資料導向決策在K-12層級學校之應用

Data-driven decision making in K-12 schools

    "Information is the key to holding schools accountable for improved performance every year among every student group. Data is our best management tool. I often say that what gets measured, gets done. If we know the contours of the problem, and who is affected, we can put forward a solution. Teachers can adjust lesson plans. Administrators can evaluate curricula. Data can inform decision-making. Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we're no longer flying blind." - Margaret Spellings, U. S. Secretary of Education.
    The need for better decision making in our nation's schools has grown in tandem with the rise in standards-based reform and performance accountability systems. "After years of exhorting and cajoling schools to improve, policymakers have decided to get tough" (National Education Association, Teaching and Learning Team, July 2000). Under the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation, school districts are required to test students, collect performance data and use that data to identify strengths and weaknesses in their educational system. Schools that do not demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) will be identified as needing improvement and subject to immediate interventions. Most often educators talk about the punitive uses of data to improve instruction. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind legislation, Washington state's educators have consistently heard that poor scores on state or national tests equal failure, and persistent failure equals intervention. Few educators or educational leaders seem to be able to articulate how they might use data in a more positive or effective way to improve teaching and learning. The use of data in education remains an elusive concept and skill, yet the path to using data in making decisions is not out of reach or difficult to implement.

    資訊為一關鍵，使各校能夠負起每一位學生的表現。資料是管理良好的工具。我時常說，任何能夠測量的，它能被做好。如果我們了解問題的原因，以及誰受到影響，我們可以找到解決方法。老師可以調整課程計畫。行政人員可以評估課程。資料可以影響做決策。由於沒有落後的孩子法案，我們不在迷失方向。
    隨著標準本位改革與績效表現系統的興盛，在我們國家的學校對於做更好決定的需要日漸增多。經過多年的勸戒和哄騙學校改善，決策者們決定採取強硬手段。由於沒有落後孩子法案中的需求，學區需要給予學生測驗，蒐集學生表現的相關資料，以確認其在教育系統中之優點及弱點。學校沒有達到「聯邦年度進步標準」（AYP）將被認定為需要立即改善以及將受到介入干預。許多教育學者討論這是否是以懲罰性資料以促使改善教學。從沒有落後的孩子法案提出後，華盛頓洲的教育學者都聽到洲的成績或者國家測驗表現不佳等於失敗，持續的失敗等於更多的干預。很少教育學者或教育領導者很少說明如何正向且有效使用資料去促進教與學。資料在教育中的使用仍然是一個難以捉摸的概念和技能，但在決策中適當運用資料並非遙不可及或難以實施。