From Perceptions to Practice: Examining How Administrators Make Use of Value-Added Data in Schools

Abstract

Accountability mandates increasingly lead schools and districts to make use of student performance metrics. This study begins to unpack the factors behind uptake and use of value-added models by administrators in schools within a district and state that strongly promote data use as a tool to improve student outcomes, measure performance, and ascertain accountability. This study examines the components that influence how and to what extent school administrators make use of value-added performance metrics to shed light on how the availability of data affects schools beyond the external accountability factors commonly presented. The usage in schools in this study has two key components that drive the data cultures of the individual schools: (1) administrators’ perceptions of the usefulness and alignment of data and (2) the external factors that influence data uptake and usage.