Instructional Leadership as a Vehicle for Teacher Collaboration and Student Achievement. What the German PISA 2015 Sample Tells Us

Julio Gregorio Mora-Ruano,Michael Schurig,Eveline Wittmann

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.582773

Julio Gregorio Mora-Ruano, Michael Schurig + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.582773

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Abstract

We investigated the effects of principal instructional leadership (IL) on the frequency of two forms of teacher collaboration (TC) namely exchange and coordination of teaching (EXCHT) and professional collaboration (PROFCOLT) and their influence on student achievement (SA). Using data from the representative German PISA 2015 sample, we carry out structural equation modeling analysis to estimate the direct effects of IL on TC and of TC on SA, as well as the indirect effects of IL on SA. The analyses were conducted at the school level and only teachers belonging to the non-science group in PISA 2015 were included. After testing for the factorial validity of the instrument, only the collaboration form (EXCHT) could be retained. Our analysis suggests that principal instructional leadership can positively influence teachers’ collaboration frequency and that the remaining form of teacher collaboration is not positively related to student achievement. Our study builds on and extends research on student achievement by adding evidence about the relations between principal leadership and teacher collaboration in Germany.

Highlights

School reforms around the world have historically placed student achievement at their core
Student Achievement Given that one of our aims is to identify the effect of teacher collaboration on student achievement, this dependent variable is represented by student test scores in the domains of mathematics and reading, as assessed in the PISA 2015 test
We tested the extent to which teacher collaboration and instructional leadership mediated by collaboration influence student achievement, measured using the PISA-2015 scores in math and reading

Summary

Introduction

School reforms around the world have historically placed student achievement at their core Principals in their roles as schools’ leaders and teachers who are responsible for instruction are expected to develop practices that lead to increased student performance (Hess and Kelly, 2007; Glanz and Zepeda, 2016). This has led to greater accountability for principals to focus on instructional leadership and for teachers to collaborate (Hallinger, 2005) as these two aspects are fundamental characteristics of effective schools (Scheerens 1990; Scheerens and Bosker, 1997; Teddlie and Reynolds, 2000).

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