Date of Award

9-5-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Angela Sewall

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of principal characteristics and school socio-economic factors and their relationship to student achievement as measured by the literacy portion of the Arkansas state standardized test, with a particular interest in male students. The study was undertaken to contribute to the existing knowledge base regarding principal knowledge of reading and its relationship to literacy. The first four independent variables of principal characteristics were defined by the School Capacity model (Newman, King, & Youngs, 2000), and included four domains: (a) possesses instructional skills and knowledge about reading, (b) focuses on program coherence, (c) provides the technical resources to support reading instruction, and (d) fosters a professional community for reading. The fifth independent variable of school socio-economic level was defined by the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch. The dependent variable of students who scored at the proficient or advanced level on the state benchmark literacy exam was provided on a website on Arkansas test scores provided by the National Office for Research on Measurement and Evaluation Systems (NORMES) at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Data were collected from 54 school districts. Research questions one through three were analyzed using multiple regression, and research question four was analyzed using categorical aggregation. The regression model with all five independent variables was significant for males scores, female scores, and difference scores, but explained more of the variance for male scores. The regression model accounted for 70 percent of the variance in male literacy scores, and domain one of principal leadership (knowledge) and SES were significant contributors to the model. The regression model accounted for 23 percent of the variance in female literacy scores, and domain one of principal leadership (knowledge) was the only significant contributor to the model. The regression model accounted for 44 percent of the variance in difference in literacy scores, and domain one of principal leadership (knowledge), domain three (resources) and SES were significant contributors to the model. Open response questions provided insights in practices surrounding literacy instruction for males.

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