Educational Administration Quarterly recent issues

Leadership for Literacy Coaching: The Principal's Role in Launching a New Coaching Program

Matsumura, L. C., Sartoris, M., Bickel, D. D., Garnier, H. E. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:17:04 PDT

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between principal leadership and variation in teachers’ participation in a new literacy coaching program: Content-Focused Coaching^® (CFC). Research design: Twenty-nine schools were randomly assigned to participate in the CFC program or to serve as a comparison. Interviews were conducted with elementary school principals and coaches, and teachers completed surveys describing their experiences with their new coach. Correlation analyses investigated the relationship between the categories of principal support and the frequency of teachers’ participation in individual coaching activities. Principals’ actions and beliefs were also compared across schools, with teachers’ relatively high and low participation in coaching, to identify patterns in principal leadership. Findings: Principal leadership was significantly associated with the frequency with which teachers conferred with their new CFC coach and were observed by their new coach as teaching reading comprehension lessons. Principal behaviors associated with teachers’ increased engagement with coaches included actively participating in the CFC program and publicly endorsing the coach as a source of literacy expertise to teachers. Principal beliefs regarding a literacy coach’s role and responsibilities were associated with the frequency with which teachers opened their classrooms to the new coaches. Implications: This study provides insight into the features of principal leadership that may support coaches in engaging with teachers and gaining access to their classrooms. Observing teachers’ lessons is a critical dimension of effective coaching and a difficult task for coaches to accomplish. Learning how principals can positively contribute to this process could help schools and districts make more effective use of their literacy coaching resources.

Performing Cultural Work in Demographically Changing Schools: Implications for Expanding Transformative Leadership Frameworks

Cooper, C. W. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:17:04 PDT

Purpose: Marginalizing dynamics can emerge in school communities that are experiencing rapid demographic change, even when led by equity-oriented principals.The purpose of this article is to consider how educators can serve as transformative leaders through their performing cultural work that addresses inequity, crosses sociocultural boundaries, and fosters inclusion. Cornel West’s theories on the cultural politics of difference inform the discussion, as does the literature on transformative leadership for social justice. Research Design and Methods: This comparative case study examined two North Carolina elementary schools that have experienced rapid demographic change, and it explored educators’ and families’ responses to cultural diversification and their views about school—family relations. Data analysis was conducted via an iterative process that identified common themes, entertained alternative conclusions, and triangulated interview, observational, and document data. Data revealed participants’ general beliefs, concerns, and fears about demographic change, particularly as they relate to their communities’ growing Spanish-speaking Latino population. Findings: Provided are data-based profiles of school principals and the sociocultural contexts of their school communities. Findings emphasize contradictions between the principals’ equity-oriented stances and their exclusionary beliefs and practices; school community members’ notions of cultural difference; and the biases, segregation, and brooding tensions affecting the schools. Implications for Research and Practice: The opportunities that principals have to perform cultural work as a form of transformative leadership are discussed, along with the value of explicitly infusing the notion of cultural work into transformative leadership frameworks.

Organizational Ethics and Teachers' Intent to Leave: An Integrative Approach

Shapira-Lishchinsky, O., Rosenblatt, Z. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:17:04 PDT

Purpose: The present study focuses on developing a conceptual framework that explores the relationships between teachers’ intent to leave and a spectrum of ethics perceptions. The authors argue that these relationships are mediated by organizational commitment (affective and normative). Research Design: Organizational ethics was measured by teachers’ perceptions of ethical climate (caring and formal), organizational justice (distributive and procedural), and tendency to misbehave. Participants were 1,016 schoolteachers from 35 schools affiliated with a secondary-level school network in Israel. Findings: Results of a multilevel analysis reveal direct relationships between intent to leave and dimensions of all three ethical constructs. The mediation effect of affective and normative commitment was full for caring climate and partial for procedural justice and tendency to misbehave. Conclusions: The contribution of this study is the integrative approach to organizational ethics as predicting teachers’ intent to leave, an approach rarely taken in previous research. The results may have implications for educational policies that focus on improving ethical perceptions while containing teachers’ voluntary turnover.

Literacy Coach Role Implementation: How District Context Influences Reform Efforts

Mangin, M. M. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:17:04 PDT

Purpose: This study examines the outcomes of one regional intermediate school district’s effort to promote literacy coach role implementation in its 20 constituent districts. The findings from this study provide information about the kinds of district-level contexts that influenced literacy coach role implementation and how those contexts were influential. Research Methods: Data were collected from 20 districts that participated in a literacy coach training program provided by the regional intermediate school district. Interviews were conducted in spring 2007 with assistant superintendents or their designees. Findings: Districts’ implementation of literacy coach roles was influenced by four contextual factors: state and national reform, finances, student performance data, and existing roles and programs. Variations in these factors were associated with differences in districts’ implementation of literacy coach roles. Implications: This study has implications for how districts understand their role in relation to schools and the implementation of reforms.

Assessing Schoolwide Cultural Competence: Implications for School Leadership Preparation

Bustamante, R. M., Nelson, J. A., Onwuegbuzie, A. J. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:17:04 PDT

Purpose: The initial purpose of this mixed methods study was to assess the instrument fidelity and construct-related validity of a 33-item instrument called the Schoolwide Cultural Competence Observation Checklist (SCCOC) by eliciting school leaders’ views. The SCCOC was designed as one tool for use in conducting school culture audits, which determine how well a school responds to the needs of diverse groups. The results revealed unexpected qualitative findings from school leaders’ narrative responses to open-ended items. The implications of these findings for school leaders and school leader preparation are discussed. Research Design: On a Web-based questionnaire, practicing school leaders in two large western states responded to open- and closed-ended items on the relevance of SCCOC items to cultural competence in actual school settings. Participants’ narrative responses were analyzed using an iterative process of coding and constant comparison to identify emerging themes. Themes were validated using intercoder reliability. Findings: Research team members reached consensus on four primary themes that emerged from analysis of narrative data: policy as a paradox, programs as instrumental to culturally competent practice, school culture and climate as integral to schoolwide cultural competence, and numerous barriers to cultural competence. Under the theme of barriers, five subthemes were revealed. Conclusions: The findings inform future research and the need to focus school leader preparation on examining personal biases, privilege, and beliefs about others who are different, as well as guiding leaders to develop culturally responsive skills and knowledge and the ability to assess schoolwide cultural competence.

Origins and Consequences of Schools' Organizational Culture for Student Achievement

Dumay, X. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Purpose: Most studies on the impact of school culture focus only on teachers’ average perceptions and neglect the possibility that a meaningful increment to the prediction of school effectiveness might be provided by the variance in teachers’ culture perceptions. The objectives of this article are to (a) better understand how teachers’ collective decision making and principal’s leadership are related to the schools’ culture homogeneity and (b) test the moderating role of the schools’ culture homogeneity on the relationship between four cultural scales and the schools’ mathematics achievement. Method: The sample of this study consisted of 2,595 students nested in 52 schools and 125 classes from the French-speaking community of Belgium. Students performed two mathematics achievement tests and answered a self-reported questionnaire on their backgrounds. All the teachers (n = 817) of the 52 schools answered a self-reported questionnaire dealing with the principal’s leadership, school culture, and teacher collegiality. Hypotheses are tested using correlation, regression, and hierarchical regression analyses. Research Findings: First, it was found that culture homogeneity is positively associated with (a) the principal’s transformational leadership (TL) and (b) the teachers’ collective decision making relative to pedagogical aspects. Second, it was shown that the impact of TL on culture homogeneity is partially mediated by teachers’ collective decision making. Third, the analyses found no moderation effect of culture homogeneity on the relationship between cultural values and students’ achievement but did show partial evidence of such an effect in specific groups of schools (with low or high socioeconomic status composition). Implications: This study provides a deeper understanding of how social arrangements and leadership processes within schools contribute to the emergence of collective cultural values. But the results also shed light on the weak associations between cultural values and student achievement, even when considering an appropriate definition and conceptualization of the school culture.

Faculty Trust and Organizational School Characteristics: An Exploration Across Secondary Schools in Flanders

Van Maele, D., Van Houtte, M. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Purpose: Teachers trusting other groups of actors in their school enhances a school’s functioning. Research relating teacher trust to school context has proven scarce, however. This study explores the extent to which teachers from a same school share a level of trust. Organizational value culture, size, and group composition are associated with faculty trust in students, parents, colleagues, and the principal. Research Design: Data were gathered via anonymous surveys completed by 2,104 teachers in 84 secondary schools in Flanders in the 2004-2005 school year. Measures for individual teachers’ trust were based on the scales developed by Hoy and Tschannen-Moran. To explore the existence of faculty trust, an index of mean rater reliability based on the intraclass correlation coefficient from a one-way analysis of variance was used. Findings: Faculty trust exists within Flemish secondary schools and is composed of four dimensions relating to four separate referents of trust. Organizational value culture, size, and composition affect the level of organizational trust in schools. Socioeconomic school composition heavily determines staff trust. Trust in colleagues is higher in private schools than in public schools. A high proportion of immigrant students lowers teachers’ trust in parents. Conclusions: Relating a staff’s academic culture and students’ study culture to teacher trust is advisable. For a successful implementation of reform initiatives, schools with the described characteristics should adopt programs to enhance teacher trust. Principals and leaders should be aware of organizational characteristics affecting trust in schools.

Linking Professional, School, Demographic, and Motivational Factors to Desire for Principalship

Walker, A., Kwan, P. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Purpose: This study attempts to link four groups of contextual factors to vice principals’ desire for principalship using regression analysis. Relevant items representing context are grouped under professional, school, demographic, and motivational factors. The findings aim to provide greater understanding of the desire, or lack thereof, of vice principals to become principals. Research Design: A questionnaire was sent to all secondary school vice principals in Hong Kong. Respondents were asked to indicate on a 4-point Likert-type scale their degree of involvement in a set of professional work dimensions and to rate their agreement with motivational items to describe their needs. They were also asked to provide information about their school and demographic background. Of the 803 questionnaires distributed, 331 were returned, giving a response rate of 41.2%. Findings: A number of professional, demographic, and motivational factors appeared to link to vice principals’ desire for principal positions. These included involvement in professional development in school, a personal desire to keep learning, the applicants’ age, and their predisposition to disregard relational factors. Conclusions: Vice principals who have a stronger desire for personal growth and who are more actively involved in professional development opportunities in their schools have a greater desire to become principals. On the other hand, vice principals who value harmonious working relationships are less inclined to apply for principalships. Further professional development is necessary to increase both the quality and the quantity of principal aspirants. This should recognize the power of ingrained beliefs and norms and be built around human resource issues.

Boundary Spanning in Homeless Children's Education: Notes From an Emergent Faculty Role in Pittsburgh

Miller, P. M. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Purpose: This From the Field article describes an emerging model of boundary spanning leadership in homeless education. Drawing from the pilot program that is being implemented in conjunction with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund in Pittsburgh, the article identifies areas of promise and potential limits to university faculty involvement with schools, shelters, and other community institutions as they engage pressing issues related to the schooling of students who are homeless. Implications: Situated within the rapidly declining economic situation—where numbers of homeless students are skyrocketing—this area of leadership inquiry and practice is especially significant. This article suggests that boundary spanning individuals and systems can facilitate efficient homeless education practice within and among schools, universities, and shelters.

Where Should Educational Leadership Authors Publish to Get Noticed by the Top Journals in the Discipline?

Richardson, J. W., McLeod, S. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Purpose: The current study seeks to understand which journals have been recently cited by scholars publishing in the field of educational leadership (i.e., specifically publishing in Educational Administration Quarterly [EAQ] and Journal of School Leadership [JSL]). Method: The researchers recorded the name and number of occurrences of journals that appeared in the bibliographies of articles published in EAQ and JSL from 2000 to 2007. The total counts for EAQ and JSL were combined to reach a final count. All journals then were rank ordered according to frequency. Findings: Five main findings were noted in the current study. First, it was found that authors who contribute to these journals tend to reference a different set of periodicals compared to those that professors of educational leadership say they actually read. Second, two of the leading journals (EAQ and JSL) in the field of educational leadership may be reaching unique audiences. Third, of the top 25 cited journals, slightly more than one third of the articles cited in EAQ and JSL from 2000 to 2007 were published in those two journals. Fourth, 4 of the top 15 most cited journals are practitioner journals. Finally, the findings show where educational leadership authors should publish to get their work noticed by top scholars in the field. Conclusion: The current study adds a valuable factor influencing authors’ choices of journals in which to publish their work: a journal’s citation frequency. The citation patterns noted in the current article will help authors consider issues of spread and replicability when seeking suitable outlets to publish their scholarly work.

Book Review: Byrne-Jimenez, M., & Orr, M. T. (2007). Developing Effective Principals Through Collaborative Inquiry. New York: Teachers College Press

Stellar, A. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Book Review: DiPaola, M. F., & Hoy, W. K. (2007). Principals Improving Instruction: Supervision, Evaluation, and Professional Development. Boston: Pearson. 312 pp. ISBN 0-205-49102-2

Hackmann, D. G. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:50:39 PDT

Need to Address Evidence-Based Practice in Educational Administration

Kowalski, T. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Purpose: This article presents a case for addressing evidence-based practice (EBP) in educational administration. Content is arranged around four objectives: (a) summarizing the status of educational administration as a profession, (b) defining evidence and the model, (c) explaining EBP's social and professional merit, and (d) identifying barriers that may prevent the concept from being understood correctly, accepted philosophically, and implemented appropriately. Proposed Conceptual Argument: The need to consider EBP is framed by society's demand for greater accountability from professions, the realities of practice in an information-based society, and a proclivity to rely on the theory of legal accountability to improve schools. In the aftermath of the No Child Left Behind Act, critics have portrayed educational administration as a field lacking internal accountability, epistemological consistency, and a focused research agenda. The alleged deficiencies may be contributing to an erosion of state licensing laws for superintendents and principals and casting a cloud over the future of educational administration departments. Implications: Reliance on external accountability in the absence of internal accountability is unlikely to improve schools or to provide social authority for educational administration. Instead of continuing to agree to disagree over the most fundamental issues, scholars in this field need to define EBP in a manner that integrates empirical evidence, tacit knowledge, and values and then conduct research to determine the concept's effectiveness.

Designing and Piloting a Leadership Daily Practice Log: Using Logs to Study the Practice of Leadership

Spillane, J. P., Zuberi, A. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Purpose: This article aims to validate the Leadership Daily Practice (LDP) log, an instrument for conducting research on leadership in schools. Research Design: Using a combination of data sources—namely, a daily practice log, observations, and open-ended cognitive interviews—the authors evaluate the validity of the LDP log. Participants: Formal and informal leaders were asked to complete the LDP log for 2 weeks; observers shadowed a subsample of leaders in each school, 1 day per week. Analysis: Using the three sources of data, the authors analyzed interview responses (specifically, the participants' interpretations of the log); they matched log entries with observer recordings; and they compared (a) the characteristics of the social interactions that were entered into the log with (b) the overall sample of interactions that occurred while observers shadowed participants. Findings: The study shows that LDP log entries capture school leadership interactions as recorded by independent observers; it also demonstrates that study participants, with some exceptions, were not biased toward reporting certain types of interactions over others. Still, some log terminologies were problematic for participants, as was the limited sampling period of 2 weeks. Conclusions: The authors propose ways to (a) change the LDP log to reflect the concerns raised by participants in the cognitive interviews and (b) alter the sampling scheme to capture leadership around the school year. The LDP log is less costly and time-consuming than in-depth ethnographic studies, and it is an important tool for researchers who aim to collect data in schools, one that reaches beyond surveys.

Coping With School Violence Through the Lens of Teachers' Role Breadth: The Impact of Participative Management and Job Autonomy

Somech, A., Oplatka, I. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Purpose: The current literature's call for a more ecological approach to violence theory, research, and practice stimulated the current study. This model postulates that teachers' willingness to engage in behaviors intended to tackle violence in school as part of their in-role duties (role breadth) will affect school violence. Specifically, the model examined the mediating role of teachers' role breadth in the relationship of the organizational-level factors of participative management and job autonomy with school violence. Method: Data were collected from a survey of 1,512 teachers and their principals at 119 elementary schools in the northern and central parts of Israel. Findings: The structural equation model confirmed the main hypotheses and indicated that for both job autonomy and participative management only the indirect paths (job autonomy—role breadth— school violence; participative management—role breadth—school violence) were significant. These results indicated that role breadth fully mediated the relationship between participative management and job autonomy and school violence. Conclusions: These results carry important practical implications for administrators to help schools cope with the phenomenon of violence. Understanding why teachers choose to broaden their role is important in decreasing school violence. Schools that encourage staff members to see themselves as part of the picture in all aspects of school functioning by involving them in the decision making process, and by providing them with opportunities for discretion, will benefit teachers who believe that student safety is possible and are willing to tackle the phenomenon of violence in schools as part of their in-role duties.

Demographics and Police Involvement: Implications for Student Civil Liberties and Just Leadership

Torres, M. S., Stefkovich, J. A. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Purpose: A factor largely overlooked amid the press for greater security in schools is the extent to which law enforcement participates in search and seizure and the implications such actions carry for student civil liberties. As case law suggests, police engaged in school searches may be held to the probable cause standard or the more flexible reasonable suspicion standard articulated in New Jersey v. T. L. O. (1985). This article examines the use of law enforcement in schools and whether the probability that student offenses are criminalized increases as a result. Data Collection and Analysis: In this study, researchers report data on 2,270 schools from the School Survey on Crime and Safety made available through the National Center for Education Statistics. Using a factorial ANOVA, researchers use various demographic indicators to measure whether schools ordinarily relying on law enforcement for security report offenses to municipal police to a greater degree than those that do not. Findings: Findings indicate that schools using off-duty law enforcement officers report offenses to the police at a significantly higher rate than those not using off-duty law enforcement officers. While poverty, minority composition, and urbanicity do not interact significantly with off-duty police use, the minority composition of the school and the percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch, when examined as main effects, yield statistically significant differences in the mean percentage of offenses reported to the police. These findings suggest the need for schools to develop clearly articulated policies with respect to police intervention, as well as the need for further research into decision making of principals in schools with greater concentrations of student poverty.

The William J. Davis Award: An Analysis of Trends From 1980 to 2007

Owens, M. A. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Purpose: This article provides an analysis of articles winning the William J. Davis Award in Educational Administration Quarterly (EAQ) from its start in 1980 through 2007. Findings: Information is presented on data relating to two guiding questions: (a) What themes or trends have emerged over time in Davis Award—winning articles? (b) What impact have Davis Award—winning articles had on the field relative to other EAQ articles? Conclusions: Based on patterns that emerged from the data, ideas for continued changes in EAQ's editorial policies relating to the award are explored.

Book Review: Jackson, J. F. L., (Ed.). (2007). Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice. State University of New York Press: Albany. 220 pp. ISBN 978-0-7914-6987-3

Gooden, M. A. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Book Review: Hondo, C., Gardiner, M. E., and Sapien, Y. (2008). Latino Dropouts in Rural America: Realities and Possibilities. Albany: State University of New York Press. 182 pp. ISBN 978-0-7914-7387-0

Kroth, M. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Viviane M. J. Robinson, Claire A. Lloyd, and Kenneth J. Rowe Receive EAQ's 2008 Volume Year Davis Award

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:11:38 PDT

Review of Literature Submissions to EAQ: General Call and Invitation

Pounder, D. G., Johnson, B. L. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

Rigid Response in an Age of Accountability: The Potential of Leadership and Trust

Daly, A. J. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

Purpose: The No Child Left Behind Act laudably brings social justice and equity issues to the forefront; however, the act's threat- and sanction-driven methods are not only increasing stress levels but potentially causing a rigid response, especially in the growing population of schools labeled program improvement (PI). Specifically, threat—rigid responses tend to limit options and information flow, constrain decision making, and increase stress. The question then becomes, what can mitigate the organizational effects of perceived threat? This study hypothesizes the following: Trust and leadership dimensions that support empowerment and involvement will predict an educational organization's ability to minimize a threat—rigid response and flexibly negotiate new demands. Research Methods: This study utilized original instruments to measure threat—rigidity, trust, and leadership. Specifically, teachers and site administrators were surveyed in four districts representing eight schools in PI and six schools in non-PI, to test the hypothesis that the multifaceted construct of trust and leadership has a predictive relationship with threat—rigid response. Data were also collected from focus groups of teachers and from interviews with principals from two schools in PI. Findings: Findings of multiple linear regression models, focus groups, and interviews indicate that the presence of trust and leadership approaches that are participative and inclusive predicted lower levels of threat—rigid response by teachers and administrators in PI schools. Implications for Research and Practice: Results suggest that when predictive factors such as trust, empowerment, and involvement are present, teachers and administrators perceive a less rigid response in schools under sanction from PI. This finding suggests the expanding role of trust as a resource for schools and districts that are negotiating accountability demands. Policy makers may well consider initiatives that move beyond compliance to the building of organizational capacity.

Fostering Teacher Professionalism in Schools: The Role of Leadership Orientation and Trust

Tschannen-Moran, M. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

Purpose: Schools necessarily employ elements of a bureaucratic structure to organize the complex task of educating large and diverse groups of students— elements such as a hierarchy of authority, a division of labor, policies, rules, and regulations. Although such a structure is useful, there is a danger that school leaders will overemphasize these elements and so adopt a bureaucratic orientation at the expense of cultivating professionalism in schools. The hypothesis that guided this study was that the degree of teacher professionalism in a school would be related to (a) the professional orientation of principals in their exercise of administrative authority—especially, the extending of adaptive discretion to teachers in the conduct of their work—and (b) the trust evident among various actors in the school community. Research Methods: Data on the five variables under study were gathered via surveys completed by teachers in 80 middle schools in a mid-Atlantic state. Teacher professionalism was assessed using a subscale of the School Climate Index. Four dependent variables were included: the professional orientation of principals and the trust of faculty—namely, in their principals, their colleagues, and their clients (parents and students). The professional orientation of principals was assessed using the Enabling Structure Scale, a scale of teachers' perceptions of how administrative authority is exercised by school leaders; faculty trust was assessed using the Faculty Trust Scales. Findings: The evidence supports the hypothesis positing that degree of teacher professionalism is related not only to the professional orientation of school leaders but also to faculty trust. Faculty perceptions of their colleagues' professionalism were found to be strongly related to a professional orientation in the exercise of authority by administrators, as well as to faculty trust in the principal. In a multiple regression analysis, a professional orientation by the principal and faculty trust in colleagues were each found to make an independent contribution to explaining teacher professionalism, whereas faculty trust in the principal and faculty trust in students and parents were found to play a moderating role. Implications for Research and Practice: For schools to foster greater teacher professionalism, school leaders would do well to resist adopting a bureaucratic orientation, with its implicit distrust. They would be better served by exercising their administrative authority with a professional orientation, extending adaptive discretion to teachers in the conduct of their work, and adopting practices that lead to strong trust among school leaders, teachers, students, and parents.

Building Organizational Capacity Through Trust

Cosner, S. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

This article explores the cultivation of collegial trust as a central feature of the capacity-building work of 11 high school principals, nominated for their expertise with capacity building. This qualitative study examined interview data and school documents collected over 18 months. Principals regarded trust as critical and were motivated to engage in trust building based on their understanding of the importance of trust or by information that pointed to school-wide trust concerns. To address collegial trust concerns, principals set, enforced, and reinforced norms of interaction. Based on a review of interdisciplinary literature on trust development, and drawing upon a knowledge-based model of trust development where repeated interactions serve as a key mechanism for trust formation in organizations, three broad actions, emanating in large measure from principals' work to support and enhance collaboration, are identified as important with respect to the cultivation of collegial trust. Varied and context-specific strategies are noted.

Trust as a Mediator of the Relationships Between Poverty, Racial Composition, and Academic Achievement: Evidence From Michigan's Public Elementary Schools

Goddard, R. D., Salloum, S. J., Berebitsky, D. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

Purpose: Research shows that trust is significantly related to academic achievement. This study expands knowledge of this connection in two ways. First, because a stratified, random sample of elementary schools from an entire state was used, the results have considerable generalizability. Second, this study tested the relationship between trust and achievement and assessed whether links between academic achievement, socioeconomic status (SES), and racial composition are mediated by the levels of trust teachers report in students and parents. Data Collection and Analysis: Schools were systematically randomly selected and stratified by location, prior achievement, SES, and size to represent all traditional public elementary schools across Michigan. Teachers responded to surveys measuring the levels of trust in schools. A path analysis was conducted at the school level to model variation in trust and the proportion of students passing the state mathematics and reading assessments. Findings: Using path analysis and controlling for measures of school context, greater trust was associated with increased school achievement in mathematics and reading on state assessments used for accountability purposes. Also, school SES, racial composition, and size were indirectly related to achievement through their associations with trust. However, racial and economic disadvantage were not directly related to achievement after controlling for prior achievement and trust. Conclusion: Because racial and economic disadvantage were related to achievement only indirectly through their negative associations with trust, trust relations appear to mediate the relationship between school disadvantage and academic achievement. Future researchers may wish to study whether programs seeking to increase trust in schools can effectively minimize the academic disadvantage typically associated with poverty and racial composition.

From Calculation Through Courtship to Contribution: Cultivating Trust Among Urban Youth in an Academic Intervention Program

Owens, M. A., Johnson, B. L. — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:14:48 PDT

Purpose: By examining data from interviews with students in the Upward Bound (UB) Program (a federally sponsored program that provides academic support to students at risk preparing for college entrance), this study seeks to strengthen understanding of the stages of trust in educational organizations that serve urban youth and in so doing provoke further thought regarding our collective understanding of trusting dispositions and behaviors in educational organizations. Research Design: This qualitative piece uses data from a study of student participation in leadership and interviews, observations, and document analysis of participants and informants to build conceptual understanding of the stages of interpersonal trust in educational organizations. Participants included 20 recent high school graduates enrolled in the summer Bridge Program of the UB Program at a university in a midsized city. Findings: Better understanding of the stages of trust came from examining the concept in an educational organization that serves urban youth. Students described their move from calculation, to courtship, and finally to contribution in terms of taking and giving behaviors as they interacted with UB staff and administrators. Conclusions: This study highlights the following as implications and areas for future research and practice: First, study participants provided information that complicates the concept of trust in educational organizations that serve urban youth. Second, study data highlight how trusting relationships develop as individuals test others' capacity to act for their benefit. Further studies that explore these relationships are encouraged. Third, study data imply that educational organizations play the initial role as giver in give-and-take relationships that characterize trust among urban youth. Further research is needed to understand whether and why this is so. Finally, issues of gender and race were not explored at length in this study. Deeper examination of the interplay of trust, gender, and race may help explain this study's findings and provide insight into trusting dispositions and behaviors among urban youth.