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Effective leadership is a key factor for productive organizations. In this era of educational accountability, starting primarily with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, there has been increased pressure on school leaders to perform a wide repertoire of leadership skills to increase the capacity of schools to meet or exceed national and state academic standards. Student accountability in Arizona began in 2002 when the state legislature passed A.R.S. §15-241 known as Arizona LEARNS. The Achievement Profile, Arizona LEARNS complied with national mandates to establish a research-based evaluation model for school accountability and is the cornerstone of Arizona's system of school accountability.The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of NCLB (2001) and Arizona LEARNS (2002) on middle-school principal leadership responsibilities and behavior informed by the work of Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005). In addition, the relationship between the academic accountability measures and adherence to the middle-school philosophy was explored. The participants consisted of 56 Arizona middle-school principals. The participants completed a survey instrument.Pearson Product-Moment Correlations, Independent Sample t-tests, and ANOVA were used to investigate the effects of years of experience, annual yearly progress, Title I funding, and Arizona LEARNS performance label on the ability to execute specific leadership behaviors and responsibilities as a result of the influence of NCLB and Arizona LEARNS. Demographic data and responses from the open-ended questions of the survey provided depth to the quantitative analysis.Research results indicated NCLB (2001) and Arizona LEARNS (2002) have influenced the ability of middle-school principals in Arizona to execute specific leadership behaviors and responsibilities, such as Being a Change Agent and Being Visible. Research data also indicated a significant change in middle-schools as a result of the increased focus on academic achievement. In open-ended responses, middle-school principals noted multiple concerns with NCLB (2001) and Arizona LEARNS (2002), specifically a decrease in curricular offerings, less student support, and the public consequences of AYP and Arizona LEARNS labels.This study examines impact of academic accountability on middle-school leadership in Arizona and as such is valuable to practitioners in the current era of accountability.

The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences existed in principals’ perceptions of their school’s capacity to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements between principals whose schools failed to meet AYP requirements for one year compared to principals whose schools failed to meet AYP requirements for two to four consecutive years. Additionally, responses of the principals were analyzed based on the level of school, the location of the school, and if the school was or was not a Title I campus. A total of 2,040 schools met the criteria of the study and a finite population sampling method was utilized where the entire population of eligible principals was invited to participate in the study. A quantitative online survey was distributed to principals of eligible schools. A total of 183 principals responded, for a participation rate of nearly 10%. The study utilized two statistical methods for analyzing discrete data. Independent-t tests were conducted to determine if there were statistically significant differences in principals’ perceptions of their school’s capacity between principals of schools that failed to meet AYP requirements for one year, and those that failed to meet AYP requirements for two to four consecutive years. It was found that there were not statistically significant differences in principals’ perceptions of their school’s capacity. The second method of analyzing data was to conduct two-way ANOVAs to test for statistically significant differences in perceptions of principals based on level of school, type of school, and Title I status. It was found that there were not any statistically significant differences in principals’ perceptions of their school’s capacity. The absence of statistically significant differences in principals’ perceptions of their school’s capacity to meet AYP requirements regardless of the number of years the school missed the requirements, location of the school, type of school, or Title I status of the school could reasonably lead to the conclusion that capacity domains of schools fail to predict success of schools. This however, would contradict most literature that has previously been written about school capacity. Other more reasonable conclusions, as well as future research are presented in this study.

This dissertation examines the impact of Georgia’s accountability system on both school and student performance. We focus on two components within Georgia’s accountability system – the sanctioning of failing schools and binding subgroup requirements. Schools within Georgia become subject to sanctions upon two consecutive years of failing to show Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The subgroup binding requirements, introduced by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, hold schools independently responsible for the performance of given subgroups contingent upon enrollment. The first question of this dissertation examines the factors that influence a school’s ability to meet assessment standards. We examine the relative importance of school characteristics, as they relate to accountability components, in determining AYP in practice. A binary response model is used as AYP is determined on a pass/fail basis. More specifically, we apply a correlated random effects probit model with a Chamberlain-Mundlak adjustment. The second question of this dissertation examines the impact of binding requirements on subgroup performance, where subgroup performance is defined as the percentage of students scoring at or above proficiency. We employ a regression discontinuity design that compares the performance of bounded and unbounded subgroups to determine the treatment effect. Each question of this dissertation is addressed through evaluating both mean and distributional effects. We find that imposing sanctions on failing schools has a positive impact on future performance. However, increasing the number of binding requirements has a negative impact on a school’s probability of passage. This result suggests that heterogeneous schools, or schools with several large subgroup populations, are negatively impacted by the requirement. While we find that accountability components have a statistically significant impact on probability of AYP passage, factors related to school resources and quality appear to have a greater influence. The mechanism for the negative impact of binding requirements remains unidentified as we also find that binding requirements have a slight positive impact on individual subgroup performance. The magnitude of this impact is dependent upon the subgroup examined, school type, and position of the subgroup within the Meets/Exceeds distribution. Overall, our results suggest the need for re-examination of the binding requirements as a method of targeting disadvantaged populations.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / David C. Thompson / The purpose of this study was to examine selected financial implications of various mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. #107-110 popularly known as NCLB) of 2001 on Kansas public school districts. Specific mandates included accountability for student achievement, more educational choices for parents, teaching methods that produce results, emphasis on reading, emphasis on math, hiring highly qualified teachers, and teaching English to all students. Expenditures for these mandates were identified and analyzed to estimate which mandates were perceived as having the greatest financial impact on Kansas school districts’ budgets during FY 2006—the fiscal year of record for this study. A survey research design was utilized for this study. The survey instrument sought opinions about expenditure items categorized according to the selected mandates. A seven-point one-directional intensity scale was used to determine school superintendents’ attitudes toward the financial impact of selected mandates on their school districts’ budget. Data were analyzed and reported using measures of central tendency, range, inter-quartile analysis, and standard deviation. Narrative responses from respondents were also presented. Analysis of data revealed that many Kansas public schools are presently experiencing economic and political conditions that could interfere with the state’s ability to provide a quality education for all students under NCLB. Such conditions often include: (1) decreasing student enrollment, resulting in consolidation of some school districts; (2) difficulty hiring and retaining highly qualified teachers and administrators: (3) increasing numbers of superintendents with less experience in a position that has become more demanding and complex; (4) increased need to use existing funds to improve the academic performance of economically disadvantaged and special education students; and (5) having to rely on the singular standard of annual assessment of student performance in math and reading to determine accreditation success or failure.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / Many urban schools struggle to retain their best teachers because of challenging work environments, poor salaries, and ineffective school leadership. The additional requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation for teachers to be highly qualified and the increased academic requirements of raising students to a proficient level in reading and mathematics mean that these schools face additional challenges to retaining teachers. Little research has been done on teacher retention in relation to NCLB in urban schools, but the few studies available have suggested that NCLB has had a negative impact on teacher morale and retention in urban schools. The research project was a paired case study that examined teacher retention in four urban schools, contrasting two schools that showed improvement under NCLB in terms of student achievement with two schools that did not show improvement. This study used human resource data, teacher and principal interviews, and school improvement plans to answer the following three research questions: 1) Does the teacher retention rate remain constant as schools improve? 2) Is there a pattern of teacher retention in improving schools? 3) What do improving schools do to attract, train, and retain teachers? The results showed that all schools had increased levels of teacher retention from the beginning of the study until the end. Improving schools had slightly higher rates of teacher retention, especially among teachers who were determined to be desirable. There was some evidence that as student achievement rates rose in improving schools, so did the rate of teacher retention. Lastly, the findings suggest that schools that were improving were also schools that embodied many of the factors that teachers are looking for in a school, including strong school leadership, positive working conditions, and other supports for teachers new and experienced, such as professional development and mentoring. This study has several limitations, such as a small sample size and a limited pool of human resource data. The findings have important implications for urban school districts that are trying to retain quality teachers.

Since the inception of the most recent iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has drawn widespread study and discussion. The majority of the research concerning NCLB has reported the perspective of teachers and administrative staff in public schools. The purpose of this research study was to add to the literature the voices of students. Participants in this qualitative research study were six students at Galaxy Junior High. These six students were interviewed multiple times. Based on a qualitative data analysis of their interview transcripts, and follow-up communications, four main categories of student experiences emerged: motivation in school, teaching methods, learning strategies, and connecting school and life. Participants discussed what motivates them in school, including intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivators; the method in which teachers teach; how they learn in school through the use of both bookwork and homework; and how school is the gateway to their future.

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The purpose of this research was to determine if the variables included in the Mississippi Report Card 2003-2004 utilized for the calculation of AYP can be used to predict with accuracy greater than that which can be attributed to chance, whether or not Mississippi LEAs will attain adequate yearly progress in reading and math using the logistic regression technique. An additional goal of this study is to identify whether the inclusion of a variable representing the proportion of teachers in each Mississippi LEA with a one-year teaching certificate can notably enhance the explanatory power of the logistic regression models. This study addressed two research questions: Research Question 1: Can variables (included in the Mississippi Report Card 2003-2004) required for the calculation of adequate yearly progress be used to successfully predict Adequate Yearly Progress using the Logistic Regression technique with an accuracy greater than that which can be attributed to chance? Research Question 2: Could the addition of another predictor variable (Percentage of Teachers with One-Year Educator Licenses) notably add to the predictive accuracy of the model? This study demonstrated that using the variables utilized for the calculation of AYP, a predictive model can be successfully utilized to classify Mississippi LEAs that will and will not attain AYP in reading and math with an accuracy greater than that which can be attributed to chance. This study also established that the inclusion of a variable corresponding to the percentage of teachers in a LEA with one-year educator licenses does not add to the predictive accuracy of the model.