The purpose of this process evaluation was to evaluate how classroom teachers, campus administrators, and instructional staff differ in their perception of data usage for educational improvement in a large suburban Independent School District (ISD) in Southeast Texas. The researcher was granted permission by the superintendent of the 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 purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of school turnaround through an examination of educator perceptions of the implementation of Voelkel's (2014) framework for professional learning communities (PLCs), collective efficacy, and transformational leadership, which provided the theoretical framework for the study. This study…

Third grade reading teachers at the local setting are not consistently using formative benchmark data to improve student reading performance, creating a gap in practice. This gap in practice may be due to teachers' lack of capacity to use the data to make changes to their instructional practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to…

The purpose of this study was to examine how educators working within a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework make sense of data, how they use data for instructional decision-making, and how the data use cultures at the district and school levels influence this data use. The study was designed with a theoretical framework informed by…

This dissertation consists of three papers. Online Learning, Offline Outcomes: Online Course Taking and High School Student Performance. This paper uses fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face, both for initial attempts and for…

Educational improvement projects are increasingly focused upon the significant role of data in determining student performance, teachers' learning, and schools' ability to initiate local reforms. Thus, schools are moving toward a new approach to learning, progressing from the routine to the non-routine through inquiry-based working. In addition,…

For several years, WestEd's Measure to Learn and Improve (MLI) project team has kept California state policy leaders informed about the statewide implementation of the California Academic Standards in English language arts and mathematics, by summarizing and disseminating results from the RAND Corporation's annual American Educator Panel (AEP)…

The schools in the United States undergo reforms that involve the integration of data-intensive improvement process known as strategic improvement plans (SIPs). This process requires digital systems to set goals, create interventions, use and analyse student data, monitor and report SIPs. A challenge with digital systems is the integration of a…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine teachers and school leaders' experiences using data in the state of Arkansas. Research Design: Initially, an exploratory pilot study was conducted to examine educators' experiences using data within one Arkansas district. This involved focus groups with 24 participants from 10 schools. Data were…

Background/Context: Researchers have amassed considerable evidence on the use of student performance data (e.g., benchmark and standardized state tests) to inform educational improvement, but few have examined the use of nonacademic indicators (e.g., indicators of social and emotional well-being) available to educators, and whether the factors…

The purpose of this study was to explore award-winning instructors' insights on elements of their course design that were award-winning and the differences between expert and novice online instructors. Interviews were conducted with eight award-winning online faculty members from across the United States who had received online teaching awards…

This study took place in an urban high school that implemented the data-driven school improvement plan after it received a grade of "F" in 2010. This school experienced significant growth during the next three years and received a letter grade of "C" in 2011, "B" in 2012, and "A" in 2013. I examined the role…