Data collection and analysis play several critical roles in learning institutions. More importantly, high-quality data offers important insights into the areas that are doing well and those in need of improvement throughout school systems. The Arts to Education uses collected data on student outcomes, teacher effectiveness, disciplinary rates, and attendance, among others, to help administrators make evidence-based decisions regarding policies, programs, curricula, and resource allocation. Strong quantitative and qualitative data determine district priorities and reform movements. Furthermore, the data analysis provides accountability and objectivity in assessing controversial issues, such as racial and socioeconomic differences related to achievement access funding. However, these benefits are contingent upon the use of methodologically sound research designs and analyses. The validity of the findings produced weak or biased data collection and interpretation techniques that render them open to manipulation by those with interests in pushing dubious agendas rather than objective truth. Two experiences from my learning life underline the importance of strict data practices and their significant influence.
Our principal, who was the English teacher two years ago in high school, imposed a compulsory writing skills curriculum and essay assessment every quarter for all students as well as teachers. They collected and evaluated the results of essays not only to assess student progress during a year but also in order to find out differences between teacher classrooms that would help identify best practices and those teachers who struggle with teaching writing. Still, numerous employees challenged the accuracy and propriety of making comparisons in essay scores without matching assessors for difficulty across subjects and grades. Following this feedback on the weaknesses in data collection, the administration worked with district research advisors to develop a more robust essay analytics model before using those results for any high-stakes teacher assessments. This lesson highlighted the significance of positively assessing data design to improve accuracy and staff acceptance.
While in my graduate program, I was part of a state research study in education involving chronic absenteeism differences between boys and girls at the elementary school level. The first set of data analyses was limited to aggregate attendance rates and did not include confounding variables. Nevertheless, by diving into the raw data and applying more complex statistical tests, we found that the gender gap vanished after controlling for illness problems and accessibility to family transportation problems. This conclusion significantly influenced the state’s policy prescriptions relating to chronic absenteeism in early grades. A blurry description dataset could be converted into useful conclusions through appropriate modeling and regressions to provide equitable decisions. The investment into technical data science skills and insertion of doubt about surface interpretations make educational data uncertain to actionable.
In both cases, simple data gathering and reporting alone were not sufficient to provide conclusive evidence about guiding administrators’ decisions concerning critical student issues. It was only when the information had been subjected to stringent research and analysis that it became undeniable enough to shape sound reforms that influenced the more rational allocation of resources. Educational data is actually very powerful when used responsibly. High-fidelity, unbiased approaches keep meaningful signals from being lost amidst statistical noise when providing students with learning services.
References
Hollingsworth, H., McCullough, M., Goodwin, B., & Blanchett, W. (2021). Discipline data rhetoric: Examining gaps in reporting school discipline data by race/ethnicity and gender within and across state level. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29, 158.
Mandinach, E. B., & Schildkamp, K. (2021). Misconceptions about data-based decision making in education: An exploration of multiple perspectives. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 70, 101035.
write