case study of organizational change fostered by the NAPE Program Improvement Process for Equity

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20319830

Gender inequality is a persistent issue in secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs in the United States. According to section 113(b)(2)(A)(III)(vi) of the Carl D. Perkins act, schools receiving federal funds in support of career and technical education are required to report "student participation in, and completion of, career and technical education programs that lead to employment in non-traditional fields." To assist districts in improving their non-traditional performance metrics, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) contracted with the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) to implement the Program Improvement Process for Equity (PIPETM). PIPETM is a five-step action research process with the specific goal of "increas[ing] the participation, persistence, and program completion of underrepresented students in career and technical education and STEM nontraditional career fields" (NAPE, 2015b, p. 1). Using the theoretical frameworks of organizational change and empowerment theory, this case study sought to answer the following questions. First, how do PIPETM participants assess their implementation efforts one year after completing their work with face-to-face NAPE facilitators according to the Quality Implementation Self-Assessment Rating Scale (QISARS) survey? Second, what do PIPETM participants perceive to be sustained impacts of their participation in the action research protocol? And third, what factors do PIPETM participants perceive as having helped or hindered sustainability of organizational change aligned with nontraditional enrollment and completion efforts in the Lake Forest High School context? Research participants self-reported being in a state of change, but they did not identify themselves as reaching a state of newfound equilibrium or sustainable transformation. Participants presented themselves as reflective change agents, able to identify both supports and challenges to their efforts, but overarching results indicate that sustained change had not yet been achieved.--Author's abstract