Keywords

Second order change leadership behaviors, elementary principals, educational leadership, urban school leaders, student achievement

Abstract

The focus on specific principal leadership behaviors that positively impact student achievement has become more and more pronounced since the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Recently, researchers have begun to focus on a more dramatic type of change as a method for improving student achievement in schools. Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005) conducted a meta-analysis of more than 5,000 studies and identified seven leadership behaviors that related to improved student achievement and were viewed as second-order in nature. In many cases, second-order change was needed (a) to accomplish the student achievement improvements necessary to attain Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and (b) to ensure that all students would read on grade level by 2014. For this study, 66 principals from schools with fewer than 60% of students who qualified for free and reduced-price lunches from five urban Florida school districts completed an online survey, Principal Actions Survey (PAS), created to determine which of the seven leadership behaviors successful principals utilized in their schools. Principals were specifically asked to comment on those actions that they felt impacted student achievement and achievement of AYP. Principals consistently responded that they used the seven leadership behaviors, but the results from this study indicated very few statistically significant relationships or predictive relationships. The 66 principal responses were also compared to responses on the PAS of principals from urban Florida elementary schools with more than 60% of students who qualified for free and reducedprice lunches (La Cava, 2009). These comparisons indicated that principals of schools iv with a higher level of poverty reported utilization of the seven leadership behaviors on a more frequent basis or with a higher success rate than principals at schools with lower poverty levels.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Taylor, Rosemarye

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education and Human Performance

Department

Educational and Human Sciences

Degree Program

Educational Leadership

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004560

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004560

Language

English

Release Date

December 2015

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education, Education -- Dissertations, Academic

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