Leadership as Accountability for Learning: The Effects of School Poverty, Teacher Experience, Previous Achievement, and Principal Preparation Programs on Student Achievement

In the current era of accountability for achievement, school principals play the pivotal role of instructional leader. In a high-stakes testing environment, leadership preparation programs in universities and school districts need to be positively related to academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school leadership preparation programs and student achievement in urban settings. Because leadership is contingent on the setting, school contextual factors and their impact on student achievement framed this study. Regression techniques were employed to construct a conceptual model with predictors of criterion and norm-referenced student achievement scores. Confirming previous research findings, student poverty, teacher experience, and previous achievement were the strongest predictors and accounted for a significant amount of variance in student achievement; however, university and district preparation programs were not significant predictors. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.     

Investigation of Tacit Knowledge in Principal Leadership

This study investigated how tacit knowledge was used by expert and novice principals during problem-solving situations. Through the use of a phenomenological, qualitative approach, novice principals were compared with expert principals as both went about their daily tasks of school leadership. Results of the study contribute to the research on effective leadership and offer implications for leadership training models. Results suggest that experience may not be the most critical factor in expertise.     

The role of self-efficacy as an attribute of principals’ leadership effectiveness in K-12 private and public institutions in Lebanon

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to explore the role of K-12 school principals’ self-efficacy as an attribute for their leadership effectiveness in Lebanon. The Norwegian principal self-efficacy scale (NPSES) instrument was translated into Arabic and used to collect quantitative data from participants. Internal consistency of factors within this study was checked (24 items; α = 0.73). By comparing private and public schools in Lebanon, all located in the governorate of Mount Lebanon, the researchers revealed the extent to which principals’ self-efficacy plays a role in their leadership. In addition, while no statistical difference was found between self-efficacy levels of private and public principals, females reported higher scores on the majority of the dimensions than their male counterparts in both types of schools. This study highlights the importance of the interaction effect of age and gender on self-efficacy levels. Moreover, it offers knowledge and practice to policy makers when recruiting principals or designing training programs. It also suggests the implementation of an in-house mentoring program to create school-school partnerships. Finally, this paper offers a platform for future researchers interested in principal self-efficacy in similar conflict-affected places with high economic depression. Limitations are further mentioned.     

The effects of principals’ perceived instructional and distributed leadership practices on their perceptions of school climate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which leadership styles predict school climate, in order to identify whether a relationship exists between principals’ perceived practices of instructional and distributed leadership and their perceptions of school climate (mutual respect and school delinquency), controlling for a net of principal and school characteristics. This research was conducted on a principal data-set from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which was administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Several linear regression models with and without the country controlled dummy variables were conducted, respectively. Results indicated that principals’ perceived distributed and instructional leadership practices are significant predictors of staff mutual respect in the school. Nevertheless, such leadership styles did not appear as important factors for school delinquency and violence. School size and socio-economic status turned out to be the two most important factors predicting school safety. These results add nuance to the findings of previous studies that principals’ emphasis on instructional practice and sharing leadership can play a significant role in promoting the trust, collegiality and respect among staff. However, more than such leadership styles may be needed for creating a safe and orderly school environment.     

Exploring the impact of professional development and professional practice on school leaders’ self-efficacy: a quasi-experimental study

Self-efficacy is extensively discussed within social cognitive theory. This study aimed to explore the impact of professional development and practice on school leaders’ self-efficacy in Cyprus. A quasi-experimental design involving 2 groups of novice secondary deputy head teachers was employed. All participants practised leadership at the time, but the experimental group also attended a leadership training programme. The School Leaders’ Self-Efficacy Scale addressing 8 dimensions was distributed to both groups at the beginning and the end of the school year. A within-group analysis indicated positive effects on self-efficacy regarding evaluating classroom practices for the experimental group. However, for the control group, effects were negative on self-efficacy with regards to evaluating classroom practices, monitoring learning, and leadership of continuing professional development. Between-group analyses revealed positive gains for the experimental group across the 3 aforementioned self-efficacy dimensions. Arising implications are discussed in the context of professional development programmes for school leaders in Cyprus.     

How much of a difference do principals make? An analysis of between-schools variation in academic achievement in Hong Kong public secondary schools

This article aims to explain the role principals play in the variation in academic achievement between secondary schools in Hong Kong. The article draws on survey data from 179 key staff and 2,037 students from 42 schools. The study uses 2 analytical approaches. First, it employs classification and regression tree analysis (CART). This was used to sort out the most significant leadership practices associated with student achievement. Second, based on first-stage analysis, the study further explores the effects of leadership practices on academic achievement using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Results indicate that transparent and efficient communication structures as managed by principals explained approximately 12% of between-schools variation in academic achievement. Leadership practices related to quality assurance and accountability and resource management also contributed to explaining between-schools variation in academic achievement, yet they had negative effects on student achievement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Benchlearning – an action research program for transforming leadership and school practices

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate how a Benchlearning program for principals in Norway and Sweden supports changes in Norwegian principals’ leadership practices. The program design builds on principles for practical action research. The aim of the program was to inspire changes in the principals’ leadership practices that encourage innovative school practices. The program includes learning modes such as theoretical inputs, sharing experiences, school visits, training, and trialling of new leadership practices. Drawing on data from participants’ reflections on their learning and changes in their leadership practices, we identify transformations that have been realized and the ways in which the Benchlearning program has supported the transformations. The findings indicate that the program can be seen as a systematic and disciplined process, a ‘meta-practice’, that supports changes in the principals’ leadership practices, their understandings, and the conditions of their practice. More specifically, the findings show that the theoretical inputs and practical learning modes stimulated transformations of the principals’ thinking about leadership practices, what they do in practice and how they relate to others. In particular, the study suggests that the principals’ active participation in trialling new leadership practices in their own schools stimulated transformations.     

Revisiting the Importance of the Direct Effects of School Leadership on Student Achievement: The Implications for School Improvement Policy

Much is left to be known regarding the impact of school principals on student achievement. This is because much of the research on school leadership focuses not on actual student outcomes but rather on other peripheral results of principal practices. In the research that has been done in this area, significant relationships have been identified between selected school leadership practices and student learning, indicating that evidence existed for certain principal behaviors to produce a direct relationship with student achievement. Further, although these relationships typically account for a small proportion of the total student achievement variability, they are of sufficient magnitude to be of interest and additional investigation. Actions taken to better understand and improve the impact of principals on the achievement of students in their schools have the potential for widespread benefit, as individual improvements in principal practice can impact thousands of students. It is in this light that potential direct effects of principal practices should be revisited.     

Understanding the lived experiences of novice out-of-field teachers in relation to school leadership practices

The lived experiences of novice teachers in out-of-field positions influence future career decisions and impact on their journey towards being competent and experienced practitioners, conversely their “life-world” is often misunderstood. The purpose of the study reported in this article is to investigate the lived experiences of these teachers, how principals’ understanding and leadership styles influence the lived experiences of novice out-of-field teachers, and what these lived experiences mean for school leaders. The article highlights perceptions of school leaders and novice out-of-field teachers about out-of-field teaching. It argues that the strategies implemented by school leaders based on their understanding of novice out-of-field teachers’ lived experience greatly influence the development of these teachers. It draws on Gadamer’s theories to investigate the lived experiences and perceptions of four principals and four novice out-of-field teachers through the different lenses of these participants. It concludes with a discussion on the interrelationships between school leaders’ understanding, novice teachers’ lived experience and what it means for the teaching environment. Participants’ interpretation of specific lived experiences connected to out-of-field teaching shapes meaning in their attempt to understand and to “belong,” for example, confidence issues, self-esteem concerns, and disconnectedness. The investigation of these units of meaning provides an in-depth understanding of the interrelationship between leadership and the lived experiences of novice out-of-field teachers.     

The effects of autonomy gap in personnel policy,principal leadership and teachers’ self-efficacy on their organizational commitment

School autonomy in personnel policy is important to effective personnel management. With increased autonomy in personnel policy, principals could wield their leadership to improve teachers’ organizational commitment. However, little is known about whether the given autonomy in personnel policy meets principals’ expectation and whether and how the gap in between has an effect on teachers’ organizational commitment. This research explores the effects of autonomy gap in personnel policy, principal leadership, teachers’ self-efficacy and school contextual factors on teachers’ organizational commitment. Multilevel analysis was used. The results show the effects of autonomy gap in personnel policy differ among areas. In particular, the autonomy gap in salary was found to be a significant antecedent of teachers’ organizational commitment. The results also highlight the importance of principal leadership in this process. Principals with a stronger leadership tend to perceive generally a larger autonomy gap in personnel policy. In addition, when transformational leadership increased, its positive influence on teachers’ organizational commitment became even stronger. Implications for developing efficacious leadership and autonomy policy in personnel management were discussed.     

Principals’ qualifications in special education and students with and at risk for disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have recommended that leader preparation programs should provide prospective leaders with more preparation in special education. However, research to date provides limited indications of whether more preparation would in fact support more effective leadership for special education. Therefore, we examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to determine whether principals’ qualifications in special education and in reading predicted struggling readers’ and students with disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten. We found no effects; principals’ coursework in special education, coursework in reading, prior experiences as a special education teacher, and experience in school leadership did not predict reading achievement growth among students with or at-risk for disabilities.     

Principals’ Instructional Leadership Within a Teacher Performance Appraisal System: Enhancing Students’ Academic Success

The purpose of this study was to identify principals’ instructional leadership actions within a comprehensive teacher evaluation system in successful schools rated as recognized or exemplary by the accountability measures in place. The study followed a multiple case study approach. Participants included six school administrators within the same school district. From these three were principals and three assistant principals, representing all three schools levels—elementary school, middle school, and high school. The main data sources consisted of interviews, observations and journaling. Data were analyzed inductively to discern emerging themes. Findings of the study revealed that principals’ instructional leadership actions at all three levels included setting clear expectations, monitoring instruction through walk-through observations, and providing professional development opportunities according teachers’ needs. Furthermore, the cross site analysis revealed that principals tend to rely on instructional leadership actions that are pertinent to each grade level’s needs. Findings also suggest that principals, indeed, apply the teacher performance appraisal system as a basis to enhance instruction and improve student achievement.     

Instructional leadership in centralised systems: evidence from Greek high-performing secondary schools

This paper examines the enactment of instructional leadership (IL) in high-performing secondary schools (HPSS), and the relationship between leadership and learning in raising student outcomes and encouraging teachers’ professional learning in the highly centralised context of Greece. It reports part of a comparative research study focused on whether, and to what extent, IL has been embraced by Greek school leaders. The study is exploratory, using a qualitative multiple case design to examine two HPSS in Athens. The research design involved a qualitative approach using several different methods, including semi-structured interviews with school principals, deputy heads, subject teachers and subject advisers, plus observation of leadership practice and meetings and scrutiny of relevant policy documents. The findings show that IL is conceptualised as an informal collaborative leadership practice, interwoven with the official multi-dimension role of Greek principals and their ‘semi-IL’ role. In the absence of official IL ‘actors’, teachers’ leadership has been expanding.     

Interrogating conceptions of leadership: school principals,policy and paradox

Currently educational research literature demonstrates wide discussion and endorsement of ‘distributed’ leadership while concurrently traditional, hegemonic forms prevail in practice. This article investigates understandings about educational leadership held by Australian school principals. The article describes the contradictory conceptions about educational leadership currently in circulation. It interrogates underlying assumptions and questions how both hegemonic and newer leadership conceptions and assumptions serve educational leaders. Data from principals around the country and across education systems reinforced the predominance of un-theorised or under-theorised notions about leadership, with similar assumptions found in important policy artefacts and practices. This article emerges from interviews with 100 principals focusing on their professional learning needs, which revealed interesting ideas, issues and dilemmas concerning ‘leadership’. It fills a gap in research on distributed leadership by exploring contradictions inherent in policy, practice and understandings in this area. The article is structured into four sections. First, extant literature on this topic and the research are explained. Second, the article focuses on principals' conceptions about leadership and those inherent within important policy and practical artefacts. A discussion of the findings focuses on the discrepancy between theory and policy endorsement and the views of practitioners. Finally, the article canvasses the implications of the research.     

Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching math: Relations with teacher and student outcomes

Social cognitive theory posits that teacher self-efficacy beliefs should be related to not only their own well-being outcomes but also classroom processes and student outcomes in the general ecology of the classroom environment. However, little research has directly examined the associations of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs with these teacher and student-level outcomes simultaneously. The present study proposes and tests an integrative model of the relations of teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching math with their job satisfaction and student math achievement both directly and indirectly via interaction quality as a critical dimension of the quality of classroom processes. Additionally, student level relational and motivational predictors of math achievement, including individual perceptions of student-teacher interaction quality and math self-concept, are included per the ecology of the classroom environment. Based on data from over 6000 4th grade students and 450 teachers, results of multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching math were positively associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and class levles of math achievement and interaction quality. At the individual student level, individual levels of math self-concept were positively associated with math achievement, and individual perceptions of interaction quality were positively associated with math self-concept. However, a negative association between residualized interindividual perceptions of interaction quality and math achievement was observed.     

Perceptions of leadership effectiveness in schools for children who are blind or have low vision in Nigeria

This study used the standard-based essential behavioural leadership qualities (EBLQ) method of leadership assessment, to determine leadership effectiveness of the principals of the schools for children who are blind and have low vision in Nigeria, from the perspective of the teachers of these schools. The four-stage method of leadership assessment of the EBLQ method was used to analyze data (N = 271) collected through availability sampling, to determine leadership effectiveness of the principals relative to levels of essentiality of EBLQ items. Findings show a pattern of incongruence between rankings of essentialities and effectiveness of the principals on the EBLQ items. The principals were perceived most effective in having ‘excellent educational qualifications’ which was ranked fourth as essential for leadership effectiveness. The principals were also rated twentieth on ‘timely payment of salary’, which was ranked most essential for leadership effectiveness. Overall effectiveness of the principals, however, was described as exemplary. This study is expected to contribute to much-needed studies on leadership in the schools for the blind in Nigeria, as well as provide a coaching effect for the principals of these schools.     

Two profiles of schoolteachers: a discriminant analysis of job satisfaction

Using discriminant analysis, this study attempts to construct profiles of two types of teachers: those with a low level of job satisfaction and those with a high level of job satisfaction. In addition to their background and demographic characteristics, teachers’ perceptions of their occupation and of their principals’ leadership styles (transformational or transactional) are examined as predictors that discriminate between teachers with low and high levels of satisfaction. The results suggest that teachers with a low level of satisfaction can be reliably distinguished from teachers with a high level of satisfaction by their occupational perceptions, principals’ leadership styles, and a number of their demographic characteristics. Implications of the findings for school principals and teachers are discussed.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Students’ Science Achievements in Relation to their Self-Regulation,Epistemological Beliefs,Learning Environment Perceptions,and Teachers’ Personal Characteristics

This study adopted a cross-sectional and correlational research design in an attempt to add our understanding of student- and teacher-level factors that help explain variability in students’ science achievement to the existing literature. More specifically, the present article examined students’ science achievement in relation to their constructivist learning environment perceptions, epistemological beliefs, and self-regulation as well as their science teachers’ characteristics. Data were gathered from both 137 science teachers and their 3281 seventh grade students via administering self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis was conducted to analyze the two-level data (student level and teacher level). Students’ learning environment perceptions, epistemological beliefs, achievement goals, and self-regulation constituted student-level data while teachers’ self-efficacy, achievement goals, and epistemological beliefs constituted teacher-level data. The findings indicated that students’ constructivist learning environment perceptions were significant predictors of their science achievement. Additionally, students with sophisticated epistemological beliefs appeared to be more successful in science. Also, performance avoidance goals were negatively related to science achievement. Among teacher-level variables, teachers’ self-efficacy and sophisticated epistemological beliefs were found to be positively linked to students’ science achievement.     

Classroom teacher leadership: service-learning for teacher sense of efficacy and servant leadership development

Improved student achievement requires the distribution of leadership beyond one individual. Given their daily connection to students, leadership opportunities distributed to classroom teachers are key to school improvement. Complicating the development of classroom teacher leaders are attrition rates and low teacher efficacy among novice educators. Service-learning and servant leadership offer complementary pedagogical and philosophical approaches to shift the role of classroom teachers and address efficacy concerns. This study utilised a pre-/post-test, quasi-experimental research design to determine to what extent changes would occur over time in pre-service educators’ teacher sense of efficacy and sense of servant leadership from participating in service-learning.     

Recruiting Principals to Lead Low-performing Schools: Effects on Job Attractiveness

This study addressed recruiting principals into low performing schools. A sample (N = 619) of principals, assistant principals, central office administrators, school counselors, and teacher-leaders from the 29th largest school district in the United States role-played as applicants for principal vacancies at schools classified as low-performing based on results of standardized student achievement tests. The study had an experimental design and involved use of a recruitment simulation. Rating jobs depicted on simulated principal recruitment announcements, principals and assistant principals rated the job highest while school counselors rated the jobs lowest. Among the teacher-leaders, teacher-administrative interns rated the job higher than did highly skilled educators or resource teachers. Implications for recruitment practice and future evaluation research are discussed.