Using qualitative data Look for patterns Example 1. How do new teachers feel about their preparation for entering the classroom? I felt prepared as far as I could write a lesson plan and do some teaching but I was not prepared to deal with that sort of discipline. But I don’t think any class could prepare a person for that. [T]here is a lack of support for some issues because some of my kids are MR,(mentally retarded), they cannot be suspended for certain things that they do and it tends to just be a, ‘Well you need to call home’ kind of issue and it’s put back on us … They can’t read, they can’t write, and so the behavioral problems, which are bad to begin with, are just made geometrically worse, because the kids can’t do the work.

Using qualitative data Look for patterns Example 2. Where do new teachers get classroom support? We are assigned as teams by grade level. That included regular and special ed. We have team meetings two times a week. If you are having trouble with discipline, you could discuss it with your team. We also meet as a special education team in the building once every six days. We could discuss special ed problems that regular ed did not need to be involved with. I like the special ed teachers I work with. We do things socially and that is very important to me. If I am having a bad day, I need to be able to vent and have someone to listen. Well I share the room with another teacher who is very experienced and very knowledgeable so she’s the first person I would ask for guidance. … Actually she was my mentor the first year I taught.

Using qualitative data Triangulate: multiple sources, data types INTERVIEWS So now we’re moving to a place where the district is kind of …that a multidisciplinary group is really driving the decisions that are being made, and how things are being planned and then executed. I think we’re really trying to have a more coordinated effort among departments. I think that we in the past kind of did our own thing, and hoped that it supported or helped other departments. So I think there’s more communication. I think there’s more collaboration. I think there’s more thoughtful planning going into some of the things that we’re doing, we’re looking at. If I do something in Special Services how does that affect other departments? OBSERVATION A particularly relevant example of collaboration occurred in one Strategic Planning Council meeting. During this session, decision-makers reflected on a Special Services departmental meeting in which administrators from other departments participated. The Director of Special Services felt that in that meeting, he had a sense of “not having to go it alone”, that there was a “collective understanding”, and that he wasn’t making decisions “in isolation”. In discussing how that meeting differed from the past, Council members mentioned that in the past, there wasn’t such a high level of information sharing, that politics made some issues off-limits, and that data played a larger role than in past meetings. DOCUMENT ANALYSIS The Strategic Plan clearly states that in order to achieve the district mission, the central office must have “clear and effective” internal and external communication as well as “coordinated operations within and across departments”.

Using qualitative data Use negative evidence (continuing previous example) In contrast to what nearly all decision-makers felt about participation and collaboration under the new culture, one administrator felt that some key individuals were left out of some critical district decisions. This individual argued that those responsible for curricular and instructionally-related issues were in the loop, but that collaboration needs to extend beyond that. She states, “It has to go to the administrative part of it, the other team of people who had to do with personnel, with transportation, and everything because they need to understand the importance of it”. She also notes that the person responsible for Title I is consistently left out of important school improvement processes.