Study: How best to support the success of K-12 public school students
Students’ scores in mathematics and reading continue to decline nationwide. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s official report card, showed that in 2022, average scores for age 9 students declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020.
This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics.
At the same time, public school principals continue to leave the profession. Roughly 1 in 10 (11%) public school principals left the profession between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, according to 2023 data from the National Teacher and Principal Survey from the U.S. Department of Education.
Building strong school leadership may help turn the tide on these trends. To study the issue, Roger Goddard, the Novice G. Fawcett Chair in Educational Administration, and Associate Professor Minjung Kim will conduct new research to examine the impact of an improved leadership professional learning intervention.
As co-principal investigators of the study, Goddard and Kim will study important student and educator outcomes of the widely used Balanced Leadership for Student Learning™. They will work with the study’s principal investigator Tedra Clark, PhD, of McREL International, on the four-year project.
“We are evaluating McREL International’s Program because of its promise to make a difference to teaching practice, student social and emotional well-being, school climate, student learning and educator turnover," Goddard said. "We will also learn whether providing professional coaching to school-based teams enhances the benefits of the training.”
Support is provided by a $4 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
What is improved in the new edition?
Balanced Leadership for Student Learning™ is a professional development and coaching program developed by McREL International. It provides current and aspiring school leaders with professional development sessions with trained facilitators over one or two years. Participants practice what they learn between sessions and can receive additional coaching and online.
In a prior Institute of Education Sciences-funded study on which Goddard and Kim served, the program was shown to significantly reduce principal turnover. These results appear in a published study that met the government’s What Works Clearinghouse standards.
The updated professional development draws on new education leadership research and insights gathered while McREL worked with leaders across the United States.
It builds education leaders' knowledge, skills and strategies and provides resources and tools for engaging in highly effective instructional leadership. The update focuses in particular on concepts, responsibilities and practices that address real-life problems seen regularly in schools. The program also responds to needs that participants identified as necessary to support students successfully.
How the study will be conducted
In the new study, Goddard and Kim will determine if the updated intervention improves principals' instructional leadership behaviors, teachers' instructional practices and, ultimately, student achievement.
They will conduct the study in 100 schools served by the state of Texas' Region 13 Education Service Center.
The study will use an experimental design with school-level assignment to determine the impact of one of three conditions:
- Treatment group 1: Balanced Leadership for Student Learning Professional Learning sessions plus personalized coaching
- Treatment group 2: only the Balanced Leadership for Student Learning Professional Learning sessions
- Control group: Business as usual
The researchers will use this three-group design to isolate the effects of the "base" program from the personalized coaching element to understand the value of adding coaching.
The project will result in evidence of the efficacy of the intervention on improving student outcomes and on decreasing educator turnover. It also will examine the costs associated with implementing this program.
