Evaluating School Improvement Plans and their Affect on Academic Performance

Abstract

The development of a school improvement plan (SIP) has become an integral part of many school reform efforts. However, there are almost no studies that empirically examine the effectiveness of SIPs. The few studies examining the planning activities of organizations have generally focused on the private sector and have not provided clear or consistent evidence that such planning is effective. Some studies have even suggested formal planning can lead to inflexible and myopic practices or may simply waste time and resources. This study explores the relationship between the quality of SIPs and school performance by examining a unique dataset from the Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation. The study finds that, even when controlling for a variety of factors, there is a strong and consistent association between the quality of school planning and overall student performance in math and reading.

School improvement plans and student achievement: Preliminary evidence from the Quality and Merit Project in Italy

“…Although the guides and templates vary greatly across states, SIPs share several commonalities and are frequently described in a similar fashion where staff analyze problems, identify underlying causes, establish measurable goals, incorporate strategies and adopt policies that directly address the problems, and monitor implementation (US Department of Education, 2006). For instance, the SIP should directly address the problems which caused the school to be identified for school improvement, incorporate improvement strategies based on scientific research, establish specific and measurable objectives for progress and improvement, identify who is responsible for implementation of strategies and include strategies to promote professional development and parental involvement (Fernandez, 2011). Indeed, as suggested by the Education Improvement Commission (2000), student performance improves when teachers use curriculum-delivery strategies which specifically address the needs of their students, when the school environment is positive, and when parents are involved in their children's education.…”

Efeitos do Plano de Desenvolvimento da Escola nos resultados escolares

“…Fernandez (2011) discute os argumentos a favor e contra a adoção dessa polí-tica educativa. Entre os argumentos a favor, estão aqueles relacionados com o potencial ganho para as escolas com esse tipo de experiência e a possibilidade de iniciar um processo de aprendizagem contínuo que permita à escola monitorar suas práticas, processos e resultados de forma a apontar caminhos para melhoria, bem como desenvolver a capacidade de adaptar-se aos novos desafios.…”

“…Isso porque a elaboração desse tipo de plano requer capacidades técnicas que as escolas, em geral, não possuem (LEVINE; LEIBERT, 1987). Outros estudos sugerem que essa estratégia poderia levar a práticas inflexíveis e centradas em um pensamento de curto prazo, especialmente para os casos nos quais a elaboração do plano é obrigatória (FERNANDEZ, 2011;MINTZBERG, 1994).…”

Planning as strategy for improving Black and Latinx student equity: Lessons from nine California community colleges

“…First, we developed an assessment framework to evaluate the student equity plans based on previous studies (Felix et al, 2018;Fernandez, 2011;Strunk et al, 2016). The use of an assessment framework was helpful in reducing lengthy educational plans into manageable data, allowed for standard evaluation, and provided a guide to code and categorize data based on different variables.…”