The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Phillip Nelson

for the degree of Doctor of Education

May 5, 2017 at 11:00 am in 123J Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, EdD

The Effect of the Four Quadrants of the Competing Values Framework on High School Student Achievement

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between student achievement assessed longitudinally in terms of ACT composite scores and state-mandated tests of proficiency and the perceived manner in which high schools resolve the tensions and tradeoffs illuminated by the Competing Values Framework (CVF). To answer the study’s five research questions, a secondary analysis that applied hierarchical multiple regression to an existing dataset was undertaken. The dataset in question combined information from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering Leading, and Learning (TELL) survey in 287 Tennessee high schools with concurrent school demographic and student achievement data archived on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website. In the ten multiple regression analyses conducted, student demographic characteristics proved to be the most important factors in explaining variation in student achievement, whether measured as three-year averages of ACT composite scores or three-year averages of student EOC assessments in Algebra and English. Although faculty demographic characteristics appeared to be directly linked to ACT composite scores, no such direct links were observed with respect to student proficiency scores. Over and above these background variables, the Competing Values Framework (CVF) profiles concerning ‘balance,” an “external” orientation, and a disposition towards “rational goals” were all associated with higher ACT composite scores, but only the CVF “balance” profile was significantly linked to student proficiency scores.