilient urban principals have managed to
overcome, or at the very least, come to terms with the challenges discussed in the previous
section. Participants were asked what conditions most supported their success and resiliency.
The recurrent themes were a strong sense of community, positive staff relationships, and finding
a support network outside of the school.
Sense of community within the small school environment. Participants were asked
how the size of the school affected success and resilience. Serena, whose school has about 620
students, said the small size of her school increases the sense of community since it is possible to
know all of the students’ names. Serena also said the fact that all the students know each other
“goes a long way in terms of the positive tone and culture on campus.” During the next school
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 88
year, about 40 of the incoming 170 ninth graders have a sibling or family member who had
previously attended the school, which according to Serena, “promotes a family atmosphere” at
the school.
Cristina, whose school enrolls about 940 students, agrees the smaller size of the school,
when compared to bigger, comprehensive high schools, “makes the job a little bit easier.” She
believes the smaller caseload for counselors allows them to better support students. She also
appreciates getting to know her kids “by name and face” and the “strong sense of camaraderie”
which comes with the size of the school. She said, with a smaller staff, “it is easier to manage
the moving pieces.”
Wilton, whose school has about 350 students, appreciates creating intimate relationships
with the teachers and staff as well as knowing all of the students and parents. Wilton expanded
further:
I am an introvert by nature. I have to be an extrovert for the role that I play. The small
school environment allows for my introverted-ness. The one-on-ones with parents and
students work well for me. I don’t enjoy the bigger assemblies.
Clive, whose school enrolls about 540 students, believes that the small school
environment is ideal. In his own words:
We only have 24 classrooms. You really get to know the students on a personal level.
It’s a small campus. I think the fact that it’s small and we want to interact with the
students—we’re always supervising them at nutrition and lunch. Making sure that
students are always communicating with admin. Parents also feel that it is a positive
environment for their kids, so they are more supportive and engaged. I mean, everyone
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 89
knows each other. For me, if I have to ask something from I teacher I just go up to the
second floor and ask.
One of the major points of pride that Clive has for his small school is the fact that multiple
graduates have come back to work for the school as staff members after finishing college. He
believes it was easier for the students to form a strong connection with the school because of its
small size.
A majority of participants identified a smaller school size as a conducive for success due
the relationships formed. However, even principals who formerly worked at comprehensive
schools agreed a small school size was advantageous.
Positive staff relationships. Another aspect of their working environment participants
identified as key to their resilience and success were positive staff relationships. Serena said it
was motivating to work with “a really good team of motivated people every day.” Similarly,
Nicole appreciated that everyone at her organization was constantly trying to make things better.
This sense of proactivity was inspiring to Nicole and sustained her own sense of motivation
when her energy was beginning to get low. Judith said her staff genuinely enjoy each other’s
company, which is important given the time they spend together. According to Judith,
We work really well together as a team. We enjoy each other’s company. We take time
out and occasionally eat breakfast or lunch together and laugh and do nice things for each
other. It makes the experience pleasant. It’s kinda like the little engine that could. All of
us are working together to fight all of the issues that are coming at us from the district
and we keep coming out on top because the people believe in what we are doing. And
the teachers support that so it makes it worthwhile. And you really do see the impact on
the students.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 90
Estella said she has a great relationship with everyone she works with and that she could not
imagine staying in the position for so long if this were not true. Lastly, Wilton became principal
at the same school site after teaching there for several years. Therefore, in his situation, he still
has relationships with his staff from when he was a teacher. Because of this, he finds the staff
are very forgiving and understanding of him, which he appreciates greatly.
Due to the large amounts of time principals spend with their staff, it is not surprising that
positive relationships were cited repeatedly as one of the major reasons they remained motivated
over the years despite the difficulties of the job.
Support from networks outside of the district. When describing the factors which had
the most effect in keeping them motivated, three participants identified support networks outside
of their school who helped them learn to cope with the difficulties of the job. Wilton from Little
Valley Tech said his colleagues in his doctoral program provided a much-needed support group.
He also said the New Tech organization his school partnered with has provided another great
support group for him. New Tech partners with 200 schools nationwide to support them in
implementing project based learning, advisory programs, and tech integration at schools. Wilton
describes their support in the following way:
That has been a very positive organizational [support]. There are leaders that I still
communicate with from New Tech so I can call them and say, “Hey what is going on
here.” The New Tech principals have a lot of innovative ideas and are trying to think
things through and problem-solve things. In district meetings I have a very different
feel… So I would say that the New Tech network has been very helpful in my
development.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 91
Kenny from Savanna School of the Arts relies on the support of his colleagues who are also
principals. Kenny states, “There is no way I would be able to do this job if not for the support of
other principals that I know.” He also values the support provided by his network at UCLA:
UCLA has the forums and I have been doing that for about 10 years… We split into
small groups and go through a session with somebody and coach them. Like, “Ok this is
my issue, what can be done?”
Principals need to have an outlet to deal with the demands of the position long-term.
Outside networks and supports were an impactful experience for many of the participants. The
next section discusses the direct supports provided by the districts themselves to best ensure the
retention and support of urban school leaders.
Organizational Practices That Support the Retention and Success of Urban Secondary
Principals
Participants were also asked how the districts and organizations actively supported them,
and what organizational practices contributed most to their resiliency. The principals reported
the following major categories of support: trust from the district, active mentorship and coaching
of leaders, and a strong presence of district leadership at their school sites.
Fostering a sense of trust from the district. Six participants stated trust from the
district and from their direct supervisor enabled to succeed in the short and long run. The
participants discussed positive, trusting relationships they maintained with their prior and current
supervisors. Serena from Faraday Charter School of Sciences described what she appreciated
most from her relationship with her area superintendent:
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 92
Them being supportive and empowering to each person’s individual needs. Knowing the
particulars of the principals that report to you is very important. Know who your people
are, what their strengths are and tailor your work with them around that.
Nicole from Liberty Charter similarly appreciated what she called “earned autonomy,” which she
described as having enough trust and safety to push back with her supervisors when she felt she
needed to make a different decision than what was being asked of her.
Ralph from Pleasant Grove High School conceptualized of a similar relationship between
him and his most supportive supervisors, saying, “I knew that whatever I say to them wouldn’t
be held against me.” Furthermore, the supervisors Ralph worked best with in Independence
Unified gave him “permission to talk freely,” asked for his opinion often, and took what he was
facing into consideration when making decisions. Cristina from Highland High School
appreciates the responsiveness of her supervisor and her district. She stated “nine times out of
ten” she can get the resources she needs and her supervisor in Vista Unified always accounts for
different school needs when supporting their principals. Estella from Da Vinci High School has
a particularly supportive director and local area superintendent from Independence Unified. She
describes their relationship as follows:
I have a very supportive director. Sometimes, he knows when to just let me be and do
my job and that’s really big because sometimes having people micromanage you doesn’t
work. But also not leaving me alone, I just reach out and he’s there. I love my local
superintendent. He is supportive, he is knowledgeable, he is even, he is understanding.
He provides resources if I don’t have them. So yeah it’s just great. And I think it really
comes down to the relationships that I have with them, too. We have a very open, honest
relationship. So they know if I do complain if I do reach out for help they know that I
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 93
really need it. I feel like he will guide me to be a very effective leader if I am not,
without making me feel like a failure.
Participants described supportive and trusting relationships with their supervisors as a
non-negotiable aspect of thriving and enduring for many years in such a demanding profession
and position. Supervisors were especially valued when they had experience as principals
because they knew what their mentees experienced and how to best support them.
Active mentorship and coaching of principals. In addition to having positive
relationships with their supervisors, four of the participants expressed the need to be actively
coached. The literature review recounted how various districts provided professional
development opportunities and coaching programs for their principals to support their continual
growth as a school leader (Harris, 2001; Mosrie, 1990; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). Some
participants recounted times when they were briefly coached as part of their administrative
preparation programs. However, only two principals, Serena and Nicole, described being
actively coached by their district supervisor at the level of rigor described in the literature review
(Harris, 2001; Mosrie, 1990; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). They shared this had a great impact on
their development as a strong and resilient urban school leader. Serena and Nicole also happen
to work within two different charter organizations. Serena describes her coaching experiences as
follows:
I had coaching from our area superintendent. I’ve always had a good relationship with
whoever was coaching me, having them be a sounding board that I can speak to honestly
and work through challenges. With all of my coaches, I know that they have had my
back and I’ve been able to be very straightforward with them and let them know when
things they are asking of me are not going to work or I want to do things a little bit
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 94
differently—having that flexibility. I think the coaching from my direct supervisor has
gone a long way.
Despite having only three years of experience as a principal, Central Charter Schools has also
empowered Serena to be a principal-mentor herself, and Serena values the opportunity to impart
what she has learned to first year principals within the district. Similarly, Nicole described many
powerful experiences she has in being supported and coached within Summit Charter Schools:
This is where I really do value my organization. All of us as principals have an
instructional superintendent who meets with us on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and they
coach us. We walk classrooms together. We look at data together and analyze and reflect
on the data. We look at different challenges the school is facing. How to address
discipline issues, how to address socioemotional needs of families. So, I have somebody
that I can go to who has been in a principal’s seat, who has served in similar contexts that
I can go to for ongoing coaching and mentorship. And that’s on the instructional side.
And then I have a network that supports me with operational things, with culture pieces,
with community engagement pieces. There are people at my network that I can go to
who consistently provide me with support. It goes back to takes a village to raise a child.
The charter networks, at least the ones in this study, appear to have built a strong
infrastructure for principal coaching and supports, which, hopefully, can be emulated and
propagated throughout the educational world.
Presence of district leadership at school sites. Lastly, four participants discussed the
need for local superintendents and district personnel to visit the schools and to physically have a
presence at the school sites on a periodic basis. There were some bright spots discussed
regarding district leaders supporting sites in person, but, more often than not, this was discussed
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 95
as a need rather than a reality. Ralph from Pleasant Grove High School recalls a time when he
worked in a small school district, and appreciates that, at the time “you knew cabinet-level staff
and could call them at any time when you need their support.” Now in Independence Unified, he
devoted time and effort into creating personal relationships with district leadership to “get things
done a lot faster.” According to Ralph, district leadership should visit school sites as frequently
as possible. Clive from Green Meadows Charter stated the district can be much more involved
with his school. According to Clive, for superintendents to more successfully support their urban
principals:
[Superintendents] have to know our community. They have to be invested in
participating. They have to be willing to come to sports games. They must come and see
basketball games and football games, and meet the students. We also have family events
and workshops. They have to be visible so that we can talk about our struggles, they can
give their two cents. For example, “When I was at your school this particular student had
gotten in trouble.” It always seems to be about instruction, instruction, instruction, which
is good, but I feel like if they really get to know the community, when they make
decisions they are aligned to the true needs of our community.
In summary, district leadership’s presence on campuses has been inadequate according to
most participants. However, given the frequent expression of this important need, it is included
in the study as a practice with the potential to support urban school leaders if the practice were
improved.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 96
Table 4
Summary of Emergent Themes for Research Question Two
Theme Section Number of
Applicable
Responses
Notable Trends in
Responses
Distrust and disconnect of
district
Challenges of urban
secondary leadership
5 of 9 Addressed by 5 of 6
traditional public
school principals
Difficulty cultivating a
strong school site team
Challenges of urban
secondary leadership
5 of 9 Addressed by 3 of 3
charter school
principals
Teachers union had no
significant effect on success
of school and leader
Challenges of urban
secondary leadership
7 of 7 7 schools in the study
had a teachers union
Sense of community within
small school environment
Conditions that support
the retention and success
of urban principals
5 of 9 Addressed by 4 of 5
small school principals
Positive staff relationships Conditions that support
the retention and success
of urban principals
5 of 9 Addressed by 3 of 5
small school principals
and 2 of 3 medium-
sized school principals
Sense of trust from district
supervisor
Organizational practices
that support the retention
and success of urban
principals
6 of 9 Addressed by 3 of 3
charter school
principals
Active mentorship and
coaching
Organizational practices
that support the retention
and success of urban
principals
2 of 9 Addressed by 2 of 3
charter school
principals
Need for presence of district
leadership at school site
Organizational practices
that support the retention
and success of urban
principals
4 of 9 N/A
Summary
This chapter reviewed the results of the study based on the data collected followed by a
detailed analysis and discussion of the answers to the two research questions based on how they
were established in the literature. Five findings relevant to the research questions emerged. The
first was that powerful life experiences often shape effective and resilient urban high school
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 97
principals and drive them to adopt a strong social justice mission. Second, while districts
generally do not actively recruit effective principals, certain district core values and innovative
practices attract strong leaders. Third, regarding challenges and barriers to success, public
school principals tended to cite district-level distrust, disorganization, and disconnect as their
main frustrations, while charter school principals tended to focus on the struggles of cultivating a
strong team and buy-in. Fourth, smaller school sizes and strong relationships amongst the staff
members are supportive school conditions to allow the principal to thrive and persist. Fifth, the
district can contribute to an urban school leader’s effectiveness and resilience by building a
trusting relationship, providing coaching, and maintaining a presence at their school site.
The findings were based on the interviews of nine urban high school principals. The
summary, conclusions, and implications of this study are presented in the next chapter.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 98
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
The cumulative effect of poor education, poor housing, poor health care, and poor
government services create a bifurcated society that leaves more than its children behind
(Ladson-Billings, 2006, p. 10)
Ladson-Billings (2006) described the education debt for minority students in America as
a much deeper issue than the disparity in educational opportunities between students of color and
their White peers (Ladson-Billings, 2006). Rather, today’s education debt exists as the
accumulated result of centuries of institutionalized racism as well as presently and historically
persistent social, economic, political, and educational inequity for people of color in the United
States (Ladson-Billings, 2006).
At the school level, the education debt manifests as a high degree of socioemotional,
academic, and economic needs for inner city students and communities (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
Urban educators battle these inequities daily with inadequate resources and support, which leads
to socioemotional and economic hardships on their part as well (Jacob, 2007; Kozol, 1991,
2012). This ultimately leads to high rates of teacher and staff turnover in urban schools (Jacob,
2007). The frequent departure of urban teachers and staff in turn stifles the ability of a school to
make sustained positive progress and thus perpetuates the cycle of inadequate resources and
support being provided to students of color (Jacob, 2007).
Staff turnover is felt heaviest at the leadership level because of the significant impact a
strong principal has on a school’s success (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Harris,
2001; Mitgang, 2003; Reed, 1982; Suber, 2012; Williams, 2008). Unfortunately, urban districts
across the nation continue to have difficulty in recruiting and retaining effective inner-city
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 99
principals, particularly at the secondary level (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008;
Williams, 2008).
The purpose of this study was to understand how effective and resilient urban secondary
principals in Southern California describe what attracted them to their sites and what supportive
conditions have allowed them to sustain strong, long-term leadership amidst the flurry of
challenges they have faced as an urban educational leader. Specifically, the study explored the
following research questions:
1. How do successful, long-term urban secondary principals in Southern California describe
what informed their decision to be a principal at their school?
2. How do successful, long-term urban secondary principals in Southern California describe
what conditions and supports have allowed them to serve as urban school leaders for
many years without burning out?
This study employs a phenomenological methodology to extrapolate the “essence and
underlying structure” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 24) of the successful recruitment and support
of effective and resilient urban school leaders. Nine urban high school principals from the
Southern California area were interviewed using the protocol provided in Appendix A. All
principals in this study led schools which serve grades nine through twelve, with populations of
over 65% minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Each principal served for at
least three consecutive years at their respective school and demonstrated improvements in
student success as indicated by at least two mid-level to high-level indicators on the California
School Dashboard.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 100
Discussion of Findings
Five findings emerged. They pertained to powerful life experiences; districts’ core values
and innovative practices; district-level distrust, disorganization, and disconnect; struggles of
cultivating a strong team and buy-in; supportive school conditions; and, finally, the district
contributing to effectiveness and resilience. A summary of the findings is articulated in Table 5
below.
Table 5
Summary of Findings
Findings
1. Powerful life experiences often shaped effective and resilient urban high school principals and
drove them to adopt a strong social justice mission.
2. While there was little to no evidence of districts actively recruiting effective principals, certain
district core values and innovative practices attracted strong leaders to apply.
3. Regarding challenges and barriers to success, public school principals tended to cite district-level
distrust, disorganization, and disconnect as their main frustrations, while charter school principals
tended to focus on the struggles of cultivating the buy-in of a strong site team.
4. Smaller school sizes and strong relationships amongst the staff members were commonly cited
school conditions that allowed the principal to thrive and persist.
5. The district can contribute to an urban school leader’s effectiveness and resilience by building a
trusting relationship, providing coaching, and maintaining a presence at their school site.
The first finding was resilient urban principals developed a strong and personal social
justice mission ingrained in them from powerful life experiences. The literature revealed
effective and resilient urban principals shared the following traits and skills: emotional and social
intelligence; transformational leadership; distributed, democratic, and collaborative leadership;
instructional leadership; and culturally responsive practices (Ahmad et al., 2017; Friedman,
2004; Grace et al., 1987; Reed, 1982; Schulte et al., 2010; Shen et al., 2000; Suber, 2012;
Williams, 2008). However, the literature did not highlight the common, underlying impetus
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 101
driving urban leaders to learn these skills and to apply them in inner-city education: a strong
desire to fight for social justice. When the participants in this study were asked what programs,
jobs, or experiences best prepared them for urban school leadership, they readily shared the
childhood memories and life experiences which opened their eyes to social and educational
inequity and were passionate in describing how these experiences empowered them to seek
social justice in education.
The second finding was little evidence of districts actively recruiting effective principals.
The review of the literature explains various urban districts across the country have employed
recruiting methods to attract principals: eliminating unrealistically high experience requirements
(DeStefano, 2002; Mitgang, 2003); grow-your-own programs, which allow districts to train and
recruit aspiring candidates from within (Green Dot Public Schools, 2018; Harris, 2001), and
competitive compensation at rates in consideration of the additional challenges of working in
these schools (Coggshall et al., 2008; DeStefano, 2002; Harris, 2001; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson &
Kelley, 2001). However, eight participants shared they were not actively recruited for the role
and even stated districts seemed to focus all of their recruiting efforts on finding quality teachers
rather than finding strong administrators. In other words, districts do not seem to have a problem
finding qualified candidates for the job of inner-city principal. This seems to fit with the
assertion of Browne-Ferrigno and Muth (2008), Mitgang (2003), and Gadja and Militello (2008)
that there actually is no shortage of qualified principal candidates in America, despite the
common belief to the contrary. Instead, the true issue appears to be the need to expend the
necessary effort to attract and recruit the strongest and most resilient candidates to lead inner-city
schools.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 102
Rather than describing ways in which districts recruited them, participants instead
described the core values and practices which attracted them to want to work for the district or
school they chose. These include the opportunity to lead innovative programs, a mission and
vision which aligns with their own personal beliefs, high expectations for students, a focus on
academic excellence, an emphasis on college-readiness, and a small school environment which
allows for stronger relationships.
The third finding was that, when asked about the most significant challenges to school
success and to staying motivated, administrators of traditional public schools and public charter
schools shared distinctly different viewpoints. Principals of traditional public schools tended to
cite a variety of difficulties they had with their governing district, including distrust from the
district, disorganization at the district level, and a disconnect between the district’s vision and the
needs of the students and schools. Charter school principals, on the other hand, more frequently
focused on the high level of need from the staff, students, and families as the primary challenge.
For example, charter school principals discussed struggles in cultivating a strong team, forging
buy-in, and getting parents and community to participate at higher levels. Principals of
traditional district schools also shared site-level challenges, but these were overshadowed by
their frustrations with the lack of support from the district under which they worked.
Surprisingly, all of the principals in the study who worked with an active teachers union
agreed the union was not a major impediment to school success. All of the participants also
shared each had a fair to good relationship with their site’s union representative. One of the
participants, Clive, had actually worked in both a union and non-union environment. Clive
shared he strongly preferred working without a union because it allowed his school to make
decisions with more agility.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 103
The fourth finding was that resilient urban principals were continually revitalized by
strong relationships with students and staff, which were easier to cultivate in smaller school
settings. The review of the literature identified the following supportive conditions aiding the
resilience of urban school principals: setting up new principals for success, enabling principals to
focus on instructional leadership, incentivizing success for urban principals, and empowering
principals to make the best decisions for their site without undue oversight or micromanagement
(Coggshall et al., 2008; Mitgang, 2003; Peterson & Kelley, 2001). While these supportive
factors undoubtedly contribute to the effectiveness and resilience of urban principals, the
participants revealed positive relationships with stakeholders were at the core of their motivation.
Several principals attributed strong relationships with students and staff to the small size of their
schools.
Lastly, the fifth finding was that, by building a trusting relationship, providing coaching,
and by maintaining a presence at school sites, the district can contribute to an urban school
leader’s effectiveness and resilience. This finding was largely in line with the literature.
However, while participants noted the importance of these supports, only four shared they were
pleased with the degree of support they received from the district, while the other five shared
they desired much more trust, coaching, and presence. The responses with regard to this finding
were similarly divided between traditional public school principals and charter school principals.
The three charter school principals and one traditional public school principal were pleased with
the support they were receiving from their district, while the other five public school principals
were frustrated by the lack of support. Only two school principals, who both happen to work at
charter schools, shared they regularly experienced active coaching from their supervisor. The
other seven principals were not supported in this manner.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 104
Implications for Practice
The results of this study may be useful for superintendents and leaders of urban school
districts in determining how to recruit, support, and retain resilient urban high school principals.
A summary of the implications of the study is included in Table 6 below.
Table 6
Summary of Implications for Practice
Implications for Practice
1. Smaller schools allow leaders to establish a stronger sense of community.
2. District leaders need to focus on the recruitment of effective urban principals.
3. Superintendents and district leaders need to actively support their school sites by providing
coaching and maintaining a presence at the school site.
The first major implication of the study is that smaller schools allow leaders to establish a
stronger sense of community. This is significant because participants shared their positive
relationships with students and staff were a major factor in their motivation and dedication. In a
small school, principals know their students by name and work more closely with individual staff
members, which builds positive relationships. Four principals interviewed had previous working
experience at a large comprehensive school prior to becoming principal of their small school.
These four participants all agreed the small school environment was more conducive to a
positive school culture as well as to successful management.
A second major implication is that district leaders need to focus on recruitment of urban
principals. While there may not be a shortage of qualified principal candidates in the United
States (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2008; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Mitgang, 2003), not all
credentialed candidates have the drive and resiliency to lead an inner-city school for several
years. Districts need to apply the time and resources necessary to recruit principals as actively as
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 105
they recruit teachers. District leaders should be clear about the ample challenges of the position
and also provide competitive compensation which is appropriate to the level of difficulty the job
entails. Lastly, districts should recruit candidates with the basic qualifications for school
leadership and actively seek candidates with a strong propensity for social justice, as these
leaders are more likely to stay resilient and stave off burnout when facing persistent challenges.
A third implication that superintendents and district leaders need to actively support their
school sites. This begins by having a consistent presence at each school to understand the unique
needs of each leader and site. District leaders need to provide coaching. This will ensure school
leaders improve in their craft and feel supported and valued by their superiors. Finally, district
leaders need to allow principals higher levels of autonomy and decision making. These
principals are often frustrated by the inability to participate in high-level decisions affecting their
schools. District leaders should trust their principals with opportunities to contribute to decisions
for their schools, since principals tend to know what is best for their students and community.
Recommendations for Further Research
This study explored how district leaders can better promote the effective recruitment and
retention of resilient urban high school principals. While the study was being conducted, a few
recommendations for further research were revealed which would elucidate additional aspects of
the effective recruitment and retention of urban school leaders in specific ways.
Students who attend urban schools tend to live in neighborhoods and communities with
higher rates of crime, violence, and drug abuse. Therefore, students in urban schools also tend to
experience a disproportionate amount of trauma compared with the average American youth. A
follow-up to this study could explore how school leaders are affected by the trauma their
students experience and whether enhanced socioemotional support is provided. It would also be
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 106
interesting to study how these principals create a positive school culture under these conditions
and the effect the school culture has on the principal’s persistence.
Another research topic to enhance the findings of this study is a comparison of the
resiliency of urban principals at the elementary, middle school, or high school levels and whether
they find it easier or more difficult to endure based on their students’ developmental levels. This
comparison could also entail analysis of how principals at each level cope with the challenges of
inner-city school leadership.
This study researched principals from several high schools with different contexts. For
example, the participants study led charter schools, pilot schools, comprehensive high schools,
and small public schools. Some schools had unions whereas others did not. They also served
schools of various sizes, from 350 students to about 2,200. However, many of the principals
only had experience in their particular context, and were unable to compare it with any other
context. For example, without exception, the public school principals had only been principals at
public schools and the charter school principals had only been principals for charter schools. It
would be fascinating to interview principals who have had experience with various educational
contexts, to more objectively capture the comparative differences they experienced at each. For
example, it would be interesting to interview principals who have led both charter schools and
traditional public schools; both union and non-union schools; elementary, middle, and high
schools; urban schools and suburban schools; and both small and large schools. Participants who
have served in various educational contexts can share what they perceive as the major
differences between each setting and ultimately make informed recommendations for the best
conditions to support the success of inner-city students and communities.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 107
Concluding Remarks
We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose
schooling is of interest to us; we already know more than we need to do that; and whether
or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far
(Edmonds, 1979, p. 15)
Despite the technological, scientific, and social advancements of the modern age, the
education debt for students of color in the United States continues to widen, with no apparent
end in sight (Ladson-Billings, 2006). Although society possesses the knowledge and ability to
change this, they still lack the collective will to do so (Edmonds, 1979). As a result, students in
the inner-city continue to endure inadequate educational resources (Kozol, 1991, 2012).
The fight for equity in education, to uproot entrenched beliefs, to deconstruct systems of
power, and to overturn institutional racism is challenging and requires strong leadership
(Peterson & Kelley, 2001, p. 4). It requires resilient leaders who will persist despite facing the
most “fantastic, the most brutal, and the most determined resistance” (Baldwin, 1963, p. 1).
Unfortunately, urban school leaders may become exhausted and defeated by these challenges,
leading to turnover (DeStefano, 2002; Gadja & Militello, 2008; Williams, 2008).
Using phenomenological interviews and qualitative analysis, nine participants were
interviewed to understand how leaders can endure past barriers to success. The findings
determined school districts must actively recruit strong leaders focused on social justice. Also,
district leadership must support principals in the same manner they expect principals and
teachers to uphold for their students. Lastly, the findings support the need to focus more on
student and staff relationships in addition to academic achievement, as having these positive
relationships supports leaders’ resilience.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 108
These findings provide educational leaders key levers with which to focus their efforts.
Educational equity can be achieved if social justice leaders work together to create the
educational system students of color deserve. In the inspirational words of educational reformer
John Dewey,
I believe that if we, in common with others, can honestly and courageously face the
situation, our combined wisdom … can accomplish what overwhelms the mind of any
one individual (Dewey, 1937, p. 124).
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 109
REFERENCES
Ahmad, I., Khawaja, M., Hussain, M. A., Panhwar, U., & Farshad, M. (2017). Behavioral
characteristics rated by district education officers (DEOS) for effective principalship.
Journal of Education and Practice, 8(5), 143.
Baker, J. A., & Bloom, G. S. (2017). Growing support for principals. The Learning Professional,
38(2), 61–65.
Baldwin, J. (1963). The negro child - his self-image. The Saturday Review. Retrieved from
http://richgibson.com/talktoteachers.htm
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to
theory and methods (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Browne-Ferrigno, T., & Muth, R. (2008). Recruitment and retention of quality principals:
Essential for successful schools. CAPEA Education Leadership and Administration, 20,
19–45.
Brown-Jeffy, S., & Cooper, J. (2011). Toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant
pedagogy: An overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. Teacher Education
Quarterly, 38(1), 65–81.
Bryant, J. E., Escalante, K., & Selva, A. (2017). Promising practices: Building the next
generation of school leaders. Journal of School Administration Research and
Development,2(1), 32–41.
California Department of Education. (2019). California schools dashboard. Retrieved from
https://www.caschooldashboard.org/
Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice. (2019). About us. Retrieved from
https://socialjustice.usc.edu/about-us/
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 110
Cherniss, C. (2000, April). Emotional intelligence: What it is and why it matters. Paper presented
at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, New
Orleans, LA, 15.
Coggshall, J. G., Stewart, J. K., & Bhatt, M. (2008). Paving the path to the urban school
principalship. Washington, DC: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
DeStefano, J. (2002). Find, deploy, support, and keep the best teachers and school leaders. New
York, NY: Carnegie Corp.
Dewey, J. (1937). Democracy and educational administration. LW, 11, 217–226.
Dewey, J. (1939). Creative democracy, the task before us. LW, 14, 224-230.
Dolph, D. (2017). Challenges and opportunities for school improvement: Recommendations for
urban school principals. Education and Urban Society, 49(4), 363–387.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124516659110
Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership, 37(1), 15–
23.
Egalitarianism. (2019). In Merriam-Webster dictionary online. Retrieved from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egalitarianism
Fleishman, E., & Harris, E. F. (1962). Patterns of leadership behavior related to employee
grievances and turnover. Personnel Psychology, 15(1), 43–56.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1962.tb01845.x
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 111
Foot, K. A. (2014). Cultural-historical activity theory: Exploring a theory to inform practice and
research. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24(3), 329–347.
Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.831011
Friedman, A. A. (2004). Beyond mediocrity: Transformational leadership within a transactional
framework. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 7(3), 203–224.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1360312042000213877
Gadja, R., & Militello, M. (2008). Recruiting and retaining school principals: What we can learn
from practicing administrators. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 5(2), 14–20.
Glesne, C. (2011). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (4th ed.). Boston, MA:
Pearson Education.
Grace, L., Buser, R., & Stuck, D. (1987). What works and what doesn’t: Characteristics of
outstanding administrators. NASSP Bulletin, 71(502), 72–76.
https://doi.org/10.1177/019263658707150213
Green Dot Public Schools. (2018). Administrators-in-residence program Retrieved from
http://careers.greendot.org/air-program/
Harris, T. (2001). How urban schools are solving the principal shortage. Principal, 81(1), 10–13.
Hollie, S., & Orange, T. (2014). A model for education African-American students. In R. Fox &
N. Buchanan (Eds.), Proud to be Different (pp. 61–80). Lanhan, MD: Rowman &
Littlefield.
Howard, T. (2003). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Ingredients for critical teacher reflection.
Theory into Practice, 42(3), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5
Jacob, B. A. (2007). The challenges of staffing urban schools with effective teachers. The Future
of Children, 17(1), 129–153. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2007.0005
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 112
Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities: children in A m e r i c a’s schools. New York, NY: Crown.
Kozol, J. (2012). The other America: our poorest children deserve the same educational
opportunities as our riches ones. School Library Journal, 8(8), 24–27.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding
achievement in U.S. Schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3–12.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035007003
Lynn, M., & Parker, L. (2006). Critical race studies in education: Examining a decade of
research on U. S. Schools. The Urban Review, 38(4), 257–290.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-006-0035-5
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods
sourcebook (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Mitgang, L. D. (2003). Beyond the pipeline: Getting the principals we need, where they are
needed most. New York, NY: Wallace Foundation.
Mosrie, D. (1990). An effective principal training and support system. NASSP Bulletin,74(526),
12–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263659007452604
Muhammad, A., & Hollie, S. (2012). Will to lead and the skill to teach: Transforming schools at
every level. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Noguera, P. (2007). How listening to students can help schools to improve. Theory into Practice,
46(3), 205–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/14241270701402165
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 113
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Peters, A. L. (2008). (No) support for a new principal in an urban district. Journal of Cases in
Educational Leadership, 11(1), 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458908319658
Peterson, K., & Kelley, C. (2001). Transforming school leadership. Leadership, 30(3), 8.
Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A69202119/AONE?u=usocal_
main&sid=AONE&xid=783adf34
Reed, R. J. (1982). Urban secondary school leadership: Contemporary challenges. Education and
Urban Society, 15(1), 6–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124582015001002
Rogers, J., Mediratta, K., & Shah, S. (2012). Building power, learning democracy: Youth
organizing as a site of civic development. Review of Research in Education, 36(1), 43–
66. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X11422328
Ryan, J., & Rottmann, C. (2009). Struggling for democracy: Administrative communication in a
diverse school context. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(4),
473–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143209334579
Sauter, M. B., Frohlich, T. C., Stebbins, S., & Comen, E. (2015). America’s richest (and poorest)
school districts. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/
2015/10/03/24-7-wall-st-richest-poorest-school-districts/73205874/
Schulte, D. P., Slate, J. R., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2010). Characteristics of effective school
principals: A mixed-research study. The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 56(2),
172.
Shen, J., Rodriguez-Campos, L., & Rincones-Gomez, R. (2000). Characteristics of urban
principalship: A national trend study. Education and Urban Society, 32(4), 481–491.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124500324004
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 114
Shields, C. M. (2013). Transformative leadership in education: Equitable change in an uncertain
and complex world. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Suber, C. (2012). Characteristics of effective principals in high-poverty South Carolina
elementary schools. The International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation,
7(1), 1–14. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/m41761/1.1/
Teach for America. (2019). Homepage. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from
https://www.teachforamerica.org/
Tewel, K. (1987). Urban high school principals need a new kind of support system. NASSP
Bulletin, 71(498), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263658707149816
University of California Berkeley. (2018). Principal leadership institute. Retrieved from
http://principals.berkeley.edu/ at Berkeley
University of California Los Angeles. (2018). Principal leadership institute. Retrieved from
https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/principal-leadership/
University of California Los Angeles. (2019). UCLA Unicamp. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from
https://www.unicamp.org/
U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). Quick facts: Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved from
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/losangelescitycalifornia#viewtop
Williams, H. W. (2008). Characteristics that distinguish outstanding urban principals: Emotional
intelligence, social intelligence and environmental adaptation. Journal of Management
Development, 27(1), 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710810840758
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 115
APPENDIX A
Interview Protocol
Interview Questions
1. What is your current role at this school? Describe, in a sentence, what your role entails?
2. How many years have you had this role at this school?
3. How many years have you been a school leader in total for any site? What other schools have
you led and for how long? Which of these were considered “urban” (i.e., high-poverty,
high-minority) schools?
4. Name one or two past jobs, educational programs, or life experiences that have most prepared
you to become an effective urban school leader? How?
5. Please name one or two of the biggest challenges you have faced as a leader fighting for
educational equity in the urban setting?
6. In your time as principal here, what are one or two major initiatives that you have led that
have most positively impacted your school?
7. What led you to decide to become a school leader specifically in an urban setting?
8. What led you to decide to work at a secondary setting (vs. primary)?
9. Name one or two things that primarily drew you to this particular site / organization?
10. What suggestions do you have for superintendents to successfully attract/recruit urban
secondary principals who are a) effective and b) resilient?
11. How have you managed to stay motivated and dedicated in such a demanding position and
setting for as long as you have?
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 116
12. Has your school/organization played a significant role in supporting you in terms of a)
effectiveness and/or b) longevity as a leader? How?
13. Do you consider your school to be small-sized, medium-sized, or large? How does the size of
your school affect your a) effectiveness and b) longevity as a leader?
14. Does your school have a union? How does this affect your a) effectiveness and b) longevity
as a leader?
15. Is your school a “traditional public school” or a “public charter?” How does this affect your
a) effectiveness and b) longevity as a leader?
16. What suggestions do you have for superintendents in order to successfully support urban
secondary principals who are a) effective and b) resilient?
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 117
APPENDIX B
Consent Form
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
Cultivating Effective and Resilient Urban Principals: Empowering School Leaders to
Create Enduring Success in the Inner City
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Rene Quon and Briana Hinga,
Ph.D., at the University of Southern California, because you are a principal at a secondary urban
school in Southern California. 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
This study seeks to understand how successful, long-term urban secondary principals describe
what attracted them to their site and what supportive conditions have allowed them to thrive and
to focus on effective instructional leadership amidst the flurry of challenges and responsibilities
that they face in the urban setting.
STUDY PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to participate in an interview
consisting of 15 questions about your educational background, what informed you to decide to
be a principal at a secondary urban school, what conditions and supports have allowed you to
continue to serve in this role and resist burnout, as well as questions about your leadership
philosophy that allows you to be successful in the urban setting.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
The interview will take about one hour, and you will be asked about your beliefs and practices. All
interactions and discussions will be completely confidential and can in no way be used for
evaluative or punitive measures.
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 118
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
The results of this study could result in important information for the facilitator regarding the most
effective ways of recruiting and supporting successful urban secondary principals.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not be compensated for participation in this study.
POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST OF THE INVESTIGATOR
(A "Conflict of Interest (COI)" is a situation in which financial or other personal considerations
compromise, or have the appearance of compromising, an individual's professional judgment in
proposing, conducting, supervising or reporting research.)
No potential conflicts of interest are anticipated. Rene Quon, an Executive Administrator for
YPI Charter Schools, will be facilitating the study. YPI Charter Schools are authorized by
LAUSD, but Rene Quon does not have any direct working relationship to any of the interviewees
in the study. In any case, all interactions and communications will remain anonymous and
cannot be used for evaluative or punitive measures.
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, 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 data will be stored on a password-protected private computer and will be viewable only by
Rene Quon. The information will not be released to any third party. The data will be kept for three
years after the duration of the study but will remain viewable only to Rene Quon.
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. Rene Quon can decide to terminate your
participation in the study without your consent.
I N V ES T I G A TO R ’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Rene Quon at
323-578-2226 or at rene.quon@gmail.com.
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
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu
CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE AND RESILIENT URBAN PRINCIPALS 119
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.
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
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand how effective and resilient urban secondary principals in Southern California describe what attracted them to their sites and what supportive conditions allowed them to sustain strong, long-term leadership amidst the challenges they faced. Using phenomenological interviews and qualitative analysis, nine resilient urban high school principals were interviewed to understand how leaders endure past barriers to success in inner-city education. All principals in this study led schools which served grades nine through twelve and served populations of over 65% minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Each principal served for at least three consecutive years at their respective school and has demonstrated improvements in student success as indicated by at least two mid-level to high-level indicators on the California School Dashboard.
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
Future ready schools: how middle and high school principals support personalized and digital learning for teachers and students at a mid-sized urban middle/high school
PDF
How urban high school principals implement social and emotional learning (SEL)
PDF
A new era of leadership: preparing leaders for urban schools & the 21st century
PDF
Key stakeholders' role in implementing special education inclusion program in an urban high school: leadership and school culture
PDF
Identifying resiliency factors viewed by fourth and fifth grade teachers that foster academic success in elementary minority Hispanic students in Orange County
PDF
The journey to leadership: examining the opportunities and challenges for Asian American women leaders in K-12 schools
PDF
Future Ready Schools: how middle school principals support personalized and digital learning for teachers and students at mid-sized urban middle schools
PDF
The superintendent and reform: a case study of action by the system leader to improve student achievement in a large urban school district
PDF
The plight of African American males in urban schools: a case study
PDF
A case study of student engagement in a high performing urban continuation high school
PDF
White principals implementing systems of equity: analyzing knowledge, motivation, and organizational support
PDF
The beauty of resilience: an examination of how continuation high school students overcome daily adversities
PDF
Leveraging the principalship for instructional technology equity and access in two urban elementary schools
PDF
An examination on educational management and the fostering of leadership sustainability in Hawaiian Catholic K-12 schools
PDF
A study of the leadership strategies of urban elementary school principals with effective inclusion programs for autistic students in the general education setting for a majority of the school day
PDF
School disciplined reimagined: centering Black students in discipline policies
PDF
Leadership styles conducive to creative tension in decision making among principals, vice principals, and deans at K-12 school sites
PDF
Identifying resiliency factors viewed by second and third grade teachers that foster academic success in elementary minority Hispanic students in Orange County
PDF
A decolonial praxis of hip-hop: hip-hop culture's connection to resilient youth's critical consciousness and wellbeing
PDF
Role of a principal supervisor in fostering principal development to support instructional improvement and a positive school climate
Asset Metadata
Creator
Quon, Rene Francis
(author)
Core Title
Cultivating effective and resilient urban principals: empowering school leaders to create enduring success in the inner city
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Leadership)
Publication Date
10/23/2019
Defense Date
09/05/2019
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
administrative training and support,administrative turnover,empowering school leaders,improvement in inner city education,inner city education,inner city success,OAI-PMH Harvest,qualities of strong educational leadership,resilient urban principals,secondary urban schools,Social Justice,socioeconomically disadvantaged students and communities,urban school leadership
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Hinga, Briana (
committee chair
), Massa, Michael (
committee member
), Robles, Darline (
committee member
)
Creator Email
rene.quon@gmail.com,renequon@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-227029
Unique identifier
UC11673823
Identifier
etd-QuonReneFr-7873.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-227029 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-QuonReneFr-7873.pdf
Dmrecord
227029
Document Type
Dissertation
Rights
Quon, Rene Francis
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
Tags
administrative training and support
administrative turnover
empowering school leaders
improvement in inner city education
inner city education
inner city success
qualities of strong educational leadership
resilient urban principals
secondary urban schools
socioeconomically disadvantaged students and communities
urban school leadership