LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations Summer 7-2016 Teacher Professional Capital: The Relationship between Principal Practice and Teacher Job Satisfaction Christine Annette Burke Adams Loyola Marymount University, caburke123@gmail.com Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/etd Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, and the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Adams, Christine Annette Burke, "Teacher Professional Capital: The Relationship between Principal Practice and Teacher Job Satisfaction" (2016). LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations.edu/etd/488 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY Teacher Professional Capital: The Relationship between Principal Practice and Teacher Job Satisfaction by Christine Annette Burke Adams A dissertation proposal presented to the Faculty of the School of Education, Loyola Marymount University, in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education 2016 Teacher Professional Capital: The Relationship between Principal Practice and Teacher Job Satisfaction Copyright © 2016 by Christine Annette Burke Adams ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my husband, Brian, who has been nothing but supportive. He met me after classes for late night dinners, understood when I needed alone time to write, interrupted my writing time with comedic breaks, gave me words of encouragement, and loved me all the way through my dissertation journey. For that, I am forever grateful. I would like to acknowledge and thank my friends and family for their encouragement during my dissertation journey.
In particular, I would like to acknowledge and thank my mother for too many things to list here; however one stands out. Her thoughtful decision regarding my first experience with education (a Montessori school at the age of two) led me to my love of school and, more importantly, my love of learning. I would also like to acknowledge and thank my father for his understanding of my Sunday absences in the last few years and for his encouragement. I remember as an eight year old watching him at the kitchen table, sitting next to my sister in her high chair, work on his dissertation.
He showed me first hand that it could be done. I would like to acknowledge Mr. Shapiro, my high school math teacher, who showed me that a teacher could be funny, strict, passionate, and innovative (at that time using two different colors of chalk on the blackboard was revolutionary and saved this fledging geometry student). His love for teaching and his students was lost on no one.
I would like to acknowledge another one of my high school teachers, Coach Roach, who always seemed to understand me better than I understood myself. When Coach found out that I was an undergraduate business major he cocked his head, scrunched his eyebrows and said to me, “You don’t want to do that.” That was the best pieces of unsolicited advice I have ever received. iii I would like to acknowledge Mr. Tabor, who took a chance on hiring me in my first full- time teaching position.
His patience knew no bounds. I would like to acknowledge Ms. Regev, who through her honesty and humor taught me how to mentor teachers. I would also like to acknowledge Mrs.
Jordan, whom I have always looked to as an example of what integrity, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to students looks like. I would like to acknowledge and thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Magaly Lavadenz, for her unwavering support. Her ability to read my facial expressions is uncanny.
I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members, Dr. Martha McCarthy and Dr. Rebecca Stephenson, for their insightful feedback and enthusiastic encouragement. I find myself fortunate to have been surrounded and guided by three brilliant women, amazing colleagues, great friends, supportive family, and a loving husband.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. iii LIST OF TABLES .x LIST OF FIGURES. xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Enduring Effects of the Accountability Movement on Administrators and Teachers .2 Impact of the Accountability Movement on Principals .3 Impact of the Accountability Movement on Teachers .4 Statement of the Problem .4 Principals’ Impact on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction .5 Purpose of this Study .6 Connection to Social Justice .7 Significance of the Study .12 Summary of Findings .12 Limitations and Delimitations.14 Summary/Organization of the Study .15 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.17 No Child Left Behind.17 Impact of the Accountability Movement on Teachers’ Practice .19 Impact of the Accountability Movement on Principals’ Practice .21 Common Core State Standards .23 Possible Impact of CCSS on the Practice of Teachers and Principals.24 Teacher Job Satisfaction .26 Principal Impact on Teacher Job Satisfaction .28 v Links to Social Justice .38 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE.39 Purpose of the Study .40 Mixed-Methods Rationale .45 Construct Validation-Pilot Study .47 Pilot Study Participants .46 Pilot Study Design and Procedures .48 Pilot Study Findings .54 Target Population and Sample .55 Study Participant Selection Criteria .60 Survey Data Collection .60 Reliability of Quantitative Instrument .62 Human Capital Composite .62 Social Capital Composite .63 Decisional Capital Composite.64 Professional Capital Composite .65 Job Satisfaction Composite .66 Quantitative Data Analysis .67 Phase II-Qualitative .68 Interview Data Collection .68 Interview Data Analysis .69 Limitations and Delimitations.74 vi CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS .75 Exploratory Factor Analysis Results .76 Summary of Quantitative Findings .83 Integration: Quantitative Findings Influence on the Development of the Qualitative .83 Qualitative Analyses Findings .84 Mary: “I’ve yet to see him in my classroom and it’s almost been a year.90 Julie: “I'm trying to forge a relationship…I wanted to go in there, and just tell him .90 anything to try to bond somehow.94 Frank: “I think one, as a leader, you have to set the example; and I think if one .95 sets the examples, others will follow.97 Jane: “We ignore you principals.101 Karen: “Why do you care about principals?” .105 Susan: “As a matter of fact, two years ago, we started with no principal.105 We didn't get a principal until the end of October…We were self- running…We know our standards. We know what we have to do.109 vii John: “I remember gosh, a couple of years ago she came in to observe our .110 room, she was like, ‘Wow we are really lucky to have you.’ What more could I ask or when someone makes you feel appreciated?” Human Capital .113 Andrea: “I want to know my principal’s going to have my back.117 Summary of Qualitative Findings .119 Integration of Quantitative and Qualitative Findings .122 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .138 District-Level Administrators .138 Calls for Further Research .142 APPENDICES A: Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods .144 B: Teachers’ Perceptions of their Principal’s Practice of Building Professional Capital and Job Satisfaction Survey………………………………….145 viii C: Quantitative Informed Consent.155 D: Experimental Subjects Bill of Rights…………………………….157 E: Teachers’ Perceptions of their Principal’s Practice of Building Professional and Job Satisfaction Interview Questions….158 F: Qualitative Informed Consent……………………….160 G: Institutional Review Board Letter of Consent……………….163 ix List of Tables Table 1: Mathematically Proficient 4th-Grade Students-2005….22 Table 2: TPPPJS Survey Resources…………………………………………………………….44 Table 3: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Text Response Items…………………………………………….49 Table 4: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Human Capital Survey Items…………………………………….51 Table 5: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Social Capital Survey Items…………………………………….52 Table 6: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Decisional Capital Survey Items.53 Table 7: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Revised Decisional Capital Survey Items……………………….54 Table 8: TPPPJS Pilot Study-Job Satisfaction Survey Items….55 Table 9: Site Demographics for the 2014-2015 School Year……………………………………56 Table 10: Student Enrollment by Ethnicity for 2014-2015….57 Table 11:Percentage of Students Participating in the NSLP and/or Classified as an English Language Learner for the 2014-2015 School Year.……58 Table 12: TPPPJS Survey Participants’ 2015-2016 Grade Level Assignments by Percentage.59 Table 13: TPPPJS Text Response Items……….……………62 Table 14: TPPPJS Human Capital Survey Items….63 Table 15: TPPPJS Social Capital Survey Items…………………………………….64 Table 16: TPPPJS Decisional Capital Survey Items……………….65 Table 17: TPPPJS Job Satisfaction Survey Items….66 Table 18: Summary of TPPPJS Exploratory Factor Analysis Results…………….77 Table 19: TPPPJS Cronbach’s Alpha Results.80 Table 20: TPPPJS Survey Composite Statistics…….81 x Table 21: TPPPJS Composite Frequencies by Percentages………………………….…………82 Table 22: Qualitative Research Participants’ Demographics…………….86 xi List of Figures Figure 1: Professional Capital….33 xii ABSTRACT Teacher Professional Capital: The Relationship between Principal Practice and Teacher Job Satisfaction by Christine Annette Burke Adams Criticism of the public school system tends to be aimed squarely at teachers in the classroom (Karpinski, 2012).
As school principals lead in this current educational climate, it is incumbent upon them to provide their teachers an environment that is conducive to job satisfaction, emphasizing teacher retention, and mitigating the deleterious effects of teacher turnover on students’ academic achievement. To understand the practices of the principal, this study investigated teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ practice, asking the following questions: What is the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and teachers’ job satisfaction? What are the experiences of teachers in relation to their perception of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and job satisfaction? Research was conducted employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods correlational study; utilizing a researcher-created on-line survey and semistructured interviews. The results of this study indicate that teachers’ job satisfaction is independent of principals’ xiii practice of building professional capital. The quantitative findings found no correlation between teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and teacher job satisfaction.
The qualitative data indicate that teachers attributed their job satisfaction to factors that are independent of their relationship with their principal; commitment to their students and colleagues and sense of purpose were cited as sources of job satisfaction. xiv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Teacher morale is at the lowest level it has been in 20 years, with nearly one third of teachers considering leaving the profession (The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy, 2012). Low teacher morale is a significant cause of job dissatisfaction (Karpinski, 2012). Teacher turnover has been linked to teacher job dissatisfaction (Liu & Ramsey, 2008), and has dire implications for students.
As they choose to leave the profession, experienced teachers are regularly replaced by beginning teachers who are less equipped to positively impact student achievement (Grissom, 2011). Teacher turnover also has a negative effect on the student achievement of the teachers who stay in the profession, suggesting that teacher turnover disrupts the school organization in ways other than changing the years of experience of the teachers on staff (Leena, 2011; Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013). One likely effect on the student achievement of teachers who stay is the loss of social capital. Collegial trust and relationships may be negatively impacted by turnover (Ronfeldt et al.
There is also the possibility that, with teacher turnover, a deficit in institutional knowledge can be created, impacting the instructional decisions teachers make. Understanding the issues surrounding teachers’ job dissatisfaction is important if teacher turnover is to be effectively ameliorated. A study by Mine Sacra (2009) indicated that the perceived leadership behaviors of public school principals significantly correlated with teachers’ reported job satisfaction. Further highlighting the significance of teachers’ perception of principal effectiveness are the results of 1 Benjamin R.
Tickle, Mido Chang, and Sunha Kim’s (2011) study, which indicated that the greatest predictor of teachers’ intent to stay in teaching is their satisfaction in the job. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods correlational study examined the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and their job satisfaction. The elements of principal practice examined are taken from the conceptual framework outlined in Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan (2012). This research also addressed the social justice implications of teacher job satisfaction levels as impacted by the practices of the principal.
Enduring Effects of the Accountability Movement on Administrators and Teachers President George W. Bush reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 2002.