TExES school community leadership competencies as predictive of academic accountability ratings in Texas middle schools

Date

2007-12

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech University

Abstract

When updating the new standards of competencies for the principal, the state of Texas determined that school community leadership is so critical that it comprises one-third of all the competencies needed for principal certification (TExES, 2002). This domain of “School community leadership” can be defined by synthesizing standards from three related fields: (1) principalship standards, (2) effective schools, and (3) parent and community involvement. Of particular interest to this study are school leader behaviors and school community leadership that achieve the goal of impacting school success and effectiveness.

Finding no baseline research for this domain, this study investigated the associations or relationships, if any, that exist between the domain of school community leadership and the campus accountability rating received each year from the Texas state accreditation agency.

Multivariate discriminant function analysis determined that the three competencies of school community leadership revealed a significant relationship exists between the school community leadership and individual campus accountability rating received, predicting group membership in regard to classification rankings of exemplary and unacceptable. However, the findings were not reliable in predicting the classification rankings of recognized or academically acceptable for the sample of forty (40) Texas Middle Schools involved in the study. Also, mediating factors of campus size, high socioeconomic poverty levels, or location were not found to be determinants in regard to campus accountability rating in this study.

The study explored a measurement tool of school community leadership, namely the School Community Leadership Survey (SCLS), using the descriptive statements (indicators) of the school community leadership competencies as defined in TExES, (2002). The predictors within the constructs measured in the School Community Leadership Survey (SCLS) yielded high internal consistency (reliability), using Cronbach’s alpha (á). The tool’s competencies also had criterion-related validity in terms of congruence as compared to the nationally accepted instruments assessing the same variables, namely Hoy-Tarter’s Dimensions of Organizational Health of Middle Schools Inventory (2003) and Marzano’s Snapshot Survey of School Effectiveness Factors (1995).

Description

Keywords

Principal competencies, School community leadership, Survey

Citation