Scholarship & Research
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Item Superintendent efficacy and addressing community needs(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2024) Kirchner, Derek Lee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Tena VerslandThe purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore how a self-efficacious superintendent mitigates the challenges of addressing community needs. In previous literature on community dissatisfaction, superintendents who have neglected the needs of community members have lost their jobs. Despite being trained for and required to demonstrate knowledge on ways to identify and address the needs of the school district community, many superintendents fall short and end up being removed from their positions by the school board and community. Self-Efficacy theory postulates that individuals with a high degree of efficacy for their jobs seek out and are more receptive to innovations within their workplaces. This research study utilized a document review of school board meeting minutes, public voting data, and superintendent correspondence to determine instances of community needs. This information was utilized to conduct semiformal interviews with a superintendent to explore strategies he used to address needs in the community. The results of the document revealed that dissatisfaction occurred around four events: the Cougar's Cave playground structure, the Economic Development District, the High School project, and COVID-19. The analysis of the interviews indicated that the superintendent employed three strategies to mitigate community dissatisfaction: Developed a Culture of Learning within the District, Involved the Community, and Built Relationships. The strategies in this research echo what has already been written regarding successful superintendent leadership. Conclusions drawn from this project include the idea that both the superintendent and the school board should research each other prior to offering and accepting employment in a district to ensure superintendent skillsets match district needs. A second conclusion is the superintendent should develop a strong relationship with the school board but should remain open to feedback and concerns from the community. A final conclusion drawn from the research is that the superintendent should selectively choose mentors and be receptive to their advice.Item Community, agency, and place: an instrumental case study of a relational partnership between rural museum and school stakeholders(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2022) Weikert, Angela Hewitt; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jayne DowneyIn the discussion about the formation and function of partnerships between community anchor institutions (e.g., schools, communities, and museums), previous studies examining motivating reasons for partnerships have been primarily focused on urban settings. Next to no research has been conducted to understand the unique factors that support partnerships in rural communities. Therefore, the purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the motivating reasons why stakeholders from community anchor institutions establish and sustain a partnership to design and implement a place-conscious approach to education in a rural context. Data were collected using field notes, documents, audiovisual digital materials, and semi-structured interviews with nine stakeholders representing a museum and a local school district. The findings from this study illuminated the importance of understanding the nature of partnerships in a rural context. They highlight a significant shift away from previous definitions of partnerships as transactional and elevate the importance of both the relational aspects of a partnership and the critical role that relationships play in everyday rural life. The results of this study revealed how rural community members are connected through multiple roles and intentionally build long-standing relationships to support students beyond the classroom. The results also extended the findings of previous studies regarding individuals' motivating reasons for partnerships, through articulating the multidimensional reasons why stakeholders in rural contexts participate in partnership activities. These reasons included: a vision for the whole community, beliefs about personal contributions, and the value of place. Finally, the participants in this study demonstrated solution-focused innovation in their approaches to prioritizing partnership activities. This new finding highlights the shortcomings of previous descriptions of the factors that shape partnership activities which reflect superficial understandings of partnerships through vocabulary choices such as constrain or promote. Notably, this study provided an example of rural education innovation modeling how new ideas developed with rural communities can build on and extend previous positive outcomes (White & Downey, 2021). Recommendations are made for future research to explore relational partnerships and anchor institutions in other communities, as well as studying how these relationships contribute to measures of community well-being, vitality, and student outcomes.