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185
meshed well with the values of the parents and community. When SHS staff realized that
their efforts with Hispanic/Latino students had yielded positive, measurable outcomes on
State tests, it became easier to transfer their efforts to other members of the student body.
The principal and SRTs began reading material by Douglas Reeves, Robert Marzano and
reports by the College Board. The College Keys Compact by the College Board was a
revelation for the principal and SRTs. This document asserted that students needed to
pass Algebra II in order to be competitive in the world beyond high school. By 2005, the
district had already made geometry a graduation requirement, so adding an additional
year of math would be an additional, yet realistic challenge for students.
Because Algebra II is one of the California State University (CSU) and University
of California (UC) a-g requirements for college entrance, the principal, SRTs and
counselors started a campaign to move all students onto what they termed the “a-g bus”.
That is, students should not simply aim to meet the graduation requirements but the
college entrance requirements for CSU/UC. In 2005, 50.8% of students met the a-g
requirements. The goal was and continues to be to increase this by 2% each year. By
2010, 63% of students at Stratus High School met the a-g requirements. This percentage,
however, has remained stagnant for three years.
Students cannot make it to college if they do not demonstrate mastery of
standards in high school, though. This point was made clear by faculty who initially
resisted the move to putting all students on the a-g bus. They were concerned about
school focusing more on academics and less on the individual strengths of students. To
help teachers better understand their role in raising standards for students and assisting in
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 197 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 185 meshed well with the values of the parents and community. When SHS staff realized that their efforts with Hispanic/Latino students had yielded positive, measurable outcomes on State tests, it became easier to transfer their efforts to other members of the student body. The principal and SRTs began reading material by Douglas Reeves, Robert Marzano and reports by the College Board. The College Keys Compact by the College Board was a revelation for the principal and SRTs. This document asserted that students needed to pass Algebra II in order to be competitive in the world beyond high school. By 2005, the district had already made geometry a graduation requirement, so adding an additional year of math would be an additional, yet realistic challenge for students. Because Algebra II is one of the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) a-g requirements for college entrance, the principal, SRTs and counselors started a campaign to move all students onto what they termed the “a-g bus”. That is, students should not simply aim to meet the graduation requirements but the college entrance requirements for CSU/UC. In 2005, 50.8% of students met the a-g requirements. The goal was and continues to be to increase this by 2% each year. By 2010, 63% of students at Stratus High School met the a-g requirements. This percentage, however, has remained stagnant for three years. Students cannot make it to college if they do not demonstrate mastery of standards in high school, though. This point was made clear by faculty who initially resisted the move to putting all students on the a-g bus. They were concerned about school focusing more on academics and less on the individual strengths of students. To help teachers better understand their role in raising standards for students and assisting in |
