Title of Study: Use of Education Data at the Local Level:  From Accountability to Instructional Improvement

Author(s): Barbara Means, Christine Padilla & Larry Gallagher of SRI International

Summary:

This study documents types of data systems and organizational support systems currently available among U.S. school districts to support teachers in the practice of data-driven decision making.  It explores how school personnel are using these systems and using data to inform instruction.  The report explores in more detail teacher practices in districts that seem to be national leaders in data-driven decision making.  Finally, the report makes recommendations to be implemented at the school, school district, state and national levels for improving schools’ capacity for data-driven decision making.

Sponsoring entity(s): U.S. Department of Education

Date conducted: Published 2010, data collected 2007-08.

Location of the study: This study can be accessed through the U.S. Department of Education website.

Setting(s) addressed:

• School district
• School
• Classroom

Targeted population(s):

• District administrators
• School administrators
• Teachers

Primary sources of evidence used in the study or report:

• National survey of districts (a representative sample of 427 districts)
• Secondary analysis of a 2007 national survey of teachers (NETTS)
• Site visits to selected school districts that have been active in using data to guide instruction

Primary Technology Application(s) Addressed:

• Data systems

Major education topic(s) addressed:

• Data-driven decision making

Major findings/conclusions:

• Almost all districts now have an electronic student information system (SIS), and 70% of districts nationwide have had the SIS for more than six years.
  
  
• Recently many districts started acquiring additional data systems.  79% have an assessment system that organizes and analyzes benchmark assessment data.  77% report having data warehouses that provide current and historical data on students and other district data, and 64% report having an instructional or curriculum management system.
  
  
• Most districts have multiple systems that are not interoperable, and report that interoperability is a barrier to data-driven decision making.  Less than half of districts have systems that allow them to link student outcomes to educational processes, such as different teachers or participation in different instructional programs.
  
  
• District support for data-driven decision making in schools includes requiring data analysis in formulating school improvement plans (69%), or specifying processes for how teachers should use data for instructional purposes (65%).
  
  
• Most districts provide professional development for some school personnel in using data to improve instruction (90%), but only 53% provide training for teachers in how to use the data system to analyze student achievement or how to use data to change their instructional practices.  In fact the greatest perceived need among responding districts was for models of how to connect student data to instructional practice.
  
  
• Most districts provide technical expertise to some schools (80%) or all schools (65%), and some districts provide data coaches to some schools (50%) or all schools (32%).

Practical implications of the findings:

• In districts that are leaders in data-driven decision making, most teachers receive support for using data from colleagues and data coaches rather than through extensive professional development.
  
  
• Even in districts that are leaders in encouraging data use, teachers report using data for school-wide planning, student placement and broad curricular planning more often than for tailoring instruction to individual student needs or to improve their own teaching, indicating that data-driven decision making is not making it down to the classroom level.
  
  
• District-wide interim assessments were correlated with increased use of data in schools.  Similarly, within a school teachers with common assessments were more likely to share both data and teaching strategies.

Reviewer Comments:

The study combines a broad survey approach to determine trends with a more focused look at individual districts judged to be leaders in using data to identify promising practices.  It does not attempt to address the effects of data use on student outcomes.