Effective Data Use

When used effectively, data can be a powerful tool for evidence-based decision making. Student and teacher data, if analyzed appropriately, can improve instructional practices and inform other school reforms.

Our staff have provided advice to many stakeholders—foundations, federal agencies, states, and districts—on how to use data to inform education policies and decisions. We have helped these stakeholders develop better measures of teacher and leader effectiveness that incorporate measures of students' learning, classroom observations, and other measures of performance. In addition, we are evaluating interventions designed to help teachers make use of data from formative student assessments to improve their instruction.