LUDCKE LIBRARY Lesley University 30 Mellen Street Cambridge, MA 02138-2790 For Reference Not to be taken from this room Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lesley University, Sherrill Library http://www.archive.org/details/sustainableresulOOpegg Sustainable Results in Urban Middle Schools SUSTAINABLE RESULTS IN URBAN MIDDLE SCHOOLS: HOW PRINCIPALS USE SYSTEMS THINKING TO LEAD EFFECTIVE CHANGE A DISSERTATION PEGGY H. BURKE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy LESLEY UNTVERSTTY Febniary 1 2002 Sustainable Results in Urban Middle Schools \ Abstract This study presents the stories of four urban middle school principals engaged in reform that is grounded on the core principle that every early adolescent has the capacity for high-level intellectual development. Data collected over two years through formal interviews and informal conversations with principals and teachers, school and district surveys and reports, student test data, and personal observations were analyzed from a systems thinking theoretical framework to assess each principal's ability to implement reform that produced sustainable results. A systems thinking framework articulates the importance of a leader's ability to: 1) c onceptualize the whole and recognize patterns; 2) aspire a purpose for why the organization exists and describe the beliefs about how members of the organizations will interact; 3) reflect so as to surface assumptions and patterns of behavior that facilitate or block the organizations ability to achieve what they want most. The analysis makes visible that all four principals have the ability to conceptualize, aspire, and reflect. The data also suggest that the principal's clarity of purpose has a significant impact on the their ability to stay focused on moving the school in a coherent direction. Sustainable Results in Urban Middle Schools Acknowledgements The skeleton of this dissertation materialized when Dr. Stephen M. Brown, at that time Dean of the College of Education at Lesley University, recommended that I r ead Peter Senge's book. The Fifth Discipline (1990). The concept of Systems Thinking resonated with my own beliefs about leadership and creatmg collaborative organizations. Dr. Brown continued to nurture my interest through several conferences on leadership and organizational learning sponsored by Linkage. It was at these conferences that I h ad my first opportunity to hear and talk wdth Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley. I a m extremely grateful to Steve for the introduction, dialogue, and initial support m imderstanding the multiple layers of Systems Thinking. Peter Senge's Work, at that time with hmovation Associates, led to my introduction to Lou Ann Daly. I g reatly appreciate Lou Ann's mentoring and guidance on a j ourney into systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. When I w ould leap over big concepts, she gently walked me through the maze helping me to understand the nuances. The many people that I t hen met through my work vsdth Turning Points both nationally and locally gave me the heart and content of the work. This committed group of people, includes: principals, teachers, students, superintendents, and assistant superintendents, fellow coaches, and the researchers and practitioners of the original Carnegie Project, the Middle Grade School State Policy hiitiative (MGSSPI). There are many from MGGSPI