A model of school success: Instructional leadership, academic press, and student achievement.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Public schools are under intense accountability to educate all students to educational standards. School administrators are searching for ways to increase student achievement to these standards. Research has demonstrated that academic press is a crucial factor that effects high levels of student achievement at high schools, middle schools and urban elementary schools, as well as indicated a need for strong instructional leadership for schools to be effective.
Hypotheses were formed to study the relationships among academic press, instructional leadership and student achievement. Socioeconomic status was used as a control variable. A path model based on these variables was developed.
In the current research an instructional leadership measure was developed, piloted and tested. The Instructional Leadership Inventory was framed around the three dimensions of instructional leadership used in this study: promoting school-wide professional development, monitoring and providing feedback on the teaching and learning process, and developing and communicating shared goals. Factor analysis supported the existence of three highly, correlated factors. A second-order factor analysis supported the conclusion that all three dimensions measured a general variable known as instructional leadership.
Student achievement data, federal free and reduced lunch program participation rates, and survey data, measuring academic press and instructional leadership, were collected from 146 Ohio elementary schools. Factor analysis, zero-order and partial correlations, and structural equation modeling were used in the statistical analysis of the data.
The results of the research supported the hypothesis that instructional leadership has an indirect effect on student achievement through academic press, even controlling for socioeconomic status. The research did not support a direct relationship between instructional leadership and student achievement. Academic press was directly related to student achievement. Socioeconomic status had a direct and an indirect effect, through academic press, on student achievement.
In sum, this study adds to the understanding of the social dynamics within the school and the effect on student achievement. Principals indirectly impact student learning through the school climate they foster; therefore, it is important that principals practice instructional leadership and understand its effect on the academic press of a school's climate. Only with informed practice will schools be able to meet the needs and challenges associated with all students achieving at high levels.