Jo Beth Jimerson

Organizational considerations in establishing the Data-Informed District

In the United States, effective data use is proving to be a vexing problem. In response, scholars have recently begun viewing this as a systemic problem, believing there are actions a school district may take to make data use more efficient and tenable throughout the organization. In this article, we add to the knowledge of how school organizations can more effectively use data for educational improvement. Through the lens of the Data-Informed District, we leverage the research on organizational improvement and data use to discuss 3 specific organizational areas in which these districts may improve: establishing common understandings, professional learning for using data, and computer data systems.

A Look into the Workings of Data Use in a Mid-Sized District

Abstract The effective use of student data has gained increasing attention in the past 10 years. Although district leaders would like to support data use and improvement, exactly how to go about such work systemically is often unclear. Accordingly, the aim of this chapter is to illuminate the inner workings of data use throughout a mid-sized school district. In doing so, we highlight issues in how data were used and supported, and provide discussion about how districts such as this one may improve data use throughout the district.

Supporting Data-Informed Practice among Early Career Teachers: The Role of Mentors.

Equipping teachers to use data is a critical piece of the school improvement puzzle. To help early career teachers (ECT) develop data-use acumen, some districts utilize mentoring supports. While research on mentoring in general is well-developed, research on how mentoring can or does support data-informed practice is not. To address this gap, we examined perceptions about data use in a small Texas district; anticipated differences among comparison groups (i.e., mentors and non-mentors; mentors and ECT) did not emerge. We conclude that without careful selection and supports, mentors may not be able to support data-informed practice to the degree assumed.

Reclaiming Instructional Supervision: Using Solution-Focused Strategies to Promote Teacher Development:

To positively affect teacher quality, instructional leaders must engage teachers in ways that support improved practice and seek to empower teachers as creative and knowledgeable risk takers. A collaborative, strengths-based approach that promotes teacher growth, rather than one that conditions teachers to await administrator directive or approval, is warranted. In this conceptual article, we draw from developmental supervision and solution-focused supervision to posit a blended model of instructional supervision that equips aspiring and emerging instructional leaders with strategies to identify and amplify teacher strengths.

Signal and Symbol: How State and Local Policies Address Data-Informed Practice.

Numerous actors influence how educational policies play out in practice, but this does not mean that policies themselves are without power. Policies are crafted and enacted in part because they serve as signal and symbol: How a policy is formally codified establishes expectations, exerts norming influence, and catalyzes shifts in how issues are framed. But what happens when or if a set of policies do these things in ways that misalign with or incompletely reflect research? In this article, we leverage the issue of educational data use to examine how state and local policies may simultaneously symbolize a commitment to school improvement and signal expectations that fail to align with the broader evidence base. We discuss the implications of this disjoint for policymakers and make recommendations for ways in which policy actors can use the signaling power of policy to frame expectations in ways that more closely align with research.

Managing digital identity on Twitter The case of school administrators

What does it mean to be and to act like a school leader online? Although many school leaders might be comfortable navigating issues of identity in face-to-face environments, online environments may present new and unprecedented challenges. These challenges may range from concerns about privacy and surveillance to questions about how best to leverage social media for professional or school aims. Accordingly, the present study draws upon interview and tweet data to explore administrators’ performance of identity on Twitter. Findings describe how administrators enacted two distinct identities: one relating to instructional leadership and the other relating to school public relations. Administrators were reticent about revealing other, more personal identities. This was seen as a way to maintain and gain followers. Implications for identity research, online professional learning, and public school relations are discussed.

Catching Up to the CCSS A Principal Navigates Out-of-Subject Instructional Leadership

This case provides principals and principal licensure candidates an opportunity to delve into the nuances of supervising teachers in content areas, which may be unfamiliar, and to explore strategies for increasing knowledge about the structures and emphases of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The case presents issues related to curriculum, instructional leadership strategies, professional learning networks, and supervision and evaluation of teachers. It can also be a springboard for connecting principals and licensure candidates with resources to deepen familiarity with best practice research in mathematics instruction.

Data System Implementation: A Leader Navigates People Problems around Technology and Data Use.

Computer data systems have become a lynchpin to supporting school data use. However, successfully implementing such systems is no easy task. In this case, readers explore the ways in which “technology problems” and “people problems” can be intertwined. The case follows Dr. Molly Winters as she encounters social and organizational challenges relating to district vision, tensions around data use, and tensions involving technology implementation. Her exploration of these issues spans both the school and district levels. Her goal is to analyze and provide recommendations regarding how to support data system use and school improvement throughout her district.

How and why teachers engage students with data

ABSTRACT Just as accountability policies have led to increased levels of teacher data use, teachers have begun to increase the extent to which students track and analyse data about their own learning. Although some might argue that such “student-involved data use” (SIDU) might empower or motivate students to take charge of their own learning (e.g. planning or goal setting), others might see it as unduly pressuring youngsters. Because research about this practise is nascent, it is unknown how or why teachers might engage in this practise. Leveraging a sense-making lens, we employed qualitative methods to explore these issues with teachers in 11 elementary school classrooms in Texas. Findings describe teachers’ strategies for engaging students with data, as well as their beliefs that SIDU was beneficial to student reflection, learning, motivation and teachers’ instructional practises. We conclude by positing considerations for future research and leadership.