A case study of the continuous rise in performance of two schools in a high-need community

The study investigated the continuous rise in performance of two schools in a high-need community on the New York State English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments over a three year period. The purpose for the study was to identify contributory factors that led to the continuous rise in student progress with the intention of providing insights into strategies employed to minimize the gap in student performance between students in high-need communities and more advantaged students. The methodology was a qualitative case study approach using the triangulation process. The research instruments used were observations, artifacts and semi-structured, audio taped interviews guided by pre-written protocols. The setting for this study was two schools located in a high-need community. The study involved twenty voluntary participants that included two principals, teachers with at least two years experience on the testing grades, parents of students on the testing grades, and members of the school leadership team who held membership for at least two years. A data analysis guide was used to analyze and interpret data collected from semi structured, audio taped interviews. Information garnered from the artifacts collected was cross-referenced with patterns and themes that emerged from the interviews and observations to support reliability and validity of the study. The results of the study indicated that effective leadership behaviors and the appropriate implementation of organizational structures and systems contributed to student continuous progress. The implications of this study are that additional studies are needed to examine the appropriateness of leadership behaviors and organizational structures and systems utilized in struggling schools in high-need communities to lead them toward the development of alternative strategies that enable progress.