discussion question

1 . How can educational leaders use data to affect change and improve academic performance

Levels of academic performance differ among students and in to bridge the gap and improve general academic performance , educators must obtain data for (1 ) use as a baseline in which to compare and monitor the performance of students (2 ) assessing the factors that facilitated or inhibited academic performance in the past in to identify potential areas of improvement (3 ) assessing the specific learning needs and styles of individual students which will serve as basis for adopting appropriate

teaching methods and learner objectives and (4 providing feedback for the community and family which are units that provide support for learners (Petrides , 2006 . By obtaining and analyzing various data and synthesizing these into plans of actions for changing weak areas in the teaching-learning process , educational leaders can increase the level of academic performance

2 . How can schools effectively evaluate the outcomes of change

Schools can effectively evaluate the outcomes of instituted changes by designing an evaluation process wherein quantitative and qualitative data are derived at the end of the intervention time frame . These data are compared to the baseline gathered prior to the intervention and in this manner the increase or decrease in the different areas of student academic performance can be concluded as well as the impacts of these changes on the students and the school (Davis , 2007 . It is helpful if monitoring has been regularly conducted within the course of the program implemented for change as this makes evaluation a lot easier , more in-depth and less time-consuming . Teachers ' participation in evaluation activities also makes it effective as it is they who deal directly with students and have first hand information regarding them List of References

Davis , S .H (2007 . Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice What 's Good , What 's Bad , and How Can One Be Sure . Phi Delta Kappan 88 . Retrieved 27 April 2008 from http /www .questia .com

Petrides , L . A (2006 . Using Data to Support School Reform : New Technologies Have Made Data Gathering Easier Than Ever . Educators Now Must Confront One Big Question How Can the Data Be Used to Improve Student Achievement . Technological Horizons in Education , 33 Retrieved 27 April 2008 from http /www .questia .com

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