Leading And Learning Through the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study of Leadership in Rural School Districts in Texas

Justin D. Cox

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Educational Administration

Date of Award

8-14-2024

Abstract

Although school districts have prepared and planned for school crises for many years in response to the Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting tragedies, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges for school districts when dealing with educating students amid a pandemic. This qualitative phenomenological study examined leadership in small, rural school districts in Texas facing a pandemic. The study was guided using crisis management theory (Crandall et al., 2021) as the theoretical framework to explore the crisis of COVID-19 in rural school districts. I conducted interviews to explore the actions, changes, and challenges leaders confronted as they created and adapted organizational policies and practices to meet the needs of students and families as suffering endured in light of the pandemic. I used qualitative data analysis software to code the interview data to find common themes and relationships in the responses from participants, consisting of principals at small, rural school districts in Texas. I hope to show how leaders in rural school districts managed and allowed their districts to create systems to provide for their students in a crisis. The findings support that school districts were underprepared to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and need preparations for future crises. Other school districts can utilize the study when implementing new practices and policies in response to a crisis to ensure they have the tools, resources, and organizational systems necessary to handle any situation encountered.

Advisor

Danna Beaty-Boudreaux

Subject Categories

Education | Educational Leadership

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