Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Robert Flanders

Abstract

Although the role of the principal has shifted from manager to instructional leader responsible for teaching and learning, little is known about supports offered to elementary teachers from principals in the area of mathematical literacy. Elementary principals are inconsistent in terms of supporting teachers’ mathematical literacy instructional strategies. To develop a culture of mathematical understanding, principal support is required. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary school principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of supports offered by elementary principals to teachers in the area of mathematical literacy. The conceptual framework for this study was Burns’ transformational leadership theory. The research questions developed for this study involved perceptions of principals and teachers with regard to principal supports offered to teachers in the area of mathematical literacy in the mathematics classroom. Semi-structured Zoom interviews were conducted with seventeen participants, nine elementary principals, and eight elementary teachers. Data were analyzed and coded using hand-coding and NVivo to identify themes and patterns to answer the two research questions. Findings of the basic qualitative study suggested that supports offered by elementary principals to teachers in the area of mathematical literacy included collaborative conversations through colleagues, distributed leadership through a math instructional lead teacher, and professional development support from the math department. Implications for positive social change include practices and strategies principals can use to motivate teachers to implement mathematical literacy strategies in the classroom.

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