Plan of Action

This entire process has been pointing towards this scholar section and being ready to write a dissertation.  I’ve been working since the first course with Dr. Hughes on seeing data and spotting trends.  Because of my familiarity with online courses, I was able to “sit in” on the first online version of the 5415 course.   It seems odd that the first thing we learned here will be the core of what I will be taking forward into my potential dissertation.

The Scholar section describes the culmination of the classroom phase of the doctoral process. The portfolio  so far has detailed where I came from, and how I got to this point.  It is also the spot where we catch our breath, reflect on the preparation process and change the focus from one for all, to all for one.  Many have said that this is now the hard part. We have heard all about the drum and strang of failures and finishing the dissertation as being a final fantasy.  I hope not because I am determined to be as prepared as I can be and to hit the ground running.

Research
I met with Dr. Livermore in Queens and together we hunted for any similar dissertations.  It looks like this is going to be original research with little similarity to anything we could find.  I have been collecting and reading through potential research sources for my literature review and books relating to the subject matter. Here are my working compilations for possible dissertation reference material. I have split this into dissertations on comparison methods and New York School district comparisons, which contains materials from articles, journals, and dissertations.

My hope is to eventually be at the point our previous cohort members spoke about when you stop reading anything new on your topic. While I am not through reading all of the dissertations and research papers in the compilation, I feel comfortable that the collection I have assembled should give me a good understanding of the majority of themes about my topic.

Leading Theorists for the Dissertation
Throughout the portfolio there are references to the variety of theorists that have been a part of the cohort process.  The goal has been to have particular theorists “speak” to the candidate.  In my case I have had the rare opportunity to speak directly with my major theorist on many occasions.  Dr. Jonathan Hughes has started me on this research path, and continues to wear many hats in this process for me.

His work on data has been influenced and shaped, or at least he has found, a series of them who have expounded on methodology and work that he also uses.  Phillip A. Seifert, Victoria Bernhardt, Ruth Johnson, and Paul Preuss have been some of the data analysis authors I have been given as “light reading” by Dr. Hughes.

I also connected with Jim Collins and the “Good to Great” philosophy and methodology.  I’ve discussed issues regarding how this can be incorporated into my dissertation and have patterned some of the criteria grid on Collins’ work.

Current Thrust of the Dissertation Research
All  of this seems to be heading towards New York’s similar schools selection process. I have met regularly with Dr. Hughes about my potential dissertation. The crux of the problem statement is now based upon looking at How good is the New York State similar schools methodology for comparing school districts? How I arrived at that topic is detailed here.
Ongoing faculty advisement and benchmarking