This study was conducted to explorer the relationships between teachers’ perceptions of educational data use, their school’s capacity as a learning organization, and the performance of students at their school. This study employed a quantitative research design featuring a Web-based online survey and collected data from a stratified random sample of 112 middle schools and junior high schools nested in nine school districts in Texas. I used the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (Watkins & Marsick, 1993, 1996) to measure the schools’ capacity as a learning organizations and the Survey of Educator Data Use (Wayman, Cho, & Shaw, 2009b) to measure teachers’ educational data use. I also used the student performance data provided by Texas Education Agency. For the data analysis, I employed the statistical techniques of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM). I found that educational data use and support did relate to the schools’ organizational learning capacity, and that this dynamic acts as an important factor in enhancing campus performance. This finding gives a clear indication that data use and support has an indirect effect on campus performance, and that this effect is mediated by organizational learning. This research is significant in that it reveals that organizational learning worked as a crucial mediating variable in enhancing student achievement through effective use of data. This finding can give meaningful direction to the pursuit of school improvement through data use in school sites, a practice that began as simple top-down policy implementation. / text

Federal policies such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (RTT) stand as examples of how teachers face increasing expectations that their activities be “data-based” or “data-driven.” Meeting these expectations requires assembling and analyzing a wide variety of data about students (e.g., demographics, discipline, locally designed tests, state test results, or longitudinal information). Computer data systems are commonly assumed to facilitate the work of educational data use. Indeed, the availability and computing power of these systems have continued to expand, further increasing the promises that these technologies hold for enhancing teaching and learning. Meaningful and widespread changes to teachers’ practices, however, have typically not occurred on a large-scale or systemic basis. Therefore, in this comparative case study of three school districts I examine the nature of districts’ efforts to improve teachers’ data use via computer data systems. I do so by examining the worldviews of various job roles in each district about data use and computer data systems. An erroneous assumption commonly made by districts was that these technologies are imbued with self-evident and predetermined effects on teacher work. Accordingly, the findings from this study speak to issues of sensemaking in districts. In them, I describe not only how teachers’ perspectives shaped their practices, but also how the alignment of perspectives among district roles influenced the implementation and success of district initiatives around computer data systems. As such, this study has implications for how districts plan, implement, and learn from initiatives around data use. / text

xvi, 229 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This case study identified which of Baker and Richards' (2004) leadership models (compliance, performance, ecological) were used to make data-based decisions in six Oregon schools. Two elementary, two middle and two high schools in a suburban school district were selected. Typologies of each school's reported data Sources, Leadership, Processes and Impacts were developed. The results of the typologies were applied through pattern-matching to a Conceptual Model of Data-Based Schools developed by Hill (2004) in an earlier study. The study investigated (a) the similarities and differences in how the schools used the data they collected; (b) patterns that emerged indicating how data were used to inform decisions; and (c) the data-based leadership model (compliance, performance, ecological) evidenced at each school, school level and within the overall district. Findings indicated consistent patterns of data-based practices across all six schools and placed each of them, as well as the overall district, on the continuum between the performance and ecological leadership models. School administrators reported an ecological set of beliefs to guide their site-based decisions; teachers reported a performance set of beliefs and practices in their classrooms. There was no significant difference attributed to school levels. The findings build on Hill's (2004) previous study, strengthen Baker and Richards' (2004) ecological leadership model, and add to the emerging literature on ecological leadership in schools. School leaders can use the model to identify current practices in data-based decision-making and share their findings with their staff in order to improve data practices and move along the continuum toward ongoing and continuous school improvement. / Adviser: Diane Dunlap

The success of behavioral interventions depends not just on the quality of procedures employed but on the extent to which procedures are implemented. This study used a multiple-baseline across participants single-case design to assess the impact of an online data management application (the Individual Student Information System; ISIS- SWIS) on the fidelity and impact of individual student behavior support plans in typical school contexts. Three students with patterns of problem behavior and their supporting adults participated in the study. The research question examined if a functional relation exists between use of (a) performance self-assessment and (b) student impact assessment via ISIS-SWIS on the fidelity of behavior support plan implementation by adults and improvement in academic engagement and problem behavior by students. Results indicate the efficacy of ISIS-SWIS in improving treatment fidelity, decreasing student problem behavior, and increasing student academic engagement. Potential contributions of the study are discussed in terms of establishing efficient data systems for schools to use in monitoring staff and student behavior and using these data in a meaningful way that results in improved student outcomes and sustained behavior change.

This program evaluation study examined the relationship between Problem Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) training and technical assistance and educator and implementation outcomes following the first year of a 3-year project. Educators from 40 pilot schools in eight districts participating in the study received ongoing professional development targeting the rationale for the initiative, systems change issues, and the steps of the PS/RtI model. Data on educator beliefs, educator perceived and demonstrated PS/RtI skills, and PS/RtI implementation were collected throughout the year from the 40 pilot schools as well as 33 comparison schools. To examine the relationships between PS/RtI training and technical assistance and preliminary outcomes, a series of multi-level models were conducted. Results of the analyses suggested that the ongoing professional development provided during the first year related to some outcomes. Specifically, PS/RtI training and technical assistance appeared to be positively related to increases in the beliefs and perceived skills of educators. The relationship between professional development activities and other outcomes targeted during the first year (i.e., demonstrated skills and implementation) was unclear. Potential explanations for the findings from this study and implications for future research are discussed.

A small private secondary school in Mexico implemented periodic progress testing with the intention of individualizing education of its students. The relationship between teachers' use of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) data and students' mathematics and reading gain scores was not known. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the frequency of teachers' use of MAP data or student profiles was related to students' MAP mathematics and reading test gain scores between 2 years of test administrations. The theoretical framework for the study was Dewey's, Kolb's, and Vygotsky's ideas on pragmatism and constructivism, which support students' opportunities for growth in learning through realization of their strengths and talents. The mathematics and reading MAP gain scores of 76 students were examined, along with 8 teachers' responses from a questionnaire on teachers' frequency of use of MAP data or student profiles. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance. Results indicated significant differences in students' MAP gain scores in reading when their teachers reported using MAP data at least once per week (F = 4.086, p = 0.001) or online student profiles at least once per month (F = 3.638, p = 0.013). Targeted training videos and materials were created to support teachers' use of MAP results to inform instruction at the study site. Implications for social change include encouraging teachers and administrators to meet the individual needs of students, which may result in increased student reading and mathematics scores, graduation rates, and latitude in vocation selection.

This study aimed to provide evidence of reliability and validity for the 42-item Perceptions of Practices Survey. The scale was designed to assess educators’ perceptions of the extent to which their schools were implementing multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) practices. The survey was initially given as part of a larger evaluation project of a 3-year, statewide initiative designed to evaluate MTSS implementation. Elementary educators (Level-1 n = 2,109, Level-2 n = 62) completed the survey in September/October of 2007, September/October of 2008 (Level-1 n = 1,940, Level-2 n = 61), and January/February of 2010 (Level-1 n = 2,058, Level-2 n = 60). Multilevel exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to examine the construct validity and reliability of the instrument. Results supported a correlated four-factor model: Tiers I & II Problem Solving, Tier III Problem Identification, Tier III Problem Analysis & Intervention Procedures, and Tier III Evaluation of Response to Intervention. Composite reliability estimates for all factors across the three years approximated or exceeded .84. Additionally, relationships were found between the Perceptions of Practices Survey factors and another measure of MTSS implementation, the Tiers I & II Critical Components Checklist. Implications for future research regarding the psychometric properties of the survey and for its use in schools are discussed.

This researcher aimed to determine how data collected from computer-based assessment programs, specifically EasyCBM and AIMSweb, was used in data-driven instruction and used to identify risk levels in math and reading areas proficiency. Data from intervention programs were collected from six participating high schools. The data collection included math and reading universal screening scores and levels of risk indicators from Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels of their response to intervention (RTI) programs. Section A included math data within a baseline score and a risk indicator level. Section B had reading scores with a baseline score and a risk indicator level. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted to determine if significant differences in EasyCBM and AIMSweb exist in student universal screener scores over an academic calendar year. Independent variables included: math and reading universal screener scores, tier level identifiers, and level of risk indicators. Factors that influenced the rates of effectiveness included: interventionist utilization of data, student entry tier levels, and time spent in intervention from the fall to winter benchmarking period.

No description available.

This study examined the extent to which coaching facilitates the successful implementation of the Problem-Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) model in schools, as well as the extent to which coaching enhances the fidelity of implementation of PS/RtI practices in those schools. Data from 34 schools in seven districts participating in three years of a statewide initiative to implement PS/RtI practices with assistance of a PS/RtI coach were used to evaluate the relationship between coaching activities and levels of implementation and integrity outcomes. Data on various coaching-related factors (i.e., perceived coaching quality, coach continuity, frequency and duration of training and technical assistance), educator beliefs and perceived skills, and PS/RtI implementation and fidelity levels were collected and examined utilizing a series of multilevel modeling (MLM) procedures. Results of the analysis suggest that a number of coaching variables were related to growth in specific measures of PS/RtI implementation and fidelity over time. Specifically, shorter, more frequent training sessions were related to higher levels of staff consensus and fidelity of problem analysis implementation over time after controlling for the quality of the coaching delivered. Growth in PS/RtI implementation over time was predicted positively by the continuity (the degree to which coaching was delivered by the same individual over the three years of the study) of the coaching received. Educators' perceptions of their own PS/RtI skill levels related to manipulation of data and use of technology in schools predicted increases in fidelity of problem identification implementation over time after controlling for quality of coaching. Fidelity of program evaluation/RtI implementation was predicted by the quality of coaching received across time. The relationship between coaching and infrastructure development, as well as the relationship between coaching and fidelity of intervention development and implementation, were unclear. Potential explanations for the findings from this exploratory study and implications for future research are discussed.