STUDENT SERVICES AND EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP : THE EFFECT OF STUDENT SERVICES STAFFING RATIOS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND DROPOUT PREVENTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Abstract

While public school teachers and administrators are focused on the challenges of growing accountability for improvement in classroom performance, they depend on instructional support staff, titled student services, to help children minimize the impact of barriers to academic success that arise in the home, community and in school and maximize their potential in school. However, the impact that student services personnel have in this regard has recently come into question, particularly as leadership in education and government make fiscal decisions for schools based on the cost-benefit ratio of all current and potential programming and staffing in relation to student achievement outcomes. As there is limited outcome data examining the effect of increased expenditures for student services staffing on student achievement outcomes, the purpose of this study was two-fold: to determine if a significant relationship exists between student services staff-to-student ratios and student achievement, and to determine if a significant relationship exists between student services staff-to-student ratios and dropout rates. A quantitative, correlational research design was used that involved collecting student services staffing totals, as well as student performance data and dropout rates, for all 115 public school districts within the state of North Carolina. A series of Fisher's exact tests were performed to determine if a significant relationship exists between student services staff-to-student ratios and student outcomes in academic achievement and dropout rate. Staffing for each of the four identified fields within student services - school counselors, school nurses, school social workers, and school psychologists - were analyzed separately as well as collectively to determine if there is a significant relationship with student outcomes. Student outcomes analyzed included district growth status, district status for Adequate Yearly Program or AYP, and dropout rates for grades 9-12. The findings of this study show that a statistically significant relationship exists between school psychologist-to-student ratios and district growth status at the p < .05 level. The implications of the findings of this study for education leaders, as well as recommendations for further study, are discussed.