This study examined the idea that principals in this age of accountability are feeling stressed and pressured to increase test scores for all students, especially students living in poverty. The literature related to principals, poverty, Belief in a Just World (BJW) and threat-rigidity is clear: the role of a principal is overwhelming, economic status is often a superior predictor of educational success, individuals often believe that people deserve their success and failure in life, and the threat of NCLB accountability measures is causing educators to react in a rigid manner.
This study surveyed the universe of elementary principals in the state of Ohio to determine the extent to which perceived district-level threat-rigidity (measured as principals’ assessment thereof) might be related to principals’ BJW. Subsidiary inquiries deal with the magnitude to which school improvement status might be related to threat-rigidity, principals’ BJW, and other key personal and organizational characteristics examined in this study.
Surveys (N=1556) were distributed electronically to elementary principals in the state of Ohio. Seven hundred fifty-five principals returned a survey producing a response rate of 48.4%. I used the survey data to conduct a multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship (if any) between threat-rigidity and principals’ BJW, then used a logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between school improvement status and threat-rigidity; conducted an auxiliary multiple regression analysis to determine if there is a relationship between threat-rigidity and school designation rating; and finally, conducted an auxiliary ANOVA analysis to determine if schools in school improvement status perceived greater district-level threat-rigidity than schools not in school improvement (Daly et. al., 2011, p.173).
The study determined that there is a (slight) statistically significant relationship between principals’ perceived district-level threat-rigidity and principals’ self-reported BJW. The study, however, found no statistically significant correlation between school improvement status and threat-rigidity. Yet, the study resolved that schools in school improvement status reported greater district-levels of threat-rigidity than schools not in school improvement status as determined by NCLB criteria (confirming findings Daly et. al., 2011).