Peter Goff

Changing principals’ leadership through feedback and coaching

Purpose – In this study the authors use longitudinal data from a randomized experiment to investigate the impact of a feedback and coaching intervention on principals’ leadership behaviors. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 52 elementary and middle school principals (26 receiving teacher feedback, 26 receiving feedback and coaching) were randomized into a year-long feedback and coaching study. Measures of leadership actions were collected from principals and teachers during the fall, winter, and spring. The authors use instrumental variables approach to examine the impact of treatment. Findings – Behavioral change may take longer than is presented in this study, which implies that these findings represent a lower-bound. As an intervention leadership coaching is costly and this research does not explore alternatives to help principals make feedback data actionable. Practical implications – It is unlikely that providing school leaders with feedback alone will in...

The relations of a school’s capacity for institutional diversity to student achievement in socio-economically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse schools

ABSTRACT This study examines how a school’s capacity for institutional diversity relates to student achievement in socio-economically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse schools. It also investigates whether various student groups benefit differently from a school’s level of student diversity and its institutional capacity for diversity. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), the study uses two-level hierarchical linear models to explore the relationships between multiple types of school diversity and student achievement and to examine the role played by an institution’s capacity for diversity. Our findings confirm that different types of school diversity have different associations with the academic achievement of students from varied family and language backgrounds. We also find that a school’s capacity for diversity is a significant predictor of the academic success of students, particularly for students from lower income families and those who use a home language other than English.

Supporting Literacy Differentiation: The Principal’s Role in a Community of Practice

Differentiation is an important practice in today’s increasingly diverse classrooms. The researchers used collective case study methods to investigate the role of the principal in supporting differentiated literacy instruction in three purposively selected elementary schools with a documented history of literacy differentiation. For the fourth and fifth grade teachers (n = 15) and their principals (n = 3), differentiated literacy instruction was synonymous with guided reading. To facilitate this practice, principals protected the 60-minute literacy block from push-in or pull-out services and leveraged the expertise of district staff. The principals also supported guided reading by providing teachers with structured opportunities to collaborate, where teachers shared resources, narratives, and expertise. Additionally, the principals purchased texts beyond the district curriculum, strategically networked teachers, and evaluated teachers during their literacy block, when teachers were expected to differentiate their instruction.

Language, Gender, and School-Leadership Labor Markets

ABSTRACT This study examines the extent to which male and female principal candidates use language to signal their perceived values specific to open positions in the field. We analyzed Wisconsin school-leader application data by gender, seeking to understand whether or not men and women present themselves differently through language in the initial application phase. Using an electronic linguistic analysis tool (Docuscope), we identified patterns in the writing samples from 2,061 applicants and applied critical discourse analysis to determine the role gender plays in candidates’ portrayals of themselves. This mixed-methods approach revealed that language use differs significantly between male and female applicants. Notably, linguistic variables common in female candidates’ writing tend to focus on elaborating ideas and using compare/contrast techniques to describe beliefs. Male applicants’ language is often more formal and relies heavily on passive voice. Our findings raise questions as to whether candidates may be selected because of an unconscious preference for language patterns commonly used by females or males.

Latent Factors in Student–Teacher Interaction Factor Analysis

Classroom interactions between students and teachers form a two-way or dyadic network. Measurements such as days absent, test scores, student ratings, or student grades can indicate the “quality” of the interaction. Together with the underlying bipartite graph, these values create a valued student–teacher dyadic interaction network. To study the broad structure of these values, we propose using interaction factor analysis (IFA), a recently developed statistical technique that can be used to investigate the hidden factors underlying the quality of student–teacher interactions. Our empirical study indicates there are latent teacher (i.e., teaching style) and student (i.e., preference for teaching style) types that influence the quality of interactions. Students and teachers of the same type tend to have more positive interactions, and those of differing types tend to have more negative interactions. IFA has the advantage of traditional factor analysis in that the types are not presupposed; instead, the types are identified by IFA and can be interpreted in post hoc analysis. Whereas traditional factor analysis requires one to observe all interactions, IFA performs well even when only a small fraction of potential interactions are actually observed.

Heeding the CALL (Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning): An Inquiry into Instructional Collaboration among School Professionals.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine what school leadership practices are associated with a school’s level of instructional collaboration among school professionals and also investigates what school characteristics are linked to the level of instructional collaboration in a school. Design/methodology/approach – This study drew data from the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) survey. CALL is a multi-source measure of distributed leadership, comprised of five domains of school leadership practices. Responses from 3,767 teachers and 167 administrators working at 129 schools were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression analysis. Findings – The findings show that there are significant relationships between school leadership practices and the extent of instructional collaboration taking place within schools, both in terms of quantity and quality. In particular, school leadership practices that are closely related to facilitating instruction and allocating resources ...