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The problem addressed in this study was the lack of consistency of implementation of instructional leadership practices by elementary principals. Little research existed at the time of this study to inform current practitioners about specific instructional leadership practices that positively effect student growth based on the perceptions of successful practitioner. The purpose of this study was to describe specific instructional leadership behaviors perceived by elementary school principals to have a positive effect on student growth and to describe the contextual factors that affect the different levels of implementation of these behaviors. The conceptual framework for this study was instructional leadership. The research questions were created to collect data that described specific instructional leadership practices as well as contextual factors that positively affect student growth and influence the different levels of implementation of instructional leadership practices. Using qualitative case study design, data were collected from a sample of 16 elementary principals serving students in 1 school district in a southeastern state identified by student consistent performance on the Progress and School Climate components of the College and Career Readiness Performance Index. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Coding and thematic analysis were used to analyze interview data. Key themes included an emphasis on data driven decision making, the importance of a clearly defined mission and a positive school climate. This research may contribute to positive social change as consistent implementation of the specific instructional leadership practices identified in this study could have a positive effect on student growth and learning in elementary schools.

This study examines the relation between the prerequisites of principals in compulsory schools and to what extent they hence engage in instructional leadership. Three main questions are therefore posed which seek to describe how frequently the principals say that they engage in instructional leadership, how the principals say that their prerequisites are and to what extent these prerequisites affect their ability to be instructional leaders. A hypothesis is formulated that principals with favourable prerequisites are more likely to engage in an instructional leadership. To define instructional leadership Viviane Robinsons leadership dimensions ”planning, coordinating and evaluating teaching and the curriculum” and ”promoting participating in teacher learning and developement” are used as the foundation for the operationalisation of questions in the survey. The study finds that most of all the national principal education program affects the principals ability to be instructional leaders. Also the school managerand the municipal political board are important factors for the principals engagement in instructional leadership. Furthermore this study implicates that prerequisites, such as the number of employees or the time the principals say they have to be instructional leaders, have no, or almost no, effect on how frequently the principals engage in instructional leadership.

A review of the available research indicates that relatively little is known about how districts employ Academic Achievement Teams or similar mechanisms to reduce declines in student achievement and sustain increased student achievement at the elementary school level (Kutash, Nico, Gorin, Rahmatullah, & Tallant, 2010).   Turning around chronically low-performing schools is challenging work requiring a systemic rather than school-by-school approach (Robinson & Buntrock, 2011). The most successful turnaround efforts have both high-impact leaders and the district capacity to initiate, support, and enhance transformational change through the use of data. Educational leaders on all levels are realizing meaningful information can only be acquired through a proper analysis of data and good decisions are based on this thoughtful process of inquiry and analysis (Creighton, 2007).  The intent of this study was to identify practices of Academic Achievement Teams that facilitated student achievement.  Interviews were conducted with principals, directors of elementary education, a teacher, and district liaison representing the Virginia Department of Education\'s Office of School Improvement to gain insight into the operational and organizational structures of the Academic Achievement Teams. A qualitative design was selected to conduct this descriptive cross case study. In addition to the one-on-one interviews, observations of the Academic Achievement Team meetings and review of documents from each of the two study schools were examined to gain additional perspective regarding how the Academic Achievement Team operated to increase student achievement.  The interviews, observations, and document reviews were analyzed using the Constant Comparative Method to understand the specific practices employed by Academic Achievement Teams that increased student achievement at two elementary schools (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify how elementary public school principals are spending their time while at school by sampling the population of elementary public school principals in California. A secondary purpose was to identify differences between how California elementary public school principals spend their time in relation to the size of the building they serve (number of students), age of the principal, years of administrative experience, and time employed at their current school. Based on the principals' responses to this study, there appears to be a connection between what the literature identifies as critical components of effective instructional leadership and what practitioners are actually doing.

The focus of this study was a comparison between the perceptions of school culture characteristics as measured by the TELL Tennessee Survey taken by school-based licensed educators in Tennessee and each school’s overall composite TVAAS score. 9 factor variables were discussed in the literature review. This dissertation was a quantitative study of teachers' perceptions of school culture and TVAAS composite scores. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the relationships among overall school culture as measured by the TELL Tennessee survey and individual effects on TVAAS composite scores. The dependent variable was the response to the TELL Tennessee survey questions by Tennessee licensed school-based educators. The exploratory question that originated from this study was: Is there a significant difference in teacher perceptions in the 9 areas (Community Engagement, Teacher Leadership, School Leadership, Managing Student Conduct, Use of Time, Professional Development, Facilities and Resources, Instructional Practices and Support, and New Teacher Support) measured by the TELL Tennessee Survey among schools that received a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 on their overall TVAAS score in 2013? In an attempt to answer this question, means were calculated using the TELL Tennessee survey responses for each of the 9 variables. This purposeful sample represents 164 elementary schools in East Tennessee. An ANOVA test was used to determine if a correlation existed between teacher perceptions in the 9 areas measured by the TELL Tennessee Survey and schools that received a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 on their overall TVAAS score in 2013. The results showed no significant difference in the teachers' perceptions of their school’s administrator, culture, and overall composite TVAAS data score. The null hypotheses were retained in all 9 survey areas.

Thesis advisor: Andrew Miller / The purpose of this study is to investigate how Asian women educational leaders perceive their instructional leadership and the ways in which their racialized and gendered experiences impact their practices. This qualitative case study is anchored by the sympathetic instructional leadership framework that includes holding high expectations in a community context, keeping a focus on instruction, and managing critical negotiations with staff. This study was conducted in a predominantly white school district with stated goals for equity. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with Asian women building leaders and education leaders. Additionally, a survey was conducted across the district about how race and gender during the pandemic and our nation’s reckoning have either posed obstacles or opened opportunities for anti-racist work. The qualitative evidence collected about instructional leadership navigation led to the emergence of three main themes: these leaders lead by empowerment and mobilization, they lead through racism, and they focus on adult learning for instructional leadership. While the district survey found a high rate of anti-racist preparation and study on the part of the participants, Asian women leaders conducted more critical negotiations with colleagues than those surveyed across the district. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate elementary school principals' perceptions of the responsibilities and competencies required of them for instructional leadership and thereby establish a baseline of knowledge for future decisions regarding the use of instructional leadership by elementary school principals as an aid to more effective teaching and learning. The research involved the construction and administration of a questionnaire based on a list of instructional leadership tasks guided by the literature on effective schools, instructional leadership, and task analysis for school principals. Questionnaire items were designed and questionnaire data were collected and organized to accurately reflect elementary school principals' perceptions of responsibilities and competencies for instructional leadership. The findings of this study indicate that the elementary school principals rated themselves higher on the competency section of the questionnaire than on the responsibility section. There was little difference in the selection of the highest-ranking tasks for which principals perceived themselves to be responsible and the selection of highest-ranking tasks for which principals perceived themselves to be competent. On the responsibility section of the questionnaire, most frequent influence variables were: (a) educational preparation, (b) administrative experience, (c) gender, (d) number of staff supervised, and (e) school size. On the competency section of the questionnaire, most frequent influence variables were: (a) gender, (b) educational preparation, (c) administrative experience, (d) number of staff supervised, and (e) school size. This study provides insights that universities and school districts should examine their administrator training programs to provide for the growing need to educate principals in the area of instructional leadership. Elementary school principals should become more involved in curriculum decisions and become instructional leaders to their teachers. They should be given more assistance from the school districts in handling some of the bureaucracy, discipline, and “administrivia” they experience daily in order to provide more time for helping teachers as an effective instructional leader.

The purposes of this research study were to identify the instructional leadership practices and beliefs of superintendents of high-performing, high-poverty districts, and develop a profile of an effective superintendent in these school districts. School districts were identified from data compiled by the Education Trust West, which identified high-performing, and high-poverty schools in California. Data were gathered through interviews of eleven individuals in three different school districts. In addition to the interviews, the respondents shared documents and internal communication tools, which the researcher reviewed. Qualitative research software (ATLAS/ti) was utilized to analyze the data from the interviews. The results indicate that the superintendents: (a) focused the entire school district on student achievement; (b) expected alignment between district and school goals; (c) utilized a variety of ways to communicate their messages to various constituencies; (d) faced conflict as a major part of their jobs, ranging from conflict with the school board to conflict with the teachers' association; (e) were perceived as strong instructional leaders; (f) placed a high priority on professional development for administrators and teachers; (g) expected schools to depend primarily on categorical and grant funds to provide supplemental services to students, but made staff resources available to support high student achievement; (h) relied heavily on data to inform their decisions; and (i) held administrators accountable for high student achievement. The researcher concluded that an effective superintendent in high-performing, high-poverty school districts can be characterized as one who (a) is relentlessly focused on high student achievement; (b) communicates constantly with all groups within and outside of the school community; (c) is able to withstand conflict and remain focused on student achievement; (d) provides the resources necessary for student achievement in terms of staff support, and professional development; (e) uses data to inform the decision-making process; and (f) holds people accountable for high student achievement, while providing them with the flexibility to achieve their goals in a way they deem appropriate to their particular circumstances.