Data use within an education-centered cross-sector collaboration
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-08-2018-0150 |
| Published date | 08 April 2019 |
| Date | 08 April 2019 |
| Pages | 118-133 |
| Author | Donald G. Hackmann,Joel R. Malin,Joonkil Ahn |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Data use within an
education-centered
cross-sector collaboration
Donald G. Hackmann
Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Joel R. Malin
Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University,
Oxford, Ohio, USA, and
Joonkil Ahn
Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine data use practices within a cross-sector initiative
involving high school career academies. It discerns how partners used data to assess the public value of
academies and address equity concerns.
Design/methodology/approach –A case study methodology was applied to examine cross-sector
activities supporting the district’s career academy reform. Data were collected through interviews,
observations and document analysis. Datnow and Park’s (2018) conceptual framework involving key equity
dimensions guided the analysis.
Findings –Partners used data for both accountability and continuous improvement. Educators were
required to document student growth for state accountability purposes, while providing evidence of the
public value of the academies to the community. Data use for continuous improvement included identifying
annual goals to improve academy performance. There was a lack of a district-wide focus on equity, with
educators taking a passive approach to academy and career pathway selections by student subgroups.
Practical implications –The findings provide insights into data use practices school and district leaders
can implement to ensure equitable student participation in career academies and appropriate data use within
cross-sector collaborations.
Social implications –Studentswho are traditionally underrepresented in careerfields, including studentsof
color and females,need intentional effortsto encourage their participationin high-skill, high-wagecareer fields.
Originality/value –This study identifies critical issues involved with data use for equity when promoting
education-centered cross-sector collaboration, while also highlighting existing tensions between data use for
accountability and continuous improvement.
Keywords Equity, Accountability, Cross-sector collaboration, Data use, Educational reform,
College and career readiness
Paper type Research paper
Throughout the past few decades, educational leaders have been involved in numerous
initiatives. One significant reform involves the use of data to support school improvement
(Datnow et al., 2013). Although some evidence suggests data can be productively leveraged
to support student learning (see Poortman and Schildkamp, 2016), tensions related to data
use –and misuse –exist, such that is clear it must be studied and understood in a nuanced
manner. In the USA, for example, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) introduced
high-stakes testing mandates related to students’attainment of learning targets, requiring
that school leaders and teachers reduce achievement gaps for historically underrepresented
student subgroups. Though NCLB stimulated educators’data use, it also placed the
emphasis squarely upon summative measures and has elicited narrowed curricular
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 57 No. 2, 2019
pp. 118-133
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-08-2018-0150
Received 25 August 2018
Revised 7 December 2018
10 January 2019
11 January 2019
Accepted 11 January 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
118
JEA
57,2
offerings and other questionable practices (e.g. an emphasis on “bubble kids”who tested
near proficiency cut-points; Datnow and Park, 2018).
Concurrent with the data use emphasis, a related US policy push involves efforts to
strengthen K-12 students’preparation for college and careers (Malin et al., 2017). The US labor
market demands an increasingly educated workforce, requiring workers to complete some
post-secondary education and earn industry-recognized credentials (Carnevale et al., 2016). The
2015 NCLB reauthorization, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), prioritizes college and
career readiness (CCR), encouraging cross-sector collaborations (e.g. internships, work-based
learning opportunities) to support this preparation (Malin et al., 2017). CCR approaches can take
several forms, including expanding high school students’access to advanced coursework (e.g.
Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and dual credit coursework), Career
and Technical Education (CTE) programs of study offering industry credentials, Early College
high schools and career academies. Both rigorous academic and career-focused courses are
emphasized, facilitating high school graduates’transitions into post-secondary education,
military enlistments or workforce settings. Fromanequityperspective,CCRadvocatescite
concerns about historically underrepresented students’preparation for post-secondary
education. For example, for the 2018 national high school graduating class, Asian American
and white students were much more likely to attain college readiness benchmarks on the ACT
(2018) examination, leading officials to conclude, “college readiness levels remain dismal for
underserved learners (low-income, minority, and/or first-generation college students)”(p. 2).
CCR-focused policies often entail cross-sector components involving higher education,
businesses/industries and civic organizations working in partnership with school districts
to develop career-oriented learning experiences for students. Cross-sector collaborations
feature “the linking or sharing of information, resources, activities, and capabilities by
organizations in two or more sectors to achieve jointly an outcome that could not be
achieved by organizations in one sector separately”(Bryson et al., 2006, p. 44). Such
initiatives necessitate data usage, so partners can demonstrate their public value (Bryson
et al., 2015); concerning education-centered collaborations, data also are used for state
accountability purposes. CCR proponents underscore the importance of data use for equity,
given historic race-, class- and gender-based inequities in both access and attainment
(Darling-Hammond et al., 2014). However, a problem exists, in that data use studies typically
focus solely on education contexts; cross-sector collaborations involving education
initiatives have not been fully examined.
In this study, we sought to understand data use as part of an ambitious, cross-sector CCR
reform involving the development and support of high school career academies in an urban
school district. The career academy structure is a “school-within-a-school or small learning
community (SLC) that provides a college-preparatory curriculum with a career-related
theme”(Stern et al., 2010, p. 4). In this model, groups of students typically take several
career-focused classes (e.g. health science, agriculture) taught by a team of teachers, and
partnerships including employers, colleges, businesses and community organizations
provide work-based learning opportunities and adult mentors (Brand, 2009). The first career
academy opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1969, with over 7,000 academies
currently operating across the USA (Castellano et al., 2017). We emphasize data use for
equity, given CCR advocates’concerns regarding access for historically underrepresented
students as well as our emergent concerns related to academy reforms (e.g. Malin and
Hackmann, 2017a). We explored two questions:
RQ1. In what ways are school leaders and cross-sector partners using data to assess the
public value of the career academy initiative?
RQ2. To what extent are school leaders and cross-sector partners addressing equity as
part of their data use and reporting practices?
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Education-
centered
cross-sector
collaboration
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