Date
3-2022
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Lucinda Spaulding
Keywords
Accreditation, Catholic Education, National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools, School Improvement, Quality Assurance
Disciplines
Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Recommended Citation
Kremer, Andrew Michael, "Exploring How Catholic School Leaders Use the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools as a Framework for Accreditation: A Single Case Study" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3438.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3438
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore how Catholic school leaders in a Catholic diocese in the Midwestern United States use the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools (NSBECS) to inform their school improvement processes through accreditation. Through the theoretical lens of routinized action theory, the uses of the NSBECS for accreditation and the perceptions of the influence of the NSBECS on school improvement were studied. This study was guided by the central research question: How do Catholic school leaders in the Midwestern United States use the NSBECS to inform their school improvement processes through accreditation? Data collection procedures included individual interviews, focus group interviews, relevant documents involving accreditation and the use of the NSBECS, and a participant survey. Data was transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a two-cycle coding approach. The first-cycle coding approach consisted of Process Coding and Value Coding. Codes were then aggregated into themes, which were analyzed in the second cycle of Pattern Coding. Major themes and subthemes, organized by the central research question and two sub questions were identified through data analysis. The major themes organized into the central research question included planning, data collection, and self-assessing. The theme identified in sub question one was influence, and the themes identified in sub question two were redundancy and differentiation. The implications of this study included the uniqueness of Catholic schools that are addressed using the NSBECS as a framework for accreditation, the inclusion of community stakeholders in accreditation, and the importance of reflection in the accreditation process.
