The Effects of Data-Based Decision Making

The Effects of Data-Based Decision Making
 
The use of data to inform educational decisions is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. An article in the most recent American Educational Research Journal describes the effect of a two-year schoolwide data-based decision-making intervention, called Focus, on student achievement.
 
Focus trains schoolwide teams of teachers and administrators to use data to guide their teaching using a protocol developed at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Staff receive seven training meetings in year 1 and four training meetings in year 2, and are provided with documents and planning aids to help them track student data and progress.
 
Fifty-three primary schools (1,193 staff members) in the Netherlands used Focus to apply student achievement data to guide instruction during a two-year study. All schools (n=53) were trained to use data-based decision-making in mathematics during years 1 and 2, and had the option to also use it in spelling lessons in year 2 (n=38). Student achievement data from standardized math tests given twice a year were collected for children in grades 2-8 two years prior to implementing Focus and then two years during the intervention. Results showed benefits of the intervention equal to an extra month of schooling and were most statistically significant for students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

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