Teachers' practice-based data use strategies

The systematic study of teachers with expertise in data use can be used to identify the data use processes embedded in classroom practices that expert teachers engage in during their daily practice. This investigation employed a qualitative collective-case-study methodology, which allowed the authors to garner an in-depth understanding and detailed descriptions of seven teachers' data use practices. Findings suggest that these teachers engaged in promising data use practices, including double dipping, using tracking systems, and contextualizing, that facilitated their instructional decision-making. In particular, these practices helped teachers decide who needed help, how quickly they needed it, on what topic or skill, and, upon occasion, how the help should be given. Thiswork suggests a repertoire of specific promising practices for data use that can be empirically confirmed in future research, and which can be used to guide policy and practice.