Predicting Student Outcomes Using Principal Evaluation Results of SB 10-191: An HLM Approach

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 grew out of concern the American education system was no longer competitive in the international community. The Act considerably increased the federal government’s role in holding schools accountable for the academic progress of all students (Klein, 2018) and required students to be tested in reading and mathematics in Grades 3 through 8 and yearly in high school through Grade 11. By the 2013/14 school year, all states were required to bring students to the “proficient level” on the state test. This expectation, along with Race to The Top (RTT) funding priorities, led Colorado to pass Senate Bill 10-191, which changed the way all Colorado principals’ and teachers’ effectiveness is evaluated. This policy requires Colorado educators to be evaluated through a standardized professional practice rubric and the academic growth of their students. For principals, the state developed the Principal Quality Standards that became their evaluation tool. With some research showing that principals have an indirect influence on student achievement and other research demonstrating direct impact, this study determined that principals do have an impact on student outcomes indirectly. Principal Quality Standard II, instructional leadership, has the strongest relationship with both English language arts and mathematics outcomes for students while Standard V, managerial leadership, shows a systematic effect with mathematics outcomes. However, the relatively small effect sizes and the small amount of change in student scores suggest that improving principal effectiveness as measured by the Principal Quality Standards may not be the most effective way to enhance student achievement scores. District size and per-pupil revenue moderates the impact of some of the Principal Quality Standards but not all