School Goals,Principals, and Achievement

ABSTRACT

Much has been written about the need for schools to engage in activities which promote the academic achievement of students. Two major factors which appear to influence student achievement are an organization's goals and the instructional leadership of the principal. The focus of this study was to investigate whether differences exist between schools which were successful in promoting student achievement and schools which were not successful in promoting student achievement in each of these areas. This paper is based upon a study conducted in an urban school district with a diverse student population. It identified 10 High Achieving Schools and 10 Low Achieving Schools (based upon student gain scores calculated from standardized achievement tests). Data regarding school goals and the instructional leadership of the principal were based upon responses to questionnaires designed to measure staff perceptions of these factors. The findings suggest that no clear differences are evident in the “official” goals selected by schools but differences do appear when the “operative” goals are analyzed. Specifically, the evidence suggests that High Achieving Schools emphasize goals stressing academic excellence to a greater degree than Low Achieving Schools. More important, the evidence from this study also suggests that principals in High Achieving Schools emphasize and engage in activities related to instruction to a much greater degree than principals in Low Achieving Schools. Those activities, which are identified and discussed at length, reinforce the view that a principal's behaviors rather than style are the primary factor in being an instructional leader.     

为每所学校配备优秀校长——美国中小学校长支持策略研究

优秀的校长在学校改进、教师留职和学生成绩提升等方面发挥着重要作用。通过采取有效的校长支持策略,为每所学校配备优秀校长,已经成为当前美国中小学缩小学生成绩差距、保障教育公平的重要举措。美国有效的中小学校长支持策略主要包括:创新校长培养方式,解决校长频繁更替问题;创建一贯制的校长职业管道,提升校长的领导效能;建立支持取向的校长评价制度,持续改进校长的行为;利用联邦政府拨款,扩大校长专业学习和专业发展机会;建立校长才能管理系统,促进优质校长人力资源的公平分配。     

A Comment on Gray,Jesson, Goldstein,Hedger, and Rasbash

ABSTRACT

The instructional leadership role of the principal has received much attention in the literature. The present study draws upon emerging research and explores the basis for predicting school academic achievement from the instructional leadership behavior of principals. A model of instructional leadership was examined to determine its predictive power in correctly identifying high‐ and low‐achieving elementary and high schools in two distinct cultural contexts. A total of 265 teachers and principals from California and the Marshall Islands participated in the study. The results indicate that school academic achievement can be predicted from a knowledge of principal instructional leadership behaviors. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Principals and student outcomes: Evidence from U.S. high schools

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the effects of principals on public high school students' academic achievement, using High School and Beyond. Despite policy relevance, previous qualitative and quantitative research provides little systematic evidence on principal effects, at least for high schools. Principal characteristics and variables designed to capture less tangible aspects of the principal's role are included in educational production functions. The results suggest principals do have a measurable impact on student achievement, through the selection of teachers and setting of academically oriented school goals.     

Examining contextual differences in the development of instructional leadership and school achievement

This study examined the generalizability of a principal instructional leadership model and its impact on school academic achievement across different school levels. The study tested the model across elementary and secondary school levels. The study also examined whether elementary school principals exert stronger instructional leadership influence over their school's academic achievement than high school principals. The results confirmed the fit of the same instructional leadership model to principals from both school levels. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

Novice principals setting goals for school improvement in New Zealand

While principal goal-setting has been shown to be an important leadership practice, there is little research examining principals’ goal-setting and goal-achievement. This research examined novice principals’ school improvement goals and factors affecting their achievement. Goals from 460 principals enrolled in a national induction programme were categorised revealing a strong emphasis on instructional and student-centred leadership. After 18 months, 258 of those principals, and their mentors, rated their achievement. Principals also rated five potential achievement predictors. Goal achievement tended to be high, with commitment, effort, learning and support serving as positive predictors of success. In contrast to what goal-setting theory suggests, goal challenge was a negative predictor of achievement. The analysis of two contrasting cases revealed possible explanations for this negative relationship. These included novice principals’ ability, self-efficacy and attributional processes. This study highlights the role of self-efficacy in the process of goal-setting and pursuit. It emphasises that consideration needs to be given to how novice principals’ self-efficacy can be developed and sustained. Implications for practice in the area of educational leadership and leadership development are discussed.     

How does leadership affect student achievement? Results from a national US survey

Using survey responses from a national sample of US teachers, this paper provides insight into 2 questions: (1) Do 3 specific attributes of leadership behavior – the sharing of leadership with teachers, the development of trust relationships among professionals, and the provision of support for instructional improvement – affect teachers' work with each other and their classroom practices? and (2) Do the behaviors of school leaders contribute to student achievement? We tie this investigation of school leader behaviors to 2 additional factors that have also received increasing attention in research because they have been shown to be related to student achievement: professional community and the quality of classroom instruction. Our analysis provides an empirical test of the notion that leadership variables are positively related to student learning. It also suggests that both shared and instructionally focused leadership are complementary approaches for improving schools.     

Singapore’s School Excellence Model and student learning: evidence from PISA 2012 and TALIS 2013

This study examines the relationship between key elements of the School Excellence Model (SEM) and student achievement in reading, mathematics and science as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 and the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, using a sample of 166 schools in Singapore. Strategies, quality and resources are identified as school-level dimensions commonly involved in the SEM to select variables in PISA 2012 and TALIS 2013. A multilevel data analysis was conducted using hierarchical linear modelling. The results indicate that a triangulated school strategy focused on strengthening teacher participation, principal commitment and school responsibility has significant relationships with student performance. In particular, teachers’ instructional improvement contributed to student achievement, while teacher ratio to support teaching staff accounts for the largest variance in student achievement. Finally, school extra-curricular activities promote well-rounded student development that enhances learning achievement. Findings highlight the importance of school-based accountability that empowers teachers, in building school capacity for student achievement.     

Meanings of success and successful leadership in Ontario,Canada, in neo-liberal times

The provincial government of Ontario, Canada, has committed itself to raising student achievement, closing achievement gaps, and increasing the public's confidence in public education. It has introduced many policies, including the Ontario Leadership Strategy (OLS), to support these goals. Our study examined how teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents in three elementary schools in Ontario understand and enact school success and successful school leadership within this (neo-liberal) context. Findings of a comparative analysis of Ontario policy texts and data from interviews with administrators, teachers, support staff, and parents in the schools demonstrate that the school-based participants defined success as academic learning, a positive school climate, and students' well-being. This definition differs from the definition prioritised by Ontario's government: high scores on standardised provincial and international tests. However, principals in the schools enacted leadership practices advocated by OLS to support locally defined notions of success.     

Instructional management of a private and a government secondary school principal in Northern Pakistan

This study investigated the instructional management of a private and a government secondary school principal in the Gigit-Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan. The study used the following lenses to examine the instructional behavior of the two principals: supervisory techniques, professional development activities, curriculum enrichment, and the availability of instructional resources. A comparison between the levels of engagement of the private and public school principals for the promotion of instructional matter suggests that the private school principal spent more time than the government principal on the development of instructional practices in his school. The study maintains that variables, such as structural processes, personal disposition of principals, and staff characteristics, led the two subjects to deal with their instructional responsibility differently.     

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.     

Assessing the Instructional Leadership of Secondary School Principals in Thailand

While research in Western societies has found that principal leadership is usually a necessary condition for school improvement, there remains a dearth of research on how principals provide instructional leadership in developing countries. This study sought to address this need by adapting the PIMRS (Hallinger, 1984a), an instrument designed to assess principal instructional leadership. The PIMRS was translated and administered to 10 secondary school principals in northern Thailand. Findings from this initial study indicate that the PIMRS‐Thai Form appears to provide data on the instructional leadership of secondary school principals that meet or exceed common research standards of reliability and validity. Researchers and practitioners interested in assessing principal instructional leadership in Thai schools can proceed to use the PIMRS‐Thai Form with a reasonable degree of confidence that it will yield accurate information on job performance in this domain.

Consistent with past studies, the principals in this study tended to rate themselves higher in their self‐assessments than did their teachers (Hallinger & Murphy, 1985; O'Day, 1983). Current and past data suggest that greater credence be given to the teacher assessments. With this in mind, the results indicate that this sample of secondary school principals from northern Thailand exercised a low to moderate level of instructional leadership activity. Assessments of secondary school principals using the PIMRS in the United States (Haack, 1991), Malaysia (Saavedra, 1987), Canada (Jones, 1987) have all yielded significantly higher scores when compared with this Thai sample.     

School principals’ evaluations of their instructional leadership behaviours: realities vs. ideals

The purpose of the current study was to examine primary and middle school principals’ evaluations of their own instructional leadership behaviours, and thereby pay closer attention to the ideal instructional leadership behaviours suggested in the related literature and the realities of principals’ instructional leadership behaviours. Although studies in the instructional leadership literature have vastly examined instructional leadership and its relationship with various variables, few studies have focused on school principals’ evaluations of their instructional leadership behaviours using a qualitative approach. This study was framed to contribute to gain an insight into the essential characteristics of instructional leadership in Turkey and to suggest some educational implications for school leadership in a Turkish context. The researchers conducted a qualitative case study in a large city in South-eastern Turkey in the academic year of 2012–2013. The study group consisted of 11 primary and middle school principals chosen via a maximum variation sampling technique. It was found that some of the school principals painstakingly tried to improve school-related factors which may potentially increase positive student outcomes. However, they were not able to display some instructional leadership behaviours such as change management, promoting teachers’ professional growth, collaborating with teachers and forming a positive learning environment due to multifarious reasons. The study concludes by presenting implications for the development of school principals as instructional leaders in Turkey.     

Power and the ‘autonomous’ principal: autonomy,teacher development,and school leaders’ work

ABSTRACT

One aspect of instructional leadership is the work principals undertake in supporting and developing teachers’ skills and capabilities. This paper examines this aspect of school leadership within a climate characterised by increased principal workloads, heavy external accountabilities, pressure to improve student results, and heightened autonomy which included discourses regarding principals’ increased freedom in staffing decisions. The case studies within this paper focus specifically on principals’ work in relation to the recruitment and development of staff. Policy and discourse suggests that principals have the autonomy to recruit and build staffing teams to meet school needs and improve outcomes, though questions have been raised about how autonomous public schools can be a part of a wider system. This paper explores the role autonomy plays in leadership practices relating to staff recruitment and development. The findings contribute to a body of knowledge regarding the ways principals make sense of and enact their work under highly pressurised school improvement policy conditions.     

Developing and validating an instrument measuring school leadership

In this study, we developed and validated an instrument that researchers can use to measure the collective effort of principals and teachers who excise their own unique leadership to generate (integrated) school leadership. Based on 644 teachers, we found sound psychometric properties of the scales of the instrument and the instrument as a whole. We also explored the predictive properties of the instrument in predicting student achievement at the school level. Based on 53 schools, we found that the instrument can indeed measure the kind of school leadership that really matters to student achievement. When predicting student achievement (at the school level), the instrument tends to be more sensitive to more difficult school subjects (e.g. mathematics), implying that improvement in school leadership would lead to larger improvement in student achievement (at the school level) in more difficult school subjects.     

高中校长学校管理工作探析

校长是学校的管理者,也是学校的组成者,对教师和学生起着关怀、教育、引领等作用。可以说,校长在学校的影响是巨大的,就像是人们前进的标杆一样。高中校长开展管理工作探析,可以围绕教师和学生,对学校管理工作进行剖析,立足教师思想、教学、学生行为表现和饮食问题等实施管理教育,提升教师的思想境界,促进教师的教学沟通,约束学生的日常行为,重视学生的饮食安全,给学生提供一个宽松、愉悦的学习环境。     

Principal's Leadership as a Critical Factor for School Performance: Evidence from Multi‐Levels of Primary Schools 1

This study aims to investigate how principal's leadership is related to school performance in terms of multi‐level indicators such as school's organizational characteristics, teachers’ group‐level and individual‐level performances, and students’ performances. In the study, strong leadership represents that a principal can be supportive and foster participation for teachers, can develop clear goals and policies and hold people accountable for results, can be persuasive at building alliances and solving conflicts, can be inspirational and charismatic, and can encourage professional development and teaching improvement. The strong leadership is found associated with high organizational effectiveness, strong organizational culture, positive principal‐teachers relationship, more participation in decision, high teacher esprit and professionalism, less teacher disengagement and hindrance, more teacher job satisfaction and commitment, and more positive student performance particularly on attitudes to their schools and learning. The findings support that principal's leadership is a critical factor for school performance at multi‐levels. Implications are advanced for further study and development of leadership.

     

Instructional Leadership in Practice: What Does It Look Like,and What Influence Does It Have?

Literature on school reform has emphasized the need for principals to expand beyond their traditionally administrative role and become instructional leaders. This article examines the relationship between the practice of site-based instructional leadership and the professional development that teachers received in the context of a district-wide reform effort in San Diego City Schools. Using data from teacher surveys and school-based interviews, we find a connection between aspects of principal instructional leadership (coherent school-wide vision and leaders' engagement in instructional improvement) and selected research-based characteristics of effective teacher professional development (coherence and focus on content and curriculum). We conclude by addressing some of the tensions and limitations associated with a particular vision for site-based instructional leadership.     

Organizational learning facilitated by instructional leadership,tight coupling and boundary spanning practices

Three organizational learning mediation processes are proposed as mechanisms for organizational change in this article. These include instructional leadership, tight coupling and boundary spanning. Whilst each of these processes has received attention in the research literature, we propose that their power arises from their particular combination rather than the occurrence of each in isolation. We illustrate the ways in which these processes might combine to create an organizational learning environment required for the kind of changes needed to raise student achievement. We do this with reference to a case study of a New Zealand school that dramatically improved the learning outcomes of students in reading. We describe the practices of a new principal, who was relatively inexperienced in school management but experienced in curriculum leadership. The case study illustrates how through her instructional leadership the principal was able to span the boundaries of her organization so that within a relatively short space of time the school became a more tightly coupled system that learnt to improve the learning outcomes of its students.     

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.