The Perceptions of HIgh School Principals on Student Achievement by Conducting Walkthroughs

THE PERCEPTIONS OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BY CONDUCTING WALKTHROUGHS Todd Edward Keruskin, Ed.D.University of Pittsburgh, 2005Advisor: Joseph Werlinich __________________________________________The purpose of this study was to focus on High School principals using the walkthrough model and to evaluate how the walkthrough model improves student learning. This data was then analyzed to determine if walkthrough models impacted student learning and student achievement in High Schools in Newport News in Virginia. The goal was to identify key indicators of success from the high school principals that use the Walkthrough Observation Tool from the Principals Academy of Western Pennsylvania.For the first part, the researcher used an historical approach. This included the era of accountability, clinical supervision, differentiated supervision, the history of walkthroughs, and models of walkthroughs. The second phase of this study focused on the high school principals' perspectives on how the walkthrough tool has impacted student achievement in their schools. The third phase of this study focused on the teachers' perspectives on how walkthroughs has impacted their instruction and student achievement.The results of this study showed that the Walkthroughs did impact instruction and student learning from the perspectives of the principals and teachers. The study showed that Walkthroughs are a tool to make sure teachers are focusing on the look-fors that are defined each year. The study showed that the look-fors improve the instruction in the classrooms and ultimately improved student achievement. The look-fors start to permeate through the classrooms and throughout the school.This study offers hope to high school principals that are facing the current reform movements and are struggling to improve instruction and student achievement. The Walkthrough tool does not cost any money to implement; but it takes a commitment from the principal to be an instructional leader and spend time focusing on the look-fors in the classrooms