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198
allocations to each high school by 3.0 to assist with cutting costs across the board.
Stratus lost an additional ten teachers, four classified staff and one administrator who
took advantage of an early retirement offer made available by the CUSD to help alleviate
pressure on a hemorrhaging budget. Three of the teachers were not replaced, resulting in
a net loss of 6.0 FTE in the teaching force at SHS. Class sizes have risen in all subject
areas and there are fewer course options for students.
Summary and Lessons Learned
Stratus High School has made academic improvement possible for all of its
students. Even when subgroups perform at high levels with 90%+ passing or reaching
proficiency, students continue to make growth. This can be attributed to the stability in
leadership at the school and the ownership for achievement that is felt not only by
administrators but also by the entire school staff. The commitment to balancing
academics with students’ social and emotional development is a hallmark of a Stratus
education.
The school receives no special funding, but makes strategic use of its assigned
FTEs to provide opportunities for teacher leaders to emerge as coaches and for
collaboration time among departments. The principal believes that the school will be
unable to sustain solid staff development without additional funding. In the end, though,
she says, “It’s all about what you value. You need a strong leadership team and a big
leadership team.” Conversations surrounding data and best practices create a culture of
constant improvement among all team members.
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 210 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 198 allocations to each high school by 3.0 to assist with cutting costs across the board. Stratus lost an additional ten teachers, four classified staff and one administrator who took advantage of an early retirement offer made available by the CUSD to help alleviate pressure on a hemorrhaging budget. Three of the teachers were not replaced, resulting in a net loss of 6.0 FTE in the teaching force at SHS. Class sizes have risen in all subject areas and there are fewer course options for students. Summary and Lessons Learned Stratus High School has made academic improvement possible for all of its students. Even when subgroups perform at high levels with 90%+ passing or reaching proficiency, students continue to make growth. This can be attributed to the stability in leadership at the school and the ownership for achievement that is felt not only by administrators but also by the entire school staff. The commitment to balancing academics with students’ social and emotional development is a hallmark of a Stratus education. The school receives no special funding, but makes strategic use of its assigned FTEs to provide opportunities for teacher leaders to emerge as coaches and for collaboration time among departments. The principal believes that the school will be unable to sustain solid staff development without additional funding. In the end, though, she says, “It’s all about what you value. You need a strong leadership team and a big leadership team.” Conversations surrounding data and best practices create a culture of constant improvement among all team members. |
