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.
Recommended Citation
Brandt, Andrew S., "Improvement Cycles in the Wake of a Crisis: A School Leadership Team’s Approach to the Unknown" (2024). All Dissertations. 3656.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/3656