copyright © allyn & bacon 2008 data-driven decisions and school leadership: best practices for...

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008

Data-Driven Decisions and School Leadership: Best Practices for School Improvement

Theodore J. KowalskiThomas J. Lasley II.James W. Mahoney

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Chapter 1:

Problem Solving and Decision Making in the Context of School Reform


School reform mid-1980s

Problem – Unproductive students Strategy – Intensification mandates Intent – Make students do more of what they

were already doing Examples – higher graduation requirements,

longer school day, and longer school year


School reform late 1980s

Problem – Unproductive students and incompetent educators

Strategy – Intensification mandates Intent – Make students do more, increase rigor of

teacher preparation/licensing Examples – Increased admission, retention, and

graduation requirements for teacher education, require state testing for licensing, maintain or accelerate mandates for student performance


School reform after 1990

Problem – Structure and culture of schools Strategies – Deregulation and restructuring Intent – Revamp the culture and structure of

schools to improve performance Examples – State outcome-based

accreditation, school-improvement plans, greater emphasis on improvement at the local level


Implications of current reform initiatives

Greater emphasis on district and school reform agendas

Administrators must decide what to change and not just how to implement mandates

Teachers and administrators assume greater responsibility for practice

Problem solving and decision making are central to professional practice


The “how” and “what” of school improvement

Management focuses on “how to do” Leadership focuses on “what to do” Administration encompasses management

and leadership Both teachers and administrators need to

lead and manage


Change strategies

Improvement (restructuring) requires change

Change requires vision, planning, and

strategy

Change strategies determine success


Strategy: Show, initiate, rely on rationality

Provide empirical evidence supporting the need for change

Initiate change Depend on employee rationality for

compliance Problem – employees often reject

evidence and do not act rationally


Strategy: Set new norms, re-educate, facilitate

Provide a new standard of practice (or organization)

Provide staff development for implementation Provide resources for implementation Problem – employee enthusiasm/support

wanes if new standard conflicts with existing school culture


Strategy: Rely on power and coercion

Set new standards Require educators to implement them Rely on penalties to ensure compliance Problem – employees resent coercion and

exhibit spiteful obedience only until pressures for change subside


Strategy: Create a vision, diagnose culture, change culture

Describe what school should look like in meeting its mission at a designated point in the future

Determine whether prevailing assumptions, beliefs, norms, and so forth are compatible with the vision

Restructure culture to ensure that it facilitates the vision

Problem – most educators have not been prepared to understand or change institutional culture


Relevance of change strategies to practice

Culture change provides the most effective alternative to authentic school reform

Culture change requires open communication, problem solving, and decision making

Culture change requires educators to access and apply data objectively and in a timely manner


Problem solving

Understanding – framing and then analyzing the problem

Formulating – identifying alternative solutions and then selecting a preferred solution

Applying – activating the preferred solution Reflecting – assessing and evaluating outcomes Improving – adjusting the preferred solution if the

problem is not resolved or managed sufficiently


Decision making elements

Goal – what you want to accomplish

Options – alternatives you could pursue in

attempting to reach your goal

Choice – your preferred alternative


Data-based decisions

Involve goals, alternatives, and a choice just as all

other decisions

Alternatives are assessed and evaluated using

quantitative and qualitative evidence (data)

Choices are based on the evaluation of evidence

Intent is to reduce the influence of emotion, bias, and

politics on choices


Why data-based decisions are difficult for educators

Educators often are unprepared to use assessment in relation to decision making

Educators do not integrate research and statistics into their practice naturally

Data have often been viewed as the enemy Process viewed as cumbersome and unnecessary Politics and emotion are accepted as inevitable Educators rarely engage in collaborative assessment

and decision making


Four dimensions of data-based decision making

Proficiency generating data

Proficiency using data

Resource adequacy

Cultural acceptance

copyright © allyn & bacon 2008 data-driven decisions and school leadership: best practices for...

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