Epistemic Foundations of Educators' Data Use

• In Event: Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Research Methods and Approaches to Examining Academic and Behavioral Outcomes

Abstract

The authors take a grounded theory approach to investigating how mathematics teachers, coaches, and principals use student assessment data to inform instruction. Videotaped conversations of mathematics educators analyzing data, supplemented by interviews and artifacts, were collected as part of a four-year design-based research study in two large urban districts. We identify epistemic foundations that undergird educators’ data use, with consequential implications for educational equity. Educators make epistemic assumptions about what data represent, which lead to different epistemic practices around how data are used. These practices lead to different designs for future instruction, which influence students’ learning opportunities. By identifying the ways in which educators make sense of data, the authors provide recommendations to inform educators’ professional learning opportunities.

Authors

• Brette Garner, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Ilana S. Horn, Vanderbilt University