This study examined use of data-driven decision making in principal leadership and school improvement initiatives in Delta State mission schools. Three research questions gave the study a direction. The study was a descriptive survey with an ex-post facto design. The population consists of 102 principals and vice-principals, in Delta State Mission schools and purposive sampling technique was adopted since the population was a manageable size, thus there was no sample. The instrument was a questionnaire titled (DDDMPLSIIQ) Data-Driven Decision Making in Principal Leadership and School Improvement Initiatives Questionnaire. The questionnaire was analysed with mean, SD and ranking. Finding shows that the current practices employed by principals in Delta State Mission schools in utilizing data-driven decision making for school improvement initiatives include; use data to monitor progress towards the school improvement goals, address achievement disparities by using data among others. The study also revealed that challenges faced by principals in implementing data-driven decision making in their leadership practices within the Delta State Mission school comprise; integrating data-driven decision making into existing systems and practices, limited capacity to use data to identify and address specific student needs and interventions. As such, it was recommended that principals should be provided with adequate training and professional development opportunities to enhance their data literacy skills. This will empower them to effectively collect, analyze, and interpret data and identify specific student needs for targeted interventions.
Keywords: Data Driven Decision Making, Delta state mission schools, principal leadership, school improvement initiatives
