Congratulations to David F. Jacob who on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, successfully defended his dissertation. The title of David’s dissertation is OVERCOMING INSTITUTIONAL ISOMORPHISM: TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCE DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE CURRICULUM AFTER PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT.

This qualitative study investigated the lived experience of 20 elementary teachers who developed, piloted, and implemented an Elementary Science Curriculum (ESC). Using DiMaggio and Powell’s theoretical lens of Institutional Isomorphism, the study explored the coercive, mimetic, and normative mechanisms the participants faced when implementing the ESC and sought to understand in what ways their involvement in the process of curriculum development shaped their perceptions of the implementation. This study is relevant to educational leadership because school leaders should consider the relationship between learning standards and curriculum implementation and how these elements influence each other in the classroom.

Dissertation Committee Chair(s):
Dr. Susan V. Iverson
Dissertation Committee Member(s):
Dr. Gerald Ardito
Dr. Gregory Brown