# Updated Research Question Draft:
## what does the research say about peer coaching for principals as it relates to leadership development?
## Question: How do principals feel about sustained leadership development ~~compared to one-off leadership development~~?
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[[thirlby2022]]
Some thoughts about this research question:
- There's a significant amount of research out there about job-embedded professional development for teachers, but not as much for principals. (Andrew Croft et al., 2010)
- Job-embedded leadership development research is often focused on teachers as informal leaders in their schools, not necessarily focused on principals specifically (Hunzicker, 2012)
- There is an interesting case study of a university partnering with a district to provide a pipeline for principals, but this is not what I'm looking for (Valle et al., 2015)
- My hypothesis is that one-off leadership development (conferences, speakers, one-time trainings) are largely not as meaningful to school leaders, as that has been my experience, and my experience with other colleagues.
- This relates to my previous question below in that it starts to get at an idea of sustained leadership development.
- I define Sustained as a leadership development experience that continues beyond a single time and space. For sake of clarity, it must last at least one academic year, and some sort of training should happen one time per month in that academic year, for a total of at least 10 hours over the course of the academic year.
- Leadership Development, according to Thirlby (2022), does not have a theory of practice
- Because we cannot effectually or empirically define what makes agreement leads or hero to become one, we are lacking in tools and strategies to Support and evaluate estate leadership development: "The general assumption that a leadership development investment will produce great leadership, however, does not necessarily follow. This is because those in the field of leadership development including organizations, professional management associations, and practitioners, are not adequately measuring and cannot confirm empirically what constitutes effective leadership development" (Thirlby, 2022)
- My hypothesis is that leadership development is a personal process that one goes through, and the more one can have reflective touchpoints where they can work "on the [school] instead of in the [school]" (Gerber, 1995)
- Reflective Touchpoints (a term of my [own](https://learn.brazeltontouchpoints.org/catalog/using-the-touchpoints-approach-in-reflective-supervision-and-coaching-june-2024/) [creation](https://www.linkedin.com/advice/3/how-can-you-ensure-your-touchpoints-reflect), as far as I know) are simply times to reflect and evaluate one's own leadership practices, typically facilitated by a leadership development coach or developer.
### References
- Andrew Croft, Jane G. Coggshall, Ph.D., Megan Dolan, Ed.D., Elizabeth Powers, & With Joellen Killion. (2010). _Job-Embedded Professional Development: What It Is, Who Is Responsible, and How to Get It Done Well_ (p. 24) [Issue Brief]. National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. [https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED520830.pdf](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED520830.pdf)
- Gerber, M. E. (1995). _The E-myth revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it_ (1st ed). HarperBusiness.
- Hunzicker, J. (2012). Professional development and job-embedded collaboration: How teachers learn to exercise leadership. _Professional Development in Education_, _38_(2), 267–289. [https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657870](https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657870)
- Thirlby, J. (2022). _The Process of Leadership Development: How Leaders Experience Growth Over the Span of Their Careers_ [Ed.D]. Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education St. John Fisher College.
- Valle, F., Almager, I. L., Molina, R., & Claudet, J. (2015). Answering the Call for 21st Century Instructional Leadership: A Case Study of a School District and University Job-Embedded Aspiring Leaders Partnership. _Open Journal of Leadership_, _04_(03), 86–101. [https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2015.43009](https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2015.43009)
### Other possible studies to research
- Lee, G. V., and Barnett, B. G. "Using Reflective Questioning to Promote Collaborative Dialogue." Journal of Staff Development, 15:1 (1994), 16-21.
- Peterson, K. D. 'Obstacles to Learning from Experience and Principal Training." The Urban Review. 17 (1985), 189-200.
# Potential other research questions:
After reading [[Hansford.Ehrich2006]] literature review on mentoring, here is a potential new pathway to a research question:
## Question: What must be considered when determining a Mentor/Mentee relationship? OR How can a principal choose the right mentor?
Some key considerations:
- What does the person need to know to find that mentor?
- How do they know if it is a good mentor?
- How does the mentee provide value for the mentor?
-
## First draft question
~~**How does hosting a podcast about leadership increase a principal's leadership skills as measured by staff perceptions of his/her leadership (surveys) and his own perceptions over time using a standard self-evaluation survey?**~~
**"How does hosting a leadership podcast impact a principal's leadership skills, measured through staff perceptions (surveys) and the principal's self-evaluation over time?"**
There are a few assumptions and definitions that clarify this research question.
1. My own experience as a podcast host and learning in what I call "dog years." I learned very quickly what needed to be done in my schools because I was asking for direct help in doing so.
2. A podcast is an RSS-feed based medium for distribution of audio content.
3. The prerequisite for the principal podcast host participant would be that he or she or ask questions in the podcast pertinent to their current situation and the struggles they are facing. For example, doing a podcast about leadership in sports may or may not be as relevant to the individual school leadership of that principal. But could be an interesting followup question, but out of the scope of this question.
4. This would advance knowledge in my field because it would show improvement or status quo in leadership development of the participant, as evidenced by staff surveys and a self-evaluation survey of the participant.
5. This would improve educational practice, because it could justify changing principal professional development from district-directed sit-and-get to self-directed learning through a podcast production.
6. This would improve the human condition by sharing a more effective way to learn and grow if we are comparing it to other ways that principals could learn and grow. This could lead to advocating for other fields to pursue podcast hosting as a learning medium, and not just as a consumption medium.
7. This is predicated on an idea that self-directed learning is a valuable exercise for adult learning.
8. Podcasts can be very manageable to produce.
9. The surveys for the teachers would need to assess their perception of the principal's leadership skills before, perhaps during, and after a time period of hosting the podcast. Teachers need not listen to the podcast to provide input.
10. The self-evaluation survey would need to be done regularly to determine how the principal did or did not implement things he or she learned as a part of the podcast creation. Principals need not learn how to edit, publish, or distribute a podcast, for downloads and other vanity metrics are not pertinent to this research question.
[[defining terms]]
# Research question examples from dissertations
## From (Putman, 2021):
1. Does the IVR learning experience affect the competency level of preservice teachers’ lesson planning compared to a 2D learning experience?
2. To what extent does the instructional method affect the learning outcomes of preservice teachers?
3. To what extent does the use of IVR in training influence preservice teachers’ intention for use of IVR in their P-12 instruction?
## From (Thirlby, 2022):
What is the meaning that a leader attributes to events or situations they believe have facilitated change or growth in their leader/leadership development process over the span of their career?
## From (Bailey, 2023):
1. What conditions of possibilities do particular outdoor spaces make available in terms of what human and non-human bodies can do?
2. How do these conditions of possibilities, and associated spaces and bodies, disrupt notions of place, learning, and identities?
## From (Nash 2017):
1. How are the STEM-related lessons delivered by LEGO® Education ambassador teachers fostering the engagement of female students in STEM areas?
1. How do ambassador teachers purposefully try to interest female students in STEM learning?
2. What characteristics of the LEGO® Education STEM material do teachers perceive to be conducive to engaging girls in STEM?
# Research Questions from Lit Reviews
## From Collins.Horton2004
> This study answered the following research questions:
> 1) Across studies measuring knowledge outcomes, how effective is managerial leadership development?
> 2) Across studies measuring expertise (or behavior) outcomes, how effective is managerial leadership development?
> 3) Across studies measuring system outcomes, how effective is managerial leadership development?
> 4) What moderator effects can be detected for the following variables: training content, organization type, job classification level, publication type, measurement method, research design, and objective-subjective outcomes?
[[EDUC 7710 Research methods|7710]]