Exploring the factors influencing teachers’ instructional data use with electronic data systems

Abstract

Teachers' use of student assessment data to improve teaching practices has received increased attention for quality education. Many factors are found to be crucial to teachers' instructional data use. More recently, the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education makes student assessment data increasingly accessible through electronic systems. However, new and emerging issues relating to using ICTs are inadequately examined in existing research on teachers' instructional data use. To address the gap, this study investigated the factors influencing teachers' instructional data use involving the use of electronic data systems. A total of 243 teachers from twelve middle schools in northern China participated in this study. Our findings reveal that in order to promote teachers' instructional data use with ICTs, schools need to pay appropriate attention to performance-based accountability policies, cultivate supportive relationships among teachers, and develop teachers' positive attitude towards data use; meanwhile, it is important to improve the accessibility of data systems and enhance teachers’ data literacy and ICT literacy.