Education, Big Data, and student privacy are a combustible mix. The improvement of education and the protection of student privacy are key societal values. Big Data and Learning Analytics offer the promise of unlocking insights to improving education through large-scale empirical analysis of data generated from student information and student…

This article describes the development of the Design Evaluation and Feedback Tool (DEFT), a custom-built web-based system that collects and reports data to support teaching, learning, and research in project-based engineering design education. The DEFT system collects data through short weekly questionnaires for students and instructors in…

Creating continuously improving education systems could be the antidote to one-off education reforms that come and go with little to show for the effort. What distinguishes continuous improvement from other reform strategies is its focus on the underlying architecture of the system that is producing undesirable outcomes (e.g., low graduation…

Throughout history, a disproportionate number of learners have been tracked into terminal vocational programs based on their race, income, gender and disability, leading to jobs with uncertain promise of economic growth and prosperity. While the quality of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs has significantly improved since then, many…

Across 3 experiments, we found evidence that information about who owns an artifact influenced 5- to 10-year-old children's and adults' judgments about that artifact's primary function. Children's and adults' use of ownership information was underpinned by their inference that owners are typically familiar with owned artifacts and are therefore…

Background: This research review provides an analysis of current research related to school and district data use, with a particular focus on identifying key characteristics of schools and districts with effective "data using cultures." The research review identifies and analyzes findings in five key areas of practice: communicating…

Data is critical, but data has not always lead to success. If data is not communicated clearly, the results can be disastrous. Design lets us communicate data so it can be understood. Dr. Rankin believes that "when we're fluent in visualizing our ideas, we can communicate them across global boundaries, across spoken language barriers, and…

"Use of Data for Fiscal Management of State Part C Systems" is designed to increase the knowledge and skills of lead agency staff regarding the use of data for appropriate fiscal management of Part C. This document addresses budget development and management. This document has three sections: (1) Budget Development and Management; (2)…

In 2016, Dalhousie University's Research Ethics Board created an interdisciplinary working group to identify the key ethical challenges of SoTL research, with the overarching aim of recommending best practices and communicating these to researchers in order to support and expand the conduct of ethically sound SoTL research. This essay reflects on…

Non-government actors such as think-tanks are playing an important role in Australian policy work. As governments increasingly outsource policy work previously done by education departments and academics to these new policy actors, more think-tanks have emerged that represent a wide range of political views and ideological positions. This paper…

As a growing entity within higher education organizational structures, enrollment managers (EMs) are primarily tasked with projecting, recruiting, and retaining the student population of their campuses. Enrollment managers are expected by institutional presidents as well as through industry standards to make data-driven planning decisions to reach…

Data-driven decision making continues to be a growing educational reform initiative across the globe. The effective use of data requires that teachers develop the knowledge and skills to analyze and use data to improve instruction. The purpose of this article is to examine teachers' capacity for and beliefs about data use. These issues are…

The authors use free software for composing infographics (Internet posters) to encourage students to synthesize informational and literacy texts.

This study investigated how teachers who support children with learning difficulties utilise psychologists' reports in their teaching practice. Previous research has examined teachers' preferences for how reports should be written, rather than how they might be used. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 12 teachers (seven primary, four…

This timely book presents a data-driven approach to preventing and responding to school violence. As school violence receives increasing attention across the nation, the application of scientific knowledge is critical. For maximum effectiveness, transdisciplinary teams should use school data, logic models, and theories of change to design,…