This interview-based study explores the nature of reflective practice among postsecondary faculty by examining the types of teaching-related data faculty use during their reflection, their reflective practice process, and the contextual factors that influence that process. Our findings indicate faculty drew on both numeric and non-numeric data…

Data-based decision making is all the rage. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (2009) has emphatically declared, "I am a deep believer in the power of data to drive our decisions. Data gives us the roadmap to reform. It tells us where we are, where we need to go, and who is most at risk." In the past few years, all 50 states have adopted most or…

This paper examines the options available to states to redefine their accountability systems as they begin to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The new law provides the possibility that states can create more balanced systems of support and accountability focused on educating young people so they can become productive, engaged…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in how high and low performing elementary school districts use and analyze data to differentiate instruction, make changes to district/grade level curriculum, determine professional development needs, determine teacher effectiveness, and determine the use of school district…

As external forces demand change in the delivery of postsecondary education and institutions seek to take advantage of new opportunities, the potential for achieving higher levels of student and institutional success is vast. New technologies, communication tools, data use, and organizational constructs present key factors in improving the…

Although private philanthropic dollars in education make up just a fraction of overall education financial support, strategically targeted corporate philanthropic resources can serve as a vital catalyst for positive, lasting, and high-impact change in public education. Recognizing this, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) and the Harvard…

Planning means knowing what you wish to do, developing a program to do it, and anticipating the context in which you will have to act. The role of the planning official is to point out options and consequences, not to take responsibility for any policy or pattern of decision. (Author/WM)

In early December 2005, the School District of Philadelphia announced that, for the fourth consecutive year, students showed measurable improvement on standardized, nationally normed TerraNova tests. The school's good performance was induced by a well managed instructional program that includes data-driven instruction and decision-making…

To determine the processes of information utilization and decision making at the local school district level, a survey was conducted in 65 school districts in three San Francisco Bay area counties. Responses from 400 participants--comprising 60 percent of the selected sample of superintendents, assistant superintendents, specialists, principals,…

The evolution of management information systems in higher education is traced, with contributing factors noted. Benefits are summarized and shortcomings are discussed with emphasis on their limitations as the basis for resource allocation during an era of budgetary stringency. (Author/JMD)

The evolution of college and university planning is examined through a review of theory and a case study of DePaul University (Illinois). The discussion focuses on the evolving role for institutional research in strategic decision making and the new skills and knowledge researchers need to support strategic planning more effectively. (MSE)

Research and researchers must be willing to break away from traditional approaches when dealing with the real world of the urban community. First, ways must be found that will bring research out of the rarefied atmosphere of the university and reduce the distrust and the misunderstanding it has produced in the urban community. Research should…

This report comprises edited versions of the presentations from the 17 participants in a conference under the sponsoreship of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The conference was designed to enable policy-makers, educators, and business people to share perspectives on the most effective methods for identifying and collecting data that…

The main barrier to effective instructional practice is lack of information. Comprehensive information systems are evolving which will capture and present the information required for a truly effective and efficient education system. Barriers to computerized information systems are no longer technical but stem from a lag in the will, wisdom, and…

Because of a fundamental shift in the way decisions are being made in colleges and universities, institutional researchers in the twenty-first century will no longer merely collect, analyze, and disseminate information to support decision making. They must also become information architects, change agents, and consultants of choice within their…