A case study examining perceptions of the influence on school district practices of FIS (financial incentives in a superintendent's contract based on student performance on standardized tests)

The purpose of this study was to examine how a school district's practices were influenced as a result of FIS (financial incentives in the superintendent's contract based on student performance on standardized tests). The district under study was a large urban district in the Northeast in which the superintendent, after having already served four years, re-negotiated his contract to include specific financial rewards for district attainment of targeted levels of student test scores. This study examined how administrators, teachers, and the superintendent himself perceived that FIS influenced the district.; The conceptual framework through which influences of this phenomenon were examined was Bolman and Deal's Reframing Organizations. They articulated four frames through which organizations and leadership can be viewed. Those frames are the structural, political, human resource, and symbolic. Examination of his framework, coupled with an extensive review of the literature, resulted in the identification and definition of specific descriptors within each of the four frames. These descriptors served as the basis for development of the Survey of Influence of School District Practices (SISDP) by the researcher and Intriligator. The SISDP consisted of 32 Likert Scale format survey questions and eight open-ended questions which gathered qualitative data regarding perceptions of FIS from both teachers and administrators. An interview with the superintendent provided additional data. Twenty-nine overall and combined findings were reported and five Conclusions were deduced from this study. Recommendations were developed for the district under study, boards of education and policy makers in general, and for future research.; This study indicated that while FIS may serve to strengthen a district's focus on student achievement and a superintendent's instructional leadership, the negative impact of FIS on others in the organization needs to be considered when designing such programs.