The impact of leadership on student achievement in high poverty schools

UnrestrictedThe purpose of this single school case study was to examine the structures and systems in place at high poverty schools that contribute to high student achievement, specifically, how they are implemented and maintained. The case study sought to examine the role instructional leaders play in cultivating effective school wide classroom instruction in a high performing, high poverty urban middle school. Furthermore, this study sought to identify themes emerging from the examination of the policies and practices associated with improving student performance at the case study school. A high performing, high poverty urban middle school in the Los Angeles County area of California was chosen for this study. The criteria for a high performing school included maintaining or improving API growth during a three year period, and sustaining a Similar Schools ranking of 8 or above during that same three year period. High poverty was defined as schools with 40 percent or more of their student population on free or reduced price lunch. The case study was completed using a qualitative research design. Methods of data collection included observations, interviews and document analysis. A total of seven teachers, two administrators, a school counselor, and school secretary participated in the interview process. Within this qualitative design, a process of triangulating data was incorporated in order to gain a larger picture of the structures and systems at the school site, and to confirm findings. Analysis of the data uncovered four major themes associated with increasing student achievement, including a structured use of data, shared leadership, collaboration and the establishment of a culture of learning. In addition, practices by effective instructional leaders designed to provide opportunities for teachers to share in the decision making process in order to foster collegiality and build capacity were identified. Implications for policy and practice were also discussed