Data Use in the School and Classroom: The Challenges of Implementing Data-Based Decision Making Inside Schools

Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for noncommercial purposes by any means, provided that the above copyright notice appears on all copies. of Wisconsin–Madison. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies, WCER, or cooperating institutions. Introduction This paper examines problems school-level staff encounter when attempting to implement data-based decision-making reform efforts, specifically those focused on teaching and learning in the classroom. The paper also offers recommendations for professional development that address gaps in traditional principal and teacher training. Many schools and districts are exploring data-driven decision making as a solution for improving resource allocation and instructional program decisions. One of the most challenging problems policy makers and educators face in attempting to implement curriculum reforms is that intervention decisions are made at least one organizational level above that of the teachers— the persons actually engaged in instruction. Any systemic effort to implement a focus on data-based decision making at the school and classroom levels faces several challenges. First, most data available within district information systems are limited to what has been deemed important for the operational needs of schools and the district and are only available on systems supported by centralized computing services. These data include attendance, discipline, and basic demographic data. District systems also contain detailed information about human resources, budgets, and other business processes. Typically, the only available outcome data are grades and the results from centrally (and often annually) administered tests. These data, although useful to help frame annual analysis of school-, classroom-, or student-level outcomes, are inadequate for making midcourse or interim instructional decisions within a single grade or marking period. Second, educational organizations have much to learn about the complexities of integrating data effectively into their decision-making processes. The issues involved in successful data-based decision making are beginning to be discussed in the literature on educational administration and assessment, and an important and growing body of relevant work is emerging from business schools around the world. The business studies range from considerations of the role of experts in organizational learning (Albert & Bradley, 1997) to multidimensional representations of the life cycle of knowledge (Boisot, 1998). The work that is emerging from educational sources tends to focus on application. For example, the journal School Administrator recently published a special issue (April 2001) dedicated to data-driven decisions—in …