School consolidation: A qualitative case study on the importance of identity in a rural environment

dc.contributor.advisor Constance C. Beecher
dc.contributor.advisor Robert D. Reason
dc.contributor.author Burrack, Sue
dc.contributor.department School of Education
dc.date 2020-02-12T22:53:33.000
dc.date.accessioned 2020-06-30T03:19:57Z
dc.date.available 2020-06-30T03:19:57Z
dc.date.copyright Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 UTC 2019
dc.date.embargo 2001-01-01
dc.date.issued 2019-01-01
dc.description.abstract <p>Though school district consolidation in the United States has been occurring from the early part of the 20th Century to present times, there is still much to be discovered on the best way to approach school consolidation and, specifically, approach the shifting social and cultural identity involved during the school consolidation process. Most of the focus of the body of literature concerning the effects of school consolidation has been on efficiency and financial issues inherent in making the decision to consolidate. This study provided a better understanding on behavioral, cognitive, and affective components involved in social capital and school identity and the importance of these factors within school consolidation consideration.</p> <p>Social capital involves the connections and sense of belonging within a community or group that result from similar demographic attitudes and characteristics within the rural environment. This can be realized through affiliation with a school and the identification with the environment which is partially created through shared meanings, shared symbols, and sayings of the school. This institutional and educational culture can occur without awareness and over time from the affective, behavioral and cognitive ties among the people and their sociophysical environment. A changing school identity may influence the social capital, local economy, and community identity. The emphasis of the study was on how identity within a rural environment played a role in school consolidation consideration and the implications of a potentially changing school identity.</p> <p>This research used a case study design with interviews conducted with selected stakeholders of the rural school districts involved in the case study. Case study was used for the research since case study allowed the researcher to seek out and conceptualize the ideas that emerged through interviews, observation, personal histories, and archival documents. This study focused on the perceptions of a school superintendent, a school board president, alumni students, and community members in the area of identity of the individuals and the school within the rural environment. There were a total of six participants and each was involved in two interviews. By using case study, the researcher gained an in-depth understanding of the concerned phenomena in a “real-life” setting.</p> <p>Significant changes can occur as school consolidation is considered. A likely byproduct of impending change is disruption and discussion. How do stakeholders in the school consolidation process describe their experiences? How do the experiences in the school consolidation process impact the self-perceived identity of the stakeholders? What were the concerns about identity posed by various stakeholders from the perspective of the superintendent of the school district, school board president, students at the time of the consolidation, and selected members of the community and how were these concerns addressed?</p> <p>Utilizing an interpretive theoretical perspective, this qualitative case study applied Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory of Human Development as a method to ground the study and develop the evidence base for the role of place attachment in social-ecological dynamics. Bronfenbrenner’s Theory gave attention to different social and cultural contexts and allowed examination of place attachment and how people and cultures relate to their environments. The emphasis on the interaction with social-ecological change was used to support and focus the approach and allowed me to remove subjectivity as much as possible in the analysis. I could focus exclusively on participant perspectives and explore the affective, behavioral and social factors involved in the consideration of consolidation of a rural school district. Meanings emerged through the research process. The several strands of evidence related to the experience of rural school consolidation were synthesized to enable me to state the major research findings and offer recommendations on the findings.</p>
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17653/
dc.identifier.articleid 8660
dc.identifier.contextkey 16524515
dc.identifier.s3bucket isulib-bepress-aws-west
dc.identifier.submissionpath etd/17653
dc.identifier.uri https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/31836
dc.language.iso en
dc.source.bitstream archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17653/Burrack_iastate_0097E_18477.pdf|||Fri Jan 14 21:26:50 UTC 2022
dc.subject.disciplines Educational Administration and Supervision
dc.subject.keywords identity
dc.subject.keywords rural environment
dc.subject.keywords school consolidation
dc.title School consolidation: A qualitative case study on the importance of identity in a rural environment
dc.type dissertation
dc.type.genre dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 385cf52e-6bde-4882-ae38-cd86c9b11fce
thesis.degree.discipline Education
thesis.degree.level dissertation
thesis.degree.name Doctor of Philosophy
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