Linda L. Carrier

I am an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Plymouth State University. As part of my role, I facilitate the Rural Educational Leaders Network (RELN). Through my teaching of graduate students and work with RELN, I work to ensure that our rural schools are effectively preparing the next generation so that our rural communities will be sustainable.

As a researcher, my work includes case study, multi-case study, and portraiture qualitative methodologies. I am particularly interested in formal school leaders and their practice of instructional leadership (IL). My past projects include studying school principals that have been formally identified as instructional leaders and the development of data leadership teams in schools. Throughout my research, I have seen the need to deeply understand the role of school leader in order to both develop preparation programs that are relevant for 21st century school leaders and develop systems that support improved retention of these individuals in the pk-12 school system.

My prior research has resulted in publication in both peer-reviewed journals and book form; and, I have presented nationally on the IL of principals and the need for the development of school-wide data teams in small rural schools. The proposed project is part of a larger 3 year study I am conducting that will deeply examine the influence of geographic and community context on the IL of rural school principals in New England (NE). This body of research will provide important insights about the relationship between the systems that makes up the broader community and the leadership of the school. The knowledge gained through this will be valuable as communities, regional principal professional organizations, and institutes of higher education continue to work toward developing strategies to address the issue of principal retention in NE’s rural schools.

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January 2019