A Description Of Baldrige In Education Leadership Concepts Within The Alaska Quality Schools Model Of Education

Abstract

This dissertation reviews the implementation of the Quality Schools Model (QSM) of educational reform in three rural Alaska school districts. This research examines the fit between the theoretical model of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) program and actual practice in the context of rural Alaskan school districts implementing the QSM. Specifically, I sought to determine the perceived levels of importance and practice of leadership practices to form conclusions about the role of leadership. I examined the systematic creation of conditions within the studied districts to foster the transformation from traditional hierarchical leadership to distributed leadership with ownership throughout the system. The results of this mixed-methods study come in part from an analysis of quantitative survey data from a sampling of the three districts' certified and classified staff. Using a concurrent nested design, I triangulated these data with qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews of a criterion-based sample of staff and community members within the districts. I conducted this research in collaboration with three cohort members. The following are summary statements of the principal quantitative findings for the common research question: (1) The QSM survey data confirmed the theory that as an independent construct, Leadership drives the remaining Baldrige constructs within the QSM. Derived from the QSM survey, it is therefore a valid Leadership Model for rural Alaskan educators. (2) Through principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, we found that within the QSM school districts studied, leadership had significant direct causal effect upon two Baldrige constructs (Staff Focus and Knowledge Management) and an indirect causal effect upon the remaining four constructs (Process Management; Strategic Planning; Student, Stakeholder, and Market Focus; and Results). The fit indices from structural equation modeling show the alternative QSM Leadership Model to be a statistically acceptable alternative to the Baldrige (MBNQA) model. This research illustrated that staff of the three districts in the study perceived the MBNQA leadership concepts within the QSM to be important. While these districts may not have fully implemented these concepts, this study indicates each district is well on its way toward putting them into practice.