Leadership Preparation through the Internship at Four Universities in the State of Georgia

This study examines educational leadership internship experiences at four public University System of Georgia universities. It is a qualitative multiple case study. The research presented contributes to the literature by providing information about leadership training through internship programs that was collected via interviews with program faculty and documentary analysis. Presentation of the data in this manner offers a comprehensive description of internship experiences at four universities within the state of Georgia. This description helps explain the linkages between classroom knowledge and its application as it relates to the internship experience. This study also utilizes cross-case analysis. Following the comprehensive presentation of each individual case, the four cases are considered together, and analyzed for similarities and differences. The purpose for analyzing the data in this manner is to provide both an in-depth analysis of each program and an understanding of the similarities and differences in internship experiences throughout the state of Georgia. The research presented in this inquiry contributes to the literature by providing information about internship programs through interviews with program faculty and data collected from the programs. The findings of this study could be of interest to university personnel as they examine and modify their criteria for designing internship experiences. Additionally, this investigation contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive description of internship experiences at four universities. Through this study, the voices of the university personnel and information from the data collected provide insight into the overall experience of the educational leadership internship. Finally, this study provides insight into the correlation between classroom knowledge and the application of this knowledge within the field through internships