A "Cone of Uncertainty" has become ubiquitous in hurricane forecasting, encompassing the likeliest possible path that a storm might take as it approaches landfall. These forecasts are crucial because they help government agencies at all levels prepare even in these far-from-certain future conditions. Although individual institutions have…

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is an iterative, open-ended data analysis procedure that allows practitioners to examine data without pre-conceived notions to advise improvement processes and make informed decisions. Education is a data-rich field that is primed for a transition into a deeper, more purposeful use of data. This article introduces…

Personalized education--the systematic adaptation of instruction to individual learners--has been a long-striven goal. We review research on personalized education that has been conducted in the laboratory, in the classroom, and in digital learning environments. Across all learning environments, we find that personalization is most successful when…

In this article, I describe how principals accessed teacher and student data on a centralized data warehouse (DWH) during an academic school year. I found that principals did not use the DWH very often during the year. When logged on, principals most often looked at reports on student achievement, teachers' performance, or student demographics.…

Statewide technical assistance providers support many school teams through training, consultation, and coaching to improve systems and outcomes for mathematics for every student. They have the opportunity to work with many school psychologists, who often indicate they are more comfortable engaging in systems-level work for literacy, behavior, and…

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature on learning analytics (LA) stakeholders' expectations to reveal the status of ongoing research in this area and to highlight gaps in research. Design/methodology/approach: Conducting a literature review is a well-known method to establish knowledge and…

The shortage of qualified administrators who can utilize data analytics means that institutions are not able to harness data analytics to its fullest potential in order to remain competitive in a higher education market that continued to reward institutions that embrace entrepreneurship. Examining how new student affairs professionals in US higher…

Leveraging big data for student data analytics is increasingly integrated throughout university operations from admissions to advising to teaching and learning. Though the possibilities are exciting to consider, they are not without risks to student autonomy, privacy, equity, and educational value. There has been little research showing how…

Using data to inform decision-making in the educational environment has increased over the last decade due to accountability requirements at the federal, state, and local level (Bernhardt, 2013; Datnow & Hubbard, 2016; Garland, 2014; Mandinach & Gummer, 2016; McKay, 2018; Wayman, 2005). While research supported the inclusion of data in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence the use of institutional assessment in support of student outcomes at four-year public institutions of higher education. This study focused on small institutions, defined as having enrollment below that of the median value, across the nation. An electronic survey was sent to chief…

This dissertation provides empirical evidence on estimating the treatment effects of school choice programs using quasi-experimental data. Chapter 1 implements the new econometric method proposed by Abdulkadiroglu et al. (2017a) in the context of the magnet school program in Wake County, North Carolina. Chapter 2 gives an in-depth analysis of the…

In this chapter, we walk the reader through a set of scenarios that administrators might face when using different types of data on campus. We also provide guiding questions to help institutional research professionals explore how to think about these scenarios with ethics in mind.

Most recent research on teacher evaluation examines evaluation's measurement properties and accountability uses. Less research studies how evaluation data can improve teaching and student learning. In other contexts, researchers have examined how teachers use data to improve their practice. From general research on teachers' data use, we apply the…

This study seeks to understand the big-data analytics readiness of four-year public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) in North Carolina. The higher education landscape has been experiencing unprecedented challenges including declines in enrollment, graduation rates, and student retention rates. Coupled with cuts in funding at the…

This guide describes how community college presidents can embed strategic enrollment management (SEM) into mission fulfillment. It emphasizes the importance of setting a vision, ensuring adequate resources, and fostering collaboration. By leveraging data-driven strategies and continuous improvement, colleges can enhance student recruitment,…