Educational Assessment and Improvement

Data-driven decision making in education examines how schools, teachers, and administrators collect, interpret, and act on evidence—from standardized test scores to classroom observation data—to improve instruction and student outcomes. The work sits at the intersection of information systems, organizational behavior, and pedagogy, asking not just whether data exists but whether educators have the literacy and institutional support to use it well. Research-practice partnerships and professional learning communities have emerged as promising structures for closing the gap between what research says and what happens in classrooms, though questions remain about how accountability pressures—including external school inspections—shape the quality and honesty of data use rather than simply its frequency. An active frontier involves understanding how teacher decision making changes when data tools are embedded in daily practice, and whether improvement gains in one context transfer meaningfully to others.

Works

36,720

Total citations

276,078

Keywords

Data UseEducational ImprovementResearch-Practice PartnershipsTeacher Decision MakingSchool InspectionsInstructional Improvement