Examining school leadership effects on student achievement: the role of contextual challenges and constraints

Background/Context Increasingly, educational leadership research has stressed that leadership is not solely embedded in formal roles but often emerges from relationships between individuals. Senior management teams (SMTs) are an important expression of a formal management structure based on the principle of distributed leadership. Such structures may require a reconceptualization of school leadership and the role of the principal in such a way as to better meet new challenges and enable principals to manage SMTs more effectively. Accordingly, it is proposed that to improve effectiveness, principals engage in boundary activities, the principals’ internal activities directed toward the SMT aimed at dealing with internal team matters and the principals’ external activities directed toward external agents in the team's focal environment to acquire resources and protect the team. Purpose/Objective The present study attempts to advance a theoretical model of principals’ internal and external activities toward their SMTs. This study's purpose is twofold: First, the study tries to determine which of the internal and external activities principals engage in more frequently and less frequently and to what extent. Second, the study attempts to determine how these activities are related to the SMT effectiveness outcomes: in-role performance and innovation. Taking on a distributive perspective to school leadership, our goal is to extend our knowledge about the activities that might facilitate SMT effectiveness, by highlighting the principal boundary activities as fundamental. Research Design Quantitative study. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected from two sources to minimize problems associated with same source bias: 92 SMTs and their principals from 92 public schools in Israel. Principals evaluated the SMTs’ effectiveness through validated surveys of team in-role performance and team innovation, and SMT members evaluated the internal and external activities of the principal. Findings/Results ANOVA analyses indicate significant mean differences between the principal's internal and external activities. Results from Structural Equation Model indicate that internal activities were related to SMT performance, whereas external activities were related to SMT innovation. Conclusions/Recommendations Principals who manage both the internal SMT dynamic by promoting SMT identity and building team trust, while also promoting a common mission, serve the role of coordinator between SMT members and constituencies external to the SMT, enhancing SMT effectiveness. It may be, then, that studying new models of school leadership and management, including the relationship of the principal and the SMT, may deepen our understanding of the increasingly complex role of principals today.

Download Full-text

Fostering Cultural Responsiveness in an Urban High School: A Case Study

NASSP Bulletin ◽

10.1177/01926365211036513 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 019263652110365

Author(s):

Jay Paredes Scribner ◽

Donna H. Weingand ◽

Karen Leigh Sanzo

Keyword(s):

School Culture ◽

School Leadership ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Cultural Responsiveness ◽

Future Research ◽

Student Needs ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Teacher Needs

Scholars and practitioners have increasingly recognized the role of culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL). However, few studies have applied recent comprehensive CRSL theoretical frameworks. This in-depth case study explores how a school leader understands and shapes a school culture to be increasingly culturally responsive to students. Utilizing recent conceptualizations of CRSL as a lens, two major findings were developed. First, the principal’s understanding of what it means to be a culturally responsive leader is centered on the student experience: meeting basic needs, seeking “vertical” engagement, and transforming student world views. Second, to meet those student needs the principal practiced differentiated instructional leadership according to individual teacher needs and oriented to fostering a culturally responsive school culture. We suggest future research carefully examine (1) the interplay of beliefs, dispositions, and values in CRSL play, and (2) how CRSL (where it exists) manifests as an organizational.

Download Full-text

Multicultural Educational Practices: School Women Leaders Perspectives And Contextual Realities For Promoting Intercultural Harmony In Schools

Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies ◽

10.46568/pjgs.v7i1.276 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 99-109

Author(s):

Tayyaba Zarif ◽

Aziz un Nisa

Keyword(s):

Multicultural Education ◽

Women Leaders ◽

School Leadership ◽

School Environment ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Classroom Practices ◽

School Leaders ◽

School Level ◽

Teaching Learning

The increasing diversity of cultural, ethnic, racial and tribal composition of societies in general and schools in particular signify the importance of multicultural education at all levels of education. In this context the roots of such a concept can be strengthened at school level in any community. Here the role of school leadership is imperative towards promoting intercultural harmony in the school environment in general and the curriculum and classroom practices in particular. This research sheds light on the perspectives of school leadership and the actual scenarios at school level to integrate intercultural education into mainstream curriculum and teaching-learning practices at schools. For this reason altogether 30 School leaders were selected through purposive-random sampling from a sample of 30 private schools of Karachi selected with the help of convenient sampling. The most experienced School leaders were selected for this study. The perspective of School leadership regarding Multicultural Education and their practices in everyday schooling was collected through interviews by using an open ended questionnaire so the study is completely qualitative in nature. The theme analysis of qualitative data was done. The theme analysis depicts that the principals in-general seem to possess a positive understanding of multicultural education and that they preferred a very neutral approach for multicultural education.

Download Full-text

The influence of school leadership and teacher performance on the learning achievement of middle school students

JPGI (Jurnal Penelitian Guru Indonesia) ◽

10.29210/021077jpgi0005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 487

Author(s):

Dhidhik Eni Rustiyah ◽

Nur Ahyani ◽

Dessy Wardiah

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

School Leadership ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Principal Leadership ◽

Teacher Performance ◽

Multiple Correlation Coefficient ◽

Coefficient Of Determination ◽

Test Results ◽

School Students ◽

Data Collection Technique

This study aims to determine and describe the influence of principal leadership and teacher performance on student achievement in SMA NegeriLubuk Raja OganKomeringUlu (OKU) District. The method used is a quantitative method. The data collection technique used was a questionnaire. The results of the study can be concluded that the test results show that the higher the effective leadership of the principal, the higher the student achievement squared the correlation coefficient between the two variables is 0.588. The square of the correlation coefficient between the two variables (r2y2) of 0.5069 can be interpreted that if other variables are not controlled, then 50.69% of the proportion of student achievement variance can be explained by the level of teacher performance. and the multiple correlation coefficient between the two independent variables with the dependent variable Ry.12 of 0.684. From the correlation coefficient, the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.684 means that 68.40% of the proportion of student achievement variants can be explained jointly by the principal's leadership and teacher performance.

Download Full-text

Transformational Leadership and Instructional Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Analy

Drustvena istrazivanja ◽

10.5559/di.30.2.01 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 181-202

Author(s):

Irena Burić ◽

Maja Parmač Kovačić ◽

Aleksandra Huić

Keyword(s):

School Leadership ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Online Survey ◽

Instructional Quality ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Protective Role ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Digital Competencies

The school lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed teachers to online teaching literally overnight, which put their performance at risk. Transformational school leadership (TSL), teacher self-efficacy (TSE) and digital competencies might have played a protective role in such burdening conditions. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the mediating role of TSE in explaining the relationship between TSL and instructional quality. Additionally, the moderating role of digital competencies in explaining the interrelations between TSL and TSE as well as between TSE and instructional quality, or the proposed mediating mechanism, was tested. The study was conducted via online survey in Spring 2020 and involved 1655 Croatian teachers. The mediation and moderated mediation analyses revealed that TSL was positively related to instructional quality both directly and indirectly via TSE. Teacher digital competencies did not moderate the proposed relationships or the mediating mechanism.

Download Full-text

Linking Principal Leadership to Organizational Growth and Student Achievement: A Moderation Mediation Analysis

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811912100903 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 (9) ◽

pp. 1-32

Author(s):

James Sebastian ◽

Elaine Allensworth

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

School Climate ◽

School Improvement ◽

School Leadership ◽

Principal Leadership ◽

Mediation Analysis ◽

School Safety ◽

Organizational Processes ◽

Organizational Growth ◽

School Conditions

Background Although there is a substantial body of literature on school leadership and its relationship with student achievement, few studies have examined how change in leadership is related to organizational growth and school improvement. Also less well studied is the influence of contextual conditions on how leadership and organizational processes evolve to constrain/augment school outcomes. Focus of Study In this study, we use moderation mediation analysis to examine how change in principal leadership relates to achievement growth, mediated via change in multiple organizational processes—parent-teacher trust, school climate (measured by school safety), and professional capacity. We further examine how these mediational relationships are moderated by initial school conditions. Research Design We apply moderation mediation analysis to administrative and survey data of elementary schools from a large urban school district to examine if initial school conditions moderate mediational relationships between school leadership and student outcomes. Conclusions Our results show that improvements in school leadership are related to student learning gains only through improvements in school climate; this relationship is consistent regardless of whether schools initially had strong or weak leadership and regardless of whether schools initially had safe or unsafe school climates.

Download Full-text

How Principal Leadership, Disciplinary Climate, and Parental Involvement Work Collectively as Predictors of Student Achievement

EViE: Emerging Voices in Education ◽

10.17918/k999-bp90 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sijia Zhang ◽

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

Parental Involvement ◽

School Leadership ◽

Principal Leadership ◽

Student Outcomes ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Reading Literacy ◽

School Leadership Practices ◽

Mathematics And Science ◽

Combined Data

This study examined how school leadership, parental involvement, disciplinary climate can collectively impact students' perceptions on reading and student achievement. The sample was obtained from the combined data of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 package. School leadership is believed to have a positive indirect impact on student achievement through the influence of other mediating variables. It was hypothesized that the more time principals spend on accomplishing school leadership practices, the greater the degree of parental involvement and disciplinary climate, thus higher levels of students' perceptions on reading and better student achievement. The results indicated the school leadership did have an indirect positive influence on student outcomes (students' perception on reading, and student achievement.

Download Full-text