Access to Expertise: Data-Driven Accountability, School Leadership, and Teacher Social Capital

• In Event: The Role of Social Networking in School Leadership

Abstract

Using data from a multi-method comparative case study of two matched schools, this paper adds to the growing body of applications of social network analysis to study school leadership. We find that teachers’ access to the expertise necessary for data use for instructional improvement is critical to address their sense of data-driven anxiety. We also find that the structure of these networks responds to leadership priorities. Moreover, the centralized environment observed in a school which collectively adopted a single curricular program provided access to data analysis skills that are less readily available to teachers in a discretionary environment. A prescriptive approach to data-driven leadership allows for teachers to access resources in response to student needs and achieves specific goals.

Authors

• Yi-Hwa Liou, National Taipei University of Education

• Jeffrey A. Grigg, Johns Hopkins University

• Richard R. Halverson, University of Wisconsin - Madison