Curt M. Adams

The Formation of Parent-School Trust: A Multilevel Analysis

Purpose: The authors focus was on understanding antecedents of parent trust toward schools. Two questions guided the inquiry: Is there a systematic difference in parent-school trust across schools? If so, what organizational conditions predict between-school variability in parent-school trust? Research Methods / Approach: Using multilevel modeling, this study examined school-level determinants of individual parent-school trust from a sample of 79 schools and 578 parents drawn randomly from a Midwestern state. Findings: Intraclass coefficients were first examined on the school-level attitudinal variables to determine their collective disposition. Estimates indicated that these conditions were collective properties of schools. Results from the Level 1 Means-As-Outcomes analysis showed that 16% of the variance in parent trust was explained by school membership. Level 2 predictors were entered individually with significant variables retained and entered into a combined model. Affective norms of parent perceived influence on school decisions (β5j = 5.0, p < .01) and school identification (β4j = 2.7, p < .01) had larger individual effects on parent-school trust than contextual conditions. Conclusion: Findings support the conceptualization of school trust as a collective property of school role groups that forms through affective, cognitive, and behavioral norms. Parent trust is not inherently deficient in schools plagued by social and contextual challenges. Regardless of poverty status, school size, diverse ethnic composition, and school level, school leaders can build and sustain parent trust by aligning policies and practices to address the affective needs of parents. Doing so reduces parents perceived vulnerabilities and risks within the parent-school relationship.

A diffusion approach to study leadership reform

Purpose – This study aims to draw on elements of diffusion theory to understand leadership reform. Many diffusion studies examine the spread of an innovation across social units but the objective is to examine diffusion of a collective leadership model within school units. Specifically, the strength of reform diffusion is tested to account for differences in instructional capacity and to explain the spread of leadership reform within Title I elementary schools.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method design was used to understand how social factors facilitated the diffusion of leadership reform, and to test for a diffusion effect. Qualitative data were derived from interviews, field notes, observations, and documents using a grounded theory approach. Open and axial coding techniques were used to develop coherent categories of major and minor themes. Quantitative data were hierarchical, with teachers and students nested in schools. A random‐intercepts, means‐as‐outcomes model was used to test for a dif...

Collective Student Trust: A Social Resource for Urban Elementary Students.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if collective student trust functions as a resource for urban elementary students. Methods Data from 1,646 students nested in 56 elementary schools in an urban school district were used to test the hypothesized effect of collective student trust on school identification, self-regulated learning, and math and reading achievement. A model-building process in HLM 6.08 was used to test the three hypotheses. Random-intercepts means-as-outcomes models were used to assess the school-level effects on school identification and self-regulated learning, controlling for free and reduced lunch rate and prior achievement. A one-way ANCOVA with random intercepts was used for math and reading achievement. Free and reduced lunch was specified as a student- and school-level control in order to set a more conservative standard for detecting a trust effect. Results The hypothesized effects of collective student trust on school identification, self-regulated learning, and achievement were confirmed. A culture of student trust in urban elementary schools partly contributed to identification with school, internal control over learning tasks, and math and reading achievement. Collective trust was the strongest school-level antecedent of positive student beliefs, behavior, and achievement. Implications With policy debates centering on increased funding, accountability, and teacher and leader evaluation, trust may seem like an unlikely mechanism to ameliorate performance problems in urban schools. Results from this study suggest that policy makers and school leaders should not overlook student trust as a viable social resource for schools and students.

Collective Trust: A Social Indicator of Instructional Capacity.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to test the validity of using collective trust as a social indicator of instructional capacity.Design/methodology/approach – A hypothesized model was advanced for the empirical investigation. Collective trust was specified as a latent construct with observable indicators being principal trust in faculty (PTF), faculty trust in principal (FTP), faculty trust in colleagues (FTC), and faculty trust in students (FTS). It was hypothesized that enabling school structure is directly related to the latent collective trust construct and collective trust is directly related to school performance. Data were collected in the spring of 2010/11 from teachers and students in 85 schools in an urban school district in a southwestern state. A partially latent structural regression model was tested in AMOS 7.0.Findings – Results of the measurement model support the theoretical relationship among faculty trust in principal, faculty trust in colleagues, faculty trust in students, and pri...

Renewing the Ed.D.: A University K-12 Partnership to Prepare School Leaders

This paper chronicles the evolution of an educational leadership program participating in the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED) and its efforts to build strong university-school district partnerships to prepare twenty-first century school leaders. Of particular significance is how the Doctor of Education degree shows promise for improving student achievement and high-quality teaching that helps students meet high standards.

Self-regulatory climate: A positive attribute of public schools

Abstract This study contributes to the development of a positive framework for effective public schools in 2 ways. First, it advances the construct self-regulatory climate as consisting of 3 generative school norms—collective faculty trust in students, collective student trust in teachers, and student-perceived academic emphasis. The authors argue these norms signal a school climate supportive of student psychological needs. Second, they test the predictive validity of self-regulatory climate by empirically examining its relationship with school performance. Results of structural equation modeling support the theory that collective faculty trust in students, collective student trust in teachers, and student-perceived academic emphasis combine to form a self-regulatory climate that has positive consequences for urban school performance.

Teacher Trust in District Administration: A Promising Line of Inquiry.

Purpose: We set out in this study to establish a foundation for a line of inquiry around teacher trust in district administration by (1) describing the role of trust in capacity building, (2) conceptualizing trust in district administration, (3) developing a scale to measure teacher trust in district administration, and (4) testing the relationship between district trust and teacher commitment. Method: Teachers were the unit of analysis. Data were collected from a sample of teachers in one urban school district. Construct validity was assessed by examining content, structural, and convergent validity of the scale. A fully latent structural equation model was used to test the relationship between teacher trust in district administration and teacher commitment. Results: This study makes a strong case for developing a line of research on teacher trust in district administration. It establishes a good measure to use in future research, and it provides initial evidence showing that teacher beliefs are sensitive to the actions of district administrators. Implications: A valid and reliable measure can be used by researchers to study systematically the formation and effects of teacher trust in district administration. Accurate information on district trust also allows central office leaders to formatively assess the capacity of the school system to accomplish reform objectives at scale.

Organizational Predictability, the School Principal, and Achievement

In this chapter, we reintroduce the concept of cooperation by examining the utility of a latent variable (organizational predictability) and its consequences for academic performance of public schools. The theoretical and empirical dilemma of whether trust and/or control are the sources of cooperation and predictability in school organizations is examined. The argument is made that the work tasks of education are complex; that is, they elude routinization and require cooperation of critical role groups. These conditions constrain the leadership approaches that can be taken to build cooperative school environments with predictable performance. A latent variable “organizational predictability” is derived from enabling formalization, enabling centralization and teacher trust for the principal. The latent variable had an indirect effect on school performance, operating through instructional capacity.

Social Networks and Parent Motivational Beliefs: Evidence From an Urban School District

Background: Despite devotion of substantial resources and effort to increase parent/school partnerships, gaps remain between policy rhetoric and practice, especially in high-poverty communities. Current research focuses on parent involvement or effects of parent motivational beliefs on parent choice for behavior; however, it does not address the formation of beliefs or social factors that influence parent motivation to become involved. To gain a better understanding of factors that influence parent motivational beliefs, we examined the effects of parent social network, school outreach, and neighborhood health on parent role construction and parent efficacy in an urban school district. Method/Analysis: Survey data were collected from a random sample of 30 fifth-grade parents from 56 elementary schools in a large urban district in the Midwest. Using a partially latent structural regression model, we tested the relationships between school outreach, neighborhood health, parent social network, and parent motivational beliefs. Findings: The theoretical specification of the hypothesized model was observed in the pattern of the relationships among school outreach, neighborhood health, parent network, and parent motivational beliefs. Results: The results of the structural model confirm the association between parent social network and parent motivational beliefs. Combined parent social network and school outreach accounted for 10% of the variance in parent motivational beliefs. Implications for Research and Practice: Results from this study provide a different lens through which to view parent–school partnerships. Understanding parents as social actors whose perceptions are influenced through connections with other parents can help schools facilitate motivational beliefs that lead to effective partnerships.