ICSEI 2011

The Data Use Network Meeting

Several researchers around the world are conducting research into data use within schools. Schools accumulate a lot of data (e.g. assessment data, teacher surveys), and have to face the challenge of transforming these data into information that can be used for improving teaching and learning conditions, and also to meet new policy imperatives. It is crucial that not only researchers, but also practitioners and politicians, share the knowledge they have on data-driven decision making as it is our belief that this is the way forward in improving education. This is one of the reasons that a group of researchers set up this network. At this network meeting we will explain the rationale for establishing this network, as well as discuss our goals and future activities. One of the goals of the network is, for example, sharing knowledge on what constitutes effective data-driven decision making. Activities organized by the network include several symposia at ICSEI 2011. If you are a researcher, practitioner or politician interested in the use of data in schools, we invite you to attend our first network meeting and perhaps become a member of the network.

Rationale

It is crucial that not only researchers, but also practitioners and politicians, share the knowledge they have on data-driven decision making as it is our belief that this is the way forward in improving education. The network already has members from all over the world, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Cyprus, Slovenia, Canada, New Zealand, The USA, Australia, South Africa and Trinidad.

Goals

In this network, we bring together researchers, practitioners and politicians around the topic of data-driven decision making. Data-driven decision making refers to the broad range of evidence used to make decisions such as scores on students' assessments, classroom observations, teacher surveys, self-evaluation data etc.

In a context where schools are held more and more accountable for the education they provide there are strong arguments that a promising way to increase student achievement levels is for school staff to base their decisions on data. Data can help remove politics and ideology from decisions, and help focus on teaching and learning. Data can also focus the discussion within schools to target interventions for students and make teaching more effective. Data can help school leaders and teachers monitor their constantly changing environment, their functioning and the extent to which curriculum aims are being met in order to react in a timely and an evidence-based manner when problems need to be solved. School leaders and teachers can use data to change their teaching, address existing (ineffective) programs in their schools, and improve the functioning of the school in terms of increased student achievement.

However, we also know that most school leaders and teachers struggle with data use, do not use data effectively, or do not use data at all. A majority of decisions by school leaders and teachers are taken based on intuition, instinct, and limited observations. Valuable time and resources are lost with the implementation of new curricula, which for example do not coincide with the needs of the students.

The goal of this network is to support policy-makers, people working with schools, researchers and school leaders and teachers in the use of data, by bringing together the (scientific as well as practical) knowledge that exist on data-driven decisions making. By sharing our knowledge we hope to increase effective data use practices in all schools, as effective data use can lead to school improvement.

In this network we will explore what using data looks like when school leaders and teachers include data into their decision making process, and not rely solely on their intuition, experiences and instincts. We will also try to identify factors that enable and hinder the use of data - factors such as the characteristics of the data itself (e.g. relevance of the data), personal characteristics of the users (for example, attitude towards data), and school organizational characteristics (e.g. role of the school leader), as well as study the effects of data use within school.

By sharing our knowledge we can come to a strong picture of the state of affairs in data driven decision making across a range of international jurisdictions so that our members can both compare and contrast the findings. Much can be learned by sharing our knowledge on data use in different countries. Each country has a different educational system and policy. These different systems and policy-contexts clearly influence how data are used including what types of data are available to schools, and what types of support are available to support schools use data. Comparisons across countries can help researchers, practitioners and politicians to reflect more critically on what is happening in their schools in their countries. Oftentimes, seeing data use from a different perspective will help them to identify strengths and weaknesses in their own context.

Summarizing, the main goal of this network is to share knowledge from researchers, practitioners, and politicians on data use to improve data-driven decision making practices in schools around the world. By sharing knowledge we can learn from each other instead of constantly "reinventing the wheel". This sharing of knowledge will take place at conferences, such as ICSEI and AERA, by means of this website, and by other communication devices (e.g. email, contact between members).

Goals of the meeting

The meeting will be our first official meeting at ICSEI as an ICSEI network. At the meeting we will further discuss the rationale of the network as well as the goals and future activities. We hope to refine our goals based on this meeting at ICSEI, as well as increase the visibility of the network and attract new members. Moreover, we hope to discuss the current and future activities in the field of data-driven decision making of our (future) members and exchange knowledge on this topic.

Presenters

Kim Schildkamp, University of Twente, the Netherlands
Jan Vanhoof, University of Antwerp, Belgium