The "NELA Experience": How an Alternative Principal Preparation Program Impacted Principal Practice and School Achievement in Rural Elementary Schools

Improving school performance is difficult. It is especially challenging to implement and succeed in school turnaround in rural schools (Kutash et al., 2010). Given their widely-dispersed geographies, rural schools struggle to recruit talent to their low-performing schools located in high poverty com...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Edmonds, Catherine
Format Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Published ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2017
Subjects
Academic Achievement
Data Analysis
Education Policy
Educational administration
Educational Change
Educational Environment
Educational Facilities Improvement
Educational leadership
Instructional Leadership
Literature Reviews
Principals
Reading Achievement
Rural Schools
School administration
School Effectiveness
School Turnaround
Standardized Tests
Student Needs
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Summary:Improving school performance is difficult. It is especially challenging to implement and succeed in school turnaround in rural schools (Kutash et al., 2010). Given their widely-dispersed geographies, rural schools struggle to recruit talent to their low-performing schools located in high poverty communities (Schulken, 2010). Increasingly, attentions are turning toward promising programs that hand-pick promising rural school leaders and equip them to thrive in a geographically isolated environment where resources are limited, poverty is high, and academic achievement is lagging (Schulken, 2010). The goal of North Carolina State University’s Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA) is to prepare program graduates to become leaders in rural, high-need schools in northeastern North Carolina. The NELA graduates are trained as turnaround leaders with the skills needed to bring about deep change in low-performing schools to drive improvement in student performance (Fusarelli, 2009). The purpose of this case study was two-fold: (a) to examine the impact of Northeast Leadership Academy (NELA) graduates on academic performance of students; and (b) to better understand the experiences, standards, and practices NELA fellows attribute to the change in school performance. The findings indicate that schools led by first-year NELA-trained principals saw gains in student proficiency and growth. The research participants attributed their impact on student achievement to their NELA preparation. Specifically, the research participants stated NELA training gave them the confidence to be a principal, the skillset and mindset to be resourceful and build relationships, and a growth mind-set in terms of problem solving.
ISBN:9781369855852
1369855850