Data-based Instruction Research Articles

Exploring Predictors of Teachers' Sustained Use of Data-Based Instruction.

The purpose of this logistic regression study was to identify predictors of teacher-reported sustained use of data-based instruction (DBI) during the COVID-19 pandemic and assess the extent to which the identified predictors explained teachers' sustained use after completing programmatic support for intensive early writing instruction. We surveyed 58 teachers who participated in a professional development efficacy trial regarding their sustained use of DBI in writing. The model indicated a higher predicted probability of sustaining DBI for teachers who received the full treatment (tools, learning modules, and coaching for 20 weeks of intervention during their year of participation in the efficacy trial) compared to teachers in the control group who only received tools and learning modules at the end of their participation year. In addition, teachers who taught in-person were more likely to sustain compared to those who taught in remote or hybrid models, controlling for other variables. Furthermore, as the number of facilitators that teachers reported increased, teachers were more likely to sustain their use of DBI components, controlling for other variables. Further research could shed light on the relative impact of different types of facilitators and different levels of support.

Technical Adequacy of the Data-Based Instruction Knowledge and Skills Assessment in Writing

Technical Adequacy of the Data-Based Instruction Knowledge and Skills Assessment in Writing

Graph Out Loud: Pre-Service Teachers' Data Decisions and Interpretations of CBM Progress Graphs.

Data-based instruction (DBI) is a process in which teachers use progress data to make ongoing instructional decisions for students with learning disabilities. Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a common form of progress monitoring, and CBM data are placed on a graph to guide decision-making. Despite the central role that graph interpretation plays in the successful implementation of DBI, relatively little attention has been devoted to investigating this skill among special education teachers. In the present study, we examined the data decisions of 32 pre-service special education teachers (29 females and 3 males). Participants viewed data presented sequentially on CBM progress graphs and used a think-aloud procedure to explain their reasoning each time they indicated they would make instructional changes. We also asked participants to make the same type of decisions in response to static CBM progress graphs depicting 10 weeks of data. Overall, there was inconsistency in pre-service teachers' responses related to when or why they would make an instructional change. Decisions were often influenced by graph-related features, such as variability in the data. Furthermore, responses suggested misunderstandings that led to premature instructional change decisions and reliance on individual data points.

Implementation Drivers of Data-Based Instruction for Students With Intensive Learning Needs: A Systematic Review

Despite decades of research efforts, data-based instruction (DBI) for students with intensive intervention needs are not being widely used in practice as anticipated, and many educators have difficulties in implementing it. This systematic review aimed to examine what kinds of implementation drivers and strategies have been used to support educators implementing DBI and what kinds of implementation outcomes researchers have measured. Eighteen studies were synthesized using the Implementation Drivers framework and Implementation Outcomes taxonomy and were quality appraised. We found that the majority of studies primarily used competency drivers to increase teachers’ DBI expertise, while a limited number of studies focused on organizational and leadership drivers. Acceptability and fidelity were frequently assessed as implementation outcomes. We discussed the implications of the findings, including the need for researchers to incorporate implementation drivers and outcomes at diverse levels to best support educators’ implementation of DBI, as well as the limitations of this review, such as the limited generalizability of the findings.

Teacher Predictors of Student Progress in Data-Based Writing Instruction: Knowledge, Skills, Beliefs, and Instructional Fidelity

Teacher-level factors are theoretically linked to student outcomes in data-based instruction (DBI; Lembke et al., 2018). Professional development and ongoing support can increase teachers’ knowledge, skills, and beliefs related to DBI, as well as their instructional fidelity (McMaster et al., 2020). However, less is known about how each of these teacher-level factors influences student progress during an intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between several important teacher-level factors—teachers’ writing instruction fidelity, knowledge and skills related to DBI, explicit writing orientation, and writing instruction self-efficacy—and students’ writing growth. Participants were 49 U.S. elementary teachers and their 118 students struggling with early writing skills. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found a significant positive relation between DBI knowledge and skills and student writing growth, but no relation was found between writing instruction fidelity, writing orientation, or self-efficacy and student writing growth. Implications for writing instruction fidelity measurement in DBI and professional development related to teachers’ DBI knowledge and skills are discussed.

Data Teams in Teacher Preparation: Improving Data-Based Instruction in Reading

Data-based instruction (DBI) is a process of collecting and using student progress data to guide decision-making related to intervention intensity and individualization for students with learning disabilities (LD). However, effective DBI requires that teachers have a range of knowledge and skills across multiple domains. Past research has shown that data teams can improve teachers’ use of data for instructional decision-making. This article describes the use of simulated data teams to build capacity for DBI among pre-service teachers in an undergraduate-level university course focused on intensive reading intervention. Three components are described for each weekly data team meeting: (a) mini professional development session (e.g., instruction led by course instructor focused on key DBI knowledge and skills), (b) data chat (e.g., review and discussion of student data), and (c) completion of a weekly team activity and submission. The structure and implementation of this 5-week, multi-component professional learning tool are detailed.

The Effects of Data-based Instruction (DBI) for Students with Learning Difficulties in Korea: A Single-subject Meta-analysis.

Data-based instruction (DBI) is an ongoing process to utilize students’ data for determining when and how to intensify intervention. It is an educational approach that is suggested as effective to enhance achievements of struggling learners, particularly for those who did not respond to intensive intervention in usual ways. In Korea, DBI was introduced and applied for students with learning difficulties especially since 2000 when the first Korea curriculum-based measurement (CBM) was developed as the name of Basic Academic Skills Assessment. Despite a number of studies accumulated since then, there has been a lack of research that examined the level of evidence-based practice (EBP) of DBI research. Thus, the present study sought to synthesize the DBI research so far in Korea by analyzing the effectiveness of DBI for school-aged students with learning difficulties via meta-analysis and evaluating the quality of the research. In this study, a total of 32 single-subject design studies were used. Multilevel meta-analysis revealed that the mean effect size of DBI was statistically significant (B = 1.34) and there was significant variance across participants in effect sizes. The results from the conditional model showed that exceptionality type, the number of sessions, and the length of each session were significantly accountable for the variability of effect sizes. In addition, the results of the qualitative analysis revealed the acceptable quality of the overall DBI research with some limitations. Based on these findings, implications and study limitations were discussed.

Past, Present, and Future on Research and Practice in Basic Academic Skills Assessment(BASA): Establishing Data-based Instruction in Korea

Past, Present, and Future on Research and Practice in Basic Academic Skills Assessment(BASA): Establishing Data-based Instruction in Korea

Using Data-Based Instruction to Support Struggling Elementary Writers

Writing is a critical academic and life skill, but many school-age children struggle with the complexity of written expression. Given the importance of writing, there is a clear need for a systematic approach to identifying and supporting struggling writers, including writers with learning and emotional disabilities. One such approach is known as data-based instruction (DBI). This article presents an overview of DBI and guidance on how educators can use the DBI steps with assessment data to inform their classroom writing instruction. Additional resources are shared to support teachers in using DBI with their struggling writers and writers with learning and emotional disabilities.

International Perspectives on Understanding and Improving Teachers’ Data-Based Instruction and Decision Making: Introduction to the Special Series

This article serves as an introduction to the special series, Data-Based Instruction and Decision-Making: An International Perspective. In this series, we bring together international researchers from both special and general education to address teachers’ use (or non-use) of data for instructional decision making. Via this special series, we aim to increase understanding of the challenges involved in teachers’ data-based instructional decision making for students with or at-risk for learning disabilities, and to further the development of approaches for improving teachers’ ability to plan, adjust, and adapt instruction in response to data.

Some Thoughts on the Data-based Instruction for Reading Classics: Focusing on a Case of the Digital Humanities Lecture for Reading Analects [論語

Some Thoughts on the Data-based Instruction for Reading Classics: Focusing on a Case of the Digital Humanities Lecture for Reading Analects [論語

Usability and Feasibility of Data-Based Instruction for Students with Intensive Writing Needs

AbstractA small proportion of students do not benefit sufficiently from standard intervention protocols and require more intensive, individualized instruction. Data-based instruction (DBI) has a st...

Exploring the Relation Between Teacher Factors and Student Growth in Early Writing

Data from a small randomized control trial of teachers’ use of Data-Based Instruction (DBI) for early writing were analyzed to determine the influence of teacher knowledge, skills, and treatment fidelity on student Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) slope. Participants included 11 elementary grade teachers who delivered intensive intervention in early writing and their students (n = 31), all identified as either at risk for or with disabilities that affect their writing. Teachers received professional development and ongoing coaching to support the implementation of DBI for improving their students’ early writing skills. Results from a multiple regression analysis suggest that teacher knowledge and skills in DBI was strongly related to student CBM slope in early writing (p < .01) and a small but significant relation between fidelity of writing instruction and student CBM slope (p < .01). Implications for instructional coaching and improving student writing progress are discussed.

Supporting teachers’ use of data-based instruction to improve students’ early writing skills.

We examined the effects of a professional development (PD) system designed to support teachers’ use of data-based instruction (DBI) to improve early writing outcomes for children with intensive needs. The PD system, called DBI-TLC, provided tools for early writing assessment and intervention, learning modules including face-to-face workshops followed by classroom application, and ongoing coaching to support DBI implementation. Special education teachers in 19 classrooms in 2 Midwestern districts were assigned randomly to receive DBI-TLC or to a business-as-usual control group. All teachers completed pre- and posttests of DBI knowledge and skills and self-efficacy, and DBI-TLC teachers’ fidelity to DBI was assessed. Fifty-three students (2 to 3 from each classroom) completed pre- and posttests of early writing using curriculum-based measures (CBM) and the Test of Early Written Language-3 (TEWL-3). DBI-TLC teachers outperformed controls at posttest on DBI knowledge and skills (Hedge’s g = 2.88) and reported a more explicit writing instruction orientation compared to controls (g = 1.63). DBI fidelity varied (on average, 84% for assessment, 79% for intervention, and 52% for decision-making). Students whose teachers implemented DBI showed a pattern of stronger early writing performance compared to control students on CBM, with effect sizes of 0.23 to 0.40, but not on the TEWL-3 (0.02 to 0.13). We discuss the promise of DBI-TLC to improve teacher practice and student outcomes, as well as the need to continue to explore ways to support teachers’ implementation of DBI with fidelity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Supplemental Material for Supporting Teachers’ Use of Data-Based Instruction to Improve Students’ Early Writing Skills

Supplemental Material for Supporting Teachers’ Use of Data-Based Instruction to Improve Students’ Early Writing Skills

Professional Development for Data-Based Instruction in Early Writing: Tools, Learning, and Collaborative Support

Few teachers receive adequate preparation to provide effective individualized instruction for children with intensive early writing needs. In this article, the authors describe an attempt to close this learning gap, by developing Data-Based Instruction-Tools, Learning, and Collaborative Support (DBI-TLC), a comprehensive professional development (PD) system that provides tools, learning opportunities, and ongoing collaborative supports for teachers to implement DBI in early writing. They describe the theoretical framework that has guided this work, the teacher population with whom they worked, their approach to assessing important teacher outcomes, and their development process. They highlight key findings that align with their theory of change, and discuss implications for further research and teacher preparation.

The Application of Data-Based Instruction to Writing Instruction : A Case Example of a Student at Risk for Writing Difficulties

The Application of Data-Based Instruction to Writing Instruction : A Case Example of a Student at Risk for Writing Difficulties

Effects of Early Writing Intervention Delivered Within a Data-Based Instruction Framework

We examined effects of research-based early writing intervention delivered within a data-based instruction (DBI) framework for children with intensive needs. We randomly assigned 46 students with and without disabilities in Grades 1 to 3 within classrooms to either treatment or control. Treatment students received research-based early writing intervention within a DBI framework for 30 min, 3 times per week, for 12 weeks. Control students received business-as-usual writing instruction. We measured writing performance using curriculum-based measures (CBM) and Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III). We found significant treatment effects on CBM outcomes (Hedges g = 0.74 to 1.36). We also found a significant interaction between special education status and condition on the WJ III favoring treatment students with disabilities (Hedges g = 0.45 to 0.70). Findings provide preliminary support for using a combination of research-based intervention and DBI with students with intensive writing needs.

Perspectives on Self-Determination Across the Curriculum

The collaborative campus-school district special education teacher preparation model at Arizona State University-West integrated the self-determination literature with the student-led Individualized Education Program (IEP) process and competency-based teacher education. Pre-post definitions of self-determination, evaluation of program impact in terms of self-reported ratings of confidence and competence related to Council for Exceptional Children core competencies for beginning special educators, and representative case studies of preservice teachers' data-based instruction programs linking self-determination, IEP goals, and state standards for students with disabilities are reported in this article.

Educational Service Provision for Students with Mild Intellectual Disability: Curriculum and Programming, Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management

This paper is the second of two which report the results of a three stage study of educational services to students with mild intellectual disability in two NSW Department of School Education regions. The three phases of the study involved a teacher questionnaire, a teacher interview and classroom observations. This paper reports results in the areas of curriculum and programming, teaching strategies and materials, and classroom management techniques within the special class setting. The study found that 85% of teachers would like a specific curriculum for students with mild intellectual disability and a similar percentage saw a need for greater inservicing and feedback on their programming. While teachers reported the use of a variety of teaching techniques including small group instruction, classroom observations showed that individual or whole class instruction was commonly used with no evidence of data-based instruction, cognitive, metacognitive or problem solving strategies. Some teachers found that classroom management took a considerable amount of their time while others, including those observed, had strong classroom control. Recommendations based on the findings in each of the three areas are also reported and discussed.