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68
lessons learned about school resource allocation. There exists the potential to transfer
these lessons into tangible practice that may be used to achieve success at other schools
in the state.
As Patton (2002) describes, an intensity sample provides an information-rich case
that manifests the phenomenon intensely, but not extremely (p. 243). In this case,
sustained school improvement evidenced by increases in API in California schools is the
phenomenon. This study may also be defined as critical case sampling as “critical cases
are those than can make a point quite dramatically or are, for some reason, particularly
important in the scheme of things” (Patton, 2002, p. 236). As was the case here, the
schools studied demonstrated consistent improvement, which reflected the strategies they
had chosen and the decisions they had made in relation to resource allocation. Patton
(2002) advises: “Pick the site that would yield the most information and have the greatest
impact on the development of knowledge” (p. 236). Therefore, the schools selected for
this study were highly successful and had a history of making student achievement a
priority. In order to achieve a sense of consistency and to maximize efficiency, the
sample size consisted of three high schools within one school district. It should be noted
that due to the physical and financial constraints of the researcher, the sample was
restricted to the Los Angeles region.
Three high schools in Cloud Unified School District (CUSD) were identified for
this study as they met the requirement of sustained academic achievement over a series of
several school years. The schools were: Stratus High School, Cumulus High School and
Cirrus High School. These schools served a range of ethnically and linguistically diverse
Object Description
| Title | Navigating troubled waters: case studies of three California high schools' resource allocation strategies in 2010-2011 |
| Author | Landisi, Brian Anthony |
| Author email | landisi@usc.edu; blandisi@charter.net |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-28 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-28 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Picus, Lawrence O. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Hentschke, Guilbert C. Nelson, John L. |
| Abstract | This study was conducted to examine instructional strategies and resource allocation in successful schools. The study was based on the analysis of three comprehensive high schools in one school district in Southern California. Each of the study schools increased students’ academic achievement over time as measured by sustained growth on California’s Academic Performance Index. The efforts of these study schools also contributed to narrowing the achievement gap.; Successful schools in this study were analyzed primarily through the lens of Odden’s (2009) 10 Strategies for Doubling Student Performance. In addition to effective organizational and instructional strategies, this study also analyzed human and fiscal resource allocation at the sample schools. The study used the Evidence-Based Model (Odden & Picus, 2008) to analyze how the schools allocated resources during 2010-2011, navigating a catastrophic economic crisis facing California and the rest of the nation. Interview data, student achievement data and information on school-level resource use were included in case studies on each of these successful schools.; The findings indicate that although the resource use patterns of the study schools were significantly fewer than what the Evidence-Based Model suggests, the improvement strategies showed many commonalities to those suggested in the body of literature on school improvement. Strong leadership from the district office supported the reform efforts at each of the school sites. This leadership came in the form of a single district focus combined with continuity of leadership, development and retention of talent within the district and a common school improvement framework.; A heavy investment of time and fiscal resources into professional development created a collaborative culture within and between the high schools in the study. The schools that were most successful in raising student achievement demonstrated a commitment to collaboration and embraced the role of teacher leaders. The most effective schools in the study had in place internal accountability structures to support the implementation of the school and district focus. It is the effective implementation of research-based strategies, not simply resource allocation that makes schools successful and contributes to further growth in student achievement. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. |
| Keyword | education finance; secondary education; educational leadership; budget crisis; instructional leadership; Odden and Picus; resource allocation; school finance; school reform |
| Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 2010/2011 |
| 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-m3797 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Landisi, Brian Anthony |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Landisi-4355 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-Landisi-4355.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 80 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 68 lessons learned about school resource allocation. There exists the potential to transfer these lessons into tangible practice that may be used to achieve success at other schools in the state. As Patton (2002) describes, an intensity sample provides an information-rich case that manifests the phenomenon intensely, but not extremely (p. 243). In this case, sustained school improvement evidenced by increases in API in California schools is the phenomenon. This study may also be defined as critical case sampling as “critical cases are those than can make a point quite dramatically or are, for some reason, particularly important in the scheme of things” (Patton, 2002, p. 236). As was the case here, the schools studied demonstrated consistent improvement, which reflected the strategies they had chosen and the decisions they had made in relation to resource allocation. Patton (2002) advises: “Pick the site that would yield the most information and have the greatest impact on the development of knowledge” (p. 236). Therefore, the schools selected for this study were highly successful and had a history of making student achievement a priority. In order to achieve a sense of consistency and to maximize efficiency, the sample size consisted of three high schools within one school district. It should be noted that due to the physical and financial constraints of the researcher, the sample was restricted to the Los Angeles region. Three high schools in Cloud Unified School District (CUSD) were identified for this study as they met the requirement of sustained academic achievement over a series of several school years. The schools were: Stratus High School, Cumulus High School and Cirrus High School. These schools served a range of ethnically and linguistically diverse |
