Research, Data, or Experience? Examining the Influences of School Leaders' Decisions When Supporting Teachers

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Grow Your Teachers, Grow Your Schools: Improving Teacher Practice as a Means of School Reform (Table 23)

Abstract

School leaders have a significant role in driving school improvement efforts, particularly through their effective use of evidence. Yet, the literature is thin regarding how school leaders engage with evidence and the extent to which that evidence influences their decisions. Leveraging survey data from over 50 school leaders, we examine the influence of various sources of evidence on school leaders’ decisions around supporting teachers and factors associated with the degree to which research and data influence those decisions. Findings suggested that school leaders’ decisions were influenced by multiple sources of evidence to varying degrees and that some decisions may have greater potential to be evidence-based.

Authors

• Latrice Marianno, University of Delaware

• Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware

• Laura M. Desimone, University of Delaware