McREL study examines how high-needs schools
“beat the odds”
Four years after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), there is a growing sense of urgency among state and local education officials to reduce achievement gaps and raise the level of knowledge among all children. This urgency may be greatest among educators at high-needs schools, 100% of whose students must also demonstrate proficiency in reading and mathematics less than a decade from now. A recent McREL study, however, examines how schools around the country are finding ways to "beat the odds" and meet state standards despite the challenges of being high-need.
Much research on effective schools in recent years has generated lists of "critical effectiveness factors" for school success; however, McREL researchers found a lack of research-based knowledge about whether schools need to be reorganized to use this information to meet NCLB goals. The report, High-Needs Schools—What Does It Take to Beat the Odds?, helps to fill this gap by identifying key components of school success and examining the relationships between these components and how these relationships contribute to success in high-needs schools. The goals for this study were:
- to examine how each of four key components of schools contribute to school-wide performance in high-needs schools
- to examine the relationships among these components to find differences between high-performing, high-need (HPHN) schools and low-performing, high-need (LPHN) schools
- if the relationships do not differ, to identify which does differentiate HPHN schools from LPHN schools
Delving in to the research, McREL defined the four key components as Leadership, Professional Community, School Environment, and Instruction – each of which is associated with high academic performance. A further review of the literature showed that each component was comprised of critical subcomponents:
- Leadership: leading organizational change, providing instructional guidance, and establishing shared mission and goals
- Professional Community: teachers collaborating, receiving professional development, and being supported to have influence on school matters
- School Environment: parents involved meaningfully, the school culture focused on academic achievement, a safe and orderly climate, and attention to assessment and monitoring
- Instruction: individualized learning, structured instruction with feedback to meet student needs, and challenging opportunities to learn
The study compared two groups of demographically similar, high-needs elementary schools in 10 states, including Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Oregon, Minnesota and Michigan. To qualify as high-need, 50 percent or more of the schools' students had to be eligible for free- or reduced lunch. High- or low-performing status was based on state assessment results in reading and math over a three-year period (2000, 2001, and 2002). HPHN schools scored above the level predicted by their demographic characteristics, and LPHN schools performed below the predicted level. The final research pool included 49 HPHN and 27 LPHN schools.
Once schools were identified, McREL designed a survey for teachers to measure their perceptions of the four components, which was taken by a total of 741 teachers at HPHN schools and 312 teachers at LPHN schools. The data collected from the surveys were analyzed using a structural equation model which analyzed the relationships among the four components as well as verified that the subcomponents connect to their components.
McREL researchers found three key findings, the most significant of which was that a single model fit teacher data from both HPHN and LPHN schools. That is, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the relationships among the four components. This suggests that these four key components are related in the same manner in all high-needs schools; therefore, LPHN schools do not need to focus on reorganizing these. The quality of these features, however, differs between the high and low performers.
Researchers also found moderate to strong relationships between several pairs of components. The relationship between Leadership and School Environment was the strongest, with five others following.
- Leadership and School Environment
- Leadership and Professional Community
- School Environment and Instruction
- Professional Community and Instruction
- Leadership and Instruction
- Professional Community and School Environment
According to Helen Apthorp, the study's lead author, these results show the importance of leadership in influencing the school environment, shaping and supporting professional development, enabling teachers in monitoring student progress, and holding high standards for student achievement. They don't, however, show a direct relationship between leadership and instruction. This is notable, she says, in that some teachers may wrongly attribute their success to a leader's instructional role, e.g., a principal's "walk-throughs" improve instruction. More likely, this study shows, instructional success comes from leadership through school environment or professional community.
A third finding of the study was that teachers in high-performing schools view school practices more favorably than teachers in low-performing schools. The data reflected medium size differences as to characteristics of School Environment and smaller differences associated with characteristics of Instruction and Leadership.
Researchers concluded that the priority for high needs schools seeking to improve may not be reorganization, which is disruptive and depletes resources. Rather, the role of leadership can be strengthened in influencing school-wide policies and practice and in supporting teacher quality.
"This confirms a holistic approach toward school reform. Rather than restructure, we should strengthen key components and help people see interrelationships," Apthorp says. "This shows that all of the parts matter and that school leaders won't affect outcomes unless they establish policies and practices that improve the environment of the school and support teachers in their development."