Teachers' use of student data to inform instruction is commonly accepted as sound educational practice, and this data use is only likely to grow as more data, as well as more-complex data, become increasingly available to educators. However, numerous studies reveal inconsistent data use among teachers and an overall lack of the preparation and…

Discusses a "silent menace" in school computer rooms--the potential misuse of databases containing student directories, teacher salary information, test scores, and other data. Describes administrative computer uses and possible abuses, including invasion of privacy, false correlations between data sets, and manipulation of data for questionable…