2. ANALYZE
ANALYZING YOUR RESULTS
SCTWCS data concerning shared governance (i.e., teacher engagement in decision-making) provides valuable insights into the dynamics within your school or district. Exploration of this data will assist your team in gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges teachers encounter engaging in and/or influencing decision-making in their building or district. A logical starting point is to examine the results from the SCTWCS, focusing on the Shared Governance (or Influence Over School Policy) section. The insights formed by your analysis should be integrated into your existing improvement efforts to ensure strategies are in line with current efforts and to avoid undue burden on teachers. The goal of this work is to increase teacher influence in shared governance and decision-making without introducing additional significant demands on their time.
SCTWCS Data
Within SCTWCS data, the Shared Governance condition measures the degree to which teachers perceive their input is heard and included in decisions made about policies at their schools. It is important to note that while teachers want to have the opportunity to provide input that influences school policy, that does not necessarily mean they want to make the decisions.
Across the state of South Carolina, teachers’ ability to influence decision-making and school policy is strongly linked to job satisfaction and their intent to stay in the profession (Starrett, et al., 2023). See the table below. As a result, schools and districts who choose to focus on this working condition are more likely to affect both teacher satisfaction and retention.
Dots indicate significant correlation between certain working conditions and outcomes of teachers’ experiences, according to analysis of SCTWCS data.
CONDITION: SHARED GOVERNANCE
Let’s take a closer look at the survey items included within this condition. Use Worksheet 2 to capture the average score from your district/school dashboard for each item. Once the first two columns are complete, engage in a discussion with your team about which items represent an area of strength and which represent an opportunity for growth. Also, discuss the criteria on which you based your responses. Come to a consensus with the team about the greatest area of strength and greatest opportunity for growth. This information will be used later in this toolkit when your team selects an area of focus.
Worksheet 2: Analyzing items within shared governance
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Team Reflection Protocol: Snowball Discussion
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In pairs, discuss and capture notes about the following questions:
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What are likely some contributing factors to your area of greatest strength?
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What structures are in place that may account for that area of strength?
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Next, each pair joins another pair, creating a group of four to share their answers.
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Finally, groups of four join back together with the whole group to capture key discussion takeaways using Worksheet 3.
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Begin the snowball discussion again using the second set of questions.
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Pairs discuss and capture notes around the following:
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How might your team leverage the area of greatest strength to address an opportunity for growth?
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What structures or supports from your area of strength might carry over to the opportunity for growth?
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Each pair joins another pair, creating a group of four to further the discussion.
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Finally, all team members join together to capture key takeaways using Worksheet 3.
Worksheet 3: Leveraging Your Strength
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