Congratulations to Rudy T. Arietta, who on Thursday, April 17, 2025, successfully defended his dissertation. The title of Rudy’s dissertation is: "LEADING CHANGE: SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPPORT OF THE LEARNING NEEDS OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS."
Through the lens of the Pillar Practices of Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano’s (2018) Capacity Building Framework, this qualitative study explored the learning needs of high school principals as they led their schools through the adaptive change process. Through semi-structured interviews, the study explored 15 high school principals’ self-described needs for professional learning and support. The principals pointed to three factors as most important to their learning needs: having structures to collaborate with their faculty, having a thought partner in the form of a coach or mentor, and having an open, collaborative relationship with their superintendent. Additionally, principals expressed that so much time is devoted to the technical aspects of their role that it is difficult to address their own professional learning. Principals are expected to be instructional leaders who lead change in their schools yet too often their learning needs are not prioritized. Recommendations aimed at creating favorable conditions for principals’ professional learning are offered to superintendents, school districts, and professional organizations.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CHAIR(S):
Dr. Joanne Marien
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER(S):
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell
Dr. Lauren Allan
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