HOW PRINCIPALS LEAD IN AN ERA OF TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF PRINCIPALS LEADING SCHOOLS ON THE CONTINUUM OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND SANCTIONS

The goal of this study was to better understand the perspective of administrators on accountability and high stakes testing - what effect it has, if any, on his/her ability to serve as building administrator. Through a series of in-depth interviews and analysis of the perception of principals that lead schools that are on various levels of No Child Left Behind sanctions, this study will help the reader to understand how high stakes testing and accountability have impacted the leadership of the school principal. As presented by Allen (2008) are we focusing curriculum on preparation for high-stakes testing versus the philosophy of letting the high stakes testing evaluate the effectiveness of what is being taught as a method for supporting learning? From budgeting and organizational structure, to local curriculum and classroom instruction, efforts from external sources to ensure "accountability" in public schools have impacted virtually every aspect of school operations in America. No Child Left Behind is the initiative most often associated with the current accountability movement. While this study did not aim to measure the effectiveness of initiatives like No Child Left Behind, it did aim to analyze how these measures have impacted the role of the building principal. This study used a semi-structured interviews with eleven elementary school principals who lead schools on a sampling of the No Child Left Behind sanction continuum. In addition to interviews, pertinent documents and artifacts will be analyzed. The constant comparative method (Glaser & Stauss, 1967) will be used to analyze the data in terms of the study's two theoretical frameworks: Turbulence Theory (Gross, 1998) and Multiple Ethical Paradigm.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Priolo, Gino Rosario

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gross, Steven Jay

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Shapiro, Joan Poliner
• Sanford-DeShields, Jayminn
• DuCette, Joseph P.
• Caldwell, Corrinne A.

• Educational Administration
• Accountability
• High Stakes Testing
• No Child Left Behind
• Perceptions
• Principals

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Dc Identifier Other

864885081

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/2190