Light touch, heavy hand: principals and data-use PLCs

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Huguet ◽  
Caitlin C. Farrell ◽  
Julie A. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
School Level ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Principal's Role

Purpose The use of data for instructional improvement is prevalent in today’s educational landscape, yet policies calling for data use may result in significant variation at the school level. The purpose of this paper is to focus on tools and routines as mechanisms of principal influence on data-use professional learning communities (PLCs). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a comparative case study of two low-income, low-performing schools in one district. The data set included interview and focus group transcripts, observation field notes and documents, and was iteratively coded. Findings The two principals in the study employed tools and routines differently to influence ways that teachers interacted with data in their PLCs. Teachers who were given leeway to co-construct data-use tools found them to be more beneficial to their work. Findings also suggest that teachers’ data use may benefit from more flexibility in their day-to-day PLC routines. Research limitations/implications Closer examination of how tools are designed and time is spent in data-use PLCs may help the authors further understand the influence of the principal’s role. Originality/value Previous research has demonstrated that data use can improve teacher instruction, yet the varied implementation of data-use PLCs in this district illustrates that not all students have an equal opportunity to learn from teachers who meaningfully engage with data.

Navigating the tension between scale and school context in digital college guidance

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-310
Author(s):  
Zoe Corwin ◽  
Tattiya J. Maruco
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
First Generation ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Equity Issues ◽  
Digital Equity ◽  
Digital Intervention ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential of digital tools to address the significant challenge of increasing access to college and outline challenges and opportunities in effectively implementing a digital intervention across an entire school. Design/methodology/approach The study encompasses a randomized control trial and comparative case studies. This paper highlights qualitative data focused on implementation. Findings Findings illustrate impediments and strategies for implementing a school-wide digital intervention. Research limitations/implications Research focused on one particular intervention and is thus limited in scope. Practical implications The study has the potential to assist practitioners in better serving students from low-income and minoritized communities through digital tools. Social implications The study has implications for increasing the number of first-generation and minoritized youth who apply to and enroll in college. The study highlights digital equity issues often overlooked in ed-tech sectors. Originality/value Few studies exist that examine the implementation of digital interventions at the school level. Focusing on digital equity in the college access space (academic and practice) is novel.

scholarly journals Waiting longer before claiming, and activating youth: no point?

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 658-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Cockx ◽  
Eva Van Belle
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Local Treatment ◽  
Unemployment Duration ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Waiting Period ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Job Finding ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of two policies (an extension of the waiting period before entitlement to unemployment insurance (UI) and an intensification of counselling) targeted at unemployed school-leavers in Belgium on unemployment duration and on the quality of work. Design/methodology/approach The length of both policies is sharply determined by two distinct age thresholds. These thresholds are exploited to estimate the impact within a regression discontinuity design using a large administrative data set of all recent labour market entrants. Findings The longer waiting period does not significantly impact job finding while the Youth Work Plan does increase the job-finding rate eight months after the onset of the programme. The accepted wage is unaffected, but both policies lower the number of working days resulting in lower earnings. This effect is especially prevalent for youth from low-income households. Research limitations/implications For both policies, participation was delineated by an age cut-off which was only four months apart. This sizeably reduced the width of the age window to detect a corresponding discontinuity in behaviour and hereby also the statistical power of the estimator. Additionally, due to confounding policies the estimated effects are local treatment effects for highly educated youth around the age cut-offs. Social implications The findings suggest that threatening with a sanction is not the right instrument to activate highly educated unemployed school-leavers. While supportive measures appear to be more effective, this may be partly a consequence of acceptance of lower quality jobs due to liquidity constraints and of caseworkers giving misleading advice that temporary jobs are stepping stones to long-term employment. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to estimate the impact of changing the waiting period in UI. The paper adds to the existing literature on the effects of counselling and UI design on employment and job quality.

Data use in Kenyan secondary schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisha Omoso ◽  
Kim Schildkamp ◽  
Jules Pieters
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
School Level ◽  
Teacher Improvement ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Study Results

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the data available and their use by Kenyan secondary school teachers and head teachers. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative case study design, this study utilised interviews and documentary evidence to explore the data available and their use within Kenyan schools. Findings The data available in Kenyan schools were similar except for context data which had slight variations between schools. Head teachers mainly used school-level data to monitor school functioning, plan and develop school-level policies which mainly focused on school and curriculum improvement but little on teacher improvement. Teacher improvement attempts were mostly via benchmarking. The results also show that Kenyan head teachers hide inspection reports from teachers and that some head teachers used data creatively than others. For example, one head teacher used data to start a feeding programme to support economically disadvantaged students. Teachers, however, mostly used classroom-level data to plan lessons and monitor students’ progress. Research limitations/implications The study results may be used for data use comparative studies between developing and developed countries. Practical implications Based on the findings, data use training is needed to help Kenyan schools use data to improve teachers and teaching. Originality/value Accountability and data use are at the centre of many school improvement efforts the world over. The last two decades, for example, show pressure on schools to account for the resources invested and for the education they provide to children mainly in the form of data. Regrettably, studies pay little attention to data use in schools within developing countries such as Kenya.

Structuring Professional Learning to Develop a Culture of Data Use: Aligning Knowledge from the Field and Research Findings

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Gerzon
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Data Use ◽  
School Level ◽  
Research Review ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Knowledge And Skills

Background This research review provides an analysis of current research related to school and district data use, with a particular focus on identifying key characteristics of schools and districts with effective “data using cultures.” The research review identifies and analyzes findings in five key areas of practice: communicating professional expectations for data use; providing resources and assistance to make meaning from data; participating in the flow of information for data use; providing professional development on data use knowledge and skills; and providing leadership to nurture a culture of data use. Purpose The goal of this literature review was to identify key elements that the research identifies as essential to developing a school or district culture of data use. Through the literature review and analysis, this article proposes a conceptual framework for school and district data use practices that can be used to guide professional learning in the area of data use. Research Design The research design is an analytic essay. The article includes an analysis of current literature on school and district data use, compares key concepts presented in current studies and literature reviews, and offers conclusions based on these findings. Conclusions This research review provides a conceptual framework of five elements that school and district leaders can use to guide professional learning in data use. The framework provides a “mental map” for addressing the range of knowledge and skills teachers must learn to use data as a routine part of their daily practice. In particular, the Culture of Data Use Framework is designed to help school and district leaders and professional development providers tease apart the specific areas of focus for training and support. The author outlines considerations for professional learning for each of the five framework elements and closes with a set of questions that may help to highlight future research needs in the area of school-level data use.

scholarly journals Co-production: what makes co-production work? Evidence from Pakistan

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seemab Ara Farooqi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Joint Production ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Delivery Options

Purpose – In developing countries there is a growing recognition that co-production offers more cost effective and responsive service delivery options in low income areas. The purpose of this paper is to explore the way co-production initiatives are managed in developing country, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative comparative case study design is used. Data are collected through 25 semi-structured interviews and document analysis and applies institutional analysis and development framework for analysis. Findings – The study suggests that challenges to co-production are more than a managerial problem which require a different set of capabilities on the part of the actors in order to achieve anticipated goals in the joint production of services. Co-production initiatives require formal structures and processes to involve the local community and third sector to work with the public sector as effective partners. Political and bureaucratic commitment in regional and local government and community willingness to engage act as a catalyst for the successful management of co-production. Originality/value – The study extends understanding of what makes co-production work, a less researched area on co-production, drawing on a comparative analysis of two different institutional arrangements of co-production.

Inequalities in school climate in California

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Jain ◽  
Alison K. Cohen ◽  
Kevin Huang ◽  
Thomas L. Hanson ◽  
Gregory Austin
Keyword(s):  
School Climate ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
School Level ◽  
Student Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Safety ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
Large Cities

Purpose – School climate, or the physical and social conditions of the learning environment, has implications for academic achievement. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine how school climate varies by school-level characteristics in California using administrative data and the California School Climate Survey. Findings – Teachers/staff at secondary schools, schools in large cities, schools that serve low-income populations, Hispanic- and black-majority schools, and/or low-performing schools reported less positive school climates, including staff/student relationships, norms and standards, student facilitative behaviors, and perceived safety, than their counterparts, paralleling other education inequity trends. Originality/value – The authors encourage educators and school leaders to use data-driven and evidence-based strategies to overcome systematic inequities in positive school climate in order to create social contexts that nurture students’ academic progress and teacher retention particularly in historically under-resourced schools.

Is nutritional status associated with income growth? Evidence from Chinese adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-525
Author(s):  
Yang Gao ◽  
Zhihao Zheng ◽  
Shida R. Henneberry
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Income Growth ◽  
Chinese Adults ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Income Elasticities ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rural Adults

PurposeThis study estimates the income elasticities of calorie, macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat) and key micronutrients including cholesterol, vitamin A, vitamin C, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc and insoluble fiber separately for urban and rural adults aged 18–60, using China Health and Nutrition Survey data set from 2004 to 2011.Design/methodology/approachA semiparametric model, a two-way fixed-effects model and a quantile regression approach are employed to estimate nutrient–income elasticities.FindingsThe income elasticities of calorie, protein, fat, cholesterol and calcium are in the range of 0.059–0.076, 0.059–0.076, 0.090–0.112, 0.134–0.230, 0.183–0.344 and 0.058–0.105, respectively. The income elasticity of each of the other nutrients is less than 0.1. The income elasticities of calorie and the majority of nutrients included are larger for rural residents than for urban residents and for low-income groups than for medium- and high-income groups. Overall, in spite of having a relatively small impact, income growth is shown to still have an impact on improving the nutritional status of Chinese adults.Originality/valueThis study estimates nutrient–income elasticities separately for urban and rural adults, expanding the scope of the study regarding the impact of income on the nutritional status in China. Moreover, this study uses a pooled sample generated from the personal food consumption records covering foods consumed at home and away from home during 2004–2011, which is thus likely to more comprehensively reveal the causal relationship between income growth and changes in the nutritional status in China.

School-level organizational routines for learning: supporting data use

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne M. Kallemeyn
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
School Level ◽  
Organizational Routines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Double Loop Learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use an extreme case to identify and describe the nature of routines that might support processes and outcomes of data use, drawing from a framework developed by Coburn and Turner (2012a). Design/methodology/approach – The author conducted a four-month case study (Stake, 1995) of an elementary school in a large urban school district that had implemented balanced score cards. The author identified a school that had strong qualities to support data use, including leadership and information systems. Findings – Two school-level organizational routines facilitated teachers’ data use: collaborative teams and processes of inquiry. These routines stored knowledge about the types of data teachers ought to notice, and to a lesser extent, how they ought to interpret data and construct implications for practice. These routines also provided opportunities for single and double-loop learning (Argyris and Schön, 1996) and might contribute to improvements in student learning. This case provides an example of how a school negotiated external performance management pressures, and maintained their professional autonomy, focussing on internally initiated assessments. Originality/value – Relatively little research has described what organizational routines support data use among practitioners. In addition to describing two routines, this case also demonstrated the need to frame these routines as organizational routines for learning. To further develop these routines, the author drew on the notion of the knowledge-creating company (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) to explain how the school used their organizational routines to share tacit knowledge (socialization), and to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (externalization), which supported instructional innovations.

Organizational problem-solving and school discipline: comparing the roles of schoolwide behavior management technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Cho ◽  
Katrina Borowiec ◽  
Kaitlyn F. Tuthill
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Behavior Management ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Behavioral Data ◽  
School Level ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Big Picture

PurposeApplications for tracking and managing classroom behavior have become increasingly commonplace, thus making it possible to incorporate nonacademic data into collaborative problem-solving and school improvement. Whether or how these platforms might support such aims, however, is not known. Accordingly, this study explores practices involving these applications, focusing especially on problem-solving among educators and with students' families.Design/methodology/approachThis comparative case study took place in three schools. In total, 34 semistructured interviews were conducted with teachers and school leaders. Analysis included qualitative coding as well as the development of within- and cross-case summaries.FindingsSchools varied greatly when it came to using behavior management platforms as a part of problem-solving. At a basic level, it was not uncommon for educators to use behavioral data for classroom troubleshooting or check-ins with students and transactional communications with families. However, only two schools attempted to use behavioral data for more systemic, “big picture” problem-solving, such as to make discipline policies more equitable or to improve teacher practices. The richness of collaboration with families seemed especially shaped by how and how frequently data were shared (e.g. automated notifications and paper printouts).Originality/valueEmpirical research about behavior management applications has been limited and focused only at the classroom level. The present study contributes new knowledge about the school-level implications of these platforms, while also expanding conversations about how behavioral data may be incorporated into data-informed problem-solving. Implications for leadership and theory are also discussed.

Principals and teachers “craft coherence” among accountability policies

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Leisy Stosich
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
External Support ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders and teachers make sense of multiple accountability policies, including the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation, and how this process relates to school priorities and classroom practice. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a comparative case study approach to understand how principals and teachers in three high-poverty urban schools respond to policy. Findings Although principals and teachers viewed academic standards and the teacher evaluation framework as complementary, two of the three schools focused on meeting the expectations of the teacher evaluation framework at the expense of attention to academic standards. Without attention to the connections among policies and school priorities, the introduction of new policies may detract from rather than reinforce attention to academic standards. Research limitations/implications Principals who are stronger instructional leaders may be better able to “craft coherence” among multiple standards-based policies and school priorities for instruction and student learning. Although their experiences are not generalizable, findings suggest that attending to standards for student and teacher performance without connecting to the implications for content and students’ learning may lead to superficial integration of accountability policies with school priorities. Practical implications Findings provide further evidence that principals play an essential role in responding to policy and suggest that districts and external support providers can assist their efforts by creating opportunities for professional learning about the connections among multiple policies and their implications for practice. Originality/value This paper extends Honig and Hatch’s conceptualization of “crafting coherence” to the work of teachers and the implications for classroom practice.

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