Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify leadership strategies employed at five model continuation high schools in Southern California as identified by the schools' principals. Methodology: A case study design and semi-structured interviews were used to explore the following question: What leadership perceived behavioral characteristics do principals at model continuation high schools employ? The researcher used a purposeful sampling approach to interview five current model continuation high school principals. This study utilized peer reviews during the development of the instrument and the data collection. The researcher followed an interview protocol to ensure as high a degree of standardization among the interviews as possible (Yin, 2014). To validate this study's findings, the researcher utilized peer reviews (Creswell, 2013; Yin, 2014). Findings: The findings from this study indicate that a successful characteristic of continuation high principals include: having a passion for at-risk youth, ability to empower students, are supportive, employ shared leadership techniques, futures thinking and goal-oriented, collaborative, focused on creating and maintaining a familial school culture, promote equity, seek to increase academic rigor, and are supported by their district. Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate that not one leadership style is preferred over the other; rather, effective principals are willing and able to be flexible according to the leadership needs of their school and its population of staff and students. Effective continuation high school leaders are diverse in their leadership approaches and maintain flexibility with the operational functioning in order to support students in a unique environment. Recommendations: Future research could include leadership characteristics employed through the perspectives of stakeholders and staff members. Future research would also benefit from interviewing principals with more years of experience. Furthermore, research would also benefit from focusing on schools that have maintained model continuation status for more than one cycle of 3 years. These schools would validate the employment of effective leadership practices over an extended period of time.