Why Address What's Missing in School Improvement Planning?

2013 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Improvement Planning

Short-Cycle School Improvement Planning as a Lever to Launch School Turnaround: A Descriptive Analysis of Plans

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Vangronigen ◽  
Coby V. Meyers
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Turnaround ◽  
Plan Quality ◽  
Short Cycle ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Improvement Planning ◽  
State Education ◽  
Over Time

Background School improvement planning is a common school leadership practice built on assumptions that schools increase organizational performance if rational yearly plans are developed and then enacted with fidelity. A quality school improvement plan (SIP) should position subsequent critical leadership and instructional moves in a more holistic change initiative. Although multiple studies suggest that positive relationships exist between SIP quality and student achievement outcomes, all studies of SIPs have focused on the traditional, yearlong approach to school improvement planning. An alternative approach operates on shorter cycles of approximately one semester, a model that could be beneficial for low-performing schools engaged in turnaround efforts in which altering goals and strategies might need to occur more frequently to be situationally responsive. Purpose In this study, we analyze short-cycle SIPs from three cohorts of low-performing schools participating in a university-based program focused on improving systems leadership to rapidly increase school performance and student achievement. We determine overall SIP quality and whether it changes over time. Furthermore, we analyze plan quality by planning domain (e.g., vision, action steps) over time. To our knowledge, this is the first study that analyzes short-cycle SIPs specifically. Research Design We employ a conventional content analysis approach to examine 389 short-cycle SIPs submitted by 136 schools across three cohorts of school principals attempting to lead school turnaround. To analyze the short-cycle SIPs, we developed a rubric that includes 12 planning domains and is based on previous analyses of SIPs since 2001. Our descriptive analyses of short-cycle SIPs show easily identifiable patterns. Conclusions Overall plan quality is weak. Although most planning domains and overall plan quality scores improve over time, their increases are mostly nominal. Results suggest that principals attempting to lead turnaround efforts do not often set compelling turnaround visions or engage in deep root cause analysis to identify meaningful focus areas. Although we believe there is great potential in short-cycle SIPs, results further suggest that principals must be strategic in what they prioritize, especially in low-performing schools facing myriad challenges. Last, service providers, school districts, and state education agencies would be wise to recognize that principals will typically develop SIPs that are directly responsive to templates and/or policies.

School Improvement Planning Process Survey

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent A. Anfara ◽  
Faye Patterson ◽  
Alison Buehler ◽  
Brian Gearity
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Improvement Planning

How aspiring principals applied course-based learning to develop school improvement plans

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana L. Bickmore ◽  
Maria M. Roberts ◽  
Miguel M. Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Field Experience ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Improvement Planning ◽  
Aspiring Principals

PurposeSchool improvement planning and implementation is one organizational process by which principals may positively impact school and student outcomes. Limited research, however, has explored how principal preparation programs prepare aspiring leaders for this common school leadership activity. This study examined aspiring principals engaged in the school improvement process by evaluating what they included in their school improvement plans (SIPs) that were developed as part of their field experience.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined SIPs aspiring principals collaboratively developed as part of their field experience. Using an abductive analysis method, combining both deductive and inductive coding methods, authors examined 77 SIPs in which aspiring principals used school level data in planning.FindingsEach aspiring principal's SIP was contextually specific. No two plans were identical relative to who was targeted for improvement and how the plan was to be implemented, indicating aspiring principals can apply course-based learning and implement important data-driven decision-making skills in field-based school improvement projects.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are exploratory and limited to SIPs developed by aspiring principals in one university program in one large urban school district context. The findings that specific requirements and program structures affected the aspiring principal's school improvement planning process as did the overall school context adds to current understandings of how course-based learning is applied. However, further investigations are needed.Practical implicationsFindings provide evidence of how school leadership preparation programs may impact leadership development relative to skills associated with school improvement planning. The findings also suggest the importance of detailed analysis of aspiring principals school improvement planning as a program evaluation process.Originality/valueThis study was the first to document the content of aspiring principals' field-based SIPS and how skills in data-driven decision-making were applied in a SIP field-based activity.

Planning for what? An analysis of root cause quality and content in school improvement plans

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Coby V. Meyers ◽  
Bryan A. VanGronigen
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Root Cause Analysis ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
School Improvement Plan ◽  
Cause Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Organizational Challenges ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Improvement Planning

PurposeLimited research on root cause analysis exists in educational leadership. Accurately diagnosing and detailing root causes—the why—of organizational failure, as is relatively common in other fields, could improve principals' ability to devise situationally- and contextually-responsive solutions in their improvement plans. In this study, the authors analyze school improvement plans to provide insight into how principals use root cause analysis to identify their and their school's failures as a way to respond strategically with goals and action steps.Design/methodology/approachIn this exploratory qualitative study, the authors develop coding schemes and leverage an existing rubric of school improvement plan quality to assess what principals identify as root causes for 216 priorities across 111 school improvement plans.FindingsThe overall quality of root causes submitted by principals was low, typically between “beginning” and “developing” stages. The majority of root causes aligned with priorities and desired outcomes, but fewer than one-third had a systems focus. Moreover, less than half of root causes suggested that school leaders played a part in the organizational failures. The vast majority of plans instead identified teachers as the root cause, foundational fault or “why” of the problem.Originality/valueAn increased understanding of root cause analysis conceptualization and development seems necessary if improvement planning is to be a strategic response to a school's most serious organizational challenges. The predominant approach to school improvement planning has focused almost exclusively on how to succeed or become better with little investment in identifying root causes of organizational decline or failure. This initial study of root cause quality in school improvement planning is a key first step in critically thinking about how improvement is to be achieved when failure is unconceived.

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