Old Dominion University and Johns Hopkins University recently released a study of the National Institute of School Leadership’s (NISL’s) Executive Development Program (EDP), a program established to provide professional development to school leaders to improve school performance. The primary goal of the program is to ensure that school leaders have the knowledge, skills, and tools to effectively set direction for teachers, support their staffs, and design an efficient organization.
The study examined the impact of EDP on student achievement in Pennsylvania schools from 2006 – 2010. Specifically, researchers were trying to judge the impact EDP may have on school performance in English language arts and math in 68 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, and 14 high schools. All schools were matched with a comparable school with similar demographics whose leaders had not participated in the program.
The study found that in both ELA and math, schools led by EDP principals improved at a greater rate than matched comparison schools. All NISL schools improved in ELA performance at an average rate of 0.5% greater than the comparison schools each year (in other words, by the end of the four year study the typical NISL school had 1,225 more students achieving proficiency than would otherwise have been expected). In math, the average improvement rate was also 0.5%, or about 1,092 more students reaching proficiency over the four year period.
The EDP effects were smaller in elementary schools than in secondary schools, but still statistically significant. This is noteworthy, “as there is little systematic evidence that any of the many high school reforms attempted to date have had a positive effect on student achievement.” The gains in high school math proficiency are particularly dramatic—going up on average from 50.5% of students reaching proficiency to 62.4%.
The authors feel that this study “represent[s] highly promising evidence that the NISL Executive Development Program for school leaders results in statistically significant, substantial, and sustained improvements in student performance in reading and mathematics, particularly in the challenging context of secondary schools.” A bonus? The median cost for the program is only $4,000 per participant, which translates to about $117 per additional student achieving proficiency.
To read the full study, please visit http://nisl.net/nisl-pa-2011-old-dominion-study.pdf
