Superintendent and School Board Attitude and Beliefs Alignment and its Relationship to Student ...

136 Pages·2016·1.83 MB·English

Seattle Pacific University
Digital Commons @ SPU
Education Dissertations Education, School of
Spring June 9th, 2016
Superintendent and School Board Attitude and
Beliefs Alignment and its Relationship to Student
Achievement
Justin John Blasko
Seattle Pacific University
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Blasko, Justin John, "Superintendent and School Board Attitude and Beliefs Alignment and its Relationship to Student Achievement"
(2016).Education Dissertations. 6.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/soe_etd/6
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1

Superintendent and School Board Attitude and Beliefs Alignment and its Relationship to
Student Achievement
by
Justin John Blasko

Dissertation
Presented to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Education at
Seattle Pacific University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Doctor of Education Degree

Seattle Pacific University
July 2016

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3
ii

Table of Contents
Page

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF APPENDICES .............................................................................................. vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ................................................... 2
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 4
Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................... 5
Research Question ........................................................................................................ 6
Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................... 6
Research Design............................................................................................................ 8
Confidentiality ............................................................................................................. 9
Data Collection Procedures ........................................................................................... 10
Limitations of the Study................................................................................................ 10
Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE……………………………………14
School Boards and Superintendents.............................................................................. 14
School Boards .............................................................................................................. 14
Superintendents ............................................................................................................ 17
Decision-Output Theory .............................................................................................. 19
WSSDA School Board Standards ................................................................................. 22
iii

School Boards and Student Achievement ..................................................................... 25
The Lighthouse Inquiry ................................................................................................ 26
Shelton 2010 Study of Kentucky School Systems ........................................................ 32
Lorentzen 2013 Study of Montana School Systems ..................................................... 35
Summary ...................................................................................................................... 37
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 39
Research Question ........................................................................................................ 39
Research Design............................................................................................................ 39
Variables ....................................................................................................................... 40
Categorical Variable ..................................................................................................... 40
Continuous Variable ..................................................................................................... 40
Hypotheses ................................................................................................................... 42
Hypothesis.................................................................................................................... 42
Null Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 42
Population .................................................................................................................... 42
Sample........................................................................................................................... 43
Data Collection ............................................................................................................ 43
Instrumentation ............................................................................................................ 44
Validity of the WSSDA BSAS .................................................................................... 45
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS .............................................................................................. 49
Phase I-Superintendent/School Board Alignment ........................................................ 50
Purposeful Sample ........................................................................................................ 51
iv

Instrument .................................................................................................................... 52
Representativeness of the Purposeful Sample ............................................................. 55
Student Achievement Measure ..................................................................................... 57
Phase II- Student Achievement and Superintendent/School Board Alignment............ 59
Statistical Analyses ....................................................................................................... 60
2014 HSPE Writing ...................................................................................................... 61
2014 HSPE Reading ..................................................................................................... 61
2014 Year 1 End of Course Exam ............................................................................... 62
Alignment and Improved Student Achievement .......................................................... 65
Alternative Hypothesis.................................................................................................. 67
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 70
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........ 72
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 72
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 72
Findings and Analysis .................................................................................................. 75
Limitations ................................................................................................................... 80
Practical Implications.................................................................................................... 82
Future Studies ............................................................................................................... 87
Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................. 88
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 92
v

List of Figures
Page
Figure 1 Decision-Output Model and School Board Governance ................................ …..7
Figure 2 Student Achievement Linkages in the Decision-Output Theory .................... …21
Figure 3 Academic Achievement Ranking for HSPE Reading .................................... …58
Figure 4 Academic Achievement Ranking for Year 1 EOC Exam .............................. …58
Figure 5 Academic Achievement Ranking for HSPE Writing ..................................... …59
Figure 6 Key Linkages between School Boards and Superintendents and Student
Achievement ........................................................................................................... …79
Figure 7 Interaction of Washington State Evaluation Frameworks Supporting Student
Achievement ........................................................................................................... …86
vi

List of Tables
Page
Table 1 School Board and Superintendent Team Alignment ....................................................54
Table 2 General Attributes of School Districts Meeting Study Criterion .................................56
Table 3 Standard Error of Measurement Values Used in this Study ........................................57
Table 4 Results of t-test and Descriptive Statitics HSPE Reading, HSPE Writing, and Year 1
EOC Exam .........................................................................................................................64
Table 5 HSPE and EOC Improving and Not Improving Student Achievement Trends ...........65
Table 6 Alternative Hypothesis Results of t-test and Descriptive Statistics for 2014 HSPE
Reading Exam ....................................................................................................................68