Differences in Texas School Accountability Ratings and Student Progress Measures as a Function of the Campus Principals' Average Years of Experience

Purpose

The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which differences were present in school accountability ratings and progress measures by the experience of principals. In the first study, the degree to which differences were present in accountability rating as a function of the average campus principals’ years of experience with the district was examined. The extent to which differences existed in STAAR Reading progress levels as a function of the average campus principals’ years of experience with the district was analyzed in the second study. Finally, in the third study, the degree to which differences were present in STAAR Mathematics progress levels as a function of the average campus principals’ years of experience with the district was addressed. In each of these studies, data from a Texas statewide dataset were analyzed.

Method

For this quantitative study, a causal-comparative research design was present. Archival data were obtained from the Texas Academic Performance Reports for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years for all Grade 4 and Grade 5 students who took the STAAR Reading and Mathematics assessments during the two school years, as well as the school accountability ratings.

Findings

Schools with Inexperienced principals were more likely to be labeled as Improvement Required or D-rated than schools with Moderately Experienced and Experienced principals. Similarly, students who learned in schools with Inexperienced principals were outperformed by their counterparts who were in schools with Experienced principals in every STAAR Reading and Mathematics growth measure. Regarding school accountability ratings, statistically significant results were present in both school years for each of the three principal experience groups. In Grade 4 for both years, higher percentages of students in schools with Experienced principals met the growth standard in Reading. The percentages of Grade 4 and Grade 5 students who met expected or accelerated growth on the STAAR Reading and Mathematics measure were lowest in schools with Inexperienced principals in both school years. Results for the two school years and for all three articles were consistent with existing research. Implications for policy and practice and recommendations for future research were provided.