"Squishy and Movable": Unique Considerations in the Use of Climate Data for School Improvement

• In Event: Data and Research Use for Continuous School Improvement

Abstract

States and districts across the country have increasingly turned to school climate surveys to satisfy requirements for accountability reporting under ESSA. Despite evidence linking school climate to positive educational outcomes, little is known about how practitioners understand and use data from climate surveys to guide school-wide improvement. Administrators and teachers (N=42) from six schools in a large district participated in interviews focused on their engagement with data from the 5Essentials Survey. Findings highlight leaders’ appraisals of instructional capacity and the nature of existing data use routines as factors that shaped how climate data were regarded, interpreted, and acted upon. In the context of accountability, schools struggled to identify actionable insights and enact meaningful changes in response to climate data.

Authors

• Andria Shyjka, Consortium on Chicago School Research At The University of Chicago

• Laura A. Davis, Consortium on Chicago School Research At The University of Chicago