Testing a dynamic model of organizational leadership and school improvement

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of a state-level mandate to develop broader leadership capacity within schools, increase school accountability and improve learning outcomes. Using a dynamic model, we examined changes in collaborative school leadership and related school-level educational processes (e.g., focus on improvement, standards, student support, stakeholder involvement, teacher quality etc.) in 199 elementary schools over a three-year period. Data analysis employed structural equation modeling in order to assess the impact of the school process variables on growth in reading and math achievement.The results confirm the indirect nature of school leadership; changes in collaborative leadership and school educational processes (which create supportive conditions for learning), and collective teacher quality accounted for measurable differences between schools in yearly student growth rates in both reading and math.