Although data driven-decision making has been the mantra of school reform for the last 10 years, school leaders benefit from frequent discussions in how to engage teachers in the process. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to apply Reeves' (2004) framework concerning Antecedents of Excellence in creating a school culture that routinely uses…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

As state policymakers strive to ensure that every student is taught by an effective teacher and is ready for college and 21st-century careers, they must also make drastic budget cuts. States cannot do more with less without collecting and using quality data to determine which programs and policies increase student achievement and the state's…

Data use and decision-making--these two phrases have appeared together in probably hundreds of education articles and have been the topic of a host of presentations during the past decade. In addition, research studies have confirmed the importance of data-informed decision-making to school improvement. Thus, school leaders have found it makes…

This paper, written from an organizational perspective, begins with an examination of the deficiencies of knowledge utilization and educational change literature. It suggests the explication of descriptive and heuristic conceptual dimensions as one approach for facilitating a descriptive perspective of knowldge utilization. The efficacy of three…

It is relatively easy to gather data but to disseminate and ensure utilization of that data in a way which will induce meaningful change is not so easy. In exploring the reasons for the apparent resistance to social change, a series of three dissemination activities were organized for school personnel using materials developed on the work…

In May of 1970, a 1-week workshop brought together vocational educators, information science experts, and specialists in planned educational change for the purpose of developing models of information systems designed to utilize research and development information in bringing about innovations designed to facilitate vocational-technical education…

Feedback is discussed in relation to measuring the change process, a three-step procedure of dialogue, decision-making, and action-taking. Measurement problems resulting from feedback are presented. (AG)

During the 2002-2003 academic year, six roundtables were held to explore uses of the data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for improvement of student learning. This paper describes the roundtable discussion held in October 2002 at the Professional Organizational Development conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirteen faculty…

Some of the problems preventing maximum utilization of new research knowledge and products are discussed. A proposed strategy for production, distribution, installation, and utilization includes (1) financing and managing the production of the final product form; (2) selecting strategies for increasing product awareness and user motivation; (3)…

The evolution of college and university planning is examined through a review of theory and a case study of DePaul University (Illinois). The discussion focuses on the evolving role for institutional research in strategic decision making and the new skills and knowledge researchers need to support strategic planning more effectively. (MSE)

The state of the art in the implementation of education innovation is assessed in three parts: (1) the identification of promising theories, important issues, and proven implementation strategies with emphasis on practical implications; (2) a review of research directly related to the development and implementation of new occupational education…

Change processes at the school building level are considered in order to formulate a number of locally based strategies, derived from research, for significantly improving schools and classrooms. Part I of the three-part analysis examines, through illustration, what is known about successful change processes at the school and classroom levels.…

The basic goal of the "linkage agent" or research utilization agent is to facilitate the use of educational research and development to improve educational practice. This task may be conceptualized by a "system" or a "process" model. Successful work in the field of research utilization must encompass elements of both models. In this context, the…

Public education in our big cities across the country is fighting for its life. In most urban centers, school systems are faced with enormous deficits in their operating budgets, and there is no tax relief in sight. If we, together, are to rescue public education from its imminent danger of extinction, we must resolve to abandon the present course…