2.4 Doctoral program issues: commentary on companion dissertations  (Page 5/14)

The abstracts of the multiple case study companion dissertations follow and are presented as the same abstract, though the dissertations differ by chapter as previously described. Polnick’s abstract (same as Etheredge and Jones) follows.

The purpose of this inquiry was to test the feasibility of the McNamara and Thompson (1996) model for teaching statistics and data analysis methods in principal preparation programs.

Design. This inquiry was conducted in three phases. The first phase was used to create an inventory of situations that describe opportunities for principals to use statistics and data analysis methods at the campus level. The second phase was a case study that required the author to assume a consultant role in conducting and reporting the results of a formative evaluation survey indicating the effectiveness of an ongoing staff development project aimed at improving test scores on a single middle school campus. The third phase was dedicated to constructing recommendations.

Findings. The first phase identified 482 specific opportunities for data analysis. Most opportunities focused on instructional concerns and over 90 percent of these opportunities involved using descriptive rather than inferential statistics to analyze data already available on the campus. Completion of the formative evaluation case study in the second phase provided several additional insights about the data analysis skills principals need to be effective on the job.

Recommendations. Phase three provides twelve recommendations organized into three sections. The first section provides two recommendations to confirm and endorse the guidelines advanced in the McNamara and Thompson (1996) model. Using the confirmatory evidence from the first two phases, the second section offers seven specific recommendations for the design of a statistics course aimed at developing data analysis skills for prospective and practicing school principals. The third section presents three recommendations for continuing the research agenda initiated in this inquiry.

Evaluation Model

A third type of companion dissertation is considered the evaluation model. In such a model, the same question is asked for varying samples. An example of this model is exhibited by two candidates who desired to evaluate whether a highly focused Spanish early literacy intervention increased pre-reading skills for culturally and linguistically diverse students who were identified by their classroom teachers as most at risk for reading difficulties. In these example companion dissertations, the evaluation agenda was the same, but the samples were different. One study was at the kindergarten level, and one was at the first grade level. Archival data were used. A common research design was used for both dissertations including the same statewide instrument and descriptive statistics. Chapters differed in both dissertations with the exception of the common evaluative agenda, purpose, and research questions. McArthur (2003) and Mohr (2003) authored their abstracts as follows.