Previous research indicates that pre- and in-service teachers are not receiving adequate training to implement data-informed instructional decision making. This is problematic given the promise this decision making process holds for improving instruction and student learning. At the same time, many educators do not see the value of different types of assessment data (e.g. accountability data), and lack the knowledge, skills, and confidence to use available data to guide instructional decisions. The purpose of this study was to conduct a formative evaluation of an online training designed to improve Iowa pre- and in-service teachers’ perceptions about data, data knowledge, skills and confidence working with data. The training along with a data literacy test was administered online to 29 pre-service teachers from two Iowa universities. A pre-post design was used to assess changes in these data constructs. Results indicated that participants’ perceptions about external accountability data improved significantly after completing the training, as did their confidence working with data. However, most participants’ data performance were relatively stable pre-post training. A content analysis of responses pre-post revealed qualitative changes in some participants’ thinking about data. Participants rated the value, effectiveness and quality of the training and complementary materials. Ratings were mostly positive, with participants signifying the training and materials as valuable and effective for enhancing their understanding of data as well as their confidence working with data. Participants also identified opportunities for improving the training. The author concludes with a discussion of the results, implications for future research, and how the study adds to the existing literature and informs practice.

Diese Dissertation untersucht die Verwendung von Performance-Informationen („Kennzahlen“) durch Führungskräfte in der öffentlichen Verwaltung. Unter „Verwendung“ wird dabei die zweckorientierte Nutzung der Daten verstanden, um zu steuern, zu lernen und öffentliche Leistungen zu verbessern. Die zentrale Frage der Arbeit lautet: Wie können Unterschiede bei der Verwendung von Performance-Informationen erklärt werden? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, wird die bereits existierende Literatur strukturiert ausgewertet. Forschungslücken werden aufgezeigt und eigene Ansätze vorgestellt, wie diese geschlossen werden können. Der erste Teil der Dissertation untersucht den Einfluss von Manager-bezogenen Faktoren auf die Nutzung von Performance-Daten, die bislang in der Forschung noch keine Berücksichtigung gefunden haben. Der zweite Abschnitt testet ein modifiziertes Modell aus der Psychologie, das auf der Annahme basiert, dass die Verwendung von Performance-Informationen ein bewusstes und durchdachtes Verhalten darstellt. Der dritte Teil untersucht, inwieweit sich die Erklärungen für die Nutzung von Performance-Informationen unterscheiden, wenn wir diese nicht nur als Kennzahlen definieren, sondern ebenfalls andere Quellen von „unsystematischem“ Feedback berücksichtigen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse der Arbeit basieren auf einer Umfrage aus dem Jahr 2011. Im Rahmen dieses Surveys habe ich die mittleren Manager (Amtsleiter und Fachbereichsleiter) aus acht ausgewählten Bereichen aller kreisfreien Städte in Deutschland befragt (n=954). Zur Auswertung der Daten wurden die Verfahren Faktorenanalyse, Multiple Regressionsanalyse und Strukturgleichungsmodellierung eingesetzt. Meine Forschung förderte unter anderem vier Erkenntnisse zu Tage, die durch ähnliche Befunde der verschiedenen Teile der Dissertation abgesichert sind: 1) Die Verwendung von Performance-Daten kann als bewusstes Verhalten von Führungskräften modelliert werden, das durch deren Einstellung sowie durch die Einstellung ihres sozialen Umfeldes bestimmt wird. 2) Häufige Nutzer von Performance-Informationen zeigen überraschenderweise keine generelle Präferenz für das abstrakt-analytische Verarbeiten von Informationen. Stattdessen bevorzugen sie, Informationen durch persönliche Interaktionen aufzunehmen. 3) Manager, die sich früh im Rahmen der Ermittlung von Performance-Informationen engagieren, nutzen diese später auch häufiger, um Entscheidungen zu treffen. 4) Performance-Berichte sind nur eine Informationsquelle unter vielen. Verwaltungsmanager präferieren verbales Feedback von Insidern sowie das Feedback von wichtigen externen Stakeholdern gegenüber systematischen Performance-Daten. Die Dissertation erklärt diese Befunde theoretisch und verdeutlicht deren Implikationen für Theorie und Praxis. / The dissertation examines the use of performance information by public managers. “Use” is conceptualized as purposeful utilization in order to steer, learn, and improve public services. The main research question is: Why do public managers use performance information? To answer this question, I systematically review the existing literature, identify research gaps and introduce the approach of my dissertation. The first part deals with manager-related variables that might affect performance information use but which have thus far been disregarded. The second part models performance data use by applying a theory from social psychology which is based on the assumption that this management behavior is conscious and reasoned. The third part examines the extent to which explanations of performance information use vary if we include others sources of “unsystematic” feedback in our analysis. The empirical results are based on survey data from 2011. I surveyed middle managers from eight selected divisions of all German cities with county status (n=954). To analyze the data, I used factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and structural equation modeling. My research resulted in four major findings: 1) The use of performance information can be modeled as a reasoned behavior which is determined by the attitude of the managers and of their immediate peers. 2) Regular users of performance data surprisingly are not generally inclined to analyze abstract data but rather prefer gathering information through personal interaction. 3) Managers who take on ownership of performance information at an early stage in the measurement process are also more likely to use this data when it is reported to them. 4) Performance reports are only one source of information among many. Public managers prefer verbal feedback from insiders and feedback from external stakeholders over systematic performance reports. The dissertation explains these findings using a deductive approach and discusses their implications for theory and practice.

Nationwide reform efforts strive to improve schooling through a range of approaches including improving the quality of campus leadership, restructuring organizational design, and revamping instruction. National and state education policies reflect the reforms addressed in educational research literature and drive state, district, and campus based improvement initiatives. For example, the more recent influence of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability system has led to a significant increase in the use of data to drive instructional decision-making. Campus leadership is key to both the successful implementation of data initiatives (Wayman and Stringfield, 2006) as well as comprehensive reform efforts (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005). The literature provides a wide array of leadership theories that offer promise in understanding more effective approaches to leading school improvement efforts; however, much of this literature remains conceptual and vague (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins 2008). Data use has gained increasing attention in the literature as well, but the research lacks a strong conceptual framework for leadership. The purpose of this paper is to view data use through the lens of Leithwood’s model of Transformational Leadership in order to explore the linkages between the leadership theory and data use practices and to offer a framework that situates data use as a tool to increase all students’ academic performance and build a democratic and socially just learning organization. The linkages between Transformational Leadership and data use are presented as both bodies of literature are reviewed. The study was guided by the following questions: 1) What are the levels of Transformational Leadership Behaviors exhibited at each campus? 2) What are the data use practices being implemented on each campus? 3) What is the relationship between Transformational Leadership and data use? Two schools served as the sites for the research which drew on both quantitative and qualitative data sources to address the research questions. Results and findings show evidence of Transformational Leadership Behaviors that linked closely with the data use practices. The final discussion offers a preliminary conceptual framework delineating the intersection between the theory of Transformational Leadership and data use in schools. / text

Educators are increasingly being asked to interact with data to facilitate students’ learning in the classroom. However, as an educational measurement community, we have little understanding of the factors and/or contexts that facilitate educators’ successful use of data. Educators’ use of score reports and the relationship to the intended use is integral to the concept of validity. A conceptual model, “Data Habit of Mind,” is proposed to study educators’ understanding, interpretation and potential applications of results from large-scale assessments. The metaphor, “Habit of Mind,” was originally coined by Robert Sternberg and Dan Keating, and has been applied in the education sector to describe educators’ habits of inquiry when interacting with assessments. Based on an extensive review of the literature, Data Habit of Mind is defined as a combination of statistical literacy and score report interpretation. Statistical literacy is the extent to which an individual is able to describe, organize and reduce, represent, and analyze and interpret data. Score report interpretation is the extent to which an individual is able to describe, summarize, question, and propose an application for a given set of elements on a score report. The combination of these two makes up an individual’s Data Habit of Mind. Twenty educators were interviewed to assess their level of statistical literacy and their score report interpretation skills. A cognitive interview approach was used to capture the educators’ cognitive processes as they solved performance-based tasks, and protocol analysis procedures were used to encode the responses into the conceptual model. Descriptions of educators’ Data Habit of Mind were then generated through qualitative matrix analysis. Four groups of educators were identified based on the patterns of relationship between their statistical literacy and score report interpretation scores. Demographic factors, including teaching experience, gender and educational background were not meaningful predictors of educators’ Data Habit of Mind. These results add to our understanding of how educators interpret and use test results and have implications for test validation processes.

Educators are increasingly being asked to interact with data to facilitate students’ learning in the classroom. However, as an educational measurement community, we have little understanding of the factors and/or contexts that facilitate educators’ successful use of data. Educators’ use of score reports and the relationship to the intended use is integral to the concept of validity. A conceptual model, “Data Habit of Mind,” is proposed to study educators’ understanding, interpretation and potential applications of results from large-scale assessments. The metaphor, “Habit of Mind,” was originally coined by Robert Sternberg and Dan Keating, and has been applied in the education sector to describe educators’ habits of inquiry when interacting with assessments. Based on an extensive review of the literature, Data Habit of Mind is defined as a combination of statistical literacy and score report interpretation. Statistical literacy is the extent to which an individual is able to describe, organize and reduce, represent, and analyze and interpret data. Score report interpretation is the extent to which an individual is able to describe, summarize, question, and propose an application for a given set of elements on a score report. The combination of these two makes up an individual’s Data Habit of Mind. Twenty educators were interviewed to assess their level of statistical literacy and their score report interpretation skills. A cognitive interview approach was used to capture the educators’ cognitive processes as they solved performance-based tasks, and protocol analysis procedures were used to encode the responses into the conceptual model. Descriptions of educators’ Data Habit of Mind were then generated through qualitative matrix analysis. Four groups of educators were identified based on the patterns of relationship between their statistical literacy and score report interpretation scores. Demographic factors, including teaching experience, gender and educational background were not meaningful predictors of educators’ Data Habit of Mind. These results add to our understanding of how educators interpret and use test results and have implications for test validation processes.

Thesis advisor: Larry H. Ludlow / Teachers in the United States are increasingly tasked with using data to inform their classroom instruction both through federal policies, such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2016), and state policies requiring the use of teacher-determined data-driven goals for performance evaluations (MA 603 CMR 35.07). Many teachers, however, report that they feel underprepared to engage in this type of work (Dunn et al., 2013), also called Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM). In addition, there is currently a limited set of instruments to measure the construct of using data to inform classroom instruction and the instruments that currently exist measure this construct using a typical Classical Test Theory design.This work developed an instrument called the Using Data to Inform classroom Instruction (UDII) scale to measure teachers’ use of data to inform classroom instruction. It used the Rasch/Guttman Scenario (RGS) methodology, an approach that develops scenarios that reflect the rich lived experiences of individuals (Antipkina & Ludlow, 2020; Ludlow et al., 2014). The RGS approach utilizes the Rasch model, part of the family of Item Response Theory models, which conceptualizes a construct as a hierarchical continuum. Scenario items and people are plotted on the same variable map, which allows for the development of rich descriptions of individuals at particular raw score locations on the continuum. An interpretative variable map is included to help schools and districts use the results of the survey. This work adds to the growing body of literature utilizing the RGS approach, as well as the literature focused on the use of data to inform classroom instruction (or DDDM). The UDII scale can be utilized by schools and districts who are engaged in the work of using data to inform classroom instruction to identify the current skillsets of teachers and/or teams of teachers to provide differentiated support, or it can be used before and after an intervention focused on using data to inform classroom instruction to measure change. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Background: Health information system (HIS) performance has been defined as “data quality and the continuous use of information †. The quality of data, as well as the culture of data use in an organisation has been shown to shape the way data is used. In order to fully understand data use practices with the aim of strengthening the HIS, one needs to first understand whether the context and “culture†in the organisation is conducive to data use. Are the policies, structures, processes and people within the organisation aiding data use? In what ways do managers view and use data? Aim: In this study, we sought to explore the culture of health information use on a district and sub district management level. The aim was to contribute to the wider knowledge on information use by exploring the data use practices and factors that shape its use among these managers. What is the culture of data use in the district management structures? When, why and in what way does data get brought into the management discussion? Do managers feel that the information produced are useful in aiding their decision making, and what do they recommend be changed? What are the key factors that affect data use practices? Methods: This thesis comprises a literature review of published articles, conducted in order to provide context for the study of the culture of data use, whilst defining the problem to be investigated. The full thesis comprises the literature review, the original study protocol, a full manuscript in the format of a publishable article and a set of appendices. The study was granted ethical approval and permission from the provincial department of health. Given the exploratory purpose of the study, we conducted a mini ethnographic case study using qualitative research methods in a rural health district of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The researcher employed ethnographic methods that included participant observation, in depth key informant interviews, document reviews as well as informal conversations to collect data. We used the PRISM framework as a guide for analysing our findings. Findings: Our findings suggest that there is a strong focus in this district on reporting requirements and technical aspects of producing good quality data. The drive to achieve excellence in production of quality data may be in tension with another important organisational value, which is the need of managers, for ease of access to relevant data, to facilitate decision-making and improvement of health service delivery. Managers’ overall experience is of not receiving the health information support they require. Instead, they experienced an organisational culture of using health information to narrowly measure targets and performance, which left them feeling unsupported and frustrated. Managers were resilient in managing these challenges and created alternative ways of accessing the data they needed for decision-making. Conclusion: We conclude that in our setting where the technical component of producing good data was well performed, this was not sufficient to guarantee effective use of data for quality improvements. Behavioural and organisational factors were found to play an important role as both obstacles and facilitators in shaping the culture of data use, information that is useful to inform design of interventions for health information strengthening.

No description available.

The use and analysis of data has become a keystone in national policy for educational improvement and a foundational condition in the award of federal grant monies (U.S. Department of Education, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010). Principals are expected to lead their schools in the use of data and are accountable for adequate yearly progress (AYP) for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Effective use of data can move educators toward student centric learning plans and interventions which improve achievement. While current literature emphasizes the importance of assessment data used to guide sound instructional decisions, gathering scores and generating reports by grade and level does little at individual schools unless there is strong site-based leadership to guide faculty and staff in targeting areas of improvement, implementing a plan, monitoring progress, and adjusting actions. This qualitative case study describes how the principal's leadership guided a journey of data-focused decision making at one middle school. This dissertation describes use of data in decision-making processes to promote student learning from the perspective of a school which has been implementing data-focused decision making for several years and was selected for its established use of student assessment data. This research focused on the processes individuals and groups use to better understand and use data within a school context and the role of school leaders in supporting these actions. The intent of this case study is to describe and understand how school leaders make the use of data an integral part of the operation within a middle school in a large suburban mid-Atlantic school district. By looking at how principals embed data analysis and interpretation in the decision-making processes of the school and engage teachers in the use of data to promote student learning, findings could be useful as a guide to other educational leaders as they implement site based actions and related professional development for school-based leaders and teachers. / Ed. D.

<p>HIV/AIDS is the largest and most serious global epidemic in the recent times. To date, the epidemic has affected approximately 40 million people (range 33 &ndash / 46 million) of whom 67%, that is, an estimated 27 million people are in the Sub Saharan Africa. The Sub Saharan Africa is also reported to have the highest regional prevalence of 7.2% compared to an average of 2% in other regions. A medical cure for HIV/AIDS remains elusive but use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has resulted in improvement of quality and quantity of life as evidenced by the reduction of mortality and morbidity associated with the infection, hence longer and good quality life for HIV/AIDS patients on ART.</p>