Exploring factors influencing teachers' use of student assessment data for making instructional decisions

The emphasis on accountability that underlies current discussions about improving education has led to extensive testing, collecting, and reporting of data. The requirements of the "No Child Left Behind" legislation have intensified the attention placed on state standards and assessments. Yet recent research identifies the decisions of individual teachers as the prime school-based factor affecting student achievement. Two essential questions prompted this study: Why do teachers' uses of data for instructional decision-making appear to be so limited, and what strategies might be helpful for increasing the use of data to support instruction? If the goal of increased testing and other forms of data collection is to improve student learning, a better understanding of the relationship between student performance data and teacher decision-making can assist in improving school effectiveness.;This embedded multiple-methods case study explored the use of data for making instructional decisions by mathematics teachers in three different middle schools in a single district. Significant differences in student population, building leadership, and culture among the schools studied afforded an opportunity to assess the influence of these factors on teacher practice. Semi-structured interviews with 22 teachers and 8 administrators formed the core of the information obtained to answer the research questions.;Analysis of these interviews, field notes and relevant district documents suggest that teachers use data primarily for grading and placement decisions rather than for planning and implementing more effective instruction. Data from mandated state tests impacts instructional content as teachers align their curricula with the objectives of state tests.;While the findings suggest that leadership and school culture can influence teachers' use of data, they also indicate that individual teachers' attributes, beliefs, and experiences may be the most significant factors. Evidence that intraschool variation in teacher practice exceeds interschool variation indicates the need for more research to understand the changes necessary at the district, school, and classroom levels to enable data-based instruction to become common practice for improving student learning.