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115
Stratus HS continues to far outpace Cumulus and Cirrus with its innovations and
willingness to seek help in reaching more students and moving them toward proficiency.
After choosing critical thinking as a focus, the ILT began attending conferences by the
Foundation for Critical Thinking. Because the cost of sending teachers to the
conferences was so high, resources were pooled from various grants to bring one of the
principal consultants to the school to provide a full-day training for staff to deepen
implementation of the school’s focus on critical thinking. The principal at Stratus HS
tried to bring this effort to Cumulus HS as well because their focus is essentially the
same. The principal at Cumulus believed her staff “wasn’t ready”.
Cumulus HS continues to hold in-house staff development and sometimes relies
on a former teacher to provide training in areas of literacy and reading comprehension.
This currently reflects the staff’s comfort level. Cirrus HS operates in much the same
way. The distrust of outside experts has resulted in stagnation at these two school sites,
while Stratus presses forward because the leadership believes they cannot do this work in
isolation.
Recruiting and developing top talent. The CUSD leadership has been strategic
about the recruitment and development of human capital in the District. The
Superintendent says he also favors a no-nonsense approach to hiring and firing.
Certificated and classified staff must demonstrate progress in order to be retained. The
Superintendent stated: “Your success is my success…we are working as a team.” Over
the past decade, there has been a conscious effort to promote staff from within both from
a fiscal perspective and a talent perspective. As positions are vacated due to retirements
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 127 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 115 Stratus HS continues to far outpace Cumulus and Cirrus with its innovations and willingness to seek help in reaching more students and moving them toward proficiency. After choosing critical thinking as a focus, the ILT began attending conferences by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Because the cost of sending teachers to the conferences was so high, resources were pooled from various grants to bring one of the principal consultants to the school to provide a full-day training for staff to deepen implementation of the school’s focus on critical thinking. The principal at Stratus HS tried to bring this effort to Cumulus HS as well because their focus is essentially the same. The principal at Cumulus believed her staff “wasn’t ready”. Cumulus HS continues to hold in-house staff development and sometimes relies on a former teacher to provide training in areas of literacy and reading comprehension. This currently reflects the staff’s comfort level. Cirrus HS operates in much the same way. The distrust of outside experts has resulted in stagnation at these two school sites, while Stratus presses forward because the leadership believes they cannot do this work in isolation. Recruiting and developing top talent. The CUSD leadership has been strategic about the recruitment and development of human capital in the District. The Superintendent says he also favors a no-nonsense approach to hiring and firing. Certificated and classified staff must demonstrate progress in order to be retained. The Superintendent stated: “Your success is my success…we are working as a team.” Over the past decade, there has been a conscious effort to promote staff from within both from a fiscal perspective and a talent perspective. As positions are vacated due to retirements |
