{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/107960"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/107960","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Valuing noncognitive factors and academic progress for elementary leaders: a single-site case study","abstract":"The accountability movement, which started in the early 1980s, has continued to focus on academic progress, specifically in mathematics and reading, until present day. However, there is a growing body of evidence that noncognitive factors—attributes, dispositions, social skills, interpersonal abilities, and mindset are equally, if not more, important as content knowledge when determining a student’s college and career preparation. With growing evidence to support the positive effects of these attributes there are growing implications as to how they promote learning (Conley, 2015; Duckworth et al., 2007; Tough, 2012). Too deeply examine the perceptions and behaviors of an elementary school principal, this case study examined the leadership of one Illinois school principal with a reputation for valuing noncognitive factors while also focusing on academic accountability demands. Three research questions framed this study: (a) how does the principal promote instruction of noncognitive factors and assess the school’s effectiveness with teaching students both academic and noncognitive skills; (b) what strategies does the elementary principal employ to assist teachers with balancing academic accountability demands and instruction of noncognitive factors; (c) what challenges has the principal encountered and addressed when establishing a focus on instruction of noncognitive factors, and what role does state-mandated testing play in their ability to do so effectively? To guide data collection and analysis, this research utilized a conceptual framework founded on tenants of leadership for learning and the framework for noncognitive factors. Findings revealed that the principal engaged in four primary behaviors, with varying success, that supported valuing noncognitive factors: focusing on learning, managing external environments, acting strategically and sharing leadership, and focusing on the instruction of noncognitive factors. The principal focused on school-wide curriculum, providing professional development, communicating with a variety of stakeholders, facilitating committee work, and tapping into teacher leaders. Even though these leadership behaviors were perceived to be associated with valuing noncognitive factors in the study site, challenge remained. State mandated assessments that focus on mathematics and reading, along with a lack of instruction time, were noted as areas that presented challenges for the building principal when trying to balance academic performance with valuing noncognitive factors. Implications from this study focused on the principal valuing noncognitive factors and practicing tenants of the leadership for learning framework. Multiple recommendations for further study, development of policy, and professional practice are presented to advance effective leadership practices for valuing noncognitive factors.","abstract_html":"The accountability movement, which started in the early 1980s, has continued to focus on academic progress, specifically in mathematics and reading, until present day. However, there is a growing body of evidence that noncognitive factors—attributes, dispositions, social skills, interpersonal abilities, and mindset are equally, if not more, important as content knowledge when determining a student’s college and career preparation. With growing evidence to support the positive effects of these attributes there are growing implications as to how they promote learning (Conley, 2015; Duckworth et al., 2007; Tough, 2012). Too deeply examine the perceptions and behaviors of an elementary school principal, this case study examined the leadership of one Illinois school principal with a reputation for valuing noncognitive factors while also focusing on academic accountability demands. Three research questions framed this study: (a) how does the principal promote instruction of noncognitive factors and assess the school’s effectiveness with teaching students both academic and noncognitive skills; (b) what strategies does the elementary principal employ to assist teachers with balancing academic accountability demands and instruction of noncognitive factors; (c) what challenges has the principal encountered and addressed when establishing a focus on instruction of noncognitive factors, and what role does state-mandated testing play in their ability to do so effectively? To guide data collection and analysis, this research utilized a conceptual framework founded on tenants of leadership for learning and the framework for noncognitive factors. Findings revealed that the principal engaged in four primary behaviors, with varying success, that supported valuing noncognitive factors: focusing on learning, managing external environments, acting strategically and sharing leadership, and focusing on the instruction of noncognitive factors. The principal focused on school-wide curriculum, providing professional development, communicating with a variety of stakeholders, facilitating committee work, and tapping into teacher leaders. Even though these leadership behaviors were perceived to be associated with valuing noncognitive factors in the study site, challenge remained. State mandated assessments that focus on mathematics and reading, along with a lack of instruction time, were noted as areas that presented challenges for the building principal when trying to balance academic performance with valuing noncognitive factors. Implications from this study focused on the principal valuing noncognitive factors and practicing tenants of the leadership for learning framework. Multiple recommendations for further study, development of policy, and professional practice are presented to advance effective leadership practices for valuing noncognitive factors.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Martelli, Christopher Brian"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ed.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Ed Organization and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Roegman, Rachel","Li, Jessica","Hackmann, Donal G","Herrmann, Mary"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-08-26T21:54:44Z","date_published":"2020-08-26T21:54:44Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:47Z","subjects":["accountability","noncognitive factors","social-emotional learning","leadership for learning, elementary leadership"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2020"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107960","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Roegman, Rachel","Li, Jessica","Hackmann, Donal G","Herrmann, Mary"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Martelli, Christopher Brian"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2020-08-26T21:54:44Z","2020-05-05","2020-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Ed Organization and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["accountability","noncognitive factors","social-emotional learning","leadership for learning, elementary leadership"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107960"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The accountability movement, which started in the early 1980s, has continued to focus on academic progress, specifically in mathematics and reading, until present day. However, there is a growing body of evidence that noncognitive factors—attributes, dispositions, social skills, interpersonal abilities, and mindset are equally, if not more, important as content knowledge when determining a student’s college and career preparation. With growing evidence to support the positive effects of these attributes there are growing implications as to how they promote learning (Conley, 2015; Duckworth et al., 2007; Tough, 2012). Too deeply examine the perceptions and behaviors of an elementary school principal, this case study examined the leadership of one Illinois school principal with a reputation for valuing noncognitive factors while also focusing on academic accountability demands. Three research questions framed this study: (a) how does the principal promote instruction of noncognitive factors and assess the school’s effectiveness with teaching students both academic and noncognitive skills; (b) what strategies does the elementary principal employ to assist teachers with balancing academic accountability demands and instruction of noncognitive factors; (c) what challenges has the principal encountered and addressed when establishing a focus on instruction of noncognitive factors, and what role does state-mandated testing play in their ability to do so effectively? To guide data collection and analysis, this research utilized a conceptual framework founded on tenants of leadership for learning and the framework for noncognitive factors. Findings revealed that the principal engaged in four primary behaviors, with varying success, that supported valuing noncognitive factors: focusing on learning, managing external environments, acting strategically and sharing leadership, and focusing on the instruction of noncognitive factors. The principal focused on school-wide curriculum, providing professional development, communicating with a variety of stakeholders, facilitating committee work, and tapping into teacher leaders. Even though these leadership behaviors were perceived to be associated with valuing noncognitive factors in the study site, challenge remained. State mandated assessments that focus on mathematics and reading, along with a lack of instruction time, were noted as areas that presented challenges for the building principal when trying to balance academic performance with valuing noncognitive factors. Implications from this study focused on the principal valuing noncognitive factors and practicing tenants of the leadership for learning framework. Multiple recommendations for further study, development of policy, and professional practice are presented to advance effective leadership practices for valuing noncognitive factors.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-08-25 without embargo terms","The student, Christopher Martelli, accepted the attached license on 2020-05-01 at 14:18.","The student, Christopher Martelli, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-05-01 at 14:32.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-05-05 at 10:44.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15151 on 2020-08-25 at 17:10:29","Made available in DSpace on 2020-08-26T21:54:44Z (GMT). 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However, there is a growing body of evidence that noncognitive factors—attributes, dispositions, social skills, interpersonal abilities, and mindset are equally, if not more, important as content knowledge when determining a student’s college and career preparation. With growing evidence to support the positive effects of these attributes there are growing implications as to how they promote learning (Conley, 2015; Duckworth et al., 2007; Tough, 2012). Too deeply examine the perceptions and behaviors of an elementary school principal, this case study examined the leadership of one Illinois school principal with a reputation for valuing noncognitive factors while also focusing on academic accountability demands. Three research questions framed this study: (a) how does the principal promote instruction of noncognitive factors and assess the school’s effectiveness with teaching students both academic and noncognitive skills; (b) what strategies does the elementary principal employ to assist teachers with balancing academic accountability demands and instruction of noncognitive factors; (c) what challenges has the principal encountered and addressed when establishing a focus on instruction of noncognitive factors, and what role does state-mandated testing play in their ability to do so effectively? To guide data collection and analysis, this research utilized a conceptual framework founded on tenants of leadership for learning and the framework for noncognitive factors. Findings revealed that the principal engaged in four primary behaviors, with varying success, that supported valuing noncognitive factors: focusing on learning, managing external environments, acting strategically and sharing leadership, and focusing on the instruction of noncognitive factors. The principal focused on school-wide curriculum, providing professional development, communicating with a variety of stakeholders, facilitating committee work, and tapping into teacher leaders. Even though these leadership behaviors were perceived to be associated with valuing noncognitive factors in the study site, challenge remained. State mandated assessments that focus on mathematics and reading, along with a lack of instruction time, were noted as areas that presented challenges for the building principal when trying to balance academic performance with valuing noncognitive factors. Implications from this study focused on the principal valuing noncognitive factors and practicing tenants of the leadership for learning framework. Multiple recommendations for further study, development of policy, and professional practice are presented to advance effective leadership practices for valuing noncognitive factors.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-08-25 without embargo terms","The student, Christopher Martelli, accepted the attached license on 2020-05-01 at 14:18.","The student, Christopher Martelli, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-05-01 at 14:32.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-05-05 at 10:44.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15151 on 2020-08-25 at 17:10:29","Made available in DSpace on 2020-08-26T21:54:44Z (GMT). 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