Educational leadership--Florida

The purpose of this study was to ascertain insightful knowledge through the analysis of teacher pay across two similar K-12 public school districts that reflect the current evaluation methodology being utilized within the State of Florida. The two districts were selected because they are among the largest public school districts in the nation (Florida Department of Education [FLDOE], 2021a), have comparable student demographics and utilize contrasting weighted merit pay salary schedule profiles and algorithms which could provide insights into the relationship between accountability and merit-based pay. The Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) student assessments in (English [R%H] and Mathematics [M%H]) as well as the District School Grades (DSGs) were analyzed. The DSGs were commensurate with an approximation to the Value-Added Model (VAM) and Learning Growth Model (LGM) scores. Since the FLDOE does not release individual K-12 public school teacher VAM and LGM scores, the DSGs were the most appropriate comparative score to utilize when comparing these two districts. These are the primary variables utilized by the Florida K-12 Public School Accountability Programs that directly impact merit pay salary schedule placement.
Quantitative methods employed statistical tests and analyses that included Independent Samples t-tests, Intercorrelation Matrices, Independent Correlation Contrasts, and Overlapping Dependent Correlation Contrasts between correlations that were calculated in the two K-12 public school districts. The study found that the input variables (R%H, M%H, and DSGs) had no statistically significant differences of the means between districts tested. Each input variable was commensurate over the 7-year study. Yet, there were statistically significant differences of the percentage mean in the output variables in regard to the percentage of K-12 public school teachers rated Highly Effective and Effective between both districts. The study also determined that the remaining input variable of the teacher classroom observation Instructional Practice (IP) score was significantly related to an educator’s placement on annual merit pay-for-performance salary schedules. Both districts utilized the assessment tool iObservation ®. The results of all of the statistical analyses served to call into question the accuracy, legitimacy, and the efficacy of the methodology utilized to incentivize, compensate, and produce more Highly Effective educators.

The extant literature on school leadership is bifurcated around the question: Are
leaders important, or, is leadership important? Many who think leaders are important, do
so because they believe the school’s tone, values, and aspirations start with “a” leader,
the principal. However, there are those who believe leadership is not really about a
single leader, but about a collective practice among people who work together, with a
focus on accomplishing a shared goal. While leadership teams have been studied in a
variety of contexts, little research is available on the cumulative effect of a school team’s
ability to think collectively to raise student performance. Noteworthy however, is that
this study makes the assumption that the sum total of individual agility as measure by
instruments designed to assess individual agility equates to an accurate measure of team
agility. This study was designed to better understand the relationship between a school
leadership team’s cognitive and behavioral agility, school climate, and student
achievement in a population of middle schools in Broward County, Florida. Theoretically, the study provides a model in support of the collective leadership
approach in moving schools toward improved student achievement. A non-experimental,
quantitative research design was utilized and The Strategic Thinking Questionnaire
(STQ) and Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ) were used to assess cognitive and
behavioral agility, respectively. Climate data, analyzed as a mediator, was extracted from
the schools’ Annual Customer Survey. Student achievement was measured as overall
school performance on standardized assessments as part of the State of Florida school
accountability system. The STQ and SLQ were administered by way of a survey and
descriptive statistics, correlation and mediation analysis were used to analyze data.
The research did not point to any statistically significant correlations between
school leadership teams’ cognitive and behavior agility as they relate to predicting
student achievement; even with school climate acting as a mediator. This may be due in
part to the assumption that agility data captured is an accurate reflection of team
functioning. The study provides opportunities for additional research on the efficacy of
leadership teams in K-12 education.

This study explores the relationship among leadership style, school work culture,
and student achievement in Catholic elementary schools. The relationships (a) between
the leader style and student achievement, (b) between the school's work culture and
student achievement, and (c) among leaders' styles, school work culture, student
achievement and contextual factors were explored. A descriptive design, primarily
quantitative and correlational in nature, was employed. It was concluded that school leadership had an indirect effect on student
achievement in parochial schools in Florida. Furthermore, school work culture (school
planning, program development, staff development, and assessment) directly impacted
student achievement. The contextual variables of socioeconomic status and school size
combined did not moderate the relationship among leadership style, school work culture
and fourth-grade students' reading achievement scores.