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129
Due to the impact of the budget reductions caused by the current California
budget crisis, school districts and school sites across the state have been forced to make
staffing and resource reductions. These findings reflect a trend in downsizing typical
across the state. The projections for future years indicate that significant cuts will
continue to impact schools. The CUSD and the sample high schools will need to
continue to strategically organize human and fiscal resources to provide a comparable
level of quality in their core instructional program.
Conclusion
The current financial crisis has severely limited the ability of CUSD leadership to
plan for the future because there is such uncertainty about the level of funding coming
from the state. Despite the funding challenge, District leadership remains optimistic
because they have been forced to be creative with their resources, and this leaves plenty
of room for innovation. One item that remains off the table is money and time for
collaboration. This focus on staff development shows a link to increased student
achievement.
The recipe for success in CUSD has been fairly straightforward: Develop a clear
and unambiguous mission, have the right people in the right places to carry out that
mission, provide them with the time to collaborate, high levels of support and the
necessary resources to get the job done, and stick to it. While the sample schools use
significantly fewer resources than the Evidence-Based Model would suggest for schools
their size and composition, these CUSD schools are making academic achievement
possible for their students. Therefore, it can be said that it is the effective implementation
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 141 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 129 Due to the impact of the budget reductions caused by the current California budget crisis, school districts and school sites across the state have been forced to make staffing and resource reductions. These findings reflect a trend in downsizing typical across the state. The projections for future years indicate that significant cuts will continue to impact schools. The CUSD and the sample high schools will need to continue to strategically organize human and fiscal resources to provide a comparable level of quality in their core instructional program. Conclusion The current financial crisis has severely limited the ability of CUSD leadership to plan for the future because there is such uncertainty about the level of funding coming from the state. Despite the funding challenge, District leadership remains optimistic because they have been forced to be creative with their resources, and this leaves plenty of room for innovation. One item that remains off the table is money and time for collaboration. This focus on staff development shows a link to increased student achievement. The recipe for success in CUSD has been fairly straightforward: Develop a clear and unambiguous mission, have the right people in the right places to carry out that mission, provide them with the time to collaborate, high levels of support and the necessary resources to get the job done, and stick to it. While the sample schools use significantly fewer resources than the Evidence-Based Model would suggest for schools their size and composition, these CUSD schools are making academic achievement possible for their students. Therefore, it can be said that it is the effective implementation |
