How Can I Lead When I Am in the Dark? Principals' Role in Writing Instruction Implementation
Abstract
Student writing outcomes in the U.S. are dismal, and this has been an area of concern for decades, yet schools and teachers are not implementing evidence-based practices (EBP) in writing instruction. Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an EBP in writing yet the administrator’s role in implementing EBPs in writing has not been studied. This study focused on the principals’ role during implementation of SRSD for writing since leadership has been identified as a possible barrier impacting the successful dissemination of EBPs. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of an implementation model: Improving Implementation Leadership Effectiveness through Accountability and professional Development (I.LEAD). The I.LEAD model is a systematic implementation intervention for principals focused on providing on-going support and accountability by utilizing implementation strategies to increase the principals’ knowledge and support of both writing and the intervention. In this study, the impact of the principals’ participation in I.LEAD was investigated by including both principals’ perceptions and teachers’ perceptions of their principals’: (a) writing knowledge, (b) writing support, (c) intervention knowledge, (d) intervention support, and (e) the impact the constructs (i.e., listed in a-d) had on fidelity. This study included principals (N = 9) and writing teachers (N = 64) from the intervention group of a multi-site cluster randomized trial (CRT) testing the efficacy of We-Write, an intervention designed to integrate teacher-led SRSD instruction with a web-based intelligent tutoring software (Wijekumar, 2018-2022). Quantitative data analysis of surveys revealed both principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of the principals’ writing knowledge and support increased from pre to post survey after participating in I.LEAD. Results of analysis indicated discrepancies between principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of principals’ knowledge and support of both writing and the intervention, yet the gap in the discrepancies reduced after participating in I.LEAD. Principals’ knowledge, support, and participation in I.LEAD did not significantly impact teacher fidelity (overall 96%), but principals’ intervention knowledge significantly (B = 0.43, t(66) = 5.09, p < .001 ) predicted an increase in fidelity of the computer-led lessons. While principals’ participation in I.LEAD did not significantly impact teacher-led lessons and significantly predicted a decrease in fidelity for computer-led lessons, the findings suggest implementation leadership is a contributing factor to implementation effectiveness. Findings have implications for principals and schools supporting the implementation of EBPs in school-based settings.
Subject
implementation sciencewriting
evidence-based practices
principal-teacher relationships
implementation leadership
self-regulated strategy development
professional development
Citation
Owens, Julie Kate (2021). How Can I Lead When I Am in the Dark? Principals' Role in Writing Instruction Implementation. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /193104.