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258
allocations to each high school by 3.0 to assist with cutting costs across the board. Cirrus
has lost several teachers over the years due to declining enrollment.
Unrelated to the budget crisis, but equally significant, is the fact that the move
into PI status resulted in some students moving to a neighboring high school—and
generating a loss of 1.0 FTE for Cirrus HS. While the FTE was not regained, it is
interesting to note that many of these students returned to Cirrus at the semester.
Summary and Lessons Learned
Cirrus High School has made improvement possible for almost all of its students.
The API has increased schoolwide and for almost all subgroups. Still, the glaring
achievement gap cannot be ignored. Asian students far outperform their White,
Hispanic/Latino, ELL and SPED counterparts. While growth over time is evident,
achievement results sometimes fluctuate and other times level off. Still, the goal of
reaching an API of 800 by 2013 is in sight.
One of every two Cirrus HS students is not proficient in English and three of
every five students are not proficient in other core subjects. The school has been able to
move ten percent of most of its subgroups toward proficiency each year—an indication
that the staff does indeed have the capacity to make systemwide improvement possible.
The greatest struggle lays with English Language Learners and their lack of proficiency
in English. This subgroup continues to bear the burden and the stigma for moving Cirrus
High School into Program Improvement status.
While efforts have been made to bring more teachers on board with school
improvement efforts and inline with the decision-making process, there are still only
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 270 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 258 allocations to each high school by 3.0 to assist with cutting costs across the board. Cirrus has lost several teachers over the years due to declining enrollment. Unrelated to the budget crisis, but equally significant, is the fact that the move into PI status resulted in some students moving to a neighboring high school—and generating a loss of 1.0 FTE for Cirrus HS. While the FTE was not regained, it is interesting to note that many of these students returned to Cirrus at the semester. Summary and Lessons Learned Cirrus High School has made improvement possible for almost all of its students. The API has increased schoolwide and for almost all subgroups. Still, the glaring achievement gap cannot be ignored. Asian students far outperform their White, Hispanic/Latino, ELL and SPED counterparts. While growth over time is evident, achievement results sometimes fluctuate and other times level off. Still, the goal of reaching an API of 800 by 2013 is in sight. One of every two Cirrus HS students is not proficient in English and three of every five students are not proficient in other core subjects. The school has been able to move ten percent of most of its subgroups toward proficiency each year—an indication that the staff does indeed have the capacity to make systemwide improvement possible. The greatest struggle lays with English Language Learners and their lack of proficiency in English. This subgroup continues to bear the burden and the stigma for moving Cirrus High School into Program Improvement status. While efforts have been made to bring more teachers on board with school improvement efforts and inline with the decision-making process, there are still only |
