Are you using the right tests? The correct assessmentmethods? The best technology? These are only a few of theissues that must be addressed in the effort to use data tochange teacher practice.
Are you using the right tests? The correct assessmentmethods? The best technology? These are only a few of theissues that must be addressed in the effort to use data tochange teacher practice.
SCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY are collecting and disseminating student achievement data as never before. Local newspapers are displaying test scores and graduation rates on their front pages. Realtors are posting this same information on their Web sites to market the most desirable neighborhoods. And superintendents are creating public relations campaignsaround school report cards.
The writer discusses the use of data to change teacher practice. Using data to improve instruction can result in students receiving instruction that more closely matches their needs, in parents learning how their children and their school compared on last year’s state assessment and understanding how their children are performing now and what they need to improve on, and in teachers sharing instructional strategies with other teachers, thereby improving their own practice and gaining control over the elements of reform that are crucial to improved student success.