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Abstract
No. |
0286 |
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Presentation |
Early
Career Researcher Conference Individual Paper |
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Title |
Leadership
for Leaning Effectiveness: Perceptions of Student Academic Services in
the Context of a Social Community. |
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Abstract |
The No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) became U.S. law on January 8, 2002.
NCLB’s goal was to improve educational outcomes for all students. In
September 2011, the Department of Education drafted a formal letter to the
Chief State School Officers inviting them to apply for ESEA flexibility
waivers containing annual measurable objectives (AMOs). “NCLB
requirements have unintentionally become barriers to State and local
implementation of reforms” (US Ed., 2011). Although instructional
leadership investigations have contributed greatly to understanding how
principal behaviors affect student outcomes, the causality analysis is far
from complete. Recently, instructional leadership has been
alternatively termed leadership for learning to reflect the “open
system” model in which the leadership behaviors transpire (Hallinger, 2011). Past studies reveal leadership
effects on student learning are limited by an academic institution's capacity
to improve. Capacity building models are available to address issues of
improvement in student academic performance (Roy, E. B. & Hobart, L. H.,
2005). Changes to conceptual frameworks and investigation models allow
for future discoveries in investigating leadership for learning. The
instructional behaviors of principals must be investigated beyond the
learning community in which a majority of the action occurs. An attempt
to correlate principal effectiveness with student outcomes should be studied
in the broader institutional system and social community (Mulford
and Silins, 2009; Hallinger,
2011b; Heck, Ronald H., 1998). Meta-analysis studies show
cross-sectional design represents 90% of doctoral dissertation
methodology. Multi-level statistical analysis has the potential
to further the understanding of leadership for learning using Hierarchical
Linear Modeling (HLM). Bidirectional function models illustrate
mediating variables. Is there a measurable difference in
self-perceptions of principals and perceptions of teachers in relation to
instructional leadership behaviors servicing a social community? The
Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale: Version 1.4 (PIMRS)
survey was selected over the VAL-ED instrument due to its suitability in
purpose. Structural equation modeling (SEM) offers a methodological
framework for investigating relationships because of its flexibility in
accounting for measurement of leadership behavior in contextual constructs
(Heck & Thomas, 2009). Cautions exist in applying findings from
leadership for learning studies to a particular school (Hallinger,
2011). Limitations in applying findings in leadership for learning
research lie within the difficulties of identifying contextual environments
during which the instructional leadership behaviors operate (Leithwood, K. and Jantzi, D.,
2000, p 113). New models pose an opportunity to discover how leadership
behaviors affect student outcomes in a variety of contextually rich
environments. |