Congruence of Perceptions Among Texas Early College High School Leadership Teams PDF Download

Author: Laurie Anne McAdams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : College-school cooperation
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
The Early College High School (ECHS) Initiative commenced in 2004 to provide underrepresented youths the opportunity to attain a high school diploma and up to two years of college coursework concurrently. The intent of the ECHS Initiative was defined in five ECHS Core Principles, a requirement for all ECHS. An ECHS required a collaborative leadership between a high school campus and a postsecondary institution, thereby creating an ECHS leadership team. An ECHS leadership team worked in two notably different environments, and their perceptions were influenced by credentialing, professional roles, institutional expectations, and educational values. One purpose of this study was to examine the congruency of perceptions of ECHS Core Principles among Texas ECHS leadership teams. Another purpose was to explore the relationship between perceptions of importance and level of implementation for each of the five ECHS Core Principles and student achievement. Participants in this study were the ECHS campus administrators and postsecondary partners affiliated with the 41 Early College High School campuses established in Texas during fall 2009 or before. Data analyzed in this study were obtained from a researcher-created survey and student achievement data from Grade 9 reading and math Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests administered to Early College High School students during the 2008-2009 school year. Sixteen important effects were reported for differences in perceptions of importance for the ECHS Core Principles, and twelve were reported for differences in perceptions regarding level of implementation. Analysis of weights assigned to each of the five ECHS Core Principles showed both groups weighted the importance of each ECHS Core Principle similarly. Two important effects were identified for the relationship between perceptions of importance and student achievement, and one important effect was identified for the relationship between perceptions of implementation and student achievement. This study showed lack of congruence in perceptions among ECHS leadership team members had a negative impact on student achievement. In addition, congruency in perceptions among ECHS leadership team members regarding academic and social support systems fostered student success. Furthermore, congruency in perceptions among ECHS leadership team members regarding organizational partners positively affected student achievement.