Chapter 11: Working With Actionable Data by Assessing Distributed Instructional Leadership:

In the current information age and era of high stakes accountability, policymakers as well as state and district leaders continue to promote the use of data to assess school progress and school leadership effectiveness (Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008; Elmore, 2000). More and more, aspiring principals are being trained to be data-driven instructional leaders (Halverson, Grigg, Prichett, & Thomas, 2007), and teachers are encouraged to use data to inform their teaching practice. Much of the data utilized by school leaders are summative of student learning. While summative student learning data are the currency that trades in the educational realm, the nature of the data does not directly support school improvement work. We look to leadership to drive school improvement forward, and we also expect school leaders to use data to inform this work. However, is the pervasive use of summative student learning data enough to drive school improvement? What other data could and should be considered to enhance instruction and student learning?