Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the building administrator on student achievement in literacy. Students from high-poverty backgrounds face many hardships in their personal lives which may dramatically impact their academic achievement. Achievement gaps are prevalent between students of poverty and students from more affluent backgrounds beginning in Kindergarten, and these gaps continue to grow over time. Effective school supports help to close these achievement gaps and this study examined if the building administrators experience can overcome the barriers for students of poverty. A survey was created to quantitatively measure building administrators understanding of best practice in literacy instruction, years of experience, and attendance at professional development. A total of 1,003 building administrators were invited to participate in the study and e-mail surveys were sent requesting the building administrators completion of the electronic survey. Data analysis included a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine if there was a significant difference in student achievement on the English Language Arts portion of ISTEP+ based on the building administrators years of experience. The one-way ANOVA found no statistically significant difference on the English Language Arts portion of ISTEP+ in low or high-poverty schools based on the building administrators years of experience. Linear regression was used to determine if the amount of literacy based professional development attended by the building administrator and the building administrators understanding of best practice in literacy instruction serve as predictors of student achievement as measured on the English Language Arts portion of ISTEP+. Linear regression results found student achievement in literacy cannot be predicted based on the number of literacy focused professional development hours the building administrator attends yearly in both low- and high-poverty schools. Linear regression found that student achievement in literacy in low-poverty schools can be predicted based on the building administrators understanding of best practice in literacy instruction. Linear regression found that student achievement in literacy in high-poverty schools cannot be predicted based on the building administrators understanding of best practice in literacy instruction.
Recommended Citation
Swarens, Tamara S., "Building Administrators' Literacy Expertise And Student Achievement" (2016). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1571.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1571