Leadership characteristics and practices in schools with different effectiveness and improvement profiles

Gu, Qing; Sammons, Pam; Mehta, Palak

doi:10.1080/13632430701800078

Cited by 31 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Changes to pupil target setting (20%) Although the primary and secondary head teachers showed considerable similarity in their priorities, for secondary heads only, changing school culture was accorded a high priority for their improvement efforts (Gu et al, 2008). This fits with school effectiveness literature on school turnaround that suggests improving the school's behaviour climate and other features of culture is an important step for struggling secondary schools (Sammons et al, 1997).…”

Section: Primary Headteacherssupporting

confidence: 59%

“…In addition, other factors were found to differ among the groups including headteachers' years of experience (in total and in their current school), the number of headteachers in post in a ten-year period, school sector and socioeconomic context (Day et al, 2007). Previous papers published on the study have described some of the main findings and analysis strategies from the project (Sammons et al, 2011;Day et al, 2010) and illustrate the quantitative strand of the mixed-methods research design employed (Gu et al, 2008). The primary purpose and remit of this paper is to discuss the study's mixed methods research design and methodology and show how quantitative value-added and attainment measures of student outcomes were used in a longitudinal study to identify national patterns in England of schools' effectiveness and improvement trajectories over three years to obtain a sample of schools for further research.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using mixed methods to investigate school improvement and the role of leadership

Sammons

Davis

Day

et al. 2014

Journal of Educational Admin

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A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of mixed methods research in a major three year project and focuses on the contribution of quantitative and qualitative approaches to study school improvement. It discusses the procedures and multiple data sources used in studying improvement using the example of a recent study of the role of leadership in promoting improvement in primary and secondary schools' academic results in England. Although the definition of improvement used was based on robust analyses of data on students' academic outcomes, the mixed methods design enabled a broader perspective to be achieved.Design/methodology/approach -The study illustrates how the multilevel analysis of students' national assessment and examination results based on national data sets for primary and secondary schools in England were used to investigate the concept of academic effectiveness based on value-added methodology. Using three successive years of national results a purposive sample of schools were identified that could be classified as both effective and improving over the period [2003][2004][2005]. In addition, surveys and interviews were used to gather evidence of the role of stakeholder perceptions in investigating school improvement strategies and processes.Findings -National student attainment data sets were used for the identification of improving and effective schools and revealed the importance of considering their different starting points in their classification of three distinctive improvement groups. The combination of quantitative survey data from headteachers and key staff with qualitative case study data enabled a range of analysis strategies and the development of statistical models and deeper understanding of the role of leadership.Research limitations/implications -The limitations of a focus on only academic outcomes and "value-added" measures of student progress are discussed. The challenges and opportunities faced in analysis and integration of the different sources of evidence are briefly explored. Practical implications -The study contributes to the knowledge base on the identification of school improvement and use of performance data. The findings on strategies and processes that support improvement are of relevance to policy makers and practitioners, especially school leaders.Originality/value -The mixed methods design adopted in the study enabled the research to combine rigorous quantitative and in-depth qualitative data in new ways to extend and make new claims to knowledge about the role of school leadership in promoting school improvement based on the study of effective and improved schools' experiences.

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Section: Primary Headteacherssupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

Using mixed methods to investigate school improvement and the role of leadership

Sammons

Davis

Day

et al. 2014

Journal of Educational Admin

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“…The positive impact of strong leadership on student learning through building supportive school culture and creating favourable working conditions for teachers is well documented in the teacher development, school improvement and school effectiveness literature (Hallinger, 2005;Johnson, 2004;Leithwood et al, 2004 andGu et al, 2008;Day et al, 2011;Sammons et al, 2011). There is also evidence which points to strong and positive associations between school leaders' administrative support and low teacher retention rates (Ladd, 2009;Boyd et al, 2011).…”

Section: Teacher Retention: Quality Mattersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Huberman, 1993;Webb et al, 2004;Brunetti, 2006;Leithwood et al, 2006;Day et al, 2007;Castro et al, 2010;Meister and Ahrens, 2011). Empirical evidence on how successful principals mediate the negative influences of macro-level policy contexts and meso-level external school intake contexts and through this, create a positive school culture which nurtures teachers' capacity for learning and development is also strong and evident (Leithwood et al, 2006;Day and Leithwood, 2007;Gu et al, 2008;Robinson et al, 2009;Leithwood et al, 2010;Sammons et al, 2011;Gu and Johansson, 2013).…”

Section: What We Already Knowmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of relational resilience in teachers’ career-long commitment and effectiveness

2014

Teachers and Teaching

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145

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At a time when the contemporary landscape of teaching is populated with successive and persisting government policy reforms that have increased teachers' external accountabilities, work complexity and emotional workload, understanding why and how many teachers are able to sustain their capacity to be resilient and continue to work for improvement is an important quality retention issue. The purpose of this paper is to build upon but take further current understanding of resilience in teachers by exploring in greater depth the nature of resilience in teachers as a relational concept and the ways in which it may be related to the learning and achievement of their pupils. The empirical basis of the paper draws upon analyses of twice yearly semi-structured face-to-face interview data from 300 teachers in different phases of their careers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England over a consecutive three year period. Through these analyses, the paper contributes additional empirical evidence to the emerging but still limited literature on the factors which influence teachers' capacity to be resilient. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the findings for the quality retention of teachers.

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“…The reciprocal effects model is a dynamic model which assumes a two-way causality: not only does leadership affect mediating variables, but it is in turn affected by them. Research by Gu, Sammons, and Mehta (2008), which found that leadership has a significant effect on pupil outcomes in schools with low attainment and low value-added, is an example of the counterfactual approach favoured by Levačić. They studied national attainment data-sets in relation to the leadership of three subgroups of schools, 6 finding that while some schools had significant and sustained improvement with no change of principal, changing the principal could contribute to the rapid improvement of schools with an initial low attainment profile.…”

Section: The Experimental Vs the Non-experimentalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing the concept of salutogenesis to school leadership research: problematizing empirical methodologies and findings

Kelly¹

2014

International Journal of Leadership in Education

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Leadership characteristics and practices in schools with different effectiveness and improvement profiles

Cited by 31 publications

References 3 publications

Using mixed methods to investigate school improvement and the role of leadership

Using mixed methods to investigate school improvement and the role of leadership

The role of relational resilience in teachers’ career-long commitment and effectiveness

Introducing the concept of salutogenesis to school leadership research: problematizing empirical methodologies and findings

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