Emerald | Journal of Educational Administration

School Administration in a Changing Education Sector: The U.S. Experience

James Spillane, Allison W. Kenney — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - Research, spanning half a century, points to the critical role of school administration to the successful implementation of U.S. government policies and programs. In part these findings reflect the times and a U.S. educational governance system characterized by local control, a constitutionally constrained federal government, resource poor state governments, and an overall system of segment arrangements for governing education. But, the American education policy environment has changed dramatically over the past several decades with standards and high stakes accountability becoming commonplace. Design/methodology/approach - In this paper, we examine the entailments of shifts in the policy environment for school administrative practice focusing on how school leaders manage in the middle between this shifting external policy environment and classroom teachers. Findings - While our account suggests considerable change for school administrative practice, we argue that organizational legitimacy and organizational integrity are still central concerns for school leaders. Originality/value - While our account is based entirely on the U.S. education sector, we suspect that several aspects of our framing may be relevant in other countries.

At-Risk Student Averse: Risk Management And Accountability

Julian Vasquez Heilig, Michelle Young, Amy Williams — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The prevailing theory of action underlying accountability is that holding schools and students accountable will increase educational output. While accountability’s theory of action intuitively seemed plausible, at the point of No Child Left Behind's national implementation, little empirical research was available to either support or critique accountability claims or to predict the long term impact of accountability systems on the success of at-risk students and the schools that served them.Design/methodology/approach - Interviews with 89 administrators, staff and teachers revealed a variety of methods utilized to manage risks associated with low test scores and accountability ratings.Findings - The findings reported in this paper challenge the proposition that accountability improves the educational outcomes of at-risk students and indicates that low-performing Texas high schools, when faced with the press of accountability, tend to mirror corporate risk management processes with unintended consequences for at-risk students. Low-scoring at-risk students were often viewed as liabilities by school personnel who, in their scramble to meet testing thresholds and accountability goals, were at-risk student averse— implementing practices designed to "force kids out of school."Originality/value - In this article, we use theory and research on risk management to analyze the work and perceptions of school teachers and leaders as they seek to meet the requirements of educational accountability. This paper is among the first to use this particular perspective to conceptualize and understand the practices of educational organizations with regards to the treatment of at-risk students attending low-performing high schools in the midst of accountability.

Contrasting Effects of Instructional Leadership Practices on Student Learning in a High Accountability Context

Moosung Lee, Allan Walker, Yuk Ling Chui — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of different dimensions of instructional leadership on student learning in Hong Kong secondary schools whose broader institutional contexts are critically characterized by high accountability policy environments.Design/methodology/approach - This study utilizes standardized test scores collected from (N= 2, 037) students in 42 secondary schools and data collected from key staff’s perceptions of leadership practices to investigate two dimensions of instructional leadership, which are conceptually interdependent but distinctive—i.e., instructional management and direct supervision of instruction. A cross-level interaction analysis of hierarchical linear modeling was employed to investigate the effects of the two dimensions of instructional leadership on student learning.Findings - Leadership practices focused on instructional management were found to enhance student learning by boosting the positive effect of students’ attachment to their school on academic achievement. In contrast, leadership practices related to direct supervision of instruction were found to undermine student learning by weakening the positive effect of student perceptions of school attachment on academic performance when other school- and student-level characteristics are held constant.Originality/value - This study reveals the contrasting effects of instructional leadership as a multi-dimensional construct which is central in the current education reform agenda, rooted in accountability-oriented policy of Hong Kong. It draws a number of implications for principal instructional leadership in Hong Kong Schools as they deal with demands for external accountability.

The strength of accountability and teachers’ organisational citizenship behaviour

Eyvind Elstad, Are Turmo, Knut Andreas Christophersen — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) involves discretionary behaviour advantageous to the organisation that goes beyond existing role expectations. The purpose of this article is to explore the link between the strength of accountability and teachers’ OCB within three different management systems: teachers working under (1) assessment-based accountability, (2) the gradual introduction of accountability devices, and (3) no tests or examinations. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation modelling of cross-sectional surveys from the three different management systems was used to estimate the path coefficients and to compare the strength of relationships between concepts in the models. Findings - The analysis shows that the factors that influence OCB in an accountability regime are clearly different from those in a regime with weak or no accountability devices. Research limitations/implications - A cross-sectional study does not allow us to test causal relationships among antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour. The use of self-reported questionnaire data is another shortcoming while, furthermore, the response rates leave uncertainty about whether the samples are representative.Practical implications - The strength of accountability in education governance may influence OCB among teachers. Educational administrators may benefit from exploring this issue to help the establishment of institutional arrangements. Originality/value - The study integrates three strands of theories that have their focal points in employees’ perceptions of exchange: Shore’s theory on employee-organisation relationships and Bryk and Schneider’s theories on trust in schools and on accountability.

External Mandates and Instructional Leadership: School Leaders as Mediating Agents

Karen Louis, Viviane Robinson — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - This paper examines how U.S. school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability policies affects their work. We begin by positing that school leaders’ responses to external accountability are likely to reflect a complex interaction between their perception of the accountability policies, the state and district contexts in which those policies are situated and their own leadership beliefs and practices. Design/methodology/approach - We use both principal and teacher survey data to explore the question of how perceptions of external policy are associated with instructional leadership behaviors. Cases of seven principals are employed to flesh out the findings from the survey analysis. Findings - We conclude that external accountability policy may have a positive impact on instructional leadership – where they see those policies as aligned with their own values and preferences, and where they see their district leaders as supportive of school-driven accountability initiatives. In these cases, school leaders internalize the external accountability policies and shape them to the particular needs that they see as priorities in their own school. Where one or the other of these factors is weak or missing, on the other hand, leaders demonstrate more negative attitudes to external accountability and weaker instructional leadership. Research limitations/implications - Practical implications - Originality/value - This analysis draws on a unique large-scale data base and uses a mixed methods approach to answering the question.

Managing the Intersection of Internal and External Accountability: Challenge for Urban School Leadership in the United States

Michael S. Knapp, Sue Feldman — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - This paper directs attention to the intersection of external and internal accountability systems within urban schools, and the role of school leadership, especially that of the principal, in managing this intersection. Design/methodology/approach - This paper draws on findings from a multi-case study of learning-focused leadership in 15 schools in four urban school districts in the United States.Findings - Highlighted here are three intersections of internal and external accountability in which school leaders crafted tools from the array of external accountability expectations for internal accountability purposes: establishing and specifying expectations; cultivating data practices; and leading while learning. Research limitations/implications - The study sample included only schools experimenting with staffing allocations to facilitate equitable learning opportunities, and making progress on a learning agenda, where leadership was shared across multiple people. Practical implications - These findings point toward the possibility of productive intersections between external accountability expectations and internal accountability.Originality/value - This multi-case study afforded a close look at 15 different schools, across four urban school districts providing a perspective on the daily work of school leadership in schools where principals were making progress toward their school wide goals, aligned with the districts' state and federal goals for improving education in the United States.

Bridging Accountability Obligations, Professional Values, and (Perceived) Student Needs with Integrity

Rick Mintrop — 2012-08-10 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the manuscript is to explore the tensions between external accountability obligations, educator's professional values, and student needs. Strategic, cognitive, and moral dimensions of this tension are captured with the central category of integrity. Design/methodology/approach - This is a mixed methods study that compares five exceptionally high performing middle schools with four exceptionally low performing middle schools in the state of California (USA), controlling for demographics, school context factors, and below average performance range. Findings - Schools under similar circumstances differ on the degree of integrity. Schools with high integrity have a good balance between values and reality, are more cohesive and more open to dissent. In each case, integrity was associated with an expansion of agency that combined moral earnestness with prudent strategizing and actively constructing interpretive frames that maintained a school’s sense of self-worth. Integrity develops or survives with a good dose of educational leaders’ personal strength, but also depends on leaders' insistence to fully exhaust the moral horizon of an institution which obligates educators to balance equity, system efficiency, child-centeredness and professionalism with prudence. Research limitations/implications - This is a case study of nine schools in one state. Explanatory relationships can be explored, but not generalized. Practical implications - The study has implications for leadership. It demonstrates the power of integrity as a key virtue of leadership under accountability pressures. It shows the different ways integrity can be forged in schools and the different ways it can be missed with consequences for school life. Originality/value - The practitioner literature often points to integrity as a desirable quality when dealing with tensions of the sort addressed in this ms, but little systematic theoretical thinking and empirical exploration of this concept exists. This paper makes an advance in both areas.