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School leaders' use of data-driven decision-making for school improvement: a study of promising practices in two California charter schools

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Title	School leaders' use of data-driven decision-making for school improvement: a study of promising practices in two California charter schools
Author	Simpson, Guadalupe H.
Author email	guadalupe.simpson@csun.edu;keredepul@verizon.net
Degree	Doctor of Education
Document type	Dissertation
Degree program	Education (Leadership)
School	Rossier School of Education
Date defended/completed	2011-05-11
Date submitted	2011-06-15
Date approved	2011-06-16
Restricted until	2011-06-16
Date published	2011-06-16
Advisor (committee chair)	Wohlstetter, Priscilla
Advisor (committee member)	Castruita, Rudy Rousseau, Sylvia
Abstract	The current interest in using data-driven decision-making in schools has focused on how best to use student achievement data to meet the demands of current accountability requirements. The purpose of this study was to investigate promising practices specific to school leaders' use of data-driven decision-making for school improvement at two California charter schools. ❧ ❧ The following data sources were included in this qualitative case study that applied descriptive research and design: interviews of charter school principals and other administrators, interviews with teacher leaders, review of archival documents, and obsevation of professional development meetings related to the use of data to influence teaching and promote student achievement. The case study answered the following questions: How do charter school leaders use data for decision-making and school improvement? How are resources allocated to effectively implement the use of data for decision-making and school improvement? What challenges have charter schools faced in implementing the use of data for decision-making and school improvement and how were they addressed? What evidence exists that the use of data for decision-making resulted in positive educational outcomes? ❧ ❧ The study found that the greatest impact of using data-driven decision-making was on results of high student achievement and on the improvement of teaching strategies to meet student needs. By establishing a strong data-driven school culture, daily classroom observations, professional development, and providing teachers with ongoing support, school leaders experienced a profound impact on student achievement. ❧ ❧ In order to implement the effective use of data-driven decision-making the findings suggested several practical strategies. First, the total school community (parents, students, teachers, school leaders) had a common understanding of how data was used and analyzed to meet individual student learning needs. Additionally, the principals and other school leaders embraced the data-driven decision-making process, had strong skills in curriculum and instruction, provided ongoing professional development and analyzed data with the intentions to improve teaching strategies and improve student achievement. Classroom visits were conducted on a daily basis allowing principals to provide immediate support or model a lesson if necessary. Finally, a culture of trust and collaborative inquiry was established where teachers were able to learn, question and share the relationship between data and good teaching practices. ❧ ❧ The findings of this study have been incorporated into the Center on Educational Governance Web-Compendium of Promising Practices designed to disseminate innovative best practices beyond the school site and assist other policy makers and educators who wish to gain knowledge on leaders' use of data-driven decision-making for school improvement.
Keyword	accontablility; charter schools; charter school leaders'use of data; data use and professional development; data use in schools; data-driven decision making; data-driven leadership education; data and student achievement; teacher leaders and data use; principal's use of data; cultures of data-driven decision-making
Language	English
Part of collection	University of Southern California dissertations and theses
Publisher (of the original version)	University of Southern California
Place of publication (of the original version)	Los Angeles, California
Publisher (of the digital version)	University of Southern California. Libraries
Provenance	Electronically uploaded by the author
Type	texts
Legacy record ID	usctheses-m
Rights	Simpson, Guadalupe H.
Access conditions	The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.
Repository name	University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository address	USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA
Repository email	cisadmin@usc.edu
Archival file	uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-SimpsonGua-28.pdf