Understanding School Improvement Planning in Practice: Insights From a University-District Research-Practice Partnership

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Improving Schools, Improving School Leaders: Exploring the Possibilities for Equity (Table 19)

Abstract

To spur continuous improvement, some states have mandated schools to prepare annual improvement plans. However, little is known about how school improvement planning actually happens in practice. Within a research-practice partnership between a high-needs Massachusetts district and university, this study examines when and how school improvement planning takes place, who is involved, and challenges faced. From interviews with 15 principals and their schools’ improvement plans, we find improvement planning heavily constrained by mandated plans for accountability. Within these constraints, improvement planning tends to occur during a narrow time window, rely on assessment data, address myriad goals within pre-set priority areas, and involve teachers or community stakeholders only nominally. We discuss implications for how improvement planning can enable continuous improvement.

Authors

• Abeer Hakouz, University of Massachusetts - Lowell

• Elizabeth Zumpe, University of Oklahoma

• Derrick Dzormeku, University of Massachusetts - Lowell