Across the United States, there is an increased interest in improving school climate, reflecting a deepening understanding of the foundational role that school climate can play in supporting students' well-being, learning, and development. School climate is constructed from norms, expectations, and interpersonal relationships that come together to…

This study investigates how 11- to 12-year-old students construct data-based decision trees using data cards for classification purposes. We examine the students' heuristics and reasoning during this process. The research is based on an eight-week teaching unit during which students labeled data, built decision trees, and assessed them using test…

We report results from this psychometric study examining convergent validity between internalizing subscale (SRSS-I4) scores from the revised version of the teacher-completed Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing behavior (SRSS-IE 9) and the internalizing subscale from the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Using the sample of…

This theoretical article proposes using statewide weather-observing networks (Mesonets) to support data-intensive, issue-based teaching of atmospheric topics in middle and high school science. It is argued that the incorporation of this new technology and its affordances into the school curriculum can drastically change the ways that atmospheric…

Being able to learn from failure is a fundamental skill for a scientist, as scientists often learn from failure in practical work by trialling and refining experimental designs, improving calibration techniques, and hypothesising and testing expected outcomes. This qualitative, practice-based study describes how junior secondary science teachers…

This policy brief describes the academic impact of the PLC at Work® process in Texas Model PLC Schools. By comparing student performance in designated schools to matched peers, the study finds that students in PLC schools experience meaningful gains in math and reading achievement--equivalent to two to four months of additional learning. Gains…

U.S. middle school teachers have struggled to meet the instructional needs of students in the area of mathematics. Teachers' approaches to assessment and instructional strategies remain understudied; such knowledge could help educational leaders to devise strategies to boost student achievement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine…

Purpose: There is little consensus in the literature regarding a) what it means for a school leader to lead with data, and b) how to measure data-informed leadership in a reliable and valid way. This study examines the psychometric properties of an operational measure intended to assess the extent to which a school leader is a data-informed school…

The continuous development of Educational Data Mining (EDM) and Learning Analytics (LA) technologies has provided more effective technical support for accurate early warning and interventions for student academic performance. However, the existing body of research on EDM and LA needs more empirical studies that provide feedback interventions, and…

This research aims to develop ECARsites, an online site designed to support data-related activities in science learning and to facilitate the implementation of data, computational thinking (CT), and self-directed learning (SRL) practices in a more contextualized and relevant way for students. The approach used design-based research (DBR) methods,…

The purpose of the study was to better understand the extent to which middle school principals' transformational leadership styles affect teachers' data-informed instruction, the influence of teachers' data-informed instruction on middle school student achievement, and the extent to which transformational leaders affect student achievement through…

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) has been recommended as a specific problem-solving approach for addressing disproportionate discipline outcomes. RCA differs from other problem-solving models through its in-depth analysis that draws from the perspectives of individuals who are impacted by the issue being addressed. When applied to disproportionate…

Research has shown that ninth grade is uniquely important for student success, yet despite increased investments, leaders aren't always equipped to meet ninth graders' distinct needs. The transition from middle to high school is both critical and complex, as students encounter significant changes during this time, including taking on more advanced…

Using evidence of student thinking and performance is crucial to enacting ambitious science teaching because intimate, formative data can be responsive to student ideas about science. However, narratives and policies about assessment and data use do not always position teachers to draw on the breadth and variety of evidence from the classroom to…

This study aimed to investigate the influences instructional coaching had on middle school math teachers. Accountability demands have impacted teaching and learning, and the push to use high stakes tests to measure teacher quality and effectiveness has limited teacher autonomy, agency, and efficacy. Teachers need professional learning that…