Abstracts Category : Other

The Effect of Teacher Cognitive and Behavioral Agility on Student Achievement

by Mary K White

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers who use thinking andleading actions have higher student achievement as measured by the teachers ValueAdded Measure (VAM) score. A quantitative non-experimental design investigated therelationships between teacher cognitive and behavioral agility and student achievement.Cognitive agility, measured through the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire for Teachers(STQT ), refers to the leaders ability to use their repertoire of thinking skills. Behavioralagility, measured with the Strategic Leadership Questionnaire for Teachers (SLQT ),denotes the leaders ability to use a wide array of leader influencing actions. Teacherswere surveyed and the data were analyzed through correlation and multiple regressions todetermine the relationship among the variables.Although the cognitive and behavioral agility was not correlated with a teachersVAM score, the results indicate that teachers do perceive themselves as leaders in theirclassrooms. Educational leadership certification, higher degrees, and years experience of a teacher did moderate the relationship between local VAM and both cognitive andbehavioral agility. The sub-scales of systems thinking and transforming of the surveyinstruments also were significant to the results. Theoretically, this study contributes to theteacher leadership literature, focusing on the classroom teacher and their effect on studentachievement. Practically, with educational accountability changing the landscape, schooldistricts should train teachers to engage in leadership skills, reward teachers for earning aMasters degree in leadership, and work to retain high quality teachers who are leaderswithin their classroom. Greater student achievement could be the result. 2017 Degree granted: Dissertation (Ph.D.) FloridaAtlanticUniversity, 2017. Collection: FAUAdvisors/Committee Members: Pisapia, John R. Dr. (Thesis advisor), College of Education (Degree grantor).