Date Awarded

1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Advisor

Virginia L. McLaughlin

Abstract

This study examined the principal's role in fostering teacher collaboration for students with special needs by investigating two overarching questions: (a) How do principals foster teacher collaboration for the purpose of improving teaching and learning for students with special needs and (b) how do these behaviors relate to leadership behaviors that have been identified as facilitative of teacher collaboration? First, a multiple-site descriptive case study was conducted and, using nomination criteria, five sites in four school districts were selected. The data collection involved the verification of the nomination criteria through observations and the collection of data through interviews with principals and general and special education teachers as well as document reviews. An analysis of the cross-site case study data revealed five emerging themes that related to (a) the importance ofthe principal's role, (b) the supportive role of the principal, (c) the communicative role of the principal, (d) the leadership role of the principal, and (e) the role of the principal in promoting collaborative cultures.;Second, role descriptors of the principal identified in the cross-site analysis of the case studies were compared with role descriptors cited in empirical studies relating to the principal's role in fostering teacher collaboration. The findings from the cross-site comparison were classified into three levels of role descriptors of the principal: (a) role descriptors most frequently cited in the literature and identified in all five case studies, (b) role descriptors not as frequently cited in the literature but cited in all five case studies, and (c) role descriptors not cited in the literature but identified in all five case studies.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-dwvb-ex51

Rights

© The Author

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