Contextual Effects on Student Achievement: School Leadership and Professional Community

Abstract

This paper contains empirical evidence of a positiverelationship between faculty relations and studentachievement in mathematics in U.S. high schools. Thefindings are based on composite measures ofprofessional community and transformational leadershipwhich were defined and constructed through comparisonsof theoretical models from studies of the socialorganization of schools. I find that the effects oftransformational leadership and professional communityare interdependent. However, these two processes arenot equally dependent on each other. Professionalcommunity only has a positive effect on studentachievement in mathematics in schools whose teachersexperience above average transformational leadership. I also find that these effects are strongest in lowersocioeconomic status (SES) schools. Thus, I confirmfindings from in-depth studies and studies ofpurposeful samples that the social organization ofteachers and administrators within schools can affectstudent achievement.