Urban high school principals’ promotion of college-and-career readiness
| Published date | 04 September 2017 |
| Date | 04 September 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-05-2016-0054 |
| Pages | 606-623 |
| Author | Joel R. Malin,Donald Hackmann |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Urban high school
principals’promotion of
college-and-career readiness
Joel R. Malin
Department of Educational Leadership,
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA, and
Donald Hackmann
Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how two urban principals, in high schools that feature
comprehensive college-and-career readiness practices, utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their
implementation.
Design/methodology/approach –Thisstudy employed qualitative methods.Drawing upon semi-structured
interview data, observational data gathered as part of site visits, and internal and electronic documents, case
descriptions were developed of each school, focusing on principals’activities in support of career pathways.
Findings –The principals contributed significantly to their schools’college-and-career readiness reforms
and programming. Although their approaches were distinct, six common themes were identified: facilitating
processes to form a shared vision, developing relational trust, a focus on learning, successful partnerships,
conducive structures, and developing leadership skills and capacity. The principals described utilizing
distributed leadership approaches –including practices, structures, and tools –to support these reforms.
Originality/value –This study represents the initial phaseof a multi-year research projectinvestigating the
implementation of college-and-career pathways in urban communities. Prior research has overlooked the
importantrole of principals in leadingand facilitating these reforms,and this study contributesto the literature
because it focuses on principals’contributions in supporting college-and-career readiness. Additionally, in
both cases, substantive, regular leadership contributions were made by business representatives external to
the organization.
Keywords Principals, Leadership, Distributed leadership, Case study, College-and-career readiness,
Urban school reform
Paper type Research paper
An essential function of school systems is to prepare students to lead productive lives as
contributing members of society. Implicit is an expectation that high school graduates
master content knowledge and skills that enable their transition into college and careers.
In an era of increasing globalization, quality education is critical not only for the individual
but also for the nation, collectively. Currently, a skills gap exists in the US workforce, with
many young adults lacking fundamental workforce skills (Symonds et al., 2011); therefore,
numerous states have developed more rigorous curricular standards, with a goal to ensure
that high school graduates are ready for college and careers (Conley, 2014). More generally,
a broad state and national policy drive has aimed to bolster K-12 students’abilities to
transition to college and employment (Darling-Hammond et al., 2014; Malin et al., 2017).
Many high schools have mixed success with college-and-career preparation, particularly
for underrepresented groups. Although the USA has seen the four-year high school
graduation rate increase to a historic high of 83.2 percent for 2014-2015 school year
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2016), significant disparities remain, with Black,
Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, economically disadvantaged, students with
disabilities, and limited English proficient student subgroups graduating at lower rates than
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 55 No. 6, 2017
pp. 606-623
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-05-2016-0054
Received 24 May 2016
Revised 10 April 2017
Accepted 22 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
606
JEA
55,6
their peers. Also, although 84 percent of students taking the ACT examination in 2016
intended to enroll in postsecondary education, only 26 percent met college readiness
benchmarks in English, reading, mathematics, and science, with Asian and White students
attaining higher scores than their peers (ACT, Inc., 2016). Over 50 percent of students who
enter community colleges and almost 20 percent entering four-year institutions must enroll
in developmental coursework before they are permitted access to college coursework,
and nearly 40 percent of community college enrollees do not complete these courses
(Complete College America, 2012). Clearly, US high school students are not universally
prepared for college and careers.
To address this issue, some high schools have created career pathway models,
implementing curricular programs that include rigorous courses, partnerships with
businesses and postsecondary institutions, and work-based learning. These sites are
instructive, with potential to demonstrate practices that facilitate students’career readiness
(Alfred and Bhattacharya, 2012; Malin and Hackmann, 2017). Although some research
works have investigated career pathways, the important role of the principal has been
overlooked. This constitutes a major gap, because an extensive body of research
demonstrates principals’roles as learning leaders, noting their considerable effects on
student learning and school effectiveness (e.g. Copland and K napp, 2006; Halli nger and
Heck, 1998; Hitt and Tucker, 2016; Leithwood, 2012). However, researchers have tended to
define student achievement narrowly, focusing primarily on reading and mathematics
attainment (Hitt and Tucker, 2016) without considering the extent to which students are
adequately prepared for college-and-career success. We need to better understand
the actions and “bundles of activities”( Leithwood, 2012, p. 5) in which principals engage
while pursuing college-and-career readiness reforms, as they seek to influence valued
student outcomes, including those sought within the context of college-and-career
readiness reforms.
As the school’s formally appointed learning leader, the principal is uniquely positioned to
bring stakeholders together when considering, planning, and implementing reforms.
Because PK-12 faculty members, postsecondary educators, and business/industry leaders
have invaluable curricular expertise and career experiences, they should be engaged in
formal and informal leadership roles as they design and deliver college-and-career
programming. This exploratory study applied a distributed leadership framework to
examine two urban high school principals’activities in developing and refining career
pathways. The following research question was addressed:
RQ1. How do principals in schools that evidence college-and-career readiness practices
utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their implementation?
The next section reviews the literature on distributed leadership, focusing on its application
to preparing students for college and careers. Subsequently, the research methods are
presented, a description of the two cases is provided, and the findings are presented.
The article concludes with a discussion and recommendations for practice.
Distributed leadership theory
Distributed leadership supplies the conceptual and analytical framework for this
study. Distributed leadership has gained in popularity and has been applied as a
mechanism to increaseorganizational effectiveness( Mayrowetz, 2008). The principalship has
become increasingly complex, time-intensive, and demanding (Grubb and Flessa, 2006),
particularly in urban environments (Knapp et al., 2013; Portin et al., 2009), and education
reform mandates hold principals accountable for student learning and ensuring students’
preparation for college and careers (Gronn, 2010). By applying distributed leadership,
principals can empower formal and informal leaders so that essential functions aredispersed
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Urban high
school
principals’
promotion
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