Enhancing special educators' data literacy is critical to informing instructional decision-making, especially for students with learning disabilities. One tool special educators commonly use is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). These data are displayed on time-series graphs, and student responsiveness is evaluated. Graph construction varies and…

Through time-series graphs, teachers often evaluate progress monitoring data to make both low- and high-stakes decisions for students. The construction of these graphs--specifically, the presence of an aimline and the data points per x- to y-axis ratio (DPPXYR)--may impact decisions teachers make. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the…

Response-to-intervention (RtI) is a multi-tiered framework designed to prevent academic difficulties by facilitating robust, research-based instruction and providing targeted or individualized short-term interventions for students at-risk per periodic screening and progress monitoring data. The cornerstone of RtI is data-based decision-making to…

Reading proficiency is fundamental to school success. However, up to 50% of students with reading disabilities are not making adequate progress. Students who demonstrate persistent and severe reading difficulties require increasingly intensive instruction individualized to meet their instructional needs Individualizing instruction with…

Learning progress assessment (LPA) provides formative information about effectiveness of instructional decisions. Learning curves are usually presented as graphical illustrations. However, little is known about teachers understanding and interpreting of graphically presented information. An instrument to measure competencies in reading graphs from…

The ubiquity of data in various forms has fueled the need for advanced data-mining techniques within organizations. The advent of data mining methods used to uncover hidden nuggets of information buried within large data sets has also fueled the need for determining how these unique projects can be successful. There are many challenges associated…

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…

"For valid disability determination to occur, a diagnostic team needs to be able to determine that a student has received appropriate instruction in the general education classroom" (Johnson, Mellard, Fuchs, & McKnight, 2006, p. 4.2). The purpose of the study was to determine whether a middle school Response to Intervention (RTI)…

Data-based decision making should be the driving force in any early care and education setting. Data usage compels early childhood practitioners and leaders to make decisions on the basis of more than just professional instinct. This article explores why early childhood schools should be using data for continuous quality improvement at various…

This study provides insight into preservice teachers' experiences with integrating technology into lessons with children who had mild learning disabilities. Participants included 14 junior early childhood education majors enrolled in a special education course with a fieldwork component. The researchers collected and analyzed lesson plans, journal…

Within an RtI problem-solving context, assessment and decision making generally center around the tasks of problem identification, problem analysis, progress monitoring, and program evaluation. We use this framework to discuss the current state of the literature regarding curriculum based measurement, its technical properties, and its utility for…

Data-driven decision making (DDDM), applied to student achievement testing data, is a central focus of many school and district reform efforts, in part because of federal and state test-based accountability policies. This paper uses RAND research to show how schools and districts are analyzing achievement test results and other types of data to…