Data-Driven Leadership

Chapter 5

Using Data for Instructional Improvement

As she contemplated her move from one high school to another to take on the role of math department chair, Darlene was struck by the differences at the two schools in terms of students' math proficiency scores on the state's standardized test. Both schools had seen math proficiency rise over the past four years, but the scores at Knox, her new school, remained abysmally low. About to assume the position of department chair, Darlene realized that she would need to quickly wrap her head around the discrepancies. The differences appear in table 5.1.

Darlene knew well that the two schools served rather different student populations, though both were very diverse. Eighty-five percent of the students ...