Portrait of a Turnaround Leader in a High Needs District

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Kimberly Kappler Hewitt, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Ulrich "Rick" Reitzug, Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Using portraiture methodology involving interview, observation, and artifact data, this study portrays a turnaround leader, Dr. Susan Gray, in a high needs, rural district in the Southeast. In three years, Gray led Lincoln Elementary from nearly being reconstituted to being an awardwinning school. Gray has subsequently been assigned other leadership roles that required a change agent. The study narrates Gray’s professional arc, highlighting her drive, ability to build relational trust, unapologetic disruption of deficit thinking, mission-orientation, and high expectations to guide the turnaround process. The paper concludes with implications for practice and research related to leadership preparation and school turnaround.

Additional Information

Publication
Education Leadership Review, 16(2), 19-35
Language: English
Date: 2015
Keywords
school turnaround, school leadership, school reform, portraiture, turnaround principal

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