Paper Sample on Leadership Transformation: Capitol Middle School in Baton Rouge, LA

Introduction

In every aspect of society, leadership is a critical factor that influences how things are done. Capitol Middle School is one of the low performing schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2017, the mathematic performance index was 32 % proficient, which was below the state average standard of 63% (Louisiana Department of Education, n.d.). Due to low performance, the school was awarded a failing ‘F’ grade by the Louisiana Education Department (Louisiana Department of Education, n.d.). Through examining the result, Capitol Middle School is experiencing critical issues such as leadership (Maier et al., 2017). In a school environment, leadership plays an essential role, thus impacting academic performance (Hajjar et al., 2019). Due to social and economic variation, some learning institutions lack enough reading materials, and thus they perform poorly(Maier et al., 2017). Leadership is perceived as the engine that impacts the survival of a learning institution (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). As a result of variation in school leadership, different institutions tend to receive a wide form of services, which affects the learning program (VanGronigen et al., 2017). Therefore, leadership has a major impact in forming a culture that influences how learning is conducted (Hajjar et al., 2019). Learners need to stay in an environment that they are inspired to conduct particular activities, which aim at improving the learning capabilities.

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Theoretical Framework

Statement of the Problem: For many years, low performing schools have been experiencing challenges in improving their standards of learning. Most challenges that occur in low performing schools are triggered by poor leadership system. Therefore, leaders have a vital role in the introduction and implementation of programs that aim at improving the learning system. The application of the four domains of rapid improvement has been associated with positive outcomes, especially in enhancing education systems. The leadership style has a great role in enhancing the application of four domains of rapid improvement, thus improving the performance of low performing schools (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). Therefore, principals of low performing schools need strategies and support by changing the culture and improving student results (Redding & Corbett, 2018). Additionally, parents, community, and key stakeholders are required to support schools in attaining their vision and goals.

Theoretically, leadership is a system that concentrates on getting individuals to move in the right direction and motivates them to engage in numerous activities to attain their objectives (Redding & Corbett, 2018). According to the transformation leadership theory, heads of institutions are required to form the base that influences others to engage in constructive activities (Redding & Corbett, 2018). Leaders are required to connect with followers, thus improving their morality toward learning (McCauley & Cashman, 2018). Therefore, leaders are supposed to form a powerful ground that will help learners understand and use the domains of rapid improvement (Hajjar et al., 2019). In most cases, the application of Laissez-faire style allows leaders to engage other groups, thus sharing ways to overcome the issue (McCauley & Cashman, 2018). Poor performance is a critical aspect that needs a lot of attention (Hitt & Meyers, 2017). For a school to change such a culture, there are required to engage numerous programs (Mitchell et al., 2017). Among the most active learning programs is the application of four domains of rapid improvement (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). As such, leaders have a great role in creating a good relationship that promotes the application and implementation of a program in the school setting.

Research Question

This project addresses the following research questions:

• Do leadership style impacts the performance of a school?
• What roles do school leaders play in the implementation of learning programs such as the four domains of rapid improvement?

Rationale

This study aims at explaining whether leadership styles and/ or behaviors affect learning performance, especially when new programs such as four domains of rapid improvement are introduced. The study will allow educational practitioners and other stakeholders to comprehend the benefit of a particular leadership style in the improvement of learning, particularly in low performing schools (McCauley & Cashman, 2018). If the study outlines that there are major gaps in performance that occur due to variation in leadership style, when applying for the improvement program, it will be crucial for schools to copy and implement the system (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). The application of the outcome of the study will form a strong base that the government may use to promote education equality.

Significance

There are a lot of advantages that could occur from researching the topic of study. First, the research will demonstrate how leadership styles play a great role in inspiring and direct low performing schools to introduce and engage more activities to promote their academic outcome (Hajjar et al., 2019). Most low performing schools lack better leadership systems that may help to achieve goals. Therefore, focusing on leadership behavior will assist in explaining their role in improving the quality of education (McCauley & Cashman, 2018). Second, the research will demonstrate the responsibility of numerous stakeholders in changing and embracing new school leadership behaviors. As such, educational practitioners will learn more about the importance of leadership style in the improvement of learning (Mitchell et al., 2017). Finally, the research will motivate teachers and other stakeholders from low performing schools to understand the best leadership behaviors that they are supposed to deploy to improve the standards of learning.

Definition of Terms

Leadership style: “…is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. As seen by the employees, it includes the total pattern of explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader” (Tharp, 2018). Additionally, it is a pattern of explicit that illustrates how activities are supposed to do within an organization (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). As such, leadership style impose particular conduct that people are supposed to follow to attain the goals of an organization.

Learning transformation: “Transformational learning is the process of deep, constructive, and meaningful learning that goes beyond simple knowledge acquisition and supports critical ways in which learners consciously make meaning of their lives” (Bowe et al., 2017). The approach helps learners to consciously change behaviors for them to acquire the best in a particular activity.

Talent development: “…is a set of integrated organizational HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees. The goal of talent development is to create a high-performance, sustainable organization that meets its strategic and operational goals and objectives” (Mitchell et al., 2017). The tactic provides a chance for students to advance in their skills and knowledge, thus enhancing the quality of education.

Limitations

In data collection, there are high chances that participants may not effectively engage in the process. This will hinder data collection techniques, thus affecting the quality of the research conducted (Lee & Louis, 2019). Additionally, the study may experience challenges in sample selection, causing bias among participants (Bowe et al., 2017). Normally, sampling errors occur when a probability sampling technique is deployed to select participants, which do not represent the population of the study (Lee & Louis, 2019). The issue may be experienced if the study does not have enough access to the required institutions (Maier et al., 2017). Since most low performing schools are located in rural areas, the study may experience challenges in collecting information due to bad weather systems, which makes the road impassable (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). The condition may hinder the number of schools the study may evaluate (Bowe et al., 2017). If the researchers do not have enough data, it may experience an issue in drawing the conclusion (Lee & Louis, 2019). Normally, the large the data, the more chances of attaining a precise outcome (Maier et al., 2017). Furthermore, the research may experience the challenge of a lack of enough materials to support the topic of study(Lee & Louis, 2019). The conceptual issue may most occur due to a lack of enough search or the application of unreliable materials, which are not authorized for the study.

Review of Related Literature

In school settings, the leadership model is an essential aspect that impacts educational performance. According to McCauley and Cashman (2018), the leadership model has a great impact on academic productivity. In this case, the success of any learning institutions rely on the quality, skills, and commitment stakeholders take toward the education programs (Robinson et al., 2017). Despite various issues facing education, leaders are supposed to collaborate and engage activities and programs, such as four domains of rapid improvement, which aim at improving the performance of students (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). As such, the ability of a school to perform perfectly is determined by its leadership system.

Four Domains of Rapid Improvement

In low performing schools, principals and key stakeholders strive to introduce ways to improve the student outcome. The four domain of rapid school improvement is one of the crucial programs that aim to improve learning among struggling institutions (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). For many years, most district schools in America were struggling to enhance their learning performance (Lee & Louis, 2019). In 2009, the government of Obama extended the program to struggling schools with a goal of making a rapid change in the learning system (Redding et al., 2018). The government of America believed that the application of rapid improvement would give all learners an opportunity to benefit in the education system that best fits their needs (Robinson et al., 2017). As a way of enhancing the efficiency of rapid improvement, the education sector established a framework, which was made of four domains (McCauley & Cashman, 2018). Schools were required to integrate these domains, turnaround leadership, talent development, instructional transformation, and culture shift, for them to improve the performance (Meyers & Sadler, 2018). However, the success of these domains fully relied on school leaders’ participation (Lee & Louis, 2019). The kind of systems leaders deployed during the implementation of the domains determined how effective they are.