Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how principal support, professional learning communities, collective responsibility, and group-level teacher expectations affect 11th-grade student math achievement. Research Methods: Data for this study were from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. This study used a multilevel structural equation model to examine how principal support, professional learning communities, collective responsibility, and teacher expectations at the group level affect school math achievement. Findings: The study identified a model of school-level factors affecting students: Principal support positively influenced both professional learning communities and collective responsibility, which in turn, affected student math achievement via group-level teacher expectations; on the other hand, the impact of principal support on group-level teacher expectation and the direct associations of both professional learning communities and collective responsibility with student achievement were not statically significant. Implications: Focusing on how a school-level mechanism influences student achievement provides a better understanding of sustaining high school performance through school reform initiatives (e.g., principal leadership training, building professional learning communities, or interventions to improve group-level teachers’ expectations). To improve student achievement, the current study emphasizes why principals should give more attention to exerting supportive and egalitarian leadership that can contribute to a school’s positive climate and lead to changing teachers’ instructional behaviors and attitudes, rather than focusing on directive or restrictive leadership and managing behaviors.
Principal Support is Imperative to the Retention of Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools
