Since the enactment of No Child Left Behind, U.S. education has been dominated by test-based accountability policies and subsequent calls for data-driven decision-making (DDDM). DDDM is often framed as a method for making instruction more rational and scientific. Yet there is little clarity or consensus around the DDDM process: What data do teachers use? How do they interpret data? Though data can be used for instructional improvement, the high pressure associated with test-based accountability often results in data use that has distortive effects on teaching and learning. In this dissertation, I build on the literature on educatorsâ data use in practice to investigate the tensions between test-based accountability policies and instructional improvement.
In Paper 1, I examine the existing data use literature to identify distortive data use practices and offer recommendations for using evidence of student learning in more responsive ways. Paper 2 is an analysis of the ways that test-based accountability policy shapes the data use practices of a middle-school mathematics teacher workgroup. The logic of accountability policy constrains their data use practices in ways that reinforce systemic oppression and limit opportunities for more equitable instruction. In Paper 3, I analyze the epistemic underpinnings of teacherâs data use through a comparative case study of two middle-school mathematics teacher workgroups. The workgroups take different epistemic stances on data, which shape their data use practices, what they consider evidence of learning, and the instructional responses they design. The educators who use data as an indicator of learning are better positioned for instructional improvement than those who use data as a measurement of learning.
These analyses inform the development of more productive data use practices. Despite the various calls for DDDM, there are few efforts to prepare teachers or instructional coaches to engage in nuanced discussions of data. By identifying potential pitfalls of data use and articulating ways to use data for instructional improvement, I provide recommendations that can support more ambitious and equitable instruction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03242018-172037 |
| Date | 28 March 2018 |
| Creators | Garner, Brette |
| Contributors | Joanne Golann, Rogers Hall, Barbara Stengel, Ilana Horn |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03242018-172037/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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