Congratulations to Amy Peluso Prasky who on Friday, May 10, 2024, successfully defended her dissertation proposal. The title of Amy’s dissertation is: FROM COMPLIANCE TO COHERENCE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY ABOUT HOW PRINCIPALS PERCEIVE OBSERVATIONAL DATA AND ITS VALUE IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DECISION-MAKING.

This dissertation explores how principals in New York State K-12 public schools utilize both formal and anecdotal data from supervising teaching faculty to inform their decision-making processes about individual and collective strengths, needs, and professional learning topics. Against the backdrop of local, state, and federal institutional contexts shaped by accountability measures such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top (RTTT), and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), this study emerges from a need to deepen our understanding of how data are leveraged in efforts to enhance teacher practice and student learning outcomes.  Employing a generic qualitative inquiry approach, the study investigates the integration of information, interests, ideology, and institutional forces in shaping professional learning decisions among acting principals, aligning with Carol Weiss’s Four I theory. Through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, the research aims to shed light on the complex interplay of factors influencing principals’ decision-making processes in this domain.

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS:
Dr. Victoria Fantozzi
Dr. Joanne Marien

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER:
Dr. Lynn Allen