The effect of Site Support Teams on student achievement in seven northern California schools

The purpose of this study was to evaluate school-level interventions called Site Support Teams in terms of their correlation to student achievement. Site Support Teams were in use in a school district in northern California. Comprised of district-level and school-level leaders, the purpose of the teams was to work together to improve student achievement. Using a quasi-experimental design, two elementary schools, two middle schools, and three high schools served as experimental schools whose improvements in achievements were measured using the English/Language Arts portion of the California Standards Test for grades 2-11. Improvement rates at each school were compared to improvements at control schools. The duration of the intervention at experimental schools ranged from 2 to 5 years. Qualitative data taken from surveys of teachers at two schools and interviews of 10 Site Support Team members were used to help interpret the quantitative portion of this study. Site Support Teams were found to be a successful tool in assisting schools to improve student achievement when several features were present: sustained focus, teacher involvement, classroom visitations, and mutual accountability.