Award Date

12-15-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education

First Committee Member

Megan Griffard

Second Committee Member

Miguel Gonzales

Third Committee Member

Maria Roberts

Fourth Committee Member

Gerilyn Slicker

Number of Pages

134

Abstract

School leaders significantly impact student outcomes based on their ability to influence school culture, climate, and student engagement. They are essential for driving school achievement and instructional improvement. As educational policies increasingly emphasize data usage, leaders must utilize various data sources in a problem-solving process known as datainformed decision-making (DIDM) to effectively guide their school improvement plans. Using DIDM effectively can enhance instruction and student achievement when school administrators and teachers have access to quality training that builds a strong foundation in data literacy skills. It is critical for administrators to provide high-quality professional development for teachers on DIDM to foster improvements in instruction and student outcomes. However, many school administrators report needing additional training and knowledge in DIDM (Darling-Hammond et al., 2022). This creates a challenging deficit in schools and districts with limited resources and administrators who lack a solid knowledge base.

Despite DIDM’s importance to school needs and alignment to current educational policy, a gap exists in the school leader’s ability to implement it. This raises questions about how well current principal preparation programs address this priority. This qualitative research study aims to understand the opportunities for future school leaders to learn and apply DIDM in their school leadership preparation programs. The methodology for this study is designed to explore the significance of DIDM within an urban university's leadership preparation program, focusing on understanding recently graduated students' perceptions and attitudes toward DIDM's emphasis in their educational journey. By purposefully selecting students from a large urban research university in the Southwestern United States, this study aims to provide nuanced insights into the iv experiences and perspectives of aspiring school leaders regarding DIDM within the educational system.

Keywords

Aspiring School Leaders; Data-Informed Decision-Making; Decision-Making; Principal Preparation; Principals; School Improvement

Disciplines

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Leadership

File Format

PDF

File Size

3800 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS