Examining the Characteristics of Successful High-poverty Elementary Schools PDF Download

Author: Kelli M. Roads
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : School improvement programs
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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High academic achievement by students in high-poverty schools is unusual throughout the United States. East Tennessee is no exception. However, there are some schools with high percentages of low socioeconomic student populations, which do excel in helping students reach high academic performance. This study looks at four high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools in East Tennessee to determine how they have overcome the tendency to accept low student achievement as inevitable. By studying the high-achieving, high-poverty schools that exist in East Tennessee to find not only the characteristics that are associated with these effective schools, but also, more importantly, the practices used by educators in these schools, we can begin to provide some answers that will help all schools improve the academic performance of economically disadvantaged students. This mixed-method, multi-site case study involved four elementary schools in East Tennessee that were selected because of high test scores and value-added scores on the Annual Report Card issued by the state of Tennessee. Using quantitative data (The More Effective Schools Staff Survey) and qualitative data (interviews with the principal and at least two teachers at each school along with observations), this study sought to answer the following two research questions: (1) Which of the characteristics of Effective Schools do high-performing, high- poverty schools in East Tennessee have in common? (a) How do these characteristics correspond to those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (b) How do the characteristics differ from those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (2) What underlying conditions (i.e., values, beliefs, and culture of the school) or distinctive practices must be present for the Effective Schools practices to exist? A clear school mission, high expectations for success, instructional leadership, frequent monitoring of student progress, opportunities to learn and student time on task, a safe and orderly environment, and a positive home-school relationship -- the seven correlates of the Effective Schools Research -- were all found to be present in the four schools studied. The underlying conditions or distinct practices included strong commitment of teachers and staff members at each school; teachers were held accountable for teaching and students for learning; a positive, caring atmosphere existed where staff relationships were strong and a deep understanding of the local community was evident; and staff development and training were provided to support and consistently improve a wide variety of programs.

Author: Felicia Steagall
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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This research study was developed to gather an understanding of what characteristics as well as the perceived experiences of leaders and teachers in high-poverty, high-performing schools. Further, to focus on and learn what characteristics along with practices leaders and teachers in high-poverty, high-performing schools are doing that transforms kids at risk to children of promise. What practices and characteristics enable them to be successful despite the odds being stack against them? The purpose of the study is to examine high poverty; high performing schools and investigates the environmental and personnel characteristics that supported their success. Investigating the role and characteristics of the school's principal and teachers it is hoped that the information from this study would lead to other leaders and teachers understanding how others are successful in high-poverty, high performing schools and influence other schools with similar demographics, where children who live in poverty are not succeeding to succeed. After this study of high poverty, high performing schools my research should add to the knowledge about rigorous curriculum and relevant instruction in high poverty schools since the fact that there is a growing population of low socioeconomic status students who are beginning to affect a large numbers of school districts. Additionally, the significance of this study will allow schools to have a blueprint on how to close the achievement gap between races and incomes. Schools need to start using strategies that address the achievement problems of students in high poverty schools students in high poverty schools.

Author: Sherry Hall Shepard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether statistically significant relationships exist between the independent variables of the characteristics of effective schools and collective teacher efficacy and the dependent variable student achievement. The study was conducted in 30 elementary schools representative of high poverty, high minority populated schools in Mississippi. The dependent variable for the study, student achievement, was measured using the School Performance Classification (SPC) assigned to each school by the Mississippi Department of Education. The independent variables for the study, the characteristics of effective schools and collective teacher efficacy, were measured using two instruments, the School Effectiveness Questionnaire (Baldwin, Coney, Fardig, & Thomas, 1993) and the Collective Efficacy Scale (Goddard, Hoy, & Woolfolk, 2000). These instruments gauged the teachers' perceptions of the degree to which each of the factors included in the study were present in the schools. The school was the unit of measure. The population consisted of 198 high poverty, high minority populated elementary schools located throughout Mississippi. A proportional stratified random technique was used to select the final sample for the study. A univariate correlational analysis was conducted to determine the strength of relationships between variables. Additionally, multiple regression was used to determine the multiple correlations among the variables. The study concluded that the characteristics of effective schools and collective teacher efficacy model is a strong predictor of student achievement. Further, the findings showed that collective teacher efficacy, clear and focused mission, and high expectations for success were significant predictors for student achievement in the model. As a result of the analysis of the data from the study, the following recommendations for further research are proposed: (1) A study that examines more closely the relationship between collective teacher efficacy and student achievement. (2) A study that focuses on schools that have implemented a school improvement program based on characteristics of school effectiveness. (3) A study that examines the relationship between the principal's perception of the degree to which characteristics of effectiveness are present in the school and the teachers' perception of the degree to which characteristics of effectiveness are present in the school.

Author: Katie Barber
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9783659566486
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Current research illustrates that some schools, often referred to as high-performing, high-poverty schools, have led their low-income populations to high levels of achievement (Ambrose, 2008). Hypothesizing that some schools were doing quite well with students from low-income families, the director for the Center for Urban Studies at Harvard University, Ronald Edmonds and other researchers looked at achievement data from schools in major cities around the country where student populations were from high-poverty areas. During the 1980s a list was developed that identified common characteristics that were present in effective schools. These traits became known as the Correlates of Effective Schools. These correlates appeared repeatedly in high-performing schools, despite the schools' socioeconomic levels (Lezotte, 1991). Research regarding high-poverty, high-performing elementary schools specifically located in South Carolina is limited. The purpose of this research was to learn how principals of high-poverty, high-performing elementary schools in South Carolina promote high levels of student achievement.

Author: Cynthia S. Grant
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify and examine the characteristics of effective leaders in high-poverty, high-achieving schools in a single school district. Within the context of this inquiry, district and school success was measured through the level of student achievement described by the annual Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) process (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [MODESE], 2011). The results of this narrative case study will provide researchers a holistic view of the context in which the school of focus is situated and should enhance the current body of knowledge regarding leadership characteristics present in highly-effective schools located in high-poverty areas. Furthermore, new insights to the professional practices of principals as well as building and sustaining leadership capacity for high-poverty schools within school districts (Lambert, 2006) should be revealed. These findings should result in educational leaders who will be better prepared to respond to diversity, curriculum standards, program requirements, physical and mental disabilities, and produce high achievement (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003) in high-poverty school settings. The population included an urban elementary school located in Missouri was the setting for this narrative case study. A case study permitted this researcher to retain a holistic view and obtain meaningful characteristics of day-to-day, realistic events taking place within the research setting through interviews, focus groups, document and artifact analysis, and onsite observation (Creswell, 2007; Yin, 2003). Data collections were comprised of interviews, focus groups, on-site observations, and document analysis. The interview and focus group protocols allowed the participants the opportunity to provide explanations and firsthand perspectives regarding their perspectives of the leadership style of the principal (Creswell, 2007; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The results related to this research study are applicable for public school leaders who are facing the daunting task of school reform. Fullan, (2001) and Marzano (2003) contended the building principals is second only to the classroom teacher when it comes to positively impacting student achievement as the principal has a direct impact on student achievement.

Author: Shrone Yvette Blackwell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Author's abstract: Principals are becoming the instructional leaders in their buildings. Researchers of numerous studies on leadership have provided research-based conclusions about successful principals that effectively influence student learning with the challenges of diversity and accountability. Substantive research findings on school leadership support the claim that principal leadership is instrumental to student achievement. Researchers and the principal participants in this study agree that the teacher is the most powerful indicator of student success in any classroom. Researchers also found that the principal's leadership in high poverty schools make a difference in teaching and learning. Using a mixed method descriptive research design, the researcher studied leadership characteristics of four Georgia elementary school principals from one metropolitan school district. The participating principals have consistently met the accountability demands of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. These four elementary schools have a high population of high poverty Hispanic students. The mixed methods research design was utilized for this study because it provided useful descriptive statistics from the quantitative surveys, while the qualitative interviews provided a means for in-depth exploration of the characteristics of the principals. The collections of data were obtained from surveys and interviews. Each teacher and principal was given a survey to evaluate the leadership characteristics of the principal. Additionally the teachers were given three open ended questions. After analyzing the data from the surveys the researcher conducted in-depth semi--structured interviews with each principal. As a result of this study, two overarching themes emerged: 1) awareness of needs and 2) allocation of resources to meet those needs. Furthermore, these two themes have four subthemes: 1) high expectations for student learning, 2) parental involvement, 3) literacy focus, and 4) teacher professional development. These themes were characteristic of the participating principals in the study and deemed influential on student achievement. This study furnishes a description of the leadership characteristics of principals with a high population of Hispanic students, a high rate of poverty, and who consistently make AYP. The candid expressions of these principals as to what works in their schools to increase the achievement of their students serves as a meaningful contribution to the body of knowledge in the field of educational leadership.

Author: Tim R. Sass
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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This paper examines whether teachers in schools serving students from high-poverty backgrounds are as effective as teachers in schools with more advantaged students. The question is important. Teachers are recognized as the most important school factor affecting student achievement, and the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their better off peers is large and persistent. Using student-level microdata from 2000-2001 to 2004-2005 from Florida and North Carolina, the authors compare the effectiveness of teachers in high-poverty elementary schools (greater than 70% FRL students) with that of teachers in lower-poverty elementary schools (less than 70% FRL students). The results show that the average effectiveness of teachers in high-poverty schools is in general less than teachers in other schools, but only slightly, and not in all comparisons. The authors also find differences in within-school-type variation in teacher effectiveness in nearly every comparison. These differences are largely driven by the longer tail at the bottom of the teacher effectiveness distribution in high-poverty schools. Teachers at the top of the effectiveness distribution are very similar across school settings. The observed differences in teacher quality between high-poverty and lower-poverty schools are not due to differences in the observed characteristics of teachers, such as experience, certification status and educational attainment. Rather, they appear to arise from differences in the marginal return or payoff from increases in a characteristic. In particular, the gain in productivity from increased experience is much stronger in lower-poverty schools. The lower return to experience in high-poverty schools does not appear to be a result of differences in the quality of teachers who leave teaching or who switch schools. Rather, it may be the case that the effect of experience on teacher productivity may depend on the setting in which the experience is acquired. If there are positive spillovers among teachers that depend on teacher quality (ie. teacher "peer effects") or if exposure to challenging student populations lessens the future productivity of teachers (i.e. leads to "burn out"), teachers in schools serving large proportions of low-income students may simply not improve much as time goes by. These findings suggest that solutions to the achievement gap between high and lower-poverty schools may be complex. Changing the quality of new recruits or importing teachers with good credentials into high-poverty schools may not be sufficient. Rather, the findings suggest that measures that induce highly effective teachers to move to high-poverty schools and which promote an environment in which teachers' skills will improve over time are more likely to be successful. An appendix is included. (Contains 8 figures, 15 tables and 14 footnotes.) [This is an updated version of Working Paper 41.].

Author: Lesli W. Fridge
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Fridge, Lesli W. " Exploring Characteristics of an Effective Elementary School with High-Needs Students in a Mid-Sized, Urban School District in Southeast Texas." Doctor of Education Thesis, University of Houston, May 2011. The Effective schools research of the 1970s and early 1980s led to the establishment of the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools. The correlates are based on commonalities found in schools with a majority population of poor and ethnically diverse students, who are successful on standardized assessments. In this study, the researcher's objectives were to: (1) identify characteristics that contribute to the effectiveness of an elementary school with high-needs students in an urban school district in Southeast Texas; (2) analyze data to determine if the characteristics found correspond to the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools, and (3) discover implications (if any) that the characteristics found may have toward improving the effectiveness of other elementary schools. The researcher conducted an exploratory, qualitative case study of East Elementary School during the 2010-2011 school year. Tools used to gather data for this case study included: open-ended interviews, participant observations, an on-line survey, descriptive statistics, school artifacts and archival records. The most dominant characteristics found at East ES that contribute to its success are the sense of community and high expectations held by all staff. These two characteristics influenced all other characteristics. Strong leadership, a safe and secure environment, time on task and frequent monitoring/feedback were strengths found at East ES. A strong mission statement and parental involvement were not significant characteristics found at East. Implications for practice include changing hiring and retention practices, implementing professional development activities and recommending campus self-reflection activities based on the research findings. Recommendations for further research include investigating the effect of affective attributes and staff stability and experience on student achievement. Research is needed to explore the establishment of common goals and a climate of high expectations. After the implementation of the new state common assessment, the STAAR, a follow-up study at East ES would determine if the characteristics found that aided in their effectiveness on the TAKS assessment transfer to the new state assessment.

Author: Council of Chief State School Officers Staff
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781884037757
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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