The New Instructional Leadership: Creating Data-Driven Instructional Systems in School

Abstract

The recent press for high-stakes accountability has challenged school leaders to use data to guide the practices of teaching and learning. This article considers how local school leaders build data-driven instructional systems to systematically improve student learning. Such systems are presented as a framework involving data acquisition, data reflection, program alignment and integration, program design, formative feedback, and test preparation. The article reviews data collected in a yearlong study of four schools to describe how leaders structure opportunities to engage in data-driven decision making.

Leadership and change in schools: personal reflections over the last 30 years

“…6 Articulating the merits of a non-linear approach to change management is compatible with the continuous improvement and distributed leadership perspectives that I have described above, but runs headlong into policy makers' calls for more systematic data use. In other words, wildly disparate images of what constitutes effective knowledge use for school improvement have emerged, ranging from naturalistic (''letting a thousand flowers bloom'') through improved exposure to new ideas through networks of teachers (Lieberman 2000) to focused teacher action research that is driven by ''problems of practice'' in that school (Huffman and Kalnin 2003) to centrally designed and integrated systems for data use that are focused on improving test scores (Halverson et al 2005).…”

Fear and Loathing in Elementary School: Lessons from a Third Grader About Better Assessments

“…Demand for formative assessments has skyrocketed, and schools are deploying a variety of models, ranging from "home-grown" tests created by teachers themselves to commercially packaged assessment systems costing $12 or more per student (Militello et al, 2010). These systems are fast-growing and under-studied, with major implications for educator practice (Halverson, Grigg, Prichett, & Thomas, 2007;Sharkey & Murnane, 2006). This category of formative assessment provides assessment data that are linked to specifi c taught standards Perie, Marion, Gong, & Wurtzel, 2007).…”

Expert Noticing and Principals of High-Performing Urban Schools

“…Recent research advances more reciprocal and inclusive models of instructional leadership within which principals share authority with designees (Heck, 1992;Heck et al, 1990), instructional coaches (Mangin, 2007), and classroom teachers themselves (Marks & Printy, 2003). Here empowering principals encourage collaborative inquiry rather than relying upon more conventional, principal-centered supervisory practices (Blase & Blase, 1999;Halverson, Grigg, Prichett, & Thomas, 2007;Reitzug, 1997). In response to these shared instructional leadership practices, teachers grow in their commitment, involvement, and willingness to innovate (Sheppard, 1996).…”