We study university admissions under a centralized system that uses grades and standardized test scores to match applicants to university programs. In the context of this system, we explore affirmative action policies that seek to narrow the gap between the admission rates of different socio-demographic groups while still accepting students with…

Non-academic factors such as school climate, grit, and growth mindset are receiving much attention in recent education policy and practice. Within this context, this study (N = 425) describes the distribution of U.S. in-service teachers' access to and use of 10 categories of non-academic data. Findings indicate that in-service teachers vary widely…

Gifted students can exhibit extreme variance in both their abilities and their interests, yet they are often treated within schools as one homogeneous, specialized population. "Personalized Learning in Gifted Education" helps educators strengthen their differentiation of both instruction and services for advanced students. This book: (1)…

The problem explored in this study was that the state education agency recommended school board members of low-performing school districts participate in a governance training called student outcomes governance to address student achievement, yet no data suggested the training changed school board members' understanding of how to create policies…

Despite acknowledgement in the data-informed decision making (DIDM) literature that data use is not a purely rational process, there has been little attention paid to the role of values and normative factors that underpin school improvement planning (SIP) processes and little consideration of the inherent evaluative nature of associated activities…

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…

This Toolkit presents lessons learned from the process of implementing a new system for collecting student-level work-based learning (WBL) data in high school career and technical education (CTE) programs. As part of a study on career academies and WBL, a research team worked closely with a district CTE office and school staff to design and…

"Leading Thoughtful Conversations about School-by-School Spending Data" is a product of a federally-funded study to support the US Department of Education and the field more broadly to understand what data visualizations work to fuel thoughtful conversation among district and school leaders on financial strategy and management. This…

For decades, colleges and universities have strived to use data to take bold actions and make big decisions. The result is an expanding community of higher education professionals who are leveraging analytics to deliver optimal learning experiences for students. This chapter will describe the evolution of data use in higher education with a focus…

Secondary data analysis can benefit researchers of advanced academics by providing large sample sizes and a variety of data on multiple topics. However, using secondary data comes with unique challenges. This article will outline how gifted education researchers can find, access, and use secondary data. Data are available on children from birth to…

The question: "What is an appropriate role for AI?" is the subject of much discussion and interest. Arguments about whether AI should be a "human replacing" technology or a "human assisting" technology frequently take centre stage. Education is no exception when it comes to questions about the role that AI should…

The purpose of this interview-based qualitative study was to explore how individualized education program (IEP) team members determine least restrictive environment and educational placement. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment and to the…

The COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period is a unique opportunity to understand contemporary issues in high school reform. Evidence has clearly demonstrated lingering COVID impacts on adolescent students that have deepened pre-existing inequities and worsened teen mental health. There's a natural desire to regain normalcy after the pandemic. But…

Educational analytics tend toward aggregation, asking what a "normative" learner does. In "The Left Hand of Data," educational researchers Matthew Berland and Antero Garcia start from a different assumption--that outliers are, and must be treated as, valued individuals. Berland and Garcia argue that the aim of analytics should…

Data visualizations, including timelines, maps, and graphs, are often used to present social and political information in the media. Students need to learn how to make sense of data visualizations and recognize when they are being used to mislead, or when they advance white supremacist views. In this study, we used critical race analysis to…