Description
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has challenged educational leaders to develop effective strategies to increase the academic achievement of all learners. At the center of this reform is the school principal. This study explored the relationship between creating professional learning communities in public high schools and student achievement. The purpose of this study was to measure, compare, and contrast the perceptions of high school principal’s regarding the degree to which their school had developed learning communities based on Peter Senge’s five disciplines. Descriptive and ex post facto research was conducted to gather quantitative data through the use of the Learning Organization Survey. A sample of 100 high school principals was used to develop an equal sized stratified random sample based on student performance of the High School Proficiency Assessment. Results indicated a statistically significant difference on 36 out of the 40 questions surveyed. These results further indicated a significant difference between high- and low- achieving principals regarding the disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking between., This study describes how to integrate these findings into a strategic plan for principals to establish learning communities based on Senge’s five disciplines. This research study contributes to social change by providing principals with possible strategies to implement within their schools to increase the achievement levels of all students. Michael Vinella has served as a teacher, building administrator, and central office administrator in K-12 education. He also has worked with doctoral level students aspiring to be educational leaders. His background includes professional learning communities, staff development, K-12 educational leadership, and curriculum development.
