School Improvement Strategies Research Articles

Teachers’ perceptions about the value of protocols for professional development: results of a qualitative investigation

ABSTRACT Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a powerful school improvement strategy designed to advance teacher professional development. Protocols are tools for structuring teacher conversations in PLCs. In this article the authors present the results of a qualitative study of teacher perspectives about the value and effects of systematic protocol use. This investigation took place within the context of a Researcher–Practitioner Partnership situated in an urban school district that aims to bring culturally responsive computer science education to all K–5 students. Findings revealed that teachers believe use of protocols supplanted ‘chaotic’ conversation with critical dialogue and improved their instructional practices. Protocols appear to ameliorate common hindering factors to the realization of effective PLCs, including conflict avoidance, participation inequities, and lack of group purpose. An annotated list of protocols of especially high value, and that teachers used most frequently to advance their collaborative learning and professional development, is presented.

The stimulation of school improvement processes: the orientation of development perspectives

ABSTRACT In a constantly changing world, schools need to adapt. Difficulties, successes, and experienced challenges can be important driving forces for school improvement. This study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the situation and decision-making processes related to school improvement strategies in socially disadvantaged areas, where schools face particularly challenging circumstances. The study comprises data from 100 Austrian schools, that is, answers to open-ended questions in a survey. A mixed-methods approach was applied. The qualitative data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The data were processed, frequencies of themes were determined, and latent profile analysis was applied. The results show the diversity of challenges, difficulties, strengths, and development perspectives reported by schools. The results of the latent profile analysis indicate that there are different underlying profiles in the orientation of development perspectives towards strengths, difficulties, challenges, and/or not identified factors.

Research as a Strategy for Equity in Independent Schools

Independent schools are increasingly looking to research as a strategy for building equitable systems and practices, through the creation of an embedded researcher position. This commentary grapples with how independent schools are building internal research capacity find. Using a self-study methodology with interviews, job document review, and educational autobiographies, we examine the practices and positions of researchers at six independent schools—five in the United States and one in Turkey—through the lens of research as a strategy for equity. We that researchers and leaders conceived of the research roles as aligned with equity-focused improvement, yet implementation was contingent on how the role was situated in the organization and the ability of the researcher to negotiate definitions of research and research processes with leaders, teaching faculty, and students. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications of using research and the role of an embedded researcher as a strategy for equity-focused school improvement in independent schools.

Classroom walkthroughs as an effective strategy for preschool improvement during the COVID-19 lockdowns: a Chinese model.

Classroom walkthroughs are a widely used strategy for school improvement, varying over contexts and times. This study aims to explore the Chinese model of classroom walkthroughs in early childhood settings (ECS) during the COVID-19 lockdowns through a triangulated qualitative study. First, a group of ECS leaders (N = 15; Myear of teaching experience = 18.87, SD = 7.74, range = 6-33 years) and a group of teachers (N = 15; Myear of teaching experience = 8.40, SD = 3.96, range = 3-19 years) were interviewed in early 2022, and leaders' observations notes were reviewed. The interview data were transcribed, recoded, and analyzed using an inductive approach, and the walkthrough documents were examined as a triangulation. Four themes and 13 subthemes emerged from the interview data: content, pedagogical skills, tasks, and challenges pertaining to classroom walk-throughs. Two major challenges against efficient classroom walkthroughs during the COVID-19 lockdowns were found: building community and feeding forward. Based on the results, a Chinese model of classroom walkthrough was proposed. Implications for quality improvement were also addressed.

Primary School Mathematics Teaching and Improvement Strategies Based on Double Reduction Policy

Primary School Mathematics Teaching and Improvement Strategies Based on Double Reduction Policy

Teacher Collaboration and Instruction for Social-Emotional Learning: A Correlational Study

Teacher collaboration and social-emotional learning (SEL) are extant school improvement strategies intended to have a positive effect on student learning outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to examine possible correlations between degree of teacher collaboration and use of instructional practices that support student SEL among lower secondary teachers (grades 7-9) in the United States (Leonard, 2021). Correlational analyses were conducted using a secondary dataset of the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) sponsored by the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2018). Results showed strong, statistically significant relationships between frequency of teacher engagement in higher-intensity “student-facing” collaborative actions such as peer observation, and the enactment of instructional approaches that contribute to student SEL, such as helping students believe they can do well in school and having them work in groups to come up with a joint solution to a problem. Implications for research and for the advancement of teacher collaboration and SEL in P12 schools are discussed.

Senior leaders’ theories of action for managing subject departments as a school improvement strategy

The current study examines senior school leaders’ theories of action driving their decision-making around how they manage departments and distribute leadership to department heads. Based on a thematic analysis of transcripts of interviews with the principal, head of the curriculum unit, and two department heads from nine high schools, four approaches for managing departments were identified: (a) quasi self-managing units; (b) hierarchical managerial control; (c) participatory management; and (d) transitioning from hierarchical control to incipient participatory management. All approaches, to varying degrees, involved hierarchical managerial control and, to a greater or lesser extent, department heads participated in decision-making. At the centre of the distinct patterns for the distribution of leadership associated with each management model was a concern for aligning teachers’ improvement priorities. These approaches are examined through a distributed leadership lens in terms of their potential affordances and constraints for strengthening the contributions of departments to school improvement processes. The main conclusion is that variations in how senior leaders manage departments for the distribution of leadership need to be understood in the context of a school's history and culture.

The Potential to Build Collective Capacity for Organisational Learning in the Context of Teachers’ Use of Digital Technology for School Improvement

This article considers how digital spaces focused on whole school improvement combined with supportive leadership may be mobilised towards building collective capacity for evidence-informed practice and organisational learning. This topic originated from a qualitative, multi-method design-based research (DBR) project that studied practitioners’ use of an online resource for primary school practitioners called Pathways for school improvement, designed by Oxford University Press (OUP). Semi-structured interviews, participant observations and a documentary analysis were conducted with teachers and senior leaders in five primary schools across England between 2014 and 2016. Connections were made with the dynamic approach to school improvement (DASI) that encourages practitioners to systematically engage with a variety of evidence in their reflections and efforts to design school and classroom improvement strategies. Pathways’ four-step system and series of systematised tasks under each step seemed to provide opportunities for practitioners to explore elements of theory and practice in conjunction with empirical and pupil performance data, and potentially guide them through how to collaborate with others in developing specific whole school approaches to improvement. Opportunities and challenges in developing collective capacity for improvement are also explored.

Streamlining your school: understanding the relationship between instructional program coherence and school performance

ABSTRACT Instructional program coherence, which refers to the consistency and stability of school-wide programs that are guided by a common instructional framework, constitutes a vital school improvement strategy. Since Newmann and colleagues, in their study of 2001, conceptualized and created a measure of instructional program coherence, much of the empirical work has been carried out in one large urban school district, Chicago Public Schools. Using more generalizable data from a representative sample of all schools in the state of Florida, we found a positive relationship between teachers’ perceptions of coherence and student achievement. Our finding is consistent with previous studies but provides a more nuanced picture. Examining program coherence in more diverse contexts than prior work, we find that instructional program coherence is positively related to academic outcomes in middle schools while there is no significant relationship in elementary schools. Further, the magnitude of association is far more substantial when examining math, compared to reading outcomes in middle schools.

Balancing school improvement strategies with workload pressures: a participatory action research case study

ABSTRACT This participatory action research case study describes how one secondary school aimed to improve staff culture. Although pre-test data showed the school as performing consistently well in terms of their organisational health, the school chose to implement a line management intervention over 12 months to target three low-rating factors: appraisal and recognition, professional growth, and supportive leadership. Quantitative evaluation showed that while the improvement strategy had no effect on the intended targets, there were unanticipated effects on other factors. Staff reported a mixture of positive and negative effects from the intervention; however, a core issue was its impact on teachers’ workloads. Participants reported burnout and stress as a consequence of school leaders driving continuous change. This case study argues that quality school improvement needs to be supported by a clear vision, with due consideration and attention to sustainable work practices.

Funding Structures and State Capacity for School Improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Case Studies of Five States

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal government allocates 7% of Title I funds, about $1 billion per year, for school improvement. States have substantial autonomy in allocating these funds, including which schools are identified for federal school improvement, what improvement strategies are used, and whether external intermediaries are involved. A growing area of research explores the private, often for-profit school improvement industry, but few studies track the finance and policy structures that funnel public funds to external K–12 intermediaries. In this study, we draw on document analysis and interview data to explore school improvement practices and finance policies in five case study states. We find that states use varied methods for identifying schools for improvement, and also vary in the extent to which they provide local autonomy to school districts. Some states, such as Texas and Tennessee, incentivize schools to adopt particular strategies or encourage partnering with an external intermediary. Other states, such as California and New York, provide more state-led school improvement strategies through regional offices and give districts greater local autonomy. Findings point to possible benefits of local autonomy, while highlighting potential challenges associated with unregulated market-based reforms in education.

Does the duration of school interventions matter? The effectiveness and sustainability of using the dynamic approach to promote quality and equity

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the sustainability and the impact of offering the dynamic approach (DA) to schools for more than 1 year in improving student achievement in mathematics (quality) and reducing the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on achievement (equity). A sample of 56 schools in socially disadvantaged areas in three countries (i.e., Cyprus, Greece, and Ireland) and their Grade 4 and 5 students (n = 2,844) participated in this study. Two experimental groups used DA to develop school improvement strategies and action plans. The first experimental group, which employed DA for only 1 school year, was more effective than the control group in promoting student achievement in mathematics and reducing the impact of SES on achievement both at the end of the 1st and 2nd implementation year. Schools which made use of DA for 2 years were found to be the most effective at the end of the 2nd year.

A Multilevel Model of the Association Between School Climate and Racial Differences in Academic Outcomes.

This study examined the relationships between school-level school climate and race differences in student grades, accounting for school sociodemographic composition. We found that schools with more positive school climates had smaller race differences in student self-reported grades. The moderating effect of school climate remained after accounting for the sociodemographic composition of the school and students' own perceptions of climate at their school. This moderating effect was confounded by school grade band (i.e., elementary, middle, or high) since perception of positive school climate was lower in middle and high schools than in elementary schools. Despite the difficulty of disentangling school climate from grade band, the findings suggest school improvement strategies focused on school climate may promote racial equity in academic outcomes. School practitioners' efforts to improve the school climate may also contribute to racial equity in academics.

Coaching and Districtwide Improvement: Exploring the Systemic Leadership Practices of Instructional Coaches

Background Many school districts are relying on instructional coaches to improve teaching and learning under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Yet we know very little about how coaches exercise systemic leadership to support districtwide improvements in instruction. Purpose In this study, I broadly define systemic leadership as efforts to coordinate multiple reform goals with school improvement strategies and classroom instruction, and to build institutional knowledge and collaborative structures for scaling up instructional change. I used social-network theory and the concept of brokering to study the systemic leadership practices of Digital Learning Coaches (DLCs) in the Peterson Unified School District (PUSD, a pseudonym), a midsized urban district that distributed iPads and laptops to schools in the 2014–15 school year for CCSS instruction. Research Design I used an explanatory sequential research design to examine how DLCs engaged educators at all organizational levels of PUSD to support systemic change. I collected social-network data to map communication networks in the district and how DLCs brokered information in these networks. I then conducted a multiple case study of three DLCs in six elementary schools to characterize the quality of systemic leadership exercised by DLCs through their brokering exchanges and the organizational factors informing their leadership. Findings I find that DLCs brokered information in a siloed, top-down manner from the central office into schools, guiding teachers on how to integrate technology with instruction but failing to coordinate this support with other CCSS resources popular among school leaders and teachers. Consequently, DLCs struggled to build coherence around the use of technology with school goals for improvement, provide instructional support to a broad footprint of teachers, and discover and share novel uses of technology developed by teachers. The organizational context of the central office and its schools informed DLC brokering, with top-down hierarchies, organizational silos, principal leadership, and the experience, goals, and training of DLCs influencing how these coaches engaged educators. Conclusions My findings suggest that district leaders should provide explicit guidance, resources, and more time for instructional coaches to demonstrate leadership in support of systemic change. I also show that instructional coaching is dependent on the organizational context of schools, suggesting that there will be local variation in the leadership outcomes that coaches achieve in practice and that district leaders should account for pertinent factors such as principal leadership, school structures for teacher collaboration, and school-reform readiness when developing coaching programs.

Optimising leadership: Conceptualising cognitive constraints of sociality and collaboration in Australian secondary schools

School improvement frameworks and their associated reform efforts often have limited durability and are frequently not fully implemented. Improving their viability, requires a more realistic understanding of contextual organisational structures and the school culture in which the reform is to be implemented. Internationally, and in Australia specifically, education research has informed policy heavily promoting collaboration as a school improvement strategy, with the aim of building teacher capability and student achievement. Consequently, secondary school leaders are charged with promoting the need for teachers to collaborate meaningfully with hundreds of students, carers, parents and colleagues each week across the ‘silos’ of subject departments and grade levels in their school. Social Brain Theory suggests that there are cognitive limits on the number of natural face-to-face social interactions that one can have and maintain. Relationships require significant investment in time and frequency. Additionally, sociality is much more cognitively demanding than at first thought, having unforeseen influence on improvement efforts. The number of interactions required in a collaborative environment, an individual’s likely cognitive overload and the ‘silo’ nature of the school’s organisational structure must all be considered. This paper offers an alternative theoretical framework to support policy makers and leaders in optimising school improvement efforts.

Elementary Schools Working as Professional Learning Communities: Effects on Student Learning

The professional learning community (PLC) is considered to be an effective school improvement strategy centered on student achievement. The goal of this study was to introduce the PLC approach in a few public elementary schools in Cameroon to evaluate the causal impact of this organizational model on student learning. A quasi-experimental approach was used involving an experimental group and a control group. Student pre- and post-tests were administered in two core subjects (French and mathematics) at both the beginning and the end of the first year of operation as a PLC. Our findings show a significant improvement in the students’ results between the pre- and post-test. The PLC was qualified as being in its initiation stage of development, when members focus on their students’ outcomes and collectively engage in solving the latter’s learning-related difficulties.

Turnaround Leadership for School Sustainability

A substantial body of research literature has indicated school principals are critical to overall school improvement (Heck & Hallinger, 2014; Jones, et al., 2015; Sleegers et al., 2014; Thoonen et al., 2011). However, improving the fortunes of low-performing schools remains a major concern and challenge in many education systems (Meyers & Darwin, 2017). Research into turnaround school has been undertaken predominantly in the Western context, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom (Harris et al., 2018), Australia, Canada, England, and Sweden (Liu, 2020). However, research in developing countries remains relatively limited. The term ‘school turnaround’ remains elusive (Stuit, 2012) and there is "no single definition of school turnaround exists" (Hochbein & Mahone, 2017, p. 15). The term turnaround is generally referred as low performing schools that have significantly improved and transformed their challenging circumstances and student academic achievements into high performing schools (Chapman & Muijs, 2013). “While the research is clear on what an effective school should look like, there is considerably less research, let alone consensus, on the process by which a low performing school becomes a high performing school” (Murphy & Meyers, 2008, p. 252). The term “turnaround” itself is goal-directed in its usage. Leading writers describes it as helping poor and minority students in declining schools, reach their potential by developing a safe and nurturing educational environment (Leithwood & Strauss, 2008; Fullan, 2005). Recent research has found that turnaround schools are mostly affected by communities that disadvantaged and living in poverty (Reyes & Garcia, 2014). School decline is commonly associated with a complex range of factors including poor facilities, poor leadership (Harris, et al., 2018), limited resources and funds (Duke & Jacobson, 2011). Therefore, society has a moral obligation to identify and reverse the fortunes of these schools, as all children in these communities, have a right to high quality education (Harold, Burbach, Alfred & Butler, 2005). The right turnaround principal makes a difference (Meyers & Hambrick Hitt, 2017) to what has been described as a ‘wicked problem’ (Harris, Leithwood & Strauss, 2010). Turnaround is a ‘wicked problem’ as it has the potential to return unless the school is successfully led through turnaround (Duke, 2010) ultimately ensuring its sustainable success (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006). In addition, sustainability is most likely to be achieved if the initiatives of turnaround leaders are anchored in school improvement practices and strategies (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006). Day (2014) cautions there are no ‘quick fixes’ to achieve sustainable change and such change will take time. It is widely agreed that five to eight years of support is needed to ensure sustained change in student performance (Day et al., 2010; Fullan, 2007). In addition, the capacity to balance school resources with rising expectations sits at the centre of this consideration. Therefore, research literatures suggest some consistent strategies to ensure turnaround schools’ sustainability. For example, the implementation of accountability measures (Butler, 2012), careful monitoring of teachers’ professional development, encourage parent participation (Liu, 2020), changing the school communities’ perceptions and beliefs (Fullan, 2010), and a combination of ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ change (Fullan, 2007). Interestingly, these strategies are strongly linked to strong school leadership. Thus, learning more about how principals are going about their work to lead rapid school improvement within the systems context is critical to ensuring the leadership moves necessary to change trajectories.

Leadership for school improvement – linking learning to leading over time

ABSTRACTFurnishing novice school leaders with the knowledge and skills they require to be successful in practice has proved difficult. This paper describes and analyses an attempt to link learning and school leading practices in their education: a three-year learning activity within the Swedish National School Leadership Training Programme intended to develop novice school leaders’ ability to analyse, critically examine, formulate and implement school improvement strategies. The theoretical point of departure is a social constructionist and situated perspective on learning. Drawing on data from 120 reports submitted by school leaders at the end of years two (n = 60) and three (n = 60) of the programme, and nine audio-recorded conversations between groups of the leaders, we identify critical aspects of the learning process. The findings indicate that the novice school leaders initially perceived the learning activity to be challenging, but it gradually became a mediational mean and boundary object in and between their practices. Critical elements for this were the activity’s design and length, systematic approach, supportive tools and ‘forcing moments’. We argue that linking training practice to school leading practice may have positive effects on novice school leaders’ professional development.

The Power of Community School Councils in Urban Schools

ABSTRACTDemand for school reform, particularly urban schools labeled as “failing,” requires a community engagement strategy centered on intermingled social problems: poverty, racial isolation and discrimination, cultural clashes, socio-economic inequalities, and funding disparities. While school administrators are challenged to turn schools around with limited time and resources quickly, their efforts are not a silver bullet. Engaging community requires committed partnerships that support schools to advance quality learning. Community school councils, an organizing strategy, focus on addressing potential threats and enhancing strengths for student success. This case study describes the participatory action structure of community school councils in an urban public high school, a middle school, and three elementary schools. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Bryk’s five essential elements of school improvement and their interplay that predicts school improvement or stagnation in the long term (Bryk et al., 2010) and more recent findings that community schools demonstrate an evidence-based strategy for equitable school improvement. This study is relevant to school communities with comparable demographics interested in a comprehensive strategy that expands the traditional educational mission to address social/emotional and health needs of children and families by engaging the broader community to support student learning, strengthening families and school communities.

Twenty Years, Ten Lessons: Community Schools as An Equitable School Improvement Strategy

This article features two leaders of the contemporary community school movement who share their reflections on key lessons learned by community school practitioners and advocates over the past two decades and outline ideas about the challenges facing the field in the years ahead. They offer a brief history of community schools in the United States and provide an update on the evidence of the strategy's effectiveness, particularly in high-poverty urban schools. They also explain how the current "generation" of community schools has addressed two specific shortcomings of earlier iterations of this holistic approach to education. Acknowledging that today's political climate creates both opportunities and obstacles for education reformers, the authors argue that the community school strategy is increasingly recognized as a compelling alternative to the neoliberal dream of public-school privatization.