Unnoticed by most, some technology corporations have changed their terms of service to allow user data to be transferred to clouds and even to be used to train artificial intelligence systems. As a result of these developments, remote data collection may in many cases become impossible to be conducted anonymously. Researchers need to react by…

The extent to which teachers collect, interpret, and use information from multiple data sources is a key distinction between novice and expert data users. Understanding and exploring this dimension of teachers' instructional decision making requires a shift in contemporary perspectives toward the interconnectedness of data sources within teachers'…

Each year, state legislators craft new policies that drive data use across their states, and as part of a comprehensive review of state education data legislation, the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) keeps track. In 2022, state legislators introduced 131 bills in 35 states--42 of which became law in 17 states-- that would govern the use of data along…

The use of educational technologies in schools is being reshaped by a new kind of intermediary organization that brokers relations between schools, academia, governance, and industry. In this article we define and examine 'edtech brokers' as organizations that operate between the edtech industry, public schools, research centers and governments,…

The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), formerly known as the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey, is a part of the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) strategy for administering and enforcing civil rights laws in U.S. public school districts and schools, including Puerto Rico.The CRDC collects a…

Evidence-based decision-making requires access to good and reliable data. In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase of data available to institutions, from internal as well as external sources. With this increase in data and its analytics, new challenges and questions arise. One of the most pertinent of which is the ethics and best…

This paper examines processes of datafication in early childhood education (ECE) settings for children from birth-five years in England and how this relates to increased formalisation. Unusually, ECE in England includes a standardised curriculum and formative and statutory assessments; thus it has been described as subject to both datafication and…

The Wabash National Study was created by the authors of this article in the early 2000s as a response to increasing pressure for institutions to get serious about assessment. The Wabash National Study was a multimillion dollar, 40-plus-institution, longitudinal research and assessment project that measured liberal learning outcomes and the good…

When attempting to use data to inform practice and policy, the availability, accuracy and relevance of that data are paramount. This article maps the range of users interested in data relating to the UK widening participation (WP) agenda. It explores some challenges associated with identifying, defining, obtaining and using data to inform…

Over the decades, it is evident that exceptional learners have been excluded from participating in international assessments such as OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) due to their disabilities. Drawing on the interdisciplinary theories and perspectives of educational assessment, measurement, and early childhood special…

Students with persistent challenging behavior are present in nearly every classroom. Teachers need the knowledge and skills to understand student behavior and intervene effectively. This article presents a framework to guide teachers in understanding student behavior and feasible tools for collecting data about the function of student behavior.…

Schools need support in the use of data. To provide this support, a data team intervention was developed. A prior study conducted in the Netherlands showed that several factors can enable or hinder the work of data teams. The current replication study focuses on the factors influencing data use in data teams and the perceived effects of the data…

The work of the National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum) is a key aspect of the National Cooperative Education Statistics System (Cooperative System). The Cooperative System was established to produce and maintain, with the cooperation of the states, comparable and uniform education information and data that are useful for policymaking at…

This article describes a project undertaken as part of a cross-campus strategic planning effort. The project documented current campus practices and systems in use for collecting, analyzing and reporting key research metrics. The project identified organizational issues around siloed data collection and lack of clarity on data stewards, data…

It is treated as a truism that teaching well requires "meeting students where they are". Data enable us to know better where that is. Data can improve instructional practice by informing predictions about which pedagogies will be most successful for which students, and it can improve advising practice by informing predictions about which…