Browsing by Subject "Data use"
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Item Analysis of the relationship between data use and organizational learning from teacher perspectives(2011-05) Ka, Shin-Hyun; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; Wayman, Jeffrey C.; Heilig, Julian V.; Woolley, Jacqueline D.; Clark, Charles T.This study was conducted to explorer the relationships between teachers’ perceptions of educational data use, their school’s capacity as a learning organization, and the performance of students at their school. This study employed a quantitative research design featuring a Web-based online survey and collected data from a stratified random sample of 112 middle schools and junior high schools nested in nine school districts in Texas. I used the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (Watkins & Marsick, 1993, 1996) to measure the schools’ capacity as a learning organizations and the Survey of Educator Data Use (Wayman, Cho, & Shaw, 2009b) to measure teachers’ educational data use. I also used the student performance data provided by Texas Education Agency. For the data analysis, I employed the statistical techniques of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM). I found that educational data use and support did relate to the schools’ organizational learning capacity, and that this dynamic acts as an important factor in enhancing campus performance. This finding gives a clear indication that data use and support has an indirect effect on campus performance, and that this effect is mediated by organizational learning. This research is significant in that it reveals that organizational learning worked as a crucial mediating variable in enhancing student achievement through effective use of data. This finding can give meaningful direction to the pursuit of school improvement through data use in school sites, a practice that began as simple top-down policy implementation.Item Central office data use : a focus on district and school goals(2009-05) Moll, Kerry Ann; Wayman, Jeffrey C.This study examined the data use of central office administrators working in the Curriculum and Instruction Department of a school district. The purpose of this work was to broaden the knowledge base of data use and of the integral role the central office plays in the district-wide use of data to improve teaching and learning. Two research questions guided the study: (a) How do central office personnel involved in curriculum and instruction use data to support district goals of improved student achievement, and (b) how do central office personnel involved in curriculum and instruction use data to support campus goals of improved student achievement? A qualitative and quantitative data collection process with a single-case study approach included focus groups, individual interviews, and a survey instrument. The data from these components were coded, analyzed, and translated into themes and findings using a 9-step constant-comparative process. This process provided rich description and a comprehensive evaluation of findings to answer the research questions. Findings regarding the use of data within the department of curriculum and instruction at the central office revealed that administrators most often took on the role of data provider. The central office provided reports both to campuses and to comply with federal and state regulations and funding requirements; provided professional development to principals, teachers, and instructional specialists; provided information about student achievement to parents and the greater community; and encouraged the use of data and highlighted the value of data use to inform instructional choices. Further analysis of the data revealed barriers that inhibit the systemic use of data and the ability of school districts to become truly data informed: lack of a common vision for data use, creation of data silos that reduce the ability to collaborate and make cooperative data-based decisions, too much data for consideration, and fragmented implementation of the goal-setting process. These findings contribute to the current literature by demonstrating the importance of the central office in data use. In conclusion, what central office administrators do with data matters, and how the central office uses data to support teacher and principal quality is critical in a district focused on improving teaching and student learning.Item "Doing data" : addressing capacity for data use through professional learning(2011-05) Jimerson, Jo Beth; Wayman, Jeffrey C.; Reyes, Pedro; Holme, Jennifer J.; Olivarez, Ruben D.; Treisman, Philip U.; Pursch, VictoriaWhile school districts across the nation are pressed to make better and more frequent use of a range of educational data, they have few resources that help guide the process of improving educator capacity for data use. To date, there have been few efforts to examine the intersection of professional learning and data use to better guide efforts at improving educator data use capacity. In order to learn more about how school districts attempt to meet educator needs in terms of data-related learning, and how they use policies to approach this issue, I examined the intersection of data use and professional learning in three school districts. I used a qualitative case study methodology to examine these issues, and relied on interview data from n=110 individuals across the three districts, as well as document analysis in each district, to better understand the existing structures in each context and how those structures came to be. I also utilized random sampling for some focus groups, and used a peer nomination process for other focus groups, which allowed me to identify educators thought by their colleagues to be “exemplar” data users. I found that across the districts, educators at all levels articulated with remarkable consistency a range of skills and knowledge they said were essential to good data use. Also, educators were consistent in describing the kinds of professional learning structures they thought best supported their needs as learners. However, in most cases, district structures fell short of these ideals. The districts rarely codified expectations related to the structure of professional learning or to data-related skills and knowledge in formal policy, and planning related to data use tended to be fragmented among many departments and leaders. As a result, there were many assumptions that “someone else” or another department was providing support in terms of data-related professional learning, while many times data use-related learning simply fell between the cracks. Informed by existing research and the results of this study, I posited a model aimed at supporting policymakers as they engage in planning for data-related professional learning.Item The impact of principal leadership on supporting data inquiry(2010-05) Houlihan, Andrew Gray; Olivarez, Ruben; Gooden, Mark; Thompson, Sylvia; Cruz, Paul; Ward, MichaelRecent research surrounding educational leadership indicates that among school-related factors, leadership is second only to the classroom teacher as a variable associated with improving student achievement (Leithwood et al., 2004). Given the current climate of high stakes testing and accountability, the role that the principal plays in fostering continuous school improvement and ensuring academic success for all students has become increasingly important. To enhance school performance, the literature proposes that school leaders serve as instructional leaders and distribute their leadership responsibilities. One significant element of such leadership models is the ability of the school principal to support and promote inquiry by teachers and school administrators into student and school data. Wayman and Stringfield (2006) note that a campus culture that values and practices data-based decision making is marked by collaborative inquiry into student data. Advocates of data-driven decision making and data use suggest that inquiry into student data has been shown to be useful in improving overall school practice (Bernhardt, 2003; Wayman and Stringfield, 2006). Furthermore, using data to focus on specific goals will improve student learning (Schmoker, 1999). To explore how principals can foster the development of structures that allow for inquiry into student and school data, a case study of one purposely-selected high school was conducted. The four primary research questions this study addressed were: (1). What structures can high school principals develop and implement that promote inquiry by teachers and administrators into data? (2). What structures positively impact student academic achievement, as perceived by high school teachers and principals? (3). How are teachers using student achievement data in their instructional decision-making? (4). What are the qualitative data elements that school leaders might consider to inform the ongoing planning and decision-making process? Over the course of four months, data was gathered through individual interviews, observations, a survey, and analysis of pertinent documents. Several themes surrounding data analysis and leadership practices emerged. These included: the benefits of using structures to empower school staff to own data, the use of structures to allow for time for collaboration, using data to improve teaching practices, and the benefits of providing teachers greater access to pertinent data.Item The relationship between the theory of transformational leadership and data use in schools : an exploratory study(2011-05) Goodnow, Elisabeth; Wayman, Jeffrey C.; O'Doherty, Ann; Young, Michelle; Gooden, Mark; Rhodes, LodisNationwide reform efforts strive to improve schooling through a range of approaches including improving the quality of campus leadership, restructuring organizational design, and revamping instruction. National and state education policies reflect the reforms addressed in educational research literature and drive state, district, and campus based improvement initiatives. For example, the more recent influence of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability system has led to a significant increase in the use of data to drive instructional decision-making. Campus leadership is key to both the successful implementation of data initiatives (Wayman and Stringfield, 2006) as well as comprehensive reform efforts (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005). The literature provides a wide array of leadership theories that offer promise in understanding more effective approaches to leading school improvement efforts; however, much of this literature remains conceptual and vague (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins 2008). Data use has gained increasing attention in the literature as well, but the research lacks a strong conceptual framework for leadership. The purpose of this paper is to view data use through the lens of Leithwood’s model of Transformational Leadership in order to explore the linkages between the leadership theory and data use practices and to offer a framework that situates data use as a tool to increase all students’ academic performance and build a democratic and socially just learning organization. The linkages between Transformational Leadership and data use are presented as both bodies of literature are reviewed. The study was guided by the following questions: 1) What are the levels of Transformational Leadership Behaviors exhibited at each campus? 2) What are the data use practices being implemented on each campus? 3) What is the relationship between Transformational Leadership and data use? Two schools served as the sites for the research which drew on both quantitative and qualitative data sources to address the research questions. Results and findings show evidence of Transformational Leadership Behaviors that linked closely with the data use practices. The final discussion offers a preliminary conceptual framework delineating the intersection between the theory of Transformational Leadership and data use in schools.Item Supports that facilitate teacher data use in schools(2009-05) Johnston, Mary Theresa; Wayman, Jeffrey C.This study examined supports that facilitate teacher data use in schools. The purpose of this work was to extend the base of knowledge of general supports for teacher data use, leadership supports for teacher data use, and technology supports for teacher data use. Three research questions guided the study to determine those supports necessary for teachers to be successful in data use: (a) What general data supports exist for teacher data use in schools, (b) what leadership supports exist for teacher data use in schools, and (c) what technology supports exist for teacher data use in schools? A qualitative and quantitative data collection process with a single-case study approach included individual interviews, focus groups, and a survey instrument. The data from these components were coded, analyzed, and organized into themes and implications by implementing the 6-step constant-comparative model. This mixed methods process provided a thorough evaluation of findings to answer the research questions. Two implications were found during the study. First, structures and systems for data use must be intentional in order to support teacher data use in schools. Contributing to the intentionality is time for collaboration; professional development to build teacher capacity; and clearly aligned district vision, mission, and goals. Second, technology support in the classroom is integral to effective data use by teachers. This support manifests in hardware support and personnel support. Hardware includes having the appropriate system that maintains the students, timely access to data and a user-friendly format. Personnel support refers to the integration of technology into teaching and learning, teacher-to-teacher support, and an alleviation of distrust through positive interaction with data. Further analysis revealed implications for practice, including the importance of creating structures and developing a plan for data use.Item Utilizing multilevel modeling to examine teachers’ sense of efficacy in relation to their use of data and student achievement(2010-05) Shaw, Shana Michele, 1979-; Wayman, Jeffrey C.; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-; Beretvas, Susan N.; Robinson, Daniel H.; Schallert, Diane L.Informed by previous research from both the teacher efficacy and data-driven educational reform literatures, this study sought to identify whether teachers’ sense of efficacy for their practice was related to their attitudes toward and use of data-based pedagogical techniques. Data use was operationalized in two ways. First, data use referred to teachers’ use of any type of systematically-collected data (e.g. student performance on yearly state tests, demographic information). Data use was also operationalized as teachers’ use of a newly implemented student assessment system that provided teachers with student performance data and resources for working with those data. This study also examined whether associations between teacher efficacy and teachers’ use of data were related to student achievement. Participants were fourth and fifth grade teachers (n= 96) and students (n= 2042) from 46 elementary schools in a large, urban school district. Sources providing data for this study included student-, teacher-, and school-level demographic information, measures of student achievement in reading and math, a survey administered to assess teachers’ efficacy and their data-use related attitudes and behavior, and computer-generated use logs which captured teachers’ use of the student assessment system. Multilevel modeling was used to explore these relationships. The results revealed that teacher efficacy was related to aspects of teachers’ use of data, though these relationships varied depending on the operational definition of data use. Teachers’ efficacy was positively related to teachers’ use of data in general, but negatively related to their use of the new student assessment system. The latter finding may be at least partially attributable to difficulties this district experienced when implementing the assessment system. Additional analyses demonstrated that interactions between teacher efficacy and aspects of their data use were positively related to student achievement in reading when reading achievement was covaried for prior performance. This study concludes that teacher efficacy appears to be related to teachers’ attitudes toward and use of data, though the exact nature of these relationships should be clarified further with additional research, particularly given the implementation obstacles this district faced during the implementation of the data system (Wayman, Cho, & Shaw, 2009b). Further, these factors appear to be associated with positive student achievement outcomes in reading, a finding that should also be explored at greater length. Explorations such as these lend needed insight into the factors that determine whether teachers adopt or reject data-driven educational reforms and whether student achievement outcomes might benefit from teachers’ attention to these types of data.