Are They Using the Data? Teacher Perceptions of, Practices with, and Preparation to Use Assessment Data

Abstract

<p>Teacher instructional and curricular choices should be informed by student level assessment<br />data; however, there is a dearth of empirical research documenting teachers’ perceptions, uses,<br />and preparation to use assessment data. To address this gap in understanding, we surveyed<br />teachers working in two public school districts in the western United States, resulting in a<br />sample consisting of 52 K-12 teachers. Our results revealed a number of relationships between<br />engaging in professional development, uses of assessment data, and perceptions of the value of<br />the data. We found a number of anticipated relationships, including that teachers who are more<br />comfortable using assessment data in their practice tend to feel less overwhelmed with using<br />assessment data. We also found several paradoxical relationships such as the more teachers<br />engage in professional learning communities the less they create and use common assessments.<br />Our research has a number of important implications for structuring teacher professional<br />development in ways that enhance effective use of assessment data by educators to inform their<br />practice. Our findings also provide a foundation for a deeper examination of teacher<br />perceptions of, uses of, and preparation to use assessment data.</p>