An examination of principal and teacher perceptions of the school improvement process

Since 1965 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has provided federal support to schools in low-income communities with the goal of helping all students meet high standards (United States Department of Educations, 1965). The latest reauthorization of ESEA, better known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) now seeks to help students meet high standards by mandating school improvement plans in all districts and schools that do not make designated academic targets (United States Department of Education, 2002). There is little evidence that development of a school improvement plan leads to implementation or that if implemented, that the action plan is monitored and this is distressing.; The primary purpose of this study was to examine principal and teacher perceptions of the processes for how school improvement plans are developed, implemented, and monitored, by their stakeholders, namely principals and teachers. In addition, I used surveys to determine how classroom teachers access and use their school improvement plan to inform their instructional practice and to determine if teacher involvement in the school improvement is associated with a higher level of use of the strategies identified in the school improvement plans than the teachers who indicated no involvement in the development of the plan. The findings from this study have important implications for superintendents, curriculum leaders, and principals. It provides a tool for these leaders to use in their school and district for purposes of collecting data to provide increased guidance in working with faculty to produce the expected changes in student achievement. Teacher and principal perceptions can indicate what kind of change is possible and necessary within the school (Bernhardt, 2003).; In this study, as a result of my findings, I concluded that there were differences between principal and teacher perceptions of the development, implementation, and monitoring of the school improvement plan. The principal perceived each stage of the school improvement process more positively than the teacher respondents did and a greater difference in perceptions existed between principals and teachers in the implementation stage than the other two stages. Individual schools' data supported varying levels of alignment in perceptions although the data from all four schools displayed common differences in alignment in the implementation stage. Additionally, I found out that teachers' involvement in the school improvement process is associated with their level of use of the strategies identified in the school improvement plan. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...