Title: Linking Instructional Leadership, Teaching Quality, and Student Achievement: Reflections From a Half-Full Glass
1Linking Instructional Leadership, Teaching
Quality, and Student Achievement Reflections
From a Half-Full Glass
- Presentation to the
- Institute of Education Sciences
- Annual Research Conference
- Washington, DC
- June 12, 2008
2What This Study Was and Wasnt
- It examined a theory of action in which
instructional leadership plays a major role. - It was an effort to establish empirical linkages
between steps in the theory of action. - It was not an evaluation of an intervention based
on the theory of action.
3The Theory of Action
- Developed by the Institute for Learning (IFL) at
the University of Pittsburgh - Used to inform the professional development that
the IFL delivers to districts and schools
4Steps in the Theory of Action
5The Bottom Line Half-Full
- We developed reliable quantitative indicators of
principals leadership actions as recipients and
providers of professional development. - Some statistically significant correlations exist
between each pair of adjacent steps in the theory.
6The Bottom Line Half-Empty
- Data are correlational only.
- We couldnt undertake a second round of data
collection, so data are concurrent, further
undercutting the ability to make causal
inferences. - Some correlations between steps arent
statistically significant. - Because of sample size issues, we couldnt
statistically model the full theory.
7Testing the Theory of Action
- Selecting districts and schools in which to mount
the study - Gathering survey, observational, and achievement
data around these steps - Creating measures of the steps
- Looking at the statistical linkages that connect
these measures
8Focus on Three Principles of Learning
- Accountable Talk (AT)
- Academic Rigor (AR)
- Clear Expectations (CE)
9Study Districts and Schools
- Three districts
- Austin
- Region 10 in New York City
- Saint Paul
- 49 elementary schools
- approx. 85 percent of students FRPL
- higher proportion nonwhite than in other
district schools
10What We Did
- Administered surveys to principals and 3rd and
4th grade teachers in the spring of 2006 - Conducted observations in 151 reading classes and
151 math classes during the 2005-2006 school year
using a version of the IQA - Collected data from Web sites on 3rd grade
student achievement in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 - Interviewed and job-shadowed principals,
conducted focus groups with teachers in a small
number of case study schools in each district - Interviewed district and IFL personnel
11Linking Principals PD to Teachers PD
12Constructs Related to Professional Development
- Constructs related to receiving professional
development (principals and teachers) - Frequency
- Value
- Constructs related to providing professional
development (principals) - Role in PD for teachers
- Time spent with teachers on instructional
improvement -
-
13Professional Development at Three Levels
- Instruction-related
- Related to the Principles of Learning
collectively - Related to each Principle of Learning (AT, AR, CE)
14The Analytic Approach
- We regressed each variable at Step N on the
variables at Step N-1 and Step N-2 - As control variables in the regressions, we
included the district and, for each school, the
principals experience and the average experience
of teachers who responded to the survey.
15Linking Principals PD to Teachers PD
- Principals who received more instruction-related
PD played a more active role in PD for their
teachers. - Principals who received more instruction-related
PD and valued it more spent more time with their
teachers on instructional improvement. - Teachers reported receiving more PD at schools
whose principals reported being more actively
involved in PD for their teachers. The teachers
didnt, however, value the PD more.
16Linking Teachers PD to Instructional Quality
17Linking Teachers PD to Instructional Quality
- In schools where teachers reported receiving more
instruction-related PD, the reading lessons that
were observed were of higher quality. - More frequent teacher PD on Accountable Talk and
Clear Expectations was associated with higher
scores on these outcomes in the reading lessons
that were observed. - At schools where principals played a more active
role with respect to teacher PD on Academic Rigor
and Clear Expectations, higher scores on these
outcomes were observed.
18Linking Instructional Quality toStudent
Achievement
19Linking Instructional Quality toStudent
Achievement
- At schools where the reading and math lessons
that were observed were of higher quality as
measured on the IQA, higher proportions of
students met the standard on reading and math
assessments. - Higher implementation of Accountable Talk was
associated with higher student achievement in
both subjects. - Higher implementation of Academic Rigor was
associated with higher student achievement in
reading. - All of these associations also controlled for
prior student achievement.
20What Can We Conclude?
- The evidence supporting the IFL theory is
promising and suggestive. - But its not definitive. We cant say that one
phenomenon caused another, only that they are
associated. - Data are concurrent
- No counterfactual
- There are alternative explanations for many of
our findings.
21Other Findings of Note
- Principals and teachers especially valued PD
sessions in which they could learn from their
peers. - Instructional quality was generally low.
- Teachers are inaccurate reporters of their own
teaching.
22The Best Next Step for Research
- A rigorous random assignment test of IFLs work
23For futher information
- Please contact Janet Quint at (212) 340-8816 or
- janet.quint_at_mdrc.org
- The report may be found at
- www.mdrc.org