A Synthesis of Theory and Research on Principal Leadership, School Culture, and School Effectiveness

• Main Author: Lancaster Parker, Beverly Adams
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2015
• Subjects: Educational leadership
• ISBN: 9780355347760; 0355347768

The national push for increased accountability, the demand for academic achievement for all students, as defined by high-stakes testing, and sanctions imposed on public schools create significant challenges for the school principal. The principal is charged with leading improvement efforts to improve student achievement and school effectiveness. Striving for excellence is a collaborative, inquiry-based quest, in which the principal must engage all stakeholders in the development of a productive learning culture designed to improve teaching and learning. To do this, educational practitioners must glean and use improvement strategies from well-grounded theory, educational research, best practices, and evidence-based decision making. This study is an investigation and synthesis of the relationships among leadership behaviors, school culture, and school outcomes, including student achievement, in an effort to determine direct and indirect effects. It is based on the premise that school leadership has a direct effect on school culture, and school culture has a direct effect on school effectiveness, including student achievement. Schein’s model of culture was selected as the operational definition of culture. The concept of school climate is based on environmental factors and is included within the larger concept of school culture. The resulting work is the development of a theory of school effectiveness, based on a review of educational research, theory, and best practices synthesized from multiple studies. The work is intended to serve as a resource for those involved in school leadership and school improvement efforts.Evidence for supporting direct effects of leadership on school effectiveness, including student achievement is very limited in the literature. However, results indicate that the principal does have a direct effect on school culture and climate through strategic intervention strategies and behaviors. A review of studies examining the relationships between school culture and student achievement indicate that there is a significant moderate effect between school culture and student achievement in K-12 public schools in the United States. Although there remains limited evidence that the school principal directly affects student achievement, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that school culture is a significant mediating factor between principal leadership and school effectiveness.