The Role of School-Level Mechanisms: How Principal Support, Professional Learning Communities, Collective Responsibility, and Group-Level Teacher Expectations Affect Student Achievement

TLDR

The study examined how principal support, professional learning communities, collective responsibility, and group‑level teacher expectations influence 11th‑grade math achievement. Data came from the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study and a multilevel structural equation model was used to assess the effects of these school‑level factors on math achievement. Principal support positively influenced professional learning communities and collective responsibility, which improved student math achievement through group‑level teacher expectations, suggesting that principals should prioritize supportive leadership to foster a positive climate and enhance teacher expectations.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how principal support, professional learning communities, collective responsibility, and group-level teacher expectations affect 11th-grade student math achievement. Research Methods: Data for this study were from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. This study used a multilevel structural equation model to examine how principal support, professional learning communities, collective responsibility, and teacher expectations at the group level affect school math achievement. Findings: The study identified a model of school-level factors affecting students: Principal support positively influenced both professional learning communities and collective responsibility, which in turn, affected student math achievement via group-level teacher expectations; on the other hand, the impact of principal support on group-level teacher expectation and the direct associations of both professional learning communities and collective responsibility with student achievement were not statically significant. Implications: Focusing on how a school-level mechanism influences student achievement provides a better understanding of sustaining high school performance through school reform initiatives (e.g., principal leadership training, building professional learning communities, or interventions to improve group-level teachers’ expectations). To improve student achievement, the current study emphasizes why principals should give more attention to exerting supportive and egalitarian leadership that can contribute to a school’s positive climate and lead to changing teachers’ instructional behaviors and attitudes, rather than focusing on directive or restrictive leadership and managing behaviors.