Date of Award

Fall 12-22-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Philip Pendley

Second Advisor

Dr. Stephen Foster

Third Advisor

Dr. Michelle Nunley

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine how teachers in Linked Learning Pathways rate the effectiveness and identify the impact of the collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results as they are used in the integration of career and technical education and core academic courses. This also included identifying and describing the criteria used by teachers to determine positive impact in identifying positive collaboration strategies.

Methodology. A mixed method research design, consisting of quantitative and qualitative data, was used to conduct this study. Specifically, an explanatory sequential design model starting with a 12-question survey and followed by interviews was used.

Findings. Teachers engaged in Linked Learning Pathways effectively rated the collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results as they are used in the integration of career and technical education and core academic courses. The key collaboration element of a shared purpose had the highest mean score and the lowest standard deviation, followed by an interdependent team and a focus on results. Similar to the survey results, the interviews revealed that a focus on results is the weakest key collaboration element in the pathway. There were nine ideas shared by the interviewees as evidence that the collaboration strategies discussed have a positive impact on the work of teachers in Linked Learning Pathways.

Conclusions. The collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results are effective in integrating career and technical education with core academic courses. A variety of criteria centered on the success and continued interest of both the students and teachers in the pathway is used by the pathway teachers to determine that collaboration has a positive impact on the integration of CTE and core academic courses.

Recommendations. Based on this study, the researcher has made five recommendations to further expand the research on how teachers in Linked Learning Pathways rate the effectiveness and describe the impact of the collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results to integrate career and technical education and core academic courses.

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