Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in School Leadership

Department

Center for Leadership & Learning

College

College of Education

Committee Chair

Dr. John Freeman

Second Committee Member

Dr. Mary B. Gunter

Third Committee Member

Dr. Jay Barth

Dean of Graduate College

Dr. Mary B. Gunter

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the variables that impact the strength of the educator workforce in Arkansas's High Poverty/ High Minority schools and to determine if current allocations, expenditures and uses of Title II, Part A funds impact a district's ability to recruit and retain quality teachers, identified as ‘excellent' teachers in this study. This study used a quantitative data analysis approach to describe and test relationships. The researcher selected a total of 126 schools from 37 Arkansas school districts for the study based on the school’s reported poverty and minority status in yearly Cycle 2 submissions to the Arkansas Department of Education from the most recent three academic years. The identified schools were classified as High-Poverty or High-Minority if their reported demographics were in the top 25% of Arkansas’s identified poverty and minority schools based on student populations for the past three academic years. Each school and district were assigned an equity composite score as a way to measure the school's workforce. The composite score, a combination of the district or school’s three-year percentage of inexperienced and unqualified teachers, teachers teaching out of their area of preparation, and the percent of teacher turnover, converted percentages into average raw numbers. A high composite score reflected more instability in the district’s workforce, while a lower composite indicated that the school had fewer teachers in these categories, thus a stronger workforce. One-sample t-tests, bivariate correlations, and univariate ANOVA were conducted to test the hypotheses in this study. The dependent variable in all of the calculations were the equity composite scores. While the analysis did show promise in the equity composite scores as a descriptive measure for determining workforce strength, the research did not reveal definitive relationships between Title II-A funding and expenditures and the workforce strength. The results of the investigation provide a foundation for future study and highlight the need for state agencies, local districts, policymakers, and communities to focus on the educator workforce.

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