Toward more effective data use in teaching 

By the first decade of the 21st century, an enthusiasm for using data to inform teaching had swept into U.S. schooling from other fields, especially from manufacturing, medicine, and sports (where, as in teaching, decision making used to rely mainly on gut instinct). In particular, elected officials and other policy influencers — e.g., representatives in Congress, state governments, foundations, and school districts, as well as technology entrepreneurs and curriculum marketers — have argued that using data in teaching can improve student outcomes, especially in schools affected by neighborhood poverty.  

For the most part, however, advocates have neglected to say precisely how data might improve teaching and learning or to show teachers what data-informed practice looks like and how it feels — and yes, how it feels does matter. In first-rate manufacturing settings, sports teams, health clinics, and also schools, data use doesn’t simply replace gut-level intuition; rather, the use of data complements experienced practitioners’ intuitive sense of what to do next (Baker, 2016; Gawande, 2007; Senge, 2006).