Volume 2 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 9

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 7 (Cohen,1992). The coefficient of determination ( R ²) indicates the leadership practices on the SLPS account for 1.54% of the variability in index 3 scores. Only 1.54% of the variance in the two variables is common variance and there is no statistical significance. A second Pearson- r correlation coefficient comparing the SLPS sum and the three-year performance gap for Hispanic students based on the Texas accountability system was also performed. The conclusion was that there is not a linear relation - ship between the SLPS sum and the three-year gap change. Once again, the researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis indicating there was no relationship between urban superintendents’ lead- ership practices and the performance gap of Hispanic students as measured by STAAR. Based on Cohen’s guidelines, the correla - tion of .145 corresponds to a small effect size, suggesting a small correlation between the SLPS sum and the three-year perfor - mance gap change for each participating district (Cohen,1992). The coefficient of determination ( R ²) indicates the leadership practices on the SLPS sum account for 2.10% of the variability in the three-year performance gap for each district. Only 2.10% of the variance in the two variables is common variance so there is no statistical significance. Descriptive Statistics There was a total of six core leadership practices identified by Waters and Marzano (2006) and Leithwood and Jantzi (2008) that directly corresponded with all the questions on the SLPS devel - oped by Mora (2010). The six core leadership practices identified were: (a) collaborative goal-setting to develop a compelling vision, (b) setting clear non-negotiable goals, (c) establish prog - ress monitoring systems, (d) use of district resources for struc - tured professional development, (e) board alignment of district goals, and (f) defining autonomy to campus principals. Pearson- r correlation coefficients for each leadership practice were per - formed by using the sum of the SLPS questions associated with each leadership practice and the three-year gap change for each district. All corresponding p -values for all six leadership practices revealed there was no statistical significance. The SLPS was designed with a Likert-type rating scale rang - ing from 0 to 4. A rating of 4 was the highest possible score and indicated the leadership practice was a very important strategy all schools were implementing throughout the district. The lowest possible score on the SLPS was a zero and this rating indicated the leadership practice was not used by the school district. There were six superintendent leadership practices that were rated 3.8 or higher by participating superintendents and were directly correlated to the five superintendent interviews. The top six lead - ership practices used by superintendents to increase the achieve- ment of Hispanic students are listed in Table 1. There were four leadership practices identified by superin - tendents as being between somewhat important and important to impact Hispanic student achievement and eliminate the perfor - Table 1. Top Six SLPS Leadership Practices