Public middle school principals' perceptions of their role in improvement of Connecticut Mastery Test math scores

Connecticut middle school principals are significantly affected by the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT). Depending on how their students perform on this test, principals may receive public praise or blame, additional school funding, a change in personal compensation, or new instructional programs to implement. Scores on this test have become the standard for evaluating schools and principals, yet little research has been conducted as to ways to improve CMT scores.; The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of Connecticut public middle school principals as to which factors are most essential in effecting score improvement on the eighth grade math CMT, and which of those factors principals felt they were able to influence. It sought evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of the identified factors. It also examined the differences in the principals' perceptions based upon their attitudes toward the CMT, their years of experience as middle school principals, their undergraduate majors, and their gender.; A researcher designed survey was mailed to all Connecticut public middle school principals. One hundred thirteen principals from all Connecticut Economic Reference Groups responded. Respondents represented schools with a variety of grade configurations and sizes. Sixty-two percent of the respondents were male, 32% had an undergraduate education major, and almost 60% were in the 50 to 59 years age category. Respondents overwhelmingly held favorable or highly favorable attitudes toward the CMT.; Factors listed on the survey were drawn from Gordon Donaldson's definition of educational leadership and from research showing factors effective in improving standardized test scores. Principals were asked for each factor to check whether they perceived that factor as essential to improving CMT scores, and also whether they believed that they could influence that factor.; Among all the respondents the most essential factor was aligning the math curriculum to the Connecticut framework. Other critical factors were encouraging analysis of CMT results by staff, spending more time working with teachers on classroom instruction, familiarizing students with math vocabulary used on the CMT, and building trust with teachers and ownership of test results.; Factors which respondents felt most able to influence were promoting empowerment and shared leadership, and encouraging teachers to spend more time teaching test-taking skills.; Although there were factors with significant differences between all of the groups that were compared, the largest number of factors with significant differences was found between respondents who had been undergraduate education majors and those who had not been education majors.; Conclusions reached were: (1) Middle school principals want to spend more time as instructional leaders, working directly with teachers. (2) Principals feel limited influence over factors that they believe are essential to improving math CMT scores. (3) Principals provided insufficient evidence for judging the effectiveness of specific actions in improving eighth grade math CMT scores. (4) Principals' attitudes toward the CMT do not appear to affect their perceptions of their roles in CMT math score improvement. (5) Newer middle school principals show greater familiarity with current educational trends.