It's not exactly a well-kept secret: Despite the drumbeat for data that has echoed through the jungles of education for over a decade, its nuanced use to make decisions for students is rare. And even though state and national longitudinal data initiatives from the US Department of Education (ED) have increased the pressure, relatively few schools…

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is a framework for using data to establish the nature and degree of the help a student needs, and then applying strategies targeting those areas. It is a carefully drawn, systematic form of data-driven decision-making that establishes multiple stages of interventions for varying degrees of problems. Though some…

Data is a daily reality for school systems. Between standardized tests and tools from companies that offer data warehousing services, educators and district superintendents alike are up to their eyeballs in facts and figures about student performance that they can use as the basis for curricular decisions. Still, there is more to assessment than…

The data defined in this article encompasses a range of topics, including data definitions, data management systems, infrastructure (both local and statewide), and the actual use of data to make decisions on either the administrative or instructional side. This emphasis on data has grown as technology has made the access and use of data easier.…

Data-driven decision-making (D3M) appears to be the new buzz phrase for this century, the information age. On the education front, teachers and administrators are engaging in data-centered dialog in grade-level meetings, lounges, hallways, and classrooms as they brainstorm toward closing the gap in student achievement. Clearly, such discussion…

This is the second part of a four-part report on data-driven decision-making. Widespread attention to school accountability, driven by state and federal mandates, has increased the stakes for all schools. These mandates have made more data available to educators at all levels, but they have not been as effective in encouraging teachers to use…

Consider Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) a misnomer, or least an understatement; satisfying its mandates demands a far greater than adequate effort. Established in the No Child Left Behind Act, AYP requires that districts and schools show a minimum, prescribed level of growth in student achievement, until the year 2013-2014, when every eligible…