The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers engaged in data use for instructional decision making. A grounded theory research design was used to analyze interviews of 10 special education teachers. Special education teachers were asked to complete an online survey and were interviewed with questions to reveal their experiences with…

This dissertation discusses the relationship between teacher sensemaking, attributions, and instructional adjustments prompted in response to student performance data. Through this qualitative observation study, this paper explores the varying perspectives of teachers, including their level of assessment literacy, and the dynamics of their…

This study aimed to discover the perspectives and experiences of elementary school teachers in rural southeast Tennessee regarding their collaborative efforts to effectively implement data-driven instruction for individual student success. The research problem is that the current collaboration efforts for teachers to implement data-driven…

This research examines what educational administrators can do to help secondary teachers effectively use data to inform their instruction and improve their practice. This qualitative study focused on the interviews of principals and teachers in 14 secondary schools that have used data to improve their school's accountability measures markedly in…

Teacher data use is often centered around standardized testing. Such data use that is commonly centered on standardized tests and used during professional development does not necessarily transform teacher practice toward equity and fails to change teacher conceptualizations of students while also perpetuating inequitable practices. Conversely,…

The problem explored by this study was that teachers' perspectives are not implemented when selecting and utilizing phonics instruction in kindergarten through second grade classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore primary teachers' rationales and experiences when choosing and implementing phonics instruction in primary…

This qualitative grounded study investigated professional development, pre-service and in-service that 7 high school principals, 3 assistant principals, and 2 directors in New York State received to build their instructional leadership capacity. The researcher conducted 12 interviews via Zoom video conferencing to ascertain how preparation…

Teachers in the United States are increasingly tasked with using data to inform their classroom instruction both through federal policies, such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2016), and state policies requiring the use of teacher-determined data-driven goals for performance evaluations (MA 603 CMR 35.07). Many teachers, however, report…

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…

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) requires educational leaders and teachers to monitor and evaluate programs and processes and link results to individual and organizational outcomes. A classroom teacher's ability to collect and review data, analyze data to identify trends and strategies for student achievement, and use data to determine and…

The purpose of this process evaluation was to evaluate how classroom teachers, campus administrators, and instructional staff differ in their perception of data usage for educational improvement in a large suburban Independent School District (ISD) in Southeast Texas. The researcher was granted permission by the superintendent of the school…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how experienced elementary educators in Central Montana described their use of new knowledge from research evidence to inform their teaching practice. Data sources included 15 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups. The Cognitive Affective Model of Conceptual Change was…

Data-driven instruction centers around measuring student learning and determining the actions needed to improve student learning (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2019). This qualitative case study explored teachers' experiences at a single research site surrounding data-driven instruction. Classroom instruction responsive to student performance data is a focus…

The emerging field of data science has brought attention to how we teach statistics and data science (Bargagliotti et al., 2020; Franklin et al., 2007) and prepare the next generation of statistics and data science teachers (Franklin et al., 2013). To realize the full potential of statistics and data science, researchers have also called for using…

A school in South Carolina developed a strategic plan to implement a professional learning community structure in the school, where teachers work together to evaluate student data to improve instruction. However, teachers at the school did not understand how to use data-driven instructional practices to drive classroom instruction. The purpose of…