Developing School Leaders: Findings From a Randomized Control Trial Study of the Executive Development Program and Paired Coaching. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Master, Benjamin K.; Schwartz, Heather; Unlu, Fatih; Schweig, Jonathan; Mariano, Louis T.; Coe, Jessie; Wang, Elaine Lin; Phillips, Brian; Berglund, Tiffany
• Is Part Of: Educational evaluation and policy analysis. Volume 44:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 257
• Page End: 282
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: educational policy -- achievement -- evaluation -- leadership -- professional development -- staff development -- correlational analysis -- descriptive analysis -- experimental research -- experimental design -- factor analysis -- longitudinal studies; Education -- Evaluation -- Research -- United States -- Periodicals; Education -- Research -- United States -- Periodicals; 370.7
• DOI: 10.3102/01623737211047256
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0162-3737

Abstract

Principals are the second-largest school-based contributor to K–12 students' academic progress. However, there is little research evaluating whether efforts to develop principals' skills improve school effectiveness. We conducted randomized controlled trial studies of the impacts of a professional development program called the Executive Development Program (EDP) and of the incremental effects of coaching to help principals implement the EDP curriculum. We find that the EDP alone influenced principals' practices, but not student achievement, within 3 years. Coaching had a small positive effect on students' English Language Arts achievement, but no effect on math achievement or on principals' practices. Coaching had the largest effects in disadvantaged schools. We hypothesize that coaching enhanced the quality of implementation of recommended practices.