Correlation between costs for instruction and instructional leadership and student achievement in Texas public schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite ongoing debates over the adequacy of evidence regarding the positive impact of costs for instruction on student success, alternative teacher compensation systems, such as merit-based pay or performance-based pay, have already been implemented in numerous school districts across the nation. If increases in teachers’ motivation are due to the new compensation reform policy, the implementation of such a system will have positive impacts on student achievement. One of the explanations is that reasonable pay motivates teachers to focus more on their students to make improvements in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between costs for instruction as well as instructional leadership and student achievement in Texas public schools during 2016-2019. Of 240 sampled schools in four main population areas in Texas (Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio), 231 schools that had complete data on Texas Education Agency (TEA) website were analyzed to draw conclusions. Correlation coefficient analysis and ANOVA models were used to test the study’s hypotheses. The findings suggested that a weak – moderate, positive correlation between costs for instructional leadership and student achievement in disadvantaged schools potentially exists. In addition, the results showed a strong – moderate, positive correlation between costs for instruction and student achievement in middle and high schools. Also, costs for instruction and instructional leadership were significantly impacted by different school types. This study contributed to the body of literature that has demonstrated the impacts, or lack thereof, that costs for instruction and instructional leadership have had on student academic achievement.