As the debate on data in the society and in education grows the attention on data-trace as 'primary material' for governance, educational quality and innovation falls under the spotlights. In this context, HEIs have been put under pressure to adopt quantitative metrics and evaluation approaches enhancing the massive collection of trace data.…

In a multiyear, multisite, randomized control trial, we examined the effects of comprehensive professional development designed to support teachers' data-based instruction (DBI) for students with intensive early writing needs. Teachers (N = 154; primarily special educators or intervention specialists) were assigned randomly to a treatment group (n…

A rich literature supports the use of data in schools to support improved teaching and learning. One widely implemented example of a data inquiry process is "Data Wise," developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to help instructional teams collaborate around multiple data sources, surface evidence of students' strengths and…

A gap in practice at CES Elementary School (pseudonym) was the lack of data driven instructional decision making that contributed to the problem of low school scores on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Low STAAR scores have negatively impacted student, teacher, and administrator retention. Unsuccessfully, data chats…

This research summary provides the key findings and interpretive summary--chapters 3 and 4--from the full report, "Reaching for Improvement: Teacher Evaluation and its Role in Instructional Improvement." The full report contains additional details on the context, methodology, and findings of this study. This document has minor…

When the primary federal law governing K-12 schooling was updated in 2015 as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it shifted many decisions to states and districts. However, through two of its core programs (Title I and Title II-A), ESSA retained federal requirements for states to set challenging content standards, assess student performance,…

In 2017-18, states and districts began to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current authorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESSA continues to call for states to set academic content standards, assess student achievement, identify and support low-performing schools, and improve educator…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), originally passed in 1965, is the primary federal law related to K-12 schooling. Title I and Title II-A are core ESEA programs, and they intend to help provide all students with equal access to education by providing financial assistance to schools and districts with a high percentage of students…

How can states help ensure that their systems are providing schools and educators with the essential data for improvement efforts? One powerful strategy is to collaborate with partners using a continuous improvement approach. Six states have been doing just that--working together to investigate and address specific, high-priority, high-impact ways…

Many organizations use dashboards to monitor and analyze important performance measures. Data dashboards present the most important information (sometimes called key performance indicators, or KPIs) about processes and outcomes in a concise, easy-to-digest format. Dashboards get their name from the clusters of instruments and gauges drivers use to…

Few teachers receive adequate preparation to provide effective individualized instruction for children with intensive early writing needs. In this article, the authors describe an attempt to close this learning gap, by developing Data-Based Instruction-Tools, Learning, and Collaborative Support (DBI-TLC), a comprehensive professional development…

The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a multiyear effort to improve student outcomes--particularly high school graduation and college attendance among low-income minority students--by increasing student access to effective teaching. The RAND Corporation worked…

With COVID-19 continuing to make meeting face-to-face impossible, the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group/Groupe Canadien d'Étude en Didactique des Mathématiques (CMESG/GCEDM) executive decided that, for the first time, the CMESG/GCEDM meeting would be held virtually. By necessity, the program had to be much compressed with no topic…

For over four decades, the concept of teacher leadership has been debated nationally and internationally with a view of establishing its role in student learning and achievements in schools. Over this period, a sizeable amount of literature has been written with regards to teacher and school administration leadership. However, studies remain…