Data Use as Instructional Reform: Exploring Educators’ Reports of Classroom Practice

ABSTRACT

Through policies like No Child Left Behind, the federal government incentivized the use of student performance data as a core strategy for improving student achievement. The assumption behind these efforts is that data will be used to guide teacher practice and promote high-quality instruction. This study examined how teachers describe using data in their instructional practices. Findings reveal that few teachers were able to articulate an ability to bridge the divide between using data to identify students in need of help and using data to modify instruction. We discuss factors that supported or impeded educators’ use of data.

Notes

^1. For example, the Chicago Public Schools initiated a system-wide double-period algebra policy in 2003 that required all 9th-grade students with 8th-grade test scores below the national median to enroll in a “support” algebra course in addition to regular algebra.

^2. We recognize that the use of VAMs is controversial, particularly when conducted at the individual teacher level and used for high-stakes decisions such as teacher evaluation (Amrein-Beardsley, Collins, Polasky, & Sloat, 2013; Bracey, 2006). Most methodologists argue, however, that they are valid and useful when used at the school level, as we do here (Grissom et al., 2013; Sass, 2012; Meyer, 1997). Because value-added models control for observable student characteristics, they account for differences in student populations across schools and are considered preferable to proficiency benchmarks that may conflate school performance with the ability and resources of the students they serve.