AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY CASE STUDY: RECOGNIZING THE POSITIVE CORE OF TEACHERS IN A LOW SES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THAT MET STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE A Dissertation by Jaclynn L. Glasgow M.Ed., Wichita State University, 2003 M.Ed., Wichita State University, 1978 B.S., Emporia State University, 1974 Submitted to the College of Education and to the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education May 2008 © Copyright 2008 by Jaclynn L. Glasgow All Rights Reserved AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY CASE STUDY: RECOGNIZING THE POSITIVE CORE OF TEACHERS IN A LOW SES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THAT MET STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content, and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Educational Leadership. _________________________________ Raymond L. Calabrese, Committee Chair We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: _________________________________ John Fast, Committee Member _________________________________ Dennis Kear, Committee Member _________________________________ Jean Patterson, Committee Member _________________________________ Randy Turk, Committee Member Accepted for the College of Education _________________________________ Sharon Iorio, Dean Accepted for the Graduate School _________________________________ Susan K. Kovar, Dean iii DEDICATION To Steve for supporting my dream, Jenni, Tyler, and Grant for believing in me, my parents, Lyle and Jean Udall, for their affirmation of faith and daily encouragement, my friends and colleagues who stood by me throughout this journey of discovery. In loving memory of my father and mother-in-law, Homer and Jean Glasgow, who shared my values of education. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have always been considered a life long learner pushing myself to excel and further my knowledge. I could not have pursued my educational journey of discovery without the support of those I consider educational leaders. I wish to thank Dr. Ray Calabrese for shaping and molding the potential he saw in me that I never thought possible. He did not allow me to limit my vision of who I can be. His expectation was nothing less than for me to perform my best. He helped me realize that learning has no boundaries. I respect his expertise, imagery, and energy as an educational leader. He has changed my life. The Educational Leadership Doctoral Program has empowered me to develop as an educational leader and extend my learning. I am grateful for their insight and knowledge bestowed upon me by Education Leadership faculty during my three years of study—Dr. Ray Calabrese, Dr. Jean Patterson, Dr. Randy Turk, Dr. Ian Gibson, and Dr. Glyn Rimmington. I am appreciative to the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Ray Calabrese, Dr. Jean Patterson, Dr. Randy Turk, Dr. Dennis Kear, and Dr. John Fast, for their encouragement, support, and leadership. I want to thank Dr. Allen Hillen, former Superintendent of USD, who guided me during my doctoral program. I also thank Mr. Rick Weiss, USD 353 Superintendent Wellington Public Schools, members of the USD 353 Board of Education, and USD 353 Central Office staff for their unselfish support during my educational journey. I also wish to thank the other three members of Cohort 14—Allen Jantz, Kathy Mickelson, and Teresa San Martin. I especially thank Teresa San Martin who was my anchor and my sail through this process. Our cohort set expectations of not accepting anything but our best; and, each of you taught me to believe in myself. v I thank Cohort 13 members and graduates, Erica Nance, Charlene Laramore, Bill Kelley, Jan Peterson, Danielle Hollas, Diane Gross, and Crystal Hummel, for their ongoing guidance and fortitude. I thank Donna Palsmeier, Jennifer Robinson, and Cindy Struble my office administrative assistants, and the staff members at Lincoln Elementary School who listened to me, encouraged me, and believed in me to achieve this goal. I give special thanks to the inspiring staff of Lincoln Elementary for their aspiration to help me conduct my research and for making a difference for all students. I thank my colleagues Dale Liston, Joe Jacobs, Jerry Hodson, Jamie Ybarra, John Walton, Kelly Adams, Ron Brown, Carol Hadorn, former USD 353 principal, and Dr. Marcy Aycock, former USD 353 principal, for their assistance with various district responsibilities while in the doctoral program. I thank my parents, Lyle and Jean Udall, who believed and supported me unconditionally. I also thank my children, Grant Glasgow, Jenni Heffron and her husband Tyler, who understood the importance of my dream. Lastly, thank you to my husband, Steve Glasgow, who did it all and allowed me to be me. vi ABSTRACT The purpose of my study was to discover the successful teaching practices of teachers in a Standard of Excellence elementary school. My study also identified the necessary ecological conditions for the teachers to sustain and extend their successful teaching practices. Due to limited research on the study of successful teaching practices of teachers as it relates to student achievement, this study sought to describe the successful teaching practices of teachers in a SOE elementary school, and it sought to understand the conditions to help sustain and extend their successful teaching practices. The design of this study was a qualitative case study conducted through an appreciative inquiry theoretical perspective and capacity building theory. An appreciative inquiry theoretical perspective is an inquiry process that seeks to affirm and build on strengths and past successes of the participants to discover what gives life to their organization or its positive core. Capacity building theory encourages the conditions and opportunities for shared learning and collaboration. Participants were asked to volunteer to participate in various data collection methods: semi-structured paired interviews, focus groups, and participant created documents. Data were unitized, sorted, and coded through an open and axial coding process (which is a process of breaking down the data and then synthesizing it in a meaningful way) (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), using text analysis software (Ryan & Bernard, 2000) so that the participants’ perspectives were synthesized in a manner that allowed the research questions to be answered (Huberman, 1990). Content analysis simultaneously coded the content and constructs relevant categories (Merriam, 2001). CATPAC software was used as an initial foundation of reading text for the vii interrelationships between words allowing themes to emerge (Woelfel, 1990). Data was compared by categories, themes, or dimensions of information (Creswell, 1998). Participants were guided through two phases of the AI 4-D Cycle of discovery and dream. Detailed field notes were taken and information was collected from multiple perspectives. Five salient findings emerged from the data analysis: (1) Lincoln Elementary School is a cohesive group of educators who seek to help students reach their potential; (2) Lincoln Elementary School educators collaborate to strengthen and enhance instructional practices; (3) Lincoln Elementary School educators value and care about all school stakeholders; (4) Lincoln Elementary School educators created an inclusive community bound by strong interpersonal relationships; (5) Lincoln Elementary School educators want to create a learning environment that is student centered and family oriented where teachers use progressive practices in teaching students. The findings from my research suggested that the appreciative inquiry process has the potential to change teachers’ pedagogical practices and the conditions for the practices to sustain. Using an appreciative inquiry process in this research study empowered participants and sparked a new vision of optimism, hope, and a passion for teaching. All the findings from this study have the potential to transform how educators meet the demands of school accountability and look to sustain high performance by describing the successful teaching practices and the ecological conditions needed to sustain and extend these practices. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page DEDICATION............................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1 ....................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY................................................................................................2 Teacher Beliefs ....................................................................................................................... 6 PROBLEM STATEMENT..............................................................................................................8 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY...........................................................................................................9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.................................................................................................9 OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................11 Units of Analysis................................................................................................................... 12 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................................12 OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................................................................12 LIMITATIONS ...........................................................................................................................................................13 DELIMITATIONS.......................................................................................................................................................13 ASSUMPTIONS..........................................................................................................................................................13 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS ...................................................................................................14 Capacity Building ................................................................................................................. 14 Standard of Excellence ......................................................................................................... 14 Student Achievement ............................................................................................................ 14 SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................................................16 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................................................................16 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................................................16 Professional Experiences ...................................................................................................... 16 Epistemology ........................................................................................................................ 17 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Chapter Page Theoretical Framework......................................................................................................... 18 Appreciative inquiry. ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 Capacity building theory......................................................................................................................................................... 23 COMPETING PERSPECTIVE .......................................................................................................................................26 METHODOLOGY FOR THE REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH....................................27 SYNTHESIS OF THE REVIEWED RESEARCH ...............................................................................................................31 Successful Pedagogy and Pedagogical Practices and Student Success ................................ 31 Teacher Efficacy and High Expectations for Students ......................................................... 33 Teacher Involvement in Decision Making and Distributed Leadership ............................... 35 Positive School Climate and Student Academic Success ..................................................... 37 Appreciative Inquiry and Optimistic Change ....................................................................... 38 SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................................................44 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................44 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .........................................................................44 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.........................................................................................................45 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...........................................................................................................45 CONTEXT.....................................................................................................................................46 UNIT OF ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................48 ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER ...................................................................................................49 METHODS ....................................................................................................................................50 SEMI-STRUCTURED PAIRED INTERVIEWS.................................................................................................................52 FOCUS GROUPS........................................................................................................................................................52 PARTICIPANT CREATED DOCUMENTS ......................................................................................................................53 DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................................................53 RESEARCH QUALITY................................................................................................................54 x