The Development of Capacity for Data Use: The Role of Teacher Networks in an Elementary School

• In Event: Using Data for School and Student Performance Improvement

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of capacity to use data from the perspective of social networks, focusing on the ways in which interactions between educators can support capacity building. The article presents a brief review of the data use literature, attending specifically to the issue of capacity. It identifies two dominant views of capacity in the literature – capacity as situated at the individual and organizational levels – but argues that greater attention needs to be paid to a third conceptualization – capacity as embedded in social relations. It then examines this conceptualization of capacity in the context of an elementary school exemplified by its district as a strong user of data, focusing on the structure of data advice networks, the characteristics of key educators in the network, and the productiveness of the network in terms of influencing beliefs and practice.
The study’s findings are relevant to the design and implementation of initiatives or interventions to support data use. The socially-embedded capacity to use data and social relations as a mechanism for building capacity for data use suggest that efforts to improve teachers’ use of data should promote collaborative structures that focus on the interactions of teachers around data. The research also suggests a need to invest in the professional development of school leaders. Furthermore, leadership is not limited to administrators but includes instructional specialists (e.g. coaches or reading teachers) available to support classroom-based teachers. To the extent that these leaders are influential in the advice networks of their school, it is critical that they have a deep understanding of the strategy – here, data use – for which teachers seek support. Relatedly, the findings are useful in considering leadership strategies for successful implementation of reform. Here, the reform is data use, and findings support that dense ties, instrumental networks, central actors, and “between” connectors are critical components of school capacity. As school leaders adopt and implement reform, knowledge of the underlying professional structure and the nature of advice networks in the school could be instrumental in successful reform.
In addition to informing practice, this research makes a significant contribution to a limited body of research that examines capacity for data use. Findings build on existing work that indirectly or directly conceptualizes data use as socially-embedded, and extends that work by providing evidence that social relations are a mechanism for the development of capacity. Importantly, this study is among the first social network analysis specific to data use and illustrates several ways in which this approach can be valuable in understanding individual and school capacity for data use.

Authors

• Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware

• Joan L. Buttram, University of Delaware