2023 Dissertation of the Year Award

Step 1: (1) An executive summary of the dissertation and (2) a copy of the full dissertation should be submitted in electronic form to the Dissertation of the Year Award Chair, Dr. Samantha Viano, at sviano@gmu.edu by January 7, 2024.

• The executive summary should succinctly address the study’s purpose, research methods, findings, and implications for research and practice.
• The executive summary should be a maximum of 10 double-spaced pages excluding references and appendices and adhere to APA 7^th edition formatting.
• The executive summary should not identify the author or the institution where the dissertation was completed.
• The full dissertation should not identify the author or the institution where the dissertation was completed.  

Step 2: An email verifying successful completion of the dissertation should be sent by the dissertation chairperson to the Dissertation of the Year Award Chair, Dr. Samantha Viano, at sviano@gmu.edu.

Step 3: Finalists will receive notification of the results by February 16, 2024. The Committee reserves the right to forego selection of a recipient if no entries are deemed suitable for the award.

Step 4: The award recipient is invited to attend the Business Meeting of the Leadership for School Improvement SIG at the 2024 AERA Annual Meeting, where the award will be formally presented.

Evaluation Criteria:

To be considered for the LSI SIG Dissertation of the Year Award, dissertations must:

1. Be submitted by an LSI SIG member, a student of an LSI SIG member, or a graduate student LSI SIG member
2. Align with the LSI SIG mission (see below)
3. Seek to address significant research question(s) situated within the context of school leadership and school improvement
4. Have a clearly articulated and appropriate conceptual framework
5. Use rigorous and appropriate research methods
6. Relate significant findings
7. Discuss the contribution of the findings to research and practice
8. Be well-written

LSI mission: 

To examine how leadership exercised by teachers, principals, and superintendents influences instructional capacity resulting in improved student outcomes and how policy guides this collaborative effort.

 *Congratulations to Megan Griffard for winning the 2022 LSI SIG Dissertation of the Year Award! And additional congratulations to the runner-up, Kate Kennedy, and the finalist, Alexandra Lamb! *

And a big thank you to our six reviewers this year:

Recent Award Recipients: 

2022: Megan Griffard, Principal Leadership as a Moderator of Teacher Turnover Following Natural Hazard Exposure

Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 

Advisor, Lora Cohen-Vogel.

2021: Joonkil Ahn, Leadership for Learning and Teacher Self-Efficacy as the Antecedents of Teacher Collaboration, Instructional Quality, Intended Turnover, and Equitable Teaching Practice

Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 

Advisor, Anjalé D. Welton.

2020: Maxwell Yurkofsky,  When Reason Confronts Uncertainty: Continuous Improvement, Technical Ceremonies, and the Changing Structure of American Schools

Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education

Advisor, Jal Mehta. 

2019: Bryan VanGronigen, An Examination of the Structures, Functions, and Perceived Effectiveness of School Leadership Teams in Underperforming High Schools

Ph.D., University of Virginia

Advisor, Dan Duke

2018: Mary Bussman, Peer Equity Coaching to Increase Cultural Responsiveness in Teaching and Leading 

Ph.D., University of Minnesota- Twin Cities 

Advisor, Karen Seashore Louis 

2017: Kathryn Wiley, Unfulfilled Promises: Equity & School Discipline Practices in an Innovation School 

Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder 

Advisor, Michele Moses 

2016: Romy DeCristofaro, A Multi-Case Study Reflection within Collaborative Teacher Inquiry 

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago 

Advisor, Shelby Cosner 

2015: Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Learning to Teach to the Common Core State Standards: Examining the Role of Teachers’ Collaboration, Principals’ Leadership, and Professional Development 

Ed.D., Harvard University 

Advisor, Susan Moore Johnson 

2014: Doug Wieczorek, A Repeated, Cross-sectional Analysis of Principals' Professional Development and Instructional Leadership Behaviors in the First Decade of the Educational Accountability Era 

Ph.D., Syracuse University 

Advisor, George Theoharis 

2013: Emily Palmer, Talking about Race: Overcoming fear in the process of change 

Ph.D., University of Minnesota 

Advisor, Karen Seashore Louis 

2012: Angela Urick, To what extent do typologies of school leaders across the U.S. predict teacher attrition? A multilevel latent class analysis of principals and teachers 

Ed.D., University of Texas at San Antonio 

Advisor, Alex Bowers 

2011: Kerri J. Tobin, Identifying Best Practices for Homeless Students 

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University 

Advisor, Joseph Murphy 

LSI SIG Mission 

To examine how leadership exercised by teachers, principals, and superintendents influences instructional capacity resulting in improved student outcomes and how policy guides this collaborative effort