The relative influence of faculty mobility on NJ HSPA scores

In this study, the researcher examined the strength and direction of relationships between New Jersey School Report Card Variables, in particular Faculty Mobility, and 2009-2010 New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) Math and Language Arts Literacy test scores. Variables found to have an influence on standardized test scores in the extant literature were evaluated and reported. Analyses of simultaneous multiple regressions involving New Jersey School Report Card Variables were conducted for both Math and Language Arts Literacy scores. Hierarchical regression models including only variables deemed significant by the multiple linear regressions were analyzed for both Math and Language Arts Literacy scores. The sample was selected purposefully to represent only New Jersey's public, comprehensive, and academic secondary schools.;An analysis of the correlation coefficients showed none of the variables in the study---Socioeconomic Status, Percentage of Limited English Proficiency Students, Percentage of Students with Disabilities, School Size, Faculty Mobility, Faculty Attendance, Percentage of Highly Qualified Teachers, Percentage of Teachers with a Master's Degree or Higher, Student Attendance, and Student Mobility---revealing a strong and significant correlation to HSPA Language Arts Literacy or Math performance. Faculty Mobility, the variable in question, was the weakest significant correlate of HSPA Language Arts Literacy performance. Also, it was reported as a weak, but significant, correlate of HSPA Math performance.;When all variables were run in a simultaneous regression model to account for the variance in HSPA Language Arts Literacy performance, Faculty Mobility was not significant. The high VIFs of Faculty Attendance and Percentage of Highly Qualified Teachers inspired Model 1A, assuming that a suppression of variables existed in the previous model. Neither Faculty Mobility nor Percentage of Teachers with a Master's Degree or Higher was significant in Model 1A.;Regarding Math performance, Faculty Mobility was significant in predicting HSPA Math performance. The high VIFs of Faculty Attendance inspired Model 2A, assuming that a suppression of variables existed in the previous model. Faculty Mobility was, again, significant.;The third Model, Hierarchical Multiple Regression analysis, accounts for all significant variables used in the study that predicted Language Arts Literacy performance. They were School Size, Socioeconomic Status, Percentage of Limited English Proficiency Students, Percentage of Students with Disabilities, Student Attendance, Student Mobility, and Faculty Mobility. Only .3% of the variance changed when Faculty Mobility was added to the model.;The fourth Model, Hierarchical Regression analysis, accounts for all significant variables used in the study that predicted Math performance. They were Student Mobility, Student Attendance, School Size, Percentage of Students with Disabilities, Percentage of Limited English Proficiency Students (LEP), Socioeconomic Status (SES), Faculty Mobility, Percentage of Teachers with a Master's Degree or Higher. The R2 change indicated that 1.3% of the change in variance was due to the inclusion of Faculty Mobility and Percentage of Teachers with a Master's Degree or Higher.;All of the findings of this study declare Faculty Mobility as a significant predictor of HSPA Math performance, but bearing no significance on HSPA Language Arts Literacy performance. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are inspired by this result and are explored in this study.