Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education and Organizational Leadership Development

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Danielle Hall Sutherland

Committee Member

Dr. Hans Klar

Committee Member

Dr. Anne Marie Rogers

Committee Member

Dr. Phillip Grant Jr.

Abstract

Organizational leaders frequently face challenges when navigating crises or unexpected problems. In such situations, leaders often rely on unbending emergency plans that lack the necessary flexibility, learning opportunities, and effective communication strategies to address the complexities of a crisis. This failure can result in repeated adverse outcomes the next time a crisis surfaces. This qualitative case study examined one high school leadership team’s use of PDSA cycles and the improvement science framework to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and emerging problems. Principles of the improvement science framework and chaos theory were applied to the collection and analysis of data. The application of improvement cycles to guide this school leadership team through the COVID-19 crisis revealed three significant findings: 1.) PDSA cycles enabled the leadership team to learn throughout the process. 2) The principal’s role evolved, resulting in collective leadership. 3.) Communication improved between school leaders as well as school leaders and staff. When faced with a crisis, recommendations for practitioners include steps to enhance the implementation of PDSA cycles, ways to build a collaborative culture within the leadership team, and ideas for establishing an effective communication plan.

Available for download on Sunday, August 31, 2025

Share

COinS