For graduate-level courses in educational policy and leadership. With the ready availability of educational data, the need for school administrators and other educators to understand and manage data has grown considerably. To meet that need, this text offers a novel theoretical approach to school leadership and decision-making-Ecological Thinking-and a set of practical tools for data analysis and model-based decision-making using spreadsheet software and system dynamics models. Included are numerous data sets and specific examples of the use of the popular software Microsoft(R) Excel; several system dynamics models created by the software ITHINK6.0; a wealth of hands-on exercises; and, an introduction to the development of dynamic simulations.