Effect size = .40 (Leithwood, 2011) Deliberate and Consistent Use of Multiple Sources of Evidence To Inform Decisions Effect size = .40 (Leithwood, 2011)

From “Strong Districts” and the “District Effectiveness Framework”… Have efficient and effective information management systems Provide schools with relevant evidence about their performance Assist schools in using evidence to improve their performance

High Performing School Systems……… Create collaborative structures and opportunities for the interpretation of evidence in schools; Call on expertise from outside the school system for help with data interpretation when needed;

High Performing School Systems……… Use appropriate evidence for accounting to stakeholders Make effective use of existing research to guide policy making and planning. Going deeper……

Data Use Framework (Anderson, Leithwood & Strauss, 2010) Types of 1. 1Types of Evidence -Nature -Breadth Processes for interpreting evidence for Interpreting Evidence Decisions a& Actions Actions Student learning Learning Conditions Factors Influencing Uses of of Evidence Data Use Framework (Anderson, Leithwood & Strauss, 2010)

Nature of Evidence No “evidence-free” decisions in schools—ever!! but clinical, informal, impressionistic, unobtrusive vs. systematic, codified, formal, objective, obtrusive Policy context favors the latter, but there are tradeoffs and the contributions of the latter are not well documented Are you sensitive to the tradeoffs being made in your district?

(Finnegan et al, 2012) 64.10 % 52.00 51.50 4 0.40 3 9.90 8.90 35. 90 32.3 31.3 28.30 27.80 19.20 16.70 50.00 100.00 0.00 Student performance data Research/evaluations conducted in my school/district District administrators Professional associations Education books Local experts Higher education faculty Staff at another school Non academic student outcome data Research/evaluations published in scholarly journals Think tank or federal/state department of education reports Research/evaluations published in practitioner journals Popular press Web- based clearinghouses or listserves Educational blogs Figure 1. Most frequently consulted evidence types/sources before school makes improvement decision

How broad is the evidence typically used in your district? Breadth of Evidence Typically, a high proportion is limited to the status of current student achievement which is crucial but narrow --in addition-- Status of conditions or variables that mediate the teacher’s and administrator’s influence on student learning and well being Formal research evidence about effective practice How broad is the evidence typically used in your district?

Conditions Influencing Uses of Evidence Accessibility and timeliness Perceived validity Capacity and support for interpreting data --as well as-- Time available to interpret and act on data Procedures and tools for collecting data What is the status of these conditions in your schools? (Ikemoto & Marsh, 2007)

And District Efforts… Providing data in easily accessible forms Creating opportunities for networking and sharing between schools about data, its’ interpretation and how it might be used Modeling effective data use (Daly, 2012)

District Efforts (cont.)… Providing incentives for data use Establishing norms of data use and continuous improvement (“an evaluation habit of mind”) What is your district doing about these things? (Datnow et al, 2008; Honig & Venkateswaran, 2012; Earl & Katz, 2002)

Processes for Interpreting Evidence Effectiveness depends on: Number of data sources Nature and extent of analysis --and-- Who is involved in interpretation & use --as well as-- Number of data points Range of contexts for data use

How does data get used in your district? Decisions and Actions Justifying existing practices Challenging existing practices Providing insights about how to do things differently --and-- Symbolic, conceptual and instrumental uses Superficial vs. deeper, more nuanced uses How does data get used in your district? (Finnegan et al, 2012) Insights about how to do things differently