부산대학교 도서관

Over the past twenty years, a shifting demographic in schools has created the need to view and lead them through a culturally proficient and equitable lens. School leaders, however, remain short-changed on the preparation time needed to address important issues that surpass the narrow lens of content and instruction. This study used a qualitative approach to address the dearth of research surrounding this topic by examining current high-school leaders' perspectives on facilitating professional development and leading equitable outcomes for their schools based on three key questions focused on the knowledge base, qualifications, empowerment, and support from district-level leadership. The research setting and participants were high school principals from Greater Philadelphia and Pennsylvania suburban public schools. The framework of the study was designed to identify and understand the relationships between these school leaders, their professional learning, their barriers to change, and their empowerment and motivation to lead it based on cultural competence and equity. An electronic closed-ended survey and semi-structured interviews with the participants provided vital data points for analysis and the development of themes. Data analysis revealed that many school leaders asked to lead the charge for change are either unprepared, underprepared, or not supported. The findings in this study could lead to change in how building-level leaders approach this work and the level of support required to do it effectively. Future research could include an analysis of post-graduate administrative programs implementing cultural proficiency and equity leadership as crucial competence areas and the impact of the integration of diversity and equity-specific leadership positions on building leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]