School Board Alignment to Superintendent Values and Beliefs and the Effect on Student Performance

• In Event: 41.073 - Superintendent and School Boards: Roles, Relationships, and Relevance

Abstract

The study contributed to an understanding of how school boards and superintendents alignment of attitudes and beliefs may influence student achievement. The empirical study measured whether a significant difference existed between aligned school board/superintendent teams and student achievement. The Decision-Output theory purports that board actions fall within the construct of the political system to discern the appropriate response to the inputs provided by these influential forces. Results of the independent samples t-test reveal that school districts with school board/superintendent values and beliefs alignment demonstrated a statistically significant relationship with positive mathematical exam results. This study extends research findings by adding superintendent/school board alignment on issues including the importance of addressing equity, as a contributing variable in improving underrepresented student achievement.

Authors

• Justin Blasko, Monroe School District

• Thomas L. Alsbury