We present an exercise for teaching the transportation problem using a mix of spatial and randomly generated data. It illustrates the potential of using qualitative and quantitative data and is suitable for undergraduate or introductory business school courses on operations research (OR), logistics, and supply chain management. It poses two…

According to the United States Department of Education (2012, 2016), degree completions are a vital measure of overall institution success. Significantly, declining student persistence rates and low degree completions are consistent problems in public colleges throughout the United States. Not only are diminishing retention and incomplete degrees…

This article presents theoretical and empirical support for a data-driven instructional coaching approach and emerging evidence for the contributions of an online platform in operationalizing, assessing, and facilitating the implementation of key coaching actions for both research and practice. The contributions of an online platform in guiding…

A multiple case study was designed to examine the components of data literacy used by formal and informal leaders to support the work of Data Teams. Nine formal leaders and ten informal leaders constituted the participants. One overarching central question and seven subquestions guided the research. The answer to the central question, How do…

With the expansion of computer science (CS) education, CS teachers in K-12 schools should be cognizant of student misconceptions and be prepared to help students establish accurate understanding of computer science and programming. This exploratory design-based research (DBR) study implemented a data-driven approach to identify secondary school…

The use of data to track and manage progress is critical to a collective impact initiative achieving results or understanding impact. Yet, little research has been done to determine how collective impact practitioners can effectively use data. This article--including a literature review, semistructured interviews with experts on performance…

With the latest re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004), states are allowed to use a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to determine whether students qualify for special education services. Although RtI has promise and has been implemented well with documented results, further research is…

Increasingly US jobs require data science and analytics skills. Can we meet the demand? The current shortage of skills in the national job pool demonstrates that business-as-usual strategies won't satisfy the growing need. If we are to unlock the promise and potential of data and all the technologies that depend on it, employers and educators will…

Data-based decision making is enhanced by identifying a precise problem statement or question to explore. When looking at a problem, the nearer we get to the precise problem (e.g., where and when it is occurring, who is involved, and why the problem is continuing in context and location) the more quickly we can build an action plan to effectively…

Empirical evidence on the way in which expert designers from different domains cognitively connect their internal processes with external resources is presented in the context of an extended cognition model. The article focuses briefly on the main trends in the extended design cognition theory and in particular on recent trends in information…

Three-tiered models of academic and behavioral support are being increasingly adopted across the nation, and with that adoption has come an increasing message that designing and implementing effective practices alone is not enough. Systems are needed to help staff to collectively implement best practices. These systems, as well as effective…

Although there is a strong legislative base and perceived efficacy for multidisciplinary team decision making, limited evidence supports its effectiveness or consistency of implementation in practice. In recent research, we used the Decision Observation, Recording, and Analysis (DORA) tool to document activities and adult behaviors during positive…

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Teams use data to guide decisions about student social and academic behavior problems. In previous evaluation and research efforts, the authors taught team members to use Team-Initiated Problem Solving, a model that embeds data-based decision making into a broader problem-solving framework. In this study,…

This invited commentary includes observations about the article "Building Local Capacity for Training and Coaching Data-Based Problem Solving with Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Teams," published in the July 2011 issue of the "Journal of Applied School Psychology." In this article Newton and colleagues present an interesting field…

In today's educational environment, schools struggle to meet the academic needs of every student. Many schools are challenged by the use of a response-to-intervention framework in which too many students need strong interventions. This article details a data-driven, decision-making response-to-intervention reading team model in which teachers,…