Drawing upon recent theorising of numbers and data, and applications to schooling, this paper reveals how tensions between more accountability-oriented logics, and more contextually-situated conceptions of engagement with data, played out in one school in a regional community in northern Queensland, Australia. The research reveals that at the same…

In this article, we contest globalised notions of data as 'universally' beneficial, necessary and 'evidence-based'. We do so by drawing upon narrative accounts of the problematic ways data impact educators researching and working in university and schooling settings over time and in varied national contexts. We reveal how data are transient and…

The Education Council of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) commissioned a review of the current approach to the presentation of the National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data including information published on the "My School" website. The review was framed by four Terms of Reference, namely: (1)…

The technological capacity that now exists to gather and store large amounts of data has improved access to information related to the academic performance, demographic profile and welfare needs of young people in a school. Improvements in data management techniques, statistical data analysis and software packages have made retrieving and…

In Australia, under the National Assessment Plan, educational accountability testing in literacy and numeracy (NAPLAN) is undertaken with all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to monitor student achievement and inform policy. However, the extent to which these data have been analysed to report student progress is limited. This article reports a…

Since 2007, 'Closing the Gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people has been an ambition of Australian state and federal governments in areas including education, employment, and health. This paper examines media responses to government policies aimed at closing the achievement gap in schools. The paper analyses print and online newspaper…

Education systems across the globe have enacted national testing regimes to monitor and report student achievement progress as an outcome of teaching performance. This paper reports on an investigation of strategies that Principals of high achieving schools use to achieve school results, based on NAPLAN reports (the National Assessment Program in…

The technological capacity that now exists to gather and store large amounts of data has improved access to information regarding young people in schools. Improvements in data management techniques and statistical data software packages have made retrieving and analysing systems data a more accessible and manageable process. On a smaller scale,…

In Australia, as in other countries, school students participate in national literacy and numeracy testing with the resulting reports being sent to teachers and school administrators. In this study, the Theory of Planned Behaviour provides a framework for examining teachers' perceptions of factors influencing their intention to engage with these…