THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL IN IMPROVING ADOLESCENT READING SKILLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF EDUCATION BY MAMIE LEE BROWN DISSERTATION ADVISOR: DR. WILLIAM L. SHARP BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA JULY, 2010 2 THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL IN IMPROVING ADOLESCENT READING SKILLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF EDUCATION BY MAMIE LEE BROWN BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA JULY, 2010 Copyright @ 2010 by Mamie Lee Brown All rights reserved 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is with grateful acknowledgment that I recognize and thank several individuals who have supported me throughout this five year journey. First, I must give thanks to God for it is His spirit that has kept me day in and day out. Secondly, it is with sincerity and gratefulness that I thank the professors of Teachers College who have worked with me since the beginning – my chairperson, Dr. William Sharp and Dr. Marilyn Quick who was my chairperson prior to her illness, Dr. Joseph McKinney, my cognate chairperson, and Dr. Jim Jones, my research advisor. I must also thank Dr. Sheila Smith, Millers College of Business and Dr. Delbert Jarman, Educational Leadership who are also members of my dissertation committee. It is their patience, care, and encouragement that made me believe that I could do this. I would like to also thank Ms. Marty Kuhns, administrative assistant, Educational Leadership. It is her friendliness that made me feel welcome at Teachers College long before I even wrote the first word of my dissertation. Sincere appreciation is extended to Fort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS) for the support shown in getting through project after project. Special acknowledgment goes to Superintendent Wendy Robinson, Ed.D. who has helped to make this five years a success, to Area Administrator Faye Robbins, Esq. for assisting with the collection of data and the FWCS senior high school principals who unselfishly worked to assist with data collection. I would like to thank several Elmhurst High School staff members who have helped and supported me. Thank you to Michael Floyd, Brian Johnson, Deb Medsker, Amanda Tseng, Peggy Nolan-Koryl, Regina Gordon, and Dave Courtney for supporting me, especially in the beginning when I needed it the most. 4 For taking the leap of faith together, I am forever grateful to my cohor - Leslie McClung, Jana Ankenbruck, and Brian Smith for those long hours of support. Those were the times that tried our souls and our spirits. Finally, I want to thank my family. I appreciate all of the support that I received from my mother, Lizzie Lee, Traysa and Caleb for popping up at the right times, Lyneice and Jimmie who kept me abreast of National and local news and provided invaluable tech support, Ivy and James and their families, Pamela and her family, and Winston and Stephon and their families. They supported me when I became ill and had surgery; yes right in the middle of all of this. I want to thank my husband for everything. He was there to support me when I became ill; not just once either. Not only that, my husband was truly the impetus for me moving forward with earning my doctorate. He took the leap and I followed. He has kept me going because he kept going. Thank you, Dr. Neal Brown for everything. I appreciate my daughter, Aftin, so much! She has been an inspiration to the art of setting a goal and following through. I thank Aftin for having that truly undying faith in her mom; the faith that her mom can do anything. Thank you, Miss Aftin Brown, Juris Doctor. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE .............................................................................................................................1 COPYRIGHT PAGE .................................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .........................................................................................................3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................5 LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ................................................................................... 4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..........................................................................................6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ..............................................................................6 DELIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................7 DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 8 SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ..................................................................13 DYNAMICS OF ADOLESCENT READING .................................................................. 14 THE ROLE OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER ...............................................................24 CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS ....................................................31 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................37 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................41 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................42 RESEARCH DESIGN……………………………………………………………………45 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLE……………………………………………………………47 INSTRUUMENT…………………….……………………………..……………48 6 DATA COLLECTION………………………………………………………………....50 DATA ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………….….51 LIMITATIONS…………………………………………………………………...52 SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………....53 CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS OF DATA…………………………………………………….55 DESCRIPTION OF THE POPULATION AND EDUCATION SURVEY TOOL……..55 DESCRIPTIVE SUMMATION DATA REPORT…………………………………...58 FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF LEXILE SCORES……………………………………..87 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR EDUCATION SURVEY QUESTIONS AND PRE- AND POST- LEXILE SCORES…………………………………………………….90 T-TEST ANALYSIS OF PRE- AND POST- LEXILE SCORES……………………..94 PEARSON CORRELATION BETWEEN PRINCIPAL RELATION AND READING INSTRUCTION…………………………………………………………….96 PEARSON CORRELATION BETWEEN VARIABLES FROM SURVEY TOOL AND GROWTH………………………………………………………………….99 CROSS TABULATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS THAT SUBMITTED DATA AND SCHOOLS THAT DID NOT AND CHI SQUARE TESTS .......................................... 103 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .....................................................................................113 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................116 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, COMPARISON OF LITERATURE, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...........................................................................................118 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY .................................................................................118 SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH ..........................................................................129 COMPARISON OF THE LITERATURE .................................................................132 CONCLUSIONS…..........................................................................................................135 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................137 7 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................139 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................142 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................................146 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................147 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................148 APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................................154 APPENDIX E.1 .....................................................................................................................155 APPENDIX E.2 .....................................................................................................................156 APPENDIX F.........................................................................................................................157 APPENDIX G ........................................................................................................................158 APPENDIX H ........................................................................................................................159 APPENDIX I .........................................................................................................................160 APPENDIX