Images

Gary W. Ballou, Ph.D. is a 2008 graduate of the PHD Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University.

Dissertation Committee

  • Alan Guskin, Ph.D., Committee Chair
  • Jon Wergin, Ph.D., Committee Member
  • Bradley Portin, Ph.D., Committee Member

Keywords

teacher education, program accountability, perspective, higher education, education administrators, state government, governor, legislators, focus group, qualitative research, teacher preparation, stakeholders

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

This dissertation explored the perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs in the State of Washington across three different stakeholder groups: university deans and/or program directors, legislators, and executive staff members (Governor). This qualitative study involved three (3) rounds of interviews. First, individual open-ended interviews were conducted with 30 individuals (10 Washington state legislators, 5 executive staff members, and 15 university deans/program directors). Second, individual follow-up interviews were conducted with 5 participants from the first round of interviews. Third, a focus group comprised of the same 5 participants from the follow-up interviews were asked for even deeper specifications and insights from the individual interviews. This provided a method of triangulation for validating data obtained from the individual interviews with different stakeholders. It is hoped that this dissertation provided previously unavailable data and new insights about stakeholders' perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs. It provided data of value to both current and future leaders in teacher education programs as well as state government as they attempt to enact accountability policies and programs. It provided valuable information about the perspectives of those individuals directly responsible for developing and implementing the programs within and outside teacher education institutions. This study also provided other stakeholder groups, such as accrediting agencies and educational governing boards, the opportunity to examine the perceptions of Washington state university and government leaders. Hopefully, this dissertation opened the door to recommendations leading to policy improvement and program enhancement. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLINK ETD Center, www.etd.ohiolink.edu.

Download

Share

COinS