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.     

The Impact of Charter Schools on Promoting High Levels of Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

This study compares achievement levels for high ability students attending charter schools and students in traditional public schools in Georgia. Researchers examined student achievement (as assessed by the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests) using three comparison groups: students in the closest traditional schools with similar grade levels, schools with similar demographics, and comprehensive school reform schools. Hierarchical loglinear analysis was used to determine the impact of school type and student demographic variables on student achievement mobility (i.e., the degree to which students, from 2004 to 2005, moved into or out of the top 10% of each grade level on the CRT mathematics subtest). Results for the first comparison did not provide evidence of a significant relationship between school type and achievement mobility, but results for the second and third comparisons suggest that Black students generally experienced positive or neutral achievement mobility in traditional schools and negative mobility in charter schools; White students generally saw negative achievement mobility in traditional schools and neutral to positive mobility in charter schools. Implications for the study of gifted education and gifted students within charter schools are discussed.     

Teacher qualifications and early learning: Effects of certification,degree, and experience on first-grade student achievement

A fundamental issue inherent to education policy is whether teacher qualifications such as certification status, degree level, preparation, and experience predict student achievement. While existing research provides some direction regarding the potential importance of these qualifications for productivity in secondary schools, less is known about their importance for productivity in elementary schools. This study draws on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) to analyze the relationship between elementary school teacher qualifications and first-grade achievement in reading and mathematics. While we find no effects for certification status, we report positive effects for teachers’ degree type and experience on reading achievement. We also discover potential contextual effects of teachers’ qualifications on student achievement, with first-graders demonstrating higher levels of reading and mathematics achievement in schools where teachers report higher levels of coursework emphasis in these subject areas. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and future research.     

The impact of school SES composition on science achievement and achievement growth: mediating role of teachers’ teachability culture

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have shown that schools’ socioeconomic-status (SES) composition has an impact on the academic performance of pupils. Less attention has been given to the explanation of this effect. This study examined whether the teachability culture among the school staff (teachers’ collective beliefs about how teachable their pupils are) mediated the school SES effect on science achievement and achievement growth. Multilevel analyses were conducted with data from 1,761 pupils and 1,255 teachers across 66 primary schools in Flanders. First, the analyses indicated that there was a positive association between school SES composition and teachability culture: Even after controlling for cognitive ability and performance of pupils, there was a more pessimist culture in socioeconomically disadvantaged schools. Second, the association between school SES and academic performance was explained/mediated by the teachability culture. However, no school effects or mediation effects were found for achievement growth as the covered period of academic growth was too short.     

Impacts of the Co-nect School Reform Design on Classroom Instruction,School Climate,and Student Achievement in Inner-City Schools

This study evaluated the Co-nect school reform design in 5 inner-city schools relative to a matched comparison sample of 4 schools in the same district. Schools in each group were categorized into a lower- or middle-socioeconomic status (SES) subgroup based on the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, percent minority enrollment, and student mobility rate. Co-nect schools relative to comparison schools demonstrated more positive outcomes on (a) school climate on multiple dimensions; (b) teacher commitment, satisfaction, and buy-in; (c) teacher usage of learner-centered teaching strategies (e.g., projects, teacher coaching); and (d) student usage of technology as a learning tool. On most measures, these effects were more evident in the schools serving lower-SES. Results on the state-mandated standardized achievement test, using both percentile communities and value-added scores, showed a mixed pattern of success, with 3 Co-nect schools demonstrating more positive progress and 2 demonstrating less positive progress relative to comparison schools and state norms. Interpretations of the achievement results and of Co-nect impacts overall are made relative to implementation issues and school characteristics.     

Rural and Urban Differences in Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics: A Multilevel Analysis

Recent educational research has demonstrated rural/urban differences in achievement and success in higher education. However, in order to assess the rural school's impact on student outcomes, rural/urban comparisons must be made after accounting for student background variables. Researchers have begun to question the generalisability of the effective school model for urban, suburban, and rural schools, given substantial differences in their social and organisational environments (Hannaway & Talbert, 1993). The purpose of this research study was to examine differences in student achievement between rural and urban schools in Western Australia, after controlling for student background variables. By using multilevel modelling techniques, this study demonstrated that the location of the school had a significant effect upon student achievement, with students attending rural schools not performing as well as students from urban schools.     

Preferences,Proximity, and Controlled Choice: Examining Families’ School Choices and Enrollment Decisions in Louisville,Kentucky

This study provides evidence studying one diverse, countywide district’s integration efforts utilizing school choice and parental preferences. The findings illustrate substantial differences about the way in which the district’s student assignment policy affects students. In particular, this choice-based integration policy with a weak geographic preference still advantages those who choose their nearest schools as well as white students and those living in more advantaged areas. Examining differences in families’ school preferences, whether students are assigned to their preferred school, and whether and where students enroll in schools illustrates how an integration-focused assignment policy can still result in segregation and inequality. Yet, by illustrating the many influences on family preferences beyond proximity, it also suggests the opportunity for using assignment policy to overcome persistent neighborhood segregation.     

The Effects of Within-Class Ability Grouping on Academic Achievement in Early Elementary Years

Abstract

By incorporating two theoretical frameworks this study examines how school characteristics shape first-grade reading ability-grouping practices, and how this, in turn, affects students’ reading achievement. The author uses the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and applies the propensity-score method to examine whether first-grade ability grouping improves student achievement, whether ability grouping increases achievement inequalities, and whether its effects vary by student initial abilities and/or school contexts. Findings support an argument that ability grouping is an organizational response to problems of diversity in the student body. Schools that use ability grouping are likely to have heterogeneous ability compositions. They are also public, low-performing, low socioeconomic status, and high-minority schools. In these schools, ability grouping has no effects or negative effects, particularly for low-ability students. In contrast, ability grouping may improve achievement for all students in schools with advantageous characteristics, mostly private schools, and may reduce achievement inequalities, because low-ability students benefit the most from this practice.     

Comprehensive School Reform in Middle Schools: The Effects of Different Ways of Knowing on Student Achievement in a Large Urban District

Comprehensive school reform (CSR), a federally funded program, is designed to raise student achievement via the implementation of whole school reforms. Unfortunately, although close to 400 CSR models have been adopted by schools nationally, there is relatively limited empirical evidence from rigorous research studies regarding the effectiveness of CSR in general or of specific models in particular. Of additional importance is the extent to which CSR models can demonstrate positive effects over time. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects on student achievement and attendance, in an urban school district in Kentucky, of the Year 3 implementation of the Different Ways of Knowing (DWoK) for the Middle Grades model. Results indicated that achievement results on both the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills and Kentucky Core Content Test were significantly superior for the DWoK schools relative to matched control schools; no positive impacts on student attendance occurred for Year 3. The implications of the study lies in revealing that learner-centered CSR models that integrate the arts with the core curriculum can produce observable achievement gains in both normed- and criterion-referenced tests.     

Sample Exclusion and Student Attrition Effects in the Longitudinal Study of Middle School Mathematics Performance

Achievement data from a longitudinally matched student cohort from a large school district in the southwestern United States were analyzed to investigate sample exclusion and student attrition effects on estimates of student, school, and district mathematics performance. Use of 2- and 3-level longitudinal growth models to estimate the growth trajectories of middle school students revealed that mathematics performance differed across 2 sample conditions. Relative to the achievement outcomes associated with a sample that included all students from the longitudinal cohort, district and school achievement were generally higher and student group performance more similar in the smaller, more advantaged student sample used for district accountability reporting. Further investigation of the school performance estimates showed that cross-sample changes in student achievement outcomes were closely related to the proportion of students from special student populations who were excluded from the district accountability sample. The achievement differences and the differential patterns of association demonstrated in this study suggest that conclusions drawn about district and school performance and relationships between student characteristics and student achievement outcomes may depend to some degree on which students are included in an analytic sample. Investigators seeking to take advantage of longitudinal designs in school effectiveness research are cautioned to closely examine their data for nonrandom student attrition and document the impact of sample exclusion and student attrition effects in the research and accountability reports that are produced from longitudinal data sets.     

Gender differences in science achievement: Do school effects make a difference?

The problem of the underrepresentation of girls in science in Australian schools is often attributed to their poor performance. Yet the role of both the home and the school in affecting female science achievement is rarely examined empirically. The comprehensiveness of the Second International Science Study database provided an excellent opportunity to investigate the presence of gender differences in science achievement. Although previous studies of gender differences in science achievement have relied on methodology that has not adequately accounted for the school effects, this study used the design effect and hierarchical linear modeling (multilevel analysis) to explore whether there were significant gender differences. The relative contribution of schools to student achievement was examined, and school-level differences were found to contribute significantly toward explaining variations in student performance. Although statistically significant sex differences were found in physics achievement for 10-year-old, 14-year-old, and year-12 students, school effects were much more powerful in explaining student differences (9–19%) when compared with gender (3%).     

The relationship of school-based parental involvement with student achievement: a comparison of principal and parent survey reports from PISA 2012

This paper explores parental involvement using principal and parent survey reports to examine whether parents’ involvement in their children’s schools predicts academic achievement. Survey data from principals and parents of seven countries from the PISA 2012 database and hierarchical linear modelling were used to analyse between- and within- school variance in students’ math achievement. Factor analysis of both principal and parent responses revealed three dimensions of parental involvement with schools: parent-initiated involvement, teacher-initiated involvement and parent volunteerism. Principal reports of parent-initiated involvement positively predicted between-school differences in student achievement. Within schools, parent reports of teacher-initiated involvement negatively predicted student achievement. The paper shows the importance of understanding the source of information for survey measures. Information on parental involvement from the parent surveys of the PISA study is suitable for describing within-school variation in student achievement, whereas principal reports can be used to predict variation between schools.     

Focusing on the Whole Student: An Evaluation of Massachusetts's Wraparound Zone Initiative

We used a comparative interrupted time series design to examine the impact of the Massachusetts' Wraparound Zone Initiative on student achievement, attendance, retention, and suspension. This initiative was designed to create coordinated district systems that allow schools to proactively and systematically address students' nonacademic needs. The state education agency awarded grants to seven high-need districts, each of which used the funds to support a select group of schools in implementing strategies that focused on school climate and culture, family engagement, systems to identify and address student needs, and community partnerships. Results from this study showed that students in Wraparound Zone schools performed better on state academic assessments than students in comparison schools, when considering prior achievement trends. Effects were statistically significant in the 3rd year of implementation. The impact on academic achievement was greatest for third- and fourth-grade students, and was particularly strong for English learners. There was no statistically significant overall impact on attendance, retention, or suspension.     

农村学校布局调整对学生成绩的影响——基于两水平增值模型的分析

文章使用＂西发项目＂广西壮族自治区的面板数据考察农村小学布局调整对学生成绩的影响,对比两水平增值模型和OLS估计结果发现,学校布局调整整体上对小学生成绩具有负向影响,对语文成绩的影响尤为显著。学校办学条件、生均寄宿面积、学校满意度对学生成绩有正向影响,寄宿生的成绩略低于非寄宿生,家校距离、家庭经济负担、学校配套设施不健全、学校心理疏导缺失等因素对学生成绩产生负向影响,这种负向影响已经超出了学校办学条件等因素对学生成绩的正向影响。在实证研究的基础上,文章提出布局调整过程中,在改善办学条件的同时,应当做好硬件配套设施和软件环境的建设,保障相关财政投入,加强监督,以实现提高教育质量的目标。

Abstract：

This paper use the panel data of BEWAP to study the effect of layout adjustment of schools on student achievement in primary school of rural area in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.By the comparisons of two-level value-added model and OLS estimation results,the research shows that the layout adjustment policy generally has a negative effect on primary school students＇ achievement,especially on the language achievement.Specifically,the factors of school condition,dormitory area per-student and degree of school satisfaction have positive impacts on student achievement,the achievement of resident student slightly lower than non-resident student.The factors of farther home-school distance,more financial burden of families,inadequate supporting facilities of schools and the absence of psychological or other assistance have negative impacts on students＇ achievement,which are higher than the policy＇s positive effects.Based on the empirical study,this research suggests that the government should construct better hardware establishment and software condition while the improvement of school condition in the process of layout adjustment,ensure relevant financial input and enhance supervision so as to realize the goal of improving education quality.     

Are effective or meritorious schools meretricious?

Data on student achievement gain in a large urban school district during the 1984–85 school year were analyzed to identify schools with achievement consistently higher or lower than schools with similar student and school characteristics. Before calculating gain scores, students were grouped with others of the same sex, ethnicity, initial grade level, and initial achievement level. After residuals for students who were above or below similar students were summed and averaged for reading and math at each grade, school-level regression analysis was used to further control for student and school characteristics. Results indicated that schools with reading gains one standard deviation above the mean had average raw scores less than two items higher than the district average on the sixty-item reading test, while schools with math gains this large had raw scores little more than one item higher than the average on the 44-item math test. In addition, examination of data on schools with residual (combined) reading and math gain scores 1.5 or more standard deviations above the average showed that after taking account of student background information and salient school characteristics, only one elementary school among 173 and no secondary school among 71 had unusually high achievement scores. Implications are discussed regarding efforts to identify and reward meritorious schools which allegedly have improved achievement more than other similar schools.     

农村校长领导力是如何影响学生学业成绩的?——基于教师集体效能、学校文化的多重中介效应研究

为了解农村校长领导力是如何影响学生学业成绩的,该研究在黑龙江、山东、广东、浙江四个省份的农村学校进行了调研。研究发现:农村校长领导力及其要素对学生学业成绩均有显著的独立影响;不同农村学校特征下校长领导力各要素对学生学业成绩影响存在差异;在将所有中介变量投入到模型中后,教师集体效能、积极学校文化、中性学校文化、消极学校文化的中介效应以及直接效应均显著。其中,教师集体效能、积极学校文化、中性学校文化中介效应值为正向的,起到的是积极的促进作用,而且教师集体效能和积极学校文化中介效应占总效应比例均较大;农村校长领导力的直接效应虽然占总效应比例也较大,但它与消极学校文化都是负向的,起到的是阻碍或消减作用。因此,农村学校办学过程中,校长要不断反思与改进校长领导力实践,以增强其对学生学业成绩的直接影响;组织建设富有积极价值的学校文化,为教师集体效能提升搭建平台,以增强其对提升学生学业成绩的中介效应。     

Professional Development in 'Healthy' vs. 'Unhealthy' Districts: Top 10 characteristics based on research

Professional development is a requirement of every reform effort. Most states in the USA mandate a certain number of days in the school calendar to be allocated for professional development. Other nations often fund professional development for teachers to accompany an initiative to improve student performance. Although assumptions about why and how professional development should be conducted are shared, empirical evidence is relatively slim. Recent research generally focuses on the role of professional development in school reform. This study investigates the characteristics of involvement in professional development at the level of the district-the umbrella organisation for a geographic collection of schools. As part of a larger study, this research examines the professional development activities in school districts in relationship to overall district health. How do healthy and unhealthy districts differ in their approaches to professional development? What is the relationship between district health and student achievement? While confirming some of the assumptions about what makes effective professional development, this study provides research-based evidence for what districts can do to ensure district-wide impact and to bring about and sustain change. Furthermore, it illustrates the close association of district health and student achievement.     

Impact of an inclusive programme on achievement,attendance and perceptions towards the school climate and social-emotional adaptation among students with disabilities

The aim of this paper is to report outcomes of a school-based programme aiming to promote achievement, attendance and positive perceptions towards the school climate and social-emotional adaptation among students with disabilities (SWD). The programme included a series of training and social activities for school staff, parents and children followed by implementation of the knowledge gained through these activities. The programme lasted one school year and data were collected through quantitative and qualitative methods. Results of the study indicated enhanced student attendance and achievement, social-emotional development, and positive perceptions about the school climate. In addition, parents and teachers were mostly content with development of students and the attempts of their schools to prompt student learning. Findings of this research indicate the significance of the holistic approach in educating SWD in mainstream schools and confirm that schools can make progress relying on their internal structures and planned action.     

Examining the Relationship Between Teacher Evaluation and Student Assessment Results in Washoe County

In this article, we describe findings from an analysis of the relationship between scores on a standards-based teacher evaluation system modeled on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996) and student achievement measures in a large Western school district. We apply multilevel statistical modeling to study the relationship between the evaluation scores and state and district tests of reading, mathematics, and a composite measure of reading and mathematics. Using a value-added framework, the teacher evaluation scores were included at the 2nd level, or teacher level, of the model when other student and teacher-level characteristics were controlled. This study provided some initial evidence of a positive association between teacher performance, as measured by the evaluation system, and student achievement. The coefficients representing the effects of teacher performance on student achievement were positive and were statistically significant in 4 of 9 grade-test combinations studied.