Branding Educational Data Use Through Professional Learning: Findings From a Study in Three School Districts

• In Event: Bolstering Educational Quality: The District’s Role in School Reform

Abstract

State and federal education policies continue to require increasing amounts of data use for both compliance and improvement initiatives. While educators know that they are supposed to use data, many seem at a loss to articulate how and to what ends they are expected to use data. We explored this issue in a qualitative study involving n=110 individuals from three school districts in Texas, focusing on the question, “What is the nature of district planning processes for data-related professional learning?” One major theme that emerged involved rationales for data use: Findings suggest that district leaders “brand” data use (intentionally or unintentionally) as being primarily about accountability ratings or as being primarily about the improvement of student learning and school-level efforts.

Authors

• Jo Beth Jimerson, Texas Christian University

• Jeff Wayman, Wayman Services, LLC