Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Bogotch, Ira

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of instructional leadership on student achievement through the instructional leadership of principals, assistant principals and math department heads at the high school level. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale was used to quantify instructional leadership in ten different job functions. The research questions were as follows: 1. Can the instructional leadership of principals, assistant principals, and math department heads be described at the high school level? 2. Whose instructional leadership has the greatest relationship to student achievement, principals, assistant principals, or math department heads? 3. Does team alignment in instructional leadership matter to student achievement? 4. Does socioeconomic status moderate the relationship between the job function and student achievement? Instructional leadership questionnaires were distributed to the principal, the assistant principal in charge of curriculum, and the math department head in all public high schools in five of the seven largest counties in Florida. The unit of study was the instructional leadership role linkage between the principal, the assistant principal, and the department head as it related to student achievement. The study found that (a) principals exhibit instructional leadership behaviors at a higher frequency than assistant principals and math department heads, (b) instructional leadership team alignment does not correlate to math achievement, and (c) principals' and assistant principals' behaviors correlate to math achievement, but math department heads do not. The study also found that student achievement is moderated by socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that the administrative setup in schools should be examined. The alignment of instructional leadership behaviors did not significantly correlate with student achievement; however, the correlation was positive in eight of the ten job functions. Differentiation of roles may be the key to understanding why alignment and achievement are positively correlated. Mixed method studies may also need to be used in future research, as this study contradicted other studies in the area of the department head's influence. Finally, the role of the department head should be studied in depth. This role may be the critical, yet indirect link to student achievement.

Extent

147 p.

Comments

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.

Identifier

FA00000715

Format

pdf

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