Advancing equity in accountability and organizational cultures of data use
| Published date | 03 July 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-09-2016-0108 |
| Date | 03 July 2017 |
| Pages | 361-375 |
| Author | Nora Gannon-Slater,Priya G. La Londe,Hope L. Crenshaw,Margaret E. Evans,Jennifer C. Greene,Thomas A. Schwandt |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Advancing equity in
accountability and organizational
cultures of data use
Nora Gannon-Slater
Department of Performance and Data Analytics, Breakthrough Charter Schools,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Priya G. La Londe
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Georgetown University, Washington,
District of Columbia, USA
Hope L. Crenshaw
Department of Education Policy Organization and Leadership,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Margaret E. Evans
Department of Educational Studies, Illinois Wesleyan University,
Bloomington, Illinois, USA, and
Jennifer C. Greene and Thomas A. Schwandt
Department of Educational Psychology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Data use cultures in schools determine data use practices. Such cultures can be muted by
powerful macro accountability and organizational learning cultures. Further, strong equity-oriented data use
cultures are challenging to establish. The purpose of this paper is to engage these cultural tensions.
Design/methodology/approach –The data discourse and decisions of four grade-level teams in two
elementary schools in one district were studied through observation of 62 grade-level meetings over the
course of a year. The observations focused on “data talk,”defined as the structure and content of team
conversations about interim student performance data.
Findings –Distinct macro cultures of accountability and organizational learning existed in the two schools.
The teams’own data use cultures partly explained the absence of a focus on equity, and none of the teams
used student performance data to make instructional decisions in support of the district’s equity aims.
Leadership missed opportunities to cultivate an equity-focused data use culture.
Practical implications –School leaders who advocate that equity importantly guides data use routines, and
can anticipate how cultures of accountability or organizational learning “show up”in data use conversations, will
be better prepared to redirect teachers’interpretations of data and clarify expectations of equity reform initiatives.
Originality/value –This study is novel in its concept of “data talk,”which provided a holistic but nuanced
account of data use practices in grade-level meetings.
Keywords Case studies, Professional learning communities, Equity, Accountability, Data use
Paper type Research paper
Globally, in places such as the Netherlands (Kuiper and Schildkamp, 2010), New Zealand
(Lai and McNaughton, 2016), and Canada (Schnellert et al., 2008), education systems are
embracing two cultures of data use –one for accountability and one for organizational learning
(Firestone and Gonzalez, 2007). Firestone and Gonzalez (2007) suggest that accountability
cultures and organizational learning cultures largely determine data use practices:
Both take the need for organizational change seriously, but their motivations for and understanding of
needed changes are different. The first culture [accountability] is reactive and driven by the need to
raisetestscoresasanendinitself.Thesecond[organizational learning] is more proactive, views test
scores as an indicator, and seeks to improve student learning (Firestone and Gonzalez, 2007, p. 141).
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 55 No. 4, 2017
pp. 361-375
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-09-2016-0108
Received 25 September 2016
Revised 18 April 2017
Accepted 19 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
361
Advancing
equity
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