Principals at Hunter School District, a pseudonym, lacked capacity for using data, a reflection of the district's lack of a culture of data-driven decision-making. HSD was located in New York City, with 23 schools serving 11,600 students; students were 90% Black or Latino with 90% coming from low-income families and 20% living in temporary…

This research examines what educational administrators can do to help secondary teachers effectively use data to inform their instruction and improve their practice. This qualitative study focused on the interviews of principals and teachers in 14 secondary schools that have used data to improve their school's accountability measures markedly in…

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) in public K-12 education is a concept that has been studied extensively over the last 20 years. Using data to inform or make decisions is believed to be an important and valuable strategic process. This exploratory, descriptive research focused on public school principals and their use of data in their…

Accountability has pushed principals to use data to drive and inform decisions in schools to positively impact student achievement. Research has shown that principals are the second most important impact on student achievement, second only to teachers. Principals who can lead change in schools based on data driven response have a positive impact…

This qualitative grounded study investigated professional development, pre-service and in-service that 7 high school principals, 3 assistant principals, and 2 directors in New York State received to build their instructional leadership capacity. The researcher conducted 12 interviews via Zoom video conferencing to ascertain how preparation…

The school accountability system in the Dominican Republic (DR) involves the use of several national assessments, the reporting of such data, and the training of principals on how to use such data as part of school improvement efforts. While this type of indicator accountability system does not include specific consequences, there is still…

To ensure all students, including historically marginalized students, reached their highest capacity, there was a focus on equity in education at the state and national levels. Minimal research existed where researchers explored principals' educational equity mindset, and I found a gap in the literature concerning the use of principals'…

Across the United States performance expectations of principal supervisors are shifting from a focus on compliance to a focus on instructional leadership development. The problem addressed in this study was that principal supervisors were applying feedback and coaching approaches inconsistently as they addressed school principals' growth as…

This qualitative case study explored how educators in a high-poverty, urban public high school used student achievement data to inform instruction. The sample consisted of one principal, five counselors, and ten teachers across multiple departments in a Los Angeles County high school recognized for its data-driven practices and collaborative…

School principals are responsible for improving low College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores; however, little was understood about how K-12 school principals' leadership practices were perceived to improve CCRPI scores in schools. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the leadership practices of K-12 school…

Due to educational policy, data use in schools is a widespread method of school improvement, yet results remain inconsistent. Across the literature, the school leader is a key determinant of the effectiveness of data use. This study sought to shed light on the role of the school leader in data use through a mixed methods case study. The study…

The potential benefits of the growing amount of available educational data have not been fully realized, especially for principals, who play a key role in deriving insight from data to inform school improvement. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to describe experiences of principals using data analysis tools in a K-12 system. With a…

The use of blended learning in kindergarten K-12 schools in the past decade has seen a dramatic increase, but the research on the effectiveness of blended learning has shown mixed results. However, some schools use blended learning that would be considered successful. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of principals in…

Federal and state accountability obligates public schools to improve standardized test scores for students in certain grades and in certain content areas from year to year. In the name of school improvement district and campus level administrators implement professional learning communities (PLCs) and set expectations for data informed instruction…

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to investigate how 14 elementary principals initiated and managed organizational change in high-poverty National Blue Ribbon award-winning elementary schools in rural and urban areas in the United States. Data was collected using a purposeful sampling method using a published list of exemplary…