Graduation Semester and Year

Spring 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Elsa Camargo

Second Advisor

Leaf Zhang

Third Advisor

Jennifer Watters

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores how data-driven decision-making influences school culture at a Title I elementary school in Texas. Grounded in the conceptual frameworks of data-driven decision-making (Gill et al., 2014) and transformational leadership (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005), this study investigated how school leaders and staff implement, interpret, and sustain data practices within a high-accountability context. Using a phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with the principal, assistant principal, two instructional specialists, and three teachers, and artifacts were collected for data triangulation. The findings revealed that effective data use is cultivated through immersive, contextualized professional learning, collaborative systems, leadership modeling, and routines of consistency. Five major themes emerged: (a) personalized professional learning for data literacy, (b) a culture of collaborative data use, (c) systems of consistency and routine around data use and analysis, (d) shared vision and strategic leadership, and (e) balancing accountability with emotional safety. These findings illustrate the presence of a data culture at Apple Elementary that extended beyond compliance and created a culture of transparency, shared ownership, and student growth. The study contributes to the existing literature by emphasizing the central role of leadership in shaping data culture, highlighting the emotional dimensions of data use, and offering implications for policy, leadership preparation, and professional development in data-rich educational settings.

Disciplines

Educational Leadership | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Available for download on Monday, November 10, 2025

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