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114
Superintendent explains this is not a competition, but an exercise in collaboration. There
is also greater accountability knowing that the school will need to analyze and present
progress over time. Monthly Curriculum Study Committee meetings are another
structure in place across the CUSD that provides collaboration time. The department
chairs of each subject—core and elective—come together to discuss issues and increase
articulation between school sites.
District management team members stay connected to the school sites through
regularly scheduled school site visits. By January 2011, four months into the school year,
the Superintendent had also visited every teacher’s classroom in the CUSD. Quarterly
walkthroughs between school sites has also added another dimension of accountability
and an opportunity to leave the isolation of the classroom to see other teachers in action.
Still, greater efforts to engage teachers, promote urgency and build trust are needed at
each of the sample schools.
Use of research-based best practices and external expertise. The CUSD has not
been bashful in its reliance on outside experts to assist in the districtwide improvement
process. The consultants from Focus on Results have provided guidance and coaching to
administrators and teachers. Little by little, there has been a release of control by these
consultants to the ILTs at the sample schools. The ultimate goal has been to convert
outside expertise and experience into internal capacity. Many of the protocols used
throughout the collaboration processes at the sample schools are rooted in solid research.
Each school also did extensive reading of relevant, current literature before deciding on a
school focus and the best practices they would implement.
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 126 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 114 Superintendent explains this is not a competition, but an exercise in collaboration. There is also greater accountability knowing that the school will need to analyze and present progress over time. Monthly Curriculum Study Committee meetings are another structure in place across the CUSD that provides collaboration time. The department chairs of each subject—core and elective—come together to discuss issues and increase articulation between school sites. District management team members stay connected to the school sites through regularly scheduled school site visits. By January 2011, four months into the school year, the Superintendent had also visited every teacher’s classroom in the CUSD. Quarterly walkthroughs between school sites has also added another dimension of accountability and an opportunity to leave the isolation of the classroom to see other teachers in action. Still, greater efforts to engage teachers, promote urgency and build trust are needed at each of the sample schools. Use of research-based best practices and external expertise. The CUSD has not been bashful in its reliance on outside experts to assist in the districtwide improvement process. The consultants from Focus on Results have provided guidance and coaching to administrators and teachers. Little by little, there has been a release of control by these consultants to the ILTs at the sample schools. The ultimate goal has been to convert outside expertise and experience into internal capacity. Many of the protocols used throughout the collaboration processes at the sample schools are rooted in solid research. Each school also did extensive reading of relevant, current literature before deciding on a school focus and the best practices they would implement. |
