HOW PRINCIPALS LEAD IN AN ERA OF TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF PRINCIPALS LEADING SCHOOLS ON THE CONTINUUM OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND SANCTIONS

Abstract

The goal of this study was to better understand the perspective of administrators on accountability and high stakes testing - what effect it has, if any, on his/her ability to serve as building administrator. Through a series of in-depth interviews and analysis of the perception of principals that lead schools that are on various levels of No Child Left Behind sanctions, this study will help the reader to understand how high stakes testing and accountability have impacted the leadership of the school principal. As presented by Allen (2008) are we focusing curriculum on preparation for high-stakes testing versus the philosophy of letting the high stakes testing evaluate the effectiveness of what is being taught as a method for supporting learning? From budgeting and organizational structure, to local curriculum and classroom instruction, efforts from external sources to ensure "accountability" in public schools have impacted virtually every aspect of school operations in America. No Child Left Behind is the initiative most often associated with the current accountability movement. While this study did not aim to measure the effectiveness of initiatives like No Child Left Behind, it did aim to analyze how these measures have impacted the role of the building principal. This study used a semi-structured interviews with eleven elementary school principals who lead schools on a sampling of the No Child Left Behind sanction continuum. In addition to interviews, pertinent documents and artifacts will be analyzed. The constant comparative method (Glaser & Stauss, 1967) will be used to analyze the data in terms of the study's two theoretical frameworks: Turbulence Theory (Gross, 1998) and Multiple Ethical Paradigm.