Data-based decision-making has been a frequently used policy and practice intervention used in schools to help inform the decision-making processes of educational practitioners, with the aim of improving student outcomes. Interim benchmark assessments are designed by commercial test developers to support educators in this framework. In fact, the…

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) in public K-12 education is a concept that has been studied extensively over the last 20 years. Using data to inform or make decisions is believed to be an important and valuable strategic process. This exploratory, descriptive research focused on public school principals and their use of data in their…

While utilizing assessment data has been a pervasive practice in educational reform for decades, and teachers are expected to use assessment data to improve instruction, little is known about how the practice of requiring teachers to review test data affects their perception of effectiveness in addressing the learning gaps of student groups. This…

This mixed-methods study examined K-5 teachers' perceptions of using data to inform their instruction, uncovered factors that affect their capacity for understanding data, and described how both of these factors may relate to school improvement. The study outlined factors that supported or impeded teachers' use of data when making instructional…

As the United States attempts to address inequities in student outcomes by evolving equitable education for all students in the 21st century, the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework has been promulgated to support educators at all levels of the PK-12 system in continuous observation, learning, and development of public education…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to understand how leaders at two community colleges that participated in Guided Pathways used early momentum metrics (EMMs) to change institutional policies or practices to improve student success and degree completion rates. By focusing on EMMs as short-term indicators, leaders could track…

My dissertation comprises three studies designed to explore nuances of data use in education that presently confound the relationship between variation in teachers' practice of data use and student outcomes: (1) the relationships between different data sources within and across instructional practices; (2) the dimensionality of teachers' practice…

This qualitative, phenomenological case study was to determine the impact the state accountability system has on school improvement practices for schools that have been designated under the statewide system of support. Nine district and school level leaders were interviewed from one suburban school district designated as…

This dissertation consists of three papers. Online Learning, Offline Outcomes: Online Course Taking and High School Student Performance. This paper uses fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face, both for initial attempts and for…

Restraint and seclusion are two crisis intervention practices that educators employ to manage students who display escalated behavior. These procedures, however, are high-risk, intensive practices that have resulted in psychological trauma, physical injury, and even death. While there are no federal laws in place on this topic, the U.S. Department…

This dissertation is a qualitative study includes documents analysis and interviews. The study focus is applying entrepreneurial theory to funding public higher education in the U.S. The critical portion of the dissertation focuses on the best practices they have implemented to practice academic entrepreneurialism. The literature review takes a…

Elementary school teachers struggle to collect and use reading progress data to make instructional decisions. Collecting and interpreting reading progress data when making instructional decisions allows districts to identify and support students who need early reading intervention and may protect districts from Free Appropriate Public Education…

Current research into data use suggests that the intersection of assessment, reform, and public accountability and their impact on teacher practice are under-conceptualized and not well researched, especially when the data are derived from assessments that are locally produced by teachers. This qualitative case study investigates the development…

This three-article dissertation considers the pedagogical practices for developing statistically literate students and teaching data-driven decision-making with the goal of preparing students for civic engagement and improving student achievement. The first article discusses a critical review of the literature on data-driven decision-making…

The concept of precision medicine aims to provide additional context to patient data for healthcare providers. Precision medicine overlays three additional layers of patient data on top of standard patient information: environmental exposure, personal lifestyle and behavior patterns, and information gleaned from their genome. While precision…