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Capacity Building to Bridge Data Use and Instructional Improvement Through Evidence on Student Thinking

Item

Title
Capacity Building to Bridge Data Use and Instructional Improvement Through Evidence on Student Thinking
Abstract/Description
While schools and systems across the globe promote data-driven decision making, teachers often struggle to use data, especially from external assessments, to inform daily instruction. In this paper, we examine teacher capacity building for a less typical form of data use - evidence on student thinking. We draw on data from a longitudinal, in-depth qualitative study involving middle school math teachers who were engaged in an instructional improvement project. Findings show that data use occurred when evidence from student thinking was introduced as part of the instructional planning process. This shift was facilitated by an instructional coach whose capacity building efforts with teachers focused on coherence, specifically planning high quality instruction and using data effectively, while also meeting district pacing and unit planning goals. When teachers put new strategies into practice, feedback from formative assessment data allowed teachers to identify and address misconceptions in student thinking. Learning how to use data as part of instruction helped teachers build capacity to reflect on their own practice. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Evidence from student thinking can be a useful form of data to guide instruction.
• Knowing how to draw on student thinking requires teacher capacity building.
• Learning how to use data as part of instruction supported teacher reflection.
Date
June 2021
In publication
Studies in Educational Evaluation
Volume
69
Pages
100869
Resource type
Resource status/form
en
Scholarship genre
en
IRE Approach/Concept
Data Use
Evidence on Student Thinking
Coaching
Language
en
Open access/full-text available
en No
Peer reviewed
en Yes
ISSN
0191-491X
Grant funding
Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
Grant number
IES Grant #R305H150028
Citation
Datnow, A., Lockton, M., & Weddle, H. (2020). Capacity Building to Bridge Data Use and Instructional Improvement Through Evidence on Student Thinking. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 100869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100869
Abbreviation
Studies in Educational Evaluation

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