Decision Making in Schools: The Influence of External Research, Local Data, Personal Experience, and Other Evidence

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Quantitative Studies of Data Use

Abstract

The IES-funded Center for Research Use in Education is developing and validating a survey to measure the role of data and research in school-based decisions through collection of multilevel data from district staff, school administrators, and classroom teachers. In this paper, we present results from the first pilot of this survey with over 500 educators from 32 schools. Results show that analyses of local data and the perspectives of local education leaders most often influence school-wide decisions, while educators’ individual decisions are most heavily influenced by their personal experiences and those of their fellow practitioners. However, formal research is reported to have considerable influence over both organizational and individual decisions.

Authors

• Henry May, University of Delaware

• Horatio W Blackman, University of Pennsylvania

• Rui Wang, University of Delaware

• Sara Bernice Grajeda, University of Delaware

• Katherine Tilley, University of Delaware

• Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware