Exploring the Association Between Short-cycle School Improvement Planning and Student Achievement in Underperforming Schools

Some governments require that educational leaders working in underperforming schools create school improvement plans (SIPs) to guide change efforts. Extant research describes two common approaches to SIPs: (a) a “traditional” approach where leaders create a single plan for an entire academic year, and (b) a “short-cycle” approach where leaders create two plans during an academic year (e.g., one for each semester). Despite widespread appeal, surprisingly little research has been conducted on SIPs and their influence on outcomes of interest. Nearly all studies investigate the traditional approach, and no published studies examine the potential influence of short-cycle SIPs on outcomes of interest (e.g., student achievement). In response to these gaps, the purpose of this study was to explore potential associations between short-cycle SIP quality and student achievement in English/language arts (ELA) and mathematics. We used a publicly available rubric to score 389 short-cycle SIPs on 12 planning domains and then employed a correlational design to examine potential relationships between short-cycle SIP quality and student achievement. Results concluded that short-cycle SIP quality increased over time, but despite small, positive relationships between increased short-cycle SIP quality and increased student achievement, there were no statistically significant impacts. Given the number of factors found to influence student learning, these results are unsurprising, but nevertheless encouraging. We close by discussing how educational leaders might need training to best leverage the short-cycle approach and how future research efforts can continue contributing to a sparse, but growing knowledge base on school improvement planning approaches.

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

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

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.