Tools

The research tools used by those in the Center for Educational Leadership and Policy at Western Michigan University aim at assisting the implementation team and project consultants in examining the various data streams within K-12 schools and collaboratively developing a framework of protocols, processes and systemic responses that make student data meaningful, useful and powerful tools to improve student achievement. We developed two unique tools on data-informed decision-making for the statewide initiatives funded by the Wallace Foundation:

  1. Data-Informed Decision-Making: A Guidebook for Data Points and Analyses in the Context of Michigan School Improvement Framework 
    A tool that was developed mainly by WMU faculty and was incorporated into the Michigan Department of Education's Michigan School Improvement Toolbox for school improvement team to use data to engage in school improvement.
  2. Data-Informed Decision-Making on High-Impact Strategies: A Measurement Tool for School Principals
    A tool that measures the extent to which principals engage in data-informed decision-making in those areas that are empirically associated with student achievement.