What is Data-Driven Decision-Making?
Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) is a system of teaching and management practices that gets better information about students into the hands of classroom teachers. Many teachers reject the idea of DDDM because of its association with the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This is unfortunate, because a multitude of schools and districts across the country are seeing substantial improvements in student learning and achievement as they incorporate data-driven practices. Teachers in these schools are finding that intelligent and pervasive uses of data can improve their instructional interventions for students, re-energize their enthusiasm for teaching, and increase their feelings of professional fulfillment and job satisfaction.
Data-driven decision-making requires an important paradigm shift for teachers – a shift from day-to-day instruction that emphasizes process and delivery in the classroom to pedagogy that is dedicated to the achievement of results. Educational practices are evaluated in light of their direct impacts on student learning. School organizations that are new to the focused, intentional analysis of student and school outcome data quickly find that most teachers and other instructional support staff are unprepared to adopt data-driven approaches without extensive professional development and training.
Attachment: The full article detailing the process of DDDM can be found here:
Data Driven Decision Making
A table that outlines the DDM process: DDDM TABLE
DDDM Initial Meeting Outline – The Steps and Resources
An Example of a Teacher Going through the DDDM Process
Publications:
- Earl, Lorna M., and Steven Katz. Leading Schools in a Data-Rich World: Harnessing Data for School Improvement. 1 ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006. Print.
