Data Dissemination Practices of Elementary School Principals

A review of literature about data dissemination by elementary school principals and data-driven decision-making (DDDM) revealed some principals used accountability data for student achievement, but many did not. Many principals relied more upon their own intuitive experiences instead of systematic data use. This qualitative study focused upon five high-performing elementary school principals from a southern Louisiana school district that had neither prescribed DDDM practices nor data dissemination protocols designed to support principals. Goals of this study were to examine principals' data dissemination processes, what influenced practices, and if principals did have ideal dissemination processes. The study revealed that each of the principals did utilize a data dissemination process, although not formal processes. Certain factors influenced DDDM and subsequent dissemination by principals.