The role of school improvement planning in the implementation of MTSS in secondary schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Hank S. Bohanon ◽  
Meng-Jia Wu ◽  
Ali Kushki ◽  
Cheyne LeVesseur ◽  
Anna Harms ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
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.

The Map Is Not the Territory: Considering the Role of School Improvement Plans in Turnaround Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
Christopher Redding ◽  
Linda Searby
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
School Improvement Planning ◽  
Turnaround School ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Problems Of Practice ◽  
Practical Constraints

School improvement plans (SIPs) are increasingly used to structure the process of setting and monitoring goals. As SIPs are designed to identify and address local problems of practice, there is the possibility that these tools help school leaders initiate and carry out ambitious school improvement. Yet, practical challenges abound in the development and initiation of a SIP. This teaching case describes the process by which one school leader developed the SIP in a turnaround school, how the plan was initially received, and the consequences when she unilaterally initiated change. The potential benefits of school improvement planning, such as goal-setting and progress monitoring, are contrasted with practical constraints associated with plan development.

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.

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