An investigation of primary and secondary teachers\u27 beliefs in the usefulness of data-driven decision-making

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) has increased in schools and districts at a rapid pace. The teacher’s role in DDDM has changed due to the increased accountability requirements set by the federal government. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the relationship among teacher’s characteristics and teacher’s beliefs regarding the use of DDDM in their instructional practice. The study investigated the types of data teachers find most useful in making instructional decisions, the ways teacher’s make decisions based on the data and its support systems, and the data-driven culture of their individual schools. McLeod’s (2006) Statewide Data-Driven Readiness Study: Teacher’s Survey was used to assess the teacher’s beliefs about the data-driven readiness of their schools. This study addressed teachers in a small urban school district in the southern portion of New York State. The data for this quantitative study was collected via an online survey sent to 329, K-12 teachers. Each teacher responded to a five-point Likert scale indicating to what degree they agreed or disagreed with statements on three constructs 1) assessments, 2) data, and 3) data-driven culture. The constructs were further divided into seven factors that were analyzed to determine the relationship between New York state assessments, other yearly assessments, common periodic assessments, other periodic assessments, acting on data, support systems, and data-driven culture. The findings indicate that teachers that participated in the study believe their schools utilize data to make instructional decisions. Statistical significances were found in the cross tabulation analyses. Further analysis did indicate that there is a significant correlation between primary school and secondary school teachers when comparing high-stakes assessments. The research also indicates that teachers are using data to inform their instructional decisions to the degree that is it useful. Lastly, the research indicates that teachers need to be provided with access to the data, its’ support systems and provided professional development on how to analyze the data more effectively