A Multistate District-Level Cluster Randomized Trial of the Impact of Data-Driven Reform on Reading and Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

Analyzing mathematics and reading achievement outcomes from a district-level random assignment study fielded in over 500 schools within 59 school districts and seven states, the authors estimate the 1-year impacts of a data-driven reform initiative implemented by the Johns Hopkins Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE). CDDRE consultants work with districts to implement quarterly student benchmark assessments and provide district and school leaders with extensive training on interpreting and using the data to guide reform. Relative to a control condition, in which districts operated as usual without CDDRE services, the data-driven reform initiative caused statistically significant districtwide improvements in student mathematics achievement. The CDDRE intervention also had a positive effect on reading achievement, but the estimates fell short of conventional levels of statistical significance.

Opening the black box: knowledge creation in data teams

“…As a result, teachers may change their behavior, such as by trying out different instructional strategies, which can improve their own performance (Schildkamp and Kuiper, 2010) and lead to improved student achievement (Campbell and Fullan, 2006;Carlson et al, 2011;Lai et al, 2009).…”

Next Generation of Information Technology in Educational Management

“…Analyzing student data in depth can point to specific problems of schools, teachers and groups of students [9]. According to Carlson, Borman and Robinson [10] an achievementoriented approach includes collecting, interpreting, and distributing data, which could support school improvement initiatives. The literature on school improvement and Fig.…”

Editorial article for the special issue on data-based decision making around the world: from policy to practice to results

“…Data-based decision making (hereafter called data use) continues to receive ample attention in education, partly because of the increasing emphasis on holding schools accountable for the education they provide, and because of recent evidence implicating data use in improvements in student achievement (Carlson, Borman, & Robinson, 2011). School leaders and teachers can use data (e.g., information on the functioning of their school) to change teaching, address existing (ineffective) programs in their schools, and improve the functioning of the school in terms of increased student achievement (Carlson et al, 2011;Lai, McNaughton, Timperley, & Hsiao, 2009;McNaughton, Lai, & Hsiao, this issue;Wohlstetter, Datnow, & Park, 2008).…”

“…School leaders and teachers can use data (e.g., information on the functioning of their school) to change teaching, address existing (ineffective) programs in their schools, and improve the functioning of the school in terms of increased student achievement (Carlson et al, 2011;Lai, McNaughton, Timperley, & Hsiao, 2009;McNaughton, Lai, & Hsiao, this issue;Wohlstetter, Datnow, & Park, 2008).…”