Use of Data at the Local Level: From Accountability to Instructional Improvement
This report builds on a picture provided from previous reports of local practices in implementing data-driven decision making. It presents data from a national district survey as well as from site visits conducted during 2007-08 at 36 schools in 12 districts. Key findings from surveys and site visits with respect to district data systems and strategies are provided and the findings in this 2010 report go beyond prior research at the time, which tended to focus on case studies of individual districts and schools.
While the data in this report is primarily descriptive (not addressing the effects of data- driven decision making on student outcomes), the findings lay a foundation that can assist policymakers in understanding how data has been used at the local level, the conditions affecting use (both positively and negatively), as well as other issues that arose relative to implementation during the period studied and remain relevant today. While extremely lengthy, the table of contents should help readers access those aspects of the report they would be most interested in. Topics covered within specific chapters include: a description of data systems that districts are employing, district efforts to promote and support the use of student data and data systems within schools, school-level implementation of data systems/data-driven decision making, and cross- cutting themes and implications for policy related to these topics.