Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood…

The higher education sector today faces an environment unlike any it has seen before. Serving a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders and facing diverse and fast-changing economic, social, and political pressures, universities can benefit from corporate-like approaches such as the use of analytics to inform strategic decision-making…

Americans share an expectation that government will serve the common good, creating inescapable pressure for public agencies--especially those that serve young children--to perform well. Yet education and human services agencies continually struggle to respond to the complex conditions in which children are born. How can they address the practical…

"Big data" prompts a whole lexicon of terms--data flow; analytics; data mining; data science; smart you name it (cars, houses, cities, wearables, etc.); algorithms; learning analytics; predictive analytics; data aggregation; data dashboards; digital tracks; and big data brokers. New terms are being coined frequently. Are we paying…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the data conversation moves enacted by leaders and to bridge organizational leadership for equity and data-informed decision making to practice. I argue that data discussion moves with the purpose of improving equity and learning must reflect core tenets of organizational leadership for…

A multiple case study was designed to examine the components of data literacy used by formal and informal leaders to support the work of Data Teams. Nine formal leaders and ten informal leaders constituted the participants. One overarching central question and seven subquestions guided the research. The answer to the central question, How do…

In this study, we examined how in-service middle-level mathematics teachers used statistics in their own classroom research. Using an embedded single-case design, we analyzed a purposefully selected sample of nine teachers' classroom research papers, identifying several themes within each phase of the statistical problem solving process to…

The recommendations in this brief create a framework for using data effectively to make instructional decisions. The availability of student-level data for educators has pushed forward the movement to strengthen the role of data to guide instruction and improve student learning. While improvements in technology and assessments, as well as recent…

Personalized learning has become the most notable application of big data in primary and secondary schools in the United States. The combination of big data and adaptive technological platforms is heralded as a revolution that could transform education, overcoming the outdated classroom model, and realizing the progressive vision of…

This 2016 document is designed to provide state Part C staff with guidance on using fiscal data to analyze and revise their allocation methodology. Allocation methodology is the process -- including practices, strategies, procedures, and policies -- used by Part C state staff to equitably distribute funds to meet the needs of the system, including…

In this study, we used a paper-pencil questionnaire to investigate whether teachers, administrators, and parents differed in their preferences and accuracy when interpreting visual data displays for decision making. For the data analysis, we used nonparametric tests due to violations of distributional assumptions for using parametric tests. We…

In this book, best-selling author Susan M. Brookhart helps teachers and administrators understand the critical elements and nuances of assessment data and how that information can best be used to inform improvement efforts in the school or district. Readers will learn: (1) What different kinds of data can--and cannot--tell us about student…

Background: The increasing focus on education as an evidence-based practice requires that educators can effectively use data to inform their practice. At the level of classroom instructional decision making, the nature of the specific knowledge and skills teachers need to use data effectively is complex and not well characterized. Being able to…

K-12 education resources are often allocated non-strategically, with schools spending time and money on activities that have little relationship to student outcomes. Most of these decisions take place within districts, rooted in the processes of setting schedules, staffing levels, and assignments, and creating final budgets. Local Education…

Purpose: Whilst beneficial, the use of evidence to improve teaching and learning in schools is proving difficult to achieve in practice. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on this issue by examining the applicability of a model of rational behaviour as relates to the notion of evidence-informed practice (EIP). Specifically, exploring…