Codebusters Test School Improvement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A school's improvement goal states: 'Increase the percentage of students scoring proficient in math from 54% to 70% by June.' This is an example of a:
- Vague aspiration
- SMART goal (Correct answer)
- Process goal
- Compliance requirement
Correct answer: SMART goal
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—this goal meets all five criteria.
Question 2: Which stakeholder group is most commonly underrepresented in school improvement planning yet most affected by outcomes?
- Teachers
- Students (Correct answer)
- Central office administrators
- School board members
Correct answer: Students
Students are the primary beneficiaries of school improvement but are frequently left out of the planning process.
Question 3: The 'Plan-Do-Study-Act' (PDSA) cycle is used in school improvement primarily to:
- Evaluate teacher effectiveness annually
- Test small changes iteratively before scaling them (Correct answer)
- Satisfy state reporting requirements
- Allocate Title I funding
Correct answer: Test small changes iteratively before scaling them
PDSA is a continuous improvement methodology that tests changes on a small scale, studies results, and refines before broader implementation.
Question 4: Under ESSA, schools identified for 'Comprehensive Support and Improvement' (CSI) are typically those that:
- Have a new principal in their first year
- Are among the lowest 5% of performers in the state (Correct answer)
- Failed a single year of proficiency targets
- Have high teacher turnover rates
Correct answer: Are among the lowest 5% of performers in the state
ESSA designates the lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools, plus those with consistently underperforming subgroups, for CSI status.
Question 5: A school improvement team wants to use a 'root cause analysis.' What is the PRIMARY purpose of this process?
- Assigning blame for poor test scores
- Identifying the underlying factors driving a problem (Correct answer)
- Creating a new grading policy
- Documenting compliance with regulations
Correct answer: Identifying the underlying factors driving a problem
Root cause analysis digs beneath surface symptoms to find the fundamental reasons a problem exists so solutions can address it directly.
Question 6: Which data type would MOST help a school understand why chronic absenteeism has increased this year?
- State standardized test scores from two years ago
- Interviews with chronically absent students and families (Correct answer)
- Teacher certification records
- School construction timelines
Correct answer: Interviews with chronically absent students and families
Qualitative data from students and families reveals the reasons behind absenteeism, guiding targeted solutions.
Question 7: A school adopts a new literacy curriculum but sees no improvement after one year. Before abandoning it, the team should FIRST examine:
- Whether a different publisher offers lower prices
- Whether the curriculum was implemented with fidelity (Correct answer)
- How neighboring schools performed
- The principal's evaluation scores
Correct answer: Whether the curriculum was implemented with fidelity
Poor outcomes may reflect inconsistent implementation rather than a flawed program—fidelity data must be checked before drawing conclusions.
Codebusters Test School Improvement 3
A school's improvement goal states: 'Increase the percentage of students scoring proficient in math from 54% to 70% by June.' This is an example of a: