Data-Driven Leadership

Tools and techniques from the trailblazers in data-based education reform

Over a period of several years, Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park visited public schools with a reputation for being ahead of the pack in data-driven decision making. The results of this pioneering study reveal how education leaders can make data work for students and teachers, rather than against them.

This book is an essential guide to meeting the challenges of high-stakes accountability, building performance-based schools, and improving student outcomes. By following the advice in this book, you’ll be able to transform data overload into a data-positive school culture. You’ll learn the difference between “data-driven leadership” and “data-informed leadership,” and how to use distributed leadership to inspire collaboration and guided analysis.

Incorporating narrative reflections drawn from real educators and administrators, the authors refine their observations and interviews into practical conclusions that leaders can put to use immediately. This book empowers leaders to support inquiry, build trust in data-based initiatives, establish goals for evidence use, and provide educators with the skills they need to mobilize data for the good of all stakeholders.

“Datnow and Park’s ideas are easily accessible and grounded in clear examples, and their seven ‘calls’ about what needs to be done nail the problem and the solutions. Use this book as your action guide and you’ll be rewarded with better results in student learning.”

—Michael Fullan, professor emeritus, University of Toronto

“Datnow and Park uncover, at last, what it means to use data to inform leadership. Documenting the four P’s (people, policies, practices, and patterns) in schools, we learn about the organization and dynamics of reform informed by data. A must read!”

—Ann Lieberman, senior scholar, Stanford University

The Authors ix

Acknowledgments x

Chapter 1 The Promise and Pitfalls of Data-Driven Decision Making 1

Chapter 2 The Four Ps of Educational Reform: People, Policies, Practices, and Patterns 25

Chapter 3 Reculturing for Data Use 45

Chapter 4 Goals, Routines, and Tools for Data Use 67

Chapter 5 Using Data for Instructional Improvement 95

Chapter 6 Facing the Future with Data-Informed Leadership 117

Appendix Characteristics of Case Study Schools and Districts 129

Notes 131

Index 145

AMANDA DATNOW is a professor in the Department of Education Studies at the University of California, San Diego.

VICKI PARK is assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at San José State University.

Tools and techniques from the trailblazers in data-based education reform

Over a period of several years, Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park visited public schools with a reputation for being ahead of the pack in data-driven decision making. The results of this pioneering study reveal how education leaders can make data work for students and teachers, rather than against them.

This book is an essential guide to meeting the challenges of high-stakes accountability, building performance-based schools, and improving student outcomes. By following the advice in this book, you’ll be able to transform data overload into a data-positive school culture. You’ll learn the difference between “data-driven leadership” and “data-informed leadership,” and how to use distributed leadership to inspire collaboration and guided analysis.

Incorporating narrative reflections drawn from real educators and administrators, the authors refine their observations and interviews into practical conclusions that leaders can put to use immediately. This book empowers leaders to support inquiry, build trust in data-based initiatives, establish goals for evidence use, and provide educators with the skills they need to mobilize data for the good of all stakeholders.

“Datnow and Park’s ideas are easily accessible and grounded in clear examples, and their seven ‘calls’ about what needs to be done nail the problem and the solutions. Use this book as your action guide and you’ll be rewarded with better results in student learning.”

—Michael Fullan, professor emeritus, University of Toronto

“Datnow and Park uncover, at last, what it means to use data to inform leadership. Documenting the four P’s (people, policies, practices, and patterns) in schools, we learn about the organization and dynamics of reform informed by data. A must read!”

—Ann Lieberman, senior scholar, Stanford University