Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of eleven principals concerning the efficacy, practicality, and utility of the principles and skills presented in the Santa Cruz County Educational Leadership Consortium Academy (SCCELCA) business-education partnership. Methodology. A descriptive case-study research approach was implemented. Tape-recorded interviews were conducted with participants involved in the three-year business-education partnership. Findings. The major findings of this study were in the areas of leadership, support, utilization of skills, data-driven schoolwide changes, and customer satisfaction. The eleven principals all demonstrated strong commitment to the program and consistent participation; maintained clear goals for their schools; and collected, analyzed, and utilized the program data to create systemic changes at their school facilities. The principals clearly recognized the value of support from a coach or mentor and their school staff, and they all acknowledged the initial and continual support provided from the business and education partners during the change process. All of the participating principals anticipated ongoing professional use of the skills as administrators. Data from the school surveys conducted in the program helped the principals drive changes within their schools and align their goals with their resources. The principals acknowledged that a major part of their role as school leaders was to provide customer service to parents. Discussion and conclusions. Several potentially fruitful areas emerged for future study. These included the following suggestions: (1) Replication of this study using SCCELCA team members other than the principals. (2) Replication at a later time with the same principals to determine if the acquired skills were retained and continued to be utilized. (3) Additional studies comparing schools that received formal professional development in Total Quality Management to those that have not received similar training. (4) Research focused on schools aiming for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. (5) Research focused on business recipients of the award. (6) A comparison study of the responses from both business and education partners to business-education professional-development training programs. The success of the SCCELCA business-education partnership was directly attributable to the strong leadership of the business partner, education partner, and each of the participating principals.