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206
the student body is ELL and the content-specific vocabulary in social science is typically
a struggle for students whose first language is not English. The addition of sheltered
courses for History and collaboration among English Language Development (ELD)
teachers and the Social Science department contributed to this growth. This sharing of
best practices and instructional strategies was also extended to Science teachers—
additional support that contributed to the increase in proficiency on the End-of-Course
Science test (up 11.6% in five years) and the NCLB Science test (up 15% over five
years). Despite this positive news, there are concerns that proficiency rates across the
content areas range only from 35% to 52%, indicating significant gaps in learning and
achievement across the school.
Schoolwide California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) scores have seen little
fluctuation since 2006 with a range of 80% to 85% passing both the Math and English
portions of the test on their first attempt. In some instances the percent passing has
dropped by one or two percentage points over time. As Table I.2 shows, the only
subgroup to experience higher pass rates on both portions of the CAHSEE is the
Hispanic/Latino subgroup, rising 2% on Math and 4% on English. The inconsistent pass
rates among subgroups on the CAHSEE compared with the small fluctuation of the entire
tenth grade pass rate suggests that changes in cohort composition may explain the overall
performance changes.
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 218 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 206 the student body is ELL and the content-specific vocabulary in social science is typically a struggle for students whose first language is not English. The addition of sheltered courses for History and collaboration among English Language Development (ELD) teachers and the Social Science department contributed to this growth. This sharing of best practices and instructional strategies was also extended to Science teachers— additional support that contributed to the increase in proficiency on the End-of-Course Science test (up 11.6% in five years) and the NCLB Science test (up 15% over five years). Despite this positive news, there are concerns that proficiency rates across the content areas range only from 35% to 52%, indicating significant gaps in learning and achievement across the school. Schoolwide California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) scores have seen little fluctuation since 2006 with a range of 80% to 85% passing both the Math and English portions of the test on their first attempt. In some instances the percent passing has dropped by one or two percentage points over time. As Table I.2 shows, the only subgroup to experience higher pass rates on both portions of the CAHSEE is the Hispanic/Latino subgroup, rising 2% on Math and 4% on English. The inconsistent pass rates among subgroups on the CAHSEE compared with the small fluctuation of the entire tenth grade pass rate suggests that changes in cohort composition may explain the overall performance changes. |
