Data Use and Education Psychology: Using Data to Understand the Whole Child and Inform Instruction and Educational Decisions

• In Event: Teaching on Assessment: Implications for Preparing Teachers

Abstract

Data-driven decision making has become central to effective educational practice. Data use goes to the heart of the teaching and learning process and therefore is foundational to how educators make instructional and other educational decisions every day. It intersects with many topics central to the field of educational psychology including student learning, teacher knowledge, instruction, assessment, cognition, conative constructs, individual differences, and learner context. This paper describes the intersection of data-driven decision making and educational psychology, noting how various components of educational psychology form the foundation for effective data use. Heretofore, data use has been inextricably associated with assessment results, high-stakes testing, and the accountability movement, with negativism surrounding that perspective. Data use for accountability has been associated with narrowing the curriculum and concerns of further marginalizing the most challenged students (Au, 2007; Berliner, 2011; Nichols & Berliner, 2007). Data use for accountability can be contrasted with data use for continuous improvement in which diverse sources of data can and should be used to address the needs of all learners (Mandinach & Gummer, 2016a). Such data use provides an equity lens and moves the discussion from a deficit model to an asset model, taking into consideration the whole child (Datnow, 2017; Datnow, Choi, Park, & St. John, 2018; Mandinach & Mundry, in press).

The field of educational psychology is uniquely positioned to inform data use for the whole child. Data use falls at the intersection of aptitude and ability research, effective teachers, instruction, statistics, and measurement. Educators need to understand data. They need to have knowledge of their students. And they need to know how to transform data into instructional action. These are all topics studied by educational psychologists. Data use draws on work from prominent educational psychologists such as Cronbach and Snow (1977) from their aptitude studies; Corno (2008) from adaptive instruction; and Shulman (1986, 1987) for the kinds of knowledge teachers need.
This paper explains what data literacy is, outlining a construct called, data literacy for teachers (Mandinach & Gummer, 2016a, 2016b). It will describe the knowledge, skills, and dispositions teachers need to use data effectively. Given that so much attention is given to using assessment data, assessment literacy is often confused with data literacy. It differentiates these two constructs, acknowledging that educators need to be both data and assessment literate. The paper explores why diverse data sources beyond assessment results are increasingly important for educators to understand their students, especially to move to an equity lens and an asset model. The paper concludes by making explicit linkages between data literacy and educational psychology, drawing from literature addressing teacher knowledge (Shulman, 1986, 1987) and exploring how educational psychologists can contribute to relevant research and help to prepare future educators to be data literate.

Author

• Ellen B. Mandinach, WestEd