The Logics of Data Use in Continuous Improvement

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 8:00 a.m. Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Networked Continuous Improvement Across Varied Contexts: Results from the First Three Years of the Networks for School Improvement Initiative (Table 1)

Abstract

Data use is a key component of how CI networks approach school improvement. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Networks for School Improvement (NSI) initiative’s focus on improving outcomes for students from various backgrounds; this provides a unique opportunity to examine the role of data in CI work meant to advance student achievement. In this study, we explore how NSI coaches supported school teams in using data to strengthen evidence-based practices.
The primary data for our study are interviews with NSI coaches (intermediary staff who support school teams) from 21 networks. Coaches were interviewed in 2021-22 and 2022-2023. Data were analyzed in two phases. First, we utilized matrices to collect all mentions of data use in the data. Second, we examined how coaches guided school teams in thinking and acting upon different data sources and analyses.
Preliminary findings suggest that data use was a key way coaches supported school teams’ capacity to achieve their aims. However, the foci of data use varied. Coaches encouraged school teams to use data to identify barriers for students at the outset of the NSI process. For instance, by examining data networks identified issues such as unfair grading systems and Algebra I serving as a gatekeeper for students. When it came to the daily work of CI, coaches and school teams tended to focus on change ideas (i.e., interventions) and data that supported changes to teachers’ interactions with students.
Findings from this study support other work that indicate data use may be a key tool in advancing student success in CI networks. Additionally, the findings suggest that how educators engaged in CI are guided to think about and apply data matters.

Authors

• Eupha Jeanne Daramola, University of California - Irvine

• Thai-Huy P. Nguyen, RAND Corporation