She said she was
having a “hard time writing” about the incidents relating to her work between
2009 and 2011 (when asked what, she declined to answer) and her academic
adviser suggested a public embargo might alleviate immediate ramifications of
her research.
“And indeed it did
help me write about my work,” she said in an interview on November 18.
Her dissertation,
called, “An Ocean State Voyage: A Leadership Case Study of Creating an
Evaluation System with, and for, Teachers” is more about leadership than
teacher evaluations, she said.
The specific type of
research she was doing, known in education and academia as
practitioner action research, meant she was studying her own ideas and
performance, as well as that of her employees and the community, she said.
“My dissertation was
about my work,” she said.
She was adamant that
no state employees helped her produce her research, and said she did U Penn
work “at nights and on weekends.” But said there was a necessary overlap
between her job and her studies and cited staff members Lisa Foehr, director of
teacher evaluations, and Mary Ann Snider, director of educator excellence, as
being particularly helpful.
“I considered them
part of my team,” Gist said.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's
Future. Previously, he's worked as a reporter for several different news
organizations both in Rhode Island and across the country.