This report sets oat to establish the need for a school-focussed staff development programme within South African schools given the changing educational imperatives in teacher education. It challenges the notion that a person with a university degree or teaching certificate is equipped for lifelong service as a teacher, by addressing the role that institutions can play in promoting professional development. The study focuses on the experiences of one school to evince teacher enhancement strategies. The methodology employs observation, interviews and a questionnaire pertaining to both the success of and the need for school-focussed staff development. The study found that the importance o f staff development increases as teachers develop new rationales and create new strategies to fit their particular context and needs. It further found that giving teachers the opportunity to make instructional innovations enhanced whole school development It stresses the need tor educational authorities to devolve more autonomy to schools, by supporting initiatives which integrate staff development and problem-solving approaches. Lastly, it makes recommendations on the induction o f professional dev elopment to facilitate structural and ideological evolution within schools. By locating this within the case study school, it found links between staff development and school achievement. Finally it stresses the need for schools to design programmes to suit fheir particular context. The study concludes by encouraging further research in the area of school-focussed staff development applicable to the South African context

The goal of this Dissertation in Practice was to design a School Improvement Plan focused on improving reading performance of African American students at Suburban Middle School (SMS). The problem of practice was that African American students at Suburban Middle School have performed significantly lower than their White peers over the course of the 2009-2013 school years in reading performance. The reading deficiencies of African American students needed to be directly addressed in a new School Improvement Plan (SIP). The literature review of this study found that there are many different components that influence the reading performance of African American students. For this Dissertation in Practice, a new School Improvement Plan focused primarily on 6 different areas will be the end result. The components that will be examined are: 1) school climate, 2) utilization of data, 3) parental involvement, 4) professional development, 5) instructional strategies, and 6) collaboration. While these are the 6 key elements of successful models, there were also additional sub groupings within each element that also had an influence on student achievement levels. In addition to examining previous School Improvement Plans at SMS, the end result and final deliverable was a School Improvement Plan designed to close the existing achievement gap in reading between African American students and their peers at SMS. Suggested use for the new model of the School Improvement Plan was to focus specifically on the 6 key elements to address the reading performance of African American students.

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There are local and national cries for high school reform, especially in our at-risk high schools; however, close examination of our at-risk high schools shows some are succeeding despite the odds against them. This is a case study of such a successful, at-risk high school. The National Association of Secondary Schools defines an at-risk school as one having a student population of at least 50% minority students, 50 % free and reduced lunch students, and 90 % or better graduating and being accepted into college. Bright Star High School was chosen because it fits these criteria and it was recognized by school officials inside and outside of the school district for its high student performance on a variety of other student achievement indicators. The collection of data took place over a twelve month period between June 2006 and June 2007. This case study answers two questions: (1) What makes Bright Star High School so successful? (2) How did it become this way? In response to the first question, the findings show that there is not one factor that makes the difference but multiple factors that interact with each other. These factors include: (1) common vision and mission; (2) a safe and secure, small, personalized environment; (3) strong, instructional leadership; (4) a faculty that functions as a learning community; (5) rigorous academic programs and intervention and support strategies (6) parent involvement. The factors identified in this case study are similar to those identified in other successful, at-risk schools and to those reported in related literature and research studies. In response to the second question, the findings show: (1) the Bright Star faculty nurtured a culture that supports and encourages the establishment and maintenance of a collaborative learning community; (2) changes at the district, state, and national levels in graduation requirements, accreditation requirements, and the No Child Left Behind Act had a powerful impact; (3) real change takes time, persistence, patience and an understanding that it is messy and not easy. / Ph. D.

The national push for increased accountability, the demand for academic achievement for all students, as defined by high-stakes testing, and sanctions imposed on public schools create significant challenges for the school principal. The principal is charged with leading improvement efforts to improve student achievement and school effectiveness. Striving for excellence is a collaborative, inquiry-based quest, in which the principal must engage all stakeholders in the development of a productive learning culture designed to improve teaching and learning. To do this, educational practitioners must glean and use improvement strategies from well-grounded theory, educational research, best practices, and evidence-based decision making. This study is an investigation and synthesis of the relationships among leadership behaviors, school culture, and school outcomes, including student achievement, in an effort to determine direct and indirect effects. It is based on the premise that school leadership has a direct effect on school culture, and school culture has a direct effect on school effectiveness, including student achievement. Schein's model of culture was selected as the operational definition of culture. The concept of school climate is based on environmental factors and is included within the larger concept of school culture. The resulting work is the development of a theory of school effectiveness, based on a review of educational research, theory, and best practices synthesized from multiple studies. The work is intended to serve as a resource for those involved in school leadership and school improvement efforts. Evidence for supporting direct effects of leadership on school effectiveness, including student achievement is very limited in the literature. However, results indicate that the principal does have a direct effect on school culture and climate through strategic intervention strategies and behaviors. A review of studies examining the relationships between school culture and student achievement indicate that there is a significant moderate effect between school culture and student achievement in K-12 public schools in the United States. Although there remains limited evidence that the school principal directly affects student achievement, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that school culture is a significant mediating factor between principal leadership and school effectiveness. / Ph. D.

The research study investigated how organizational routines influenced classroom and intervention instruction in a primary school. Educators have used student data for decades but they continue to struggle with the best way to use data to influence instruction. The historical overview of the research highlighted the context of data use from the Effective Schools movement through the No Child Left Behind Act noting the progression of emphasis placed on student data results. While numerous research studies have focused on the use of data, the National Center for Educational Evaluation and Regional Assistance (2009) reported that existing research on the use of data to make instructional decisions does not yet provide conclusive evidence of what practices work to improve student achievement. A descriptive case study methodology was employed to investigate the educational phenomenon of organizational routines implemented for data-driven decision making to influence classroom and intervention instruction. The case study examined a school that faced the macrolevel pressures of school improvement. The study triangulated data from surveys, interviews, and document analysis in an effort to reveal common themes about organizational routines for data-driven decision making. The study participants identified 14 organizational routines as influencing instruction. The interview questions focused on the common themes of (a) curriculum alignment, (b) common assessments, (c) guided reading levels, (d) professional learning communities, and (e) acceleration plans. The survey respondents and interview participants explained how the organizational routines facilitated the use of data by providing (a) focus and direction, (b) student centered instruction, (c) focus on student growth, (d) collaboration and teamwork, (e), flexible grouping of students, and (f) teacher reflection and ownership of all students. Challenges and unexpected outcomes of the organizational routines for data-driven decision making were also discussed. The challenges with the most references included (a) time, (b) too much data (c) data with conflicting information, (d) the pacing guide, and (e) changing teacher attitudes and practices. Ultimately, a data-driven culture was cultivated within the school that facilitated instructional adjustments resulting in increased academic achievement. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine how federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds were allocated and what differences existed between allocation patterns and overall student achievement outcomes as measured by annual measurable objectives (AMOs) established by the Virginia Board of Education in schools denied accreditation and those attaining full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. School reform in K-12 education has seen many changes. The federal government has intervened, implementing stringent mandates for increased student achievement and sanctions for school divisions not meeting the required benchmarks. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, schools not meeting annual measurable objectives (AMOs) in the content areas of reading and mathematics or graduation rates for high schools are identified in one of three categories: priority, focus, or as a Title I or Non-Title I school that has not met one or more of the AMOs (Virginia Department of Education, 2014). Schools designated as priority received 1003(a) and/or 1003(g) federal school improvement grant funding to implement research-based school reform initiatives. The goal of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the relationship between SIG funding and overall student achievement that will add to the current research. The population studied was schools identified as denied accreditation within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additionally, comparable data were examined from ten priority schools previously accredited with warning that became fully accredited while under school improvement sanctions. Accreditation ratings from the 2013-2014 school year were utilized. Descriptive statistics revealed differences existed among allocation patterns in the group of schools denied accreditation and the group of priority schools that achieved full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests revealed SIG funding had a positive impact on student outcomes in reading among the group of schools denied accreditation and the group of priority schools that achieved full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. Findings indicated mathematics student outcomes did not experience the same benefit from SIG funding. / Ed. D.