Rhetorical Approaches to Crisis Communication : The research, development, and validation of an image repair situational theory for educational leaders

In this project a product to aid educational leaders in the process of communicating in crisis situations is presented. The product was created and received a formative evaluation using an educational research and development methodology. Ultimately, an administrative training course that utilized an Image Repair Situational Theory was developed. After its development, the product was given to a focus group of superintendents and information was solicited from them concerning the usefulness and applicability of the theory in educational crisis situations. These superintendents were taken through a series of case studies in order to gain practice using the theory prior to receiving their input. The results of the focus group surveys indicated that the training program was both useful and applicable for school leaders in educational settings. Improvements were made to the training materials based on the superintendents' feedback from the formative evaluation. In the end, suggestions for the broader application of the materials and for future research were discussed.