In a context where schools are held more and more accountable for the education they provide, data-based decision making has become increasingly important. This book brings together scholars from several countries to examine data-based decision making. Data-based decision making in this book refers to making decisions based on a broad range of evidence, such as scores on students’ assessments, classroom observations etc. This book supports policy-makers, people working with schools, researchers and school leaders and teachers in the use of data, by bringing together the current research conducted on data use across multiple countries into a single volume. Some of these studies are ‘best practice’ studies, where effective data use has led to improvements in student learning. Others provide insight into challenges in both policy and practice environments. Each of them draws on research and literature in the field.

"Gathering data and using it to inform instruction is a requirement for many schools, yet educators are not necessarily formally trained in how to do it. This book helps bridge the gap between classroom practice and the principles of educational psychology. Teachers will find cutting-edge advances in research and theory on human learning and teaching in an easily understood and transferable format. The text's integrated model shows teachers, school leaders, and district administrators how to establish a data culture and transform quantitative and qualitative data into actionable knowledge based on: assessment; statistics; instructional and differentiated psychology; classroom management."--Publisher's description.

Our fifth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on the use of data in schools and districts as useful information for leadership and decision making. Schools are awash in data and information, from test scores, to grades, to discipline reports, and attendance as just a short list of student information sources, while additional streams of data feed into schools and districts from teachers and parents as well as local, regional and national policy levels. To deal with the data, schools have implemented a variety of data practices, from data rooms, to data days, data walks, and data protocols. However, despite the flood of data, successful school leaders are leveraging an analysis of their school’s data as a means to bring about continuous improvement in an effort to improve instruction for all students. Nevertheless, some drown, some swim, while others find success. Our goal in this book volume is to bring together a set of chapters by authors who examine successful data use as it relates to leadership and school improvement. In particular, the chapters in this volume consider important issues in this domain, including: • How educational leaders use data to inform their practice. • What types of data and data analysis are most useful to successful school leaders. • To what extent are data driven and data informed practices helping school leaders positively change instructional practice? • In what ways does good data collection and analysis feed into successful continuous improvement and holistic systems thinking? • How have school leadership practices changed as more data and data analysis techniques have become available? • What are the major obstacles facing school leaders when using data for decision making and how do they overcome them?

For the past 50 years, there has been increasing consideration and debate about how to best educate learners with special educational needs and disabilities. Competing paradigms of special education and inclusive education have been developed, disseminated and discussed at length over the years. These discussions have focused the attention on effectively educating learners with different types and severities of special educational needs and disabilities, who are living in either developing and developed countries in various parts of the world. The aim of this Special Issue of Education Sciences is to focus on the latest theory, practice and research relevant to special education and inclusive education. Articles that present new ideas, suggest future research directions or potential ways forward for educational practice are of particular interest.

The first comprehensive examination of the field, this book brings together stakeholders representing a variety of perspectives to explore how educators actually use data and technology tools to achieve lasting improvement in student performance. Contributors: David V. Abbott, Carrie Amon, Jonathan Bertfield, Cornelia Brunner, Fred Carrigg, Jere Confrey, Katherine Conoly, Valerie M. Crawford, Chris Dede, John Gasko, Greg Gunn, Juliette Heinze, Naomi Hupert, Sherry P. King, Mary Jane Kurabinski, Daniel Light, Lisa Long, Michael Merrill, Liane Moody, William R. Penuel, Luz M. Rivas, Mark S. Schlager, John Stewart, Sam Stringfield, Ronald Thorpe, Yukie Toyama, Jeffrey C. Wayman, and Viki M. Young. “If you want to understand usable knowledge, read Data-Driven School Improvement.” —Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, Harvard University “It is reassuring to know that at least some of the data being generated in our data-driven age are being used to make wiser decisions. We can all learn from these illustrative accounts.” —David C. Berliner, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Arizona State University “Replete with examples from real schools and districts, this volume provides a multi-layered portrait of what it takes to establish a culture of data use. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the systemic changes needed to reap the full potential of data-driven decision making.” —Barbara Means, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International

This reference guide provides an overview of the purposes and uses of curriculum-based measurement (CBM), a standardized approach to assessing student performance in order to inform educational and instructional decision making. This guide is designed for teachers, administrators, and other educators who are considering using CBM, want an introduction to CBM, or need a quick and easy reference. It is also useful for educators to use with parents and students as an introduction to CBM. Written by two of the authors of the national bestseller, The ABCs of CBM: A Practical Guide to Curriculum-Based Measurement.

"Of the many RTI materials published today, this one is user-friendly and much broader in scope. Written in clear and understandable yet professional language, this excellent book is appropriate for all K–12 educators and administrators." —Carla Osberg, Program Specialist, Special Populations Nebraska Department of Education "Offers a unique organization of key concepts, and addresses current implementation issues with integrity. The strategies, suggestions, and tips contribute to the overall reader-friendliness of the book. The comparison/contrast of the problem-solving and standard treatment protocol approaches is well written and provides the reader information to determine the best approach for the students, school, or district." —Linda Palenchar, Coordinator, Office of Special Education West Virginia Department of Education Discover a resource that shows teachers how to implement RTI in the classroom! As a result of NCLB legislation and the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, Response to Intervention (RTI) is now a mandated process for documenting the existence or nonexistence of a learning disability. For educators new to the RTI approach, Response to Intervention presents an overview of key concepts with guidelines for accountability practices that benefit students in inclusive classrooms. Presenting the three tiers of RTI techniques, the authors demonstrate how general and special education teachers can use research-based interventions effectively to individualize instruction, monitor individual student progress, and implement strategies to meet the specific needs of all students. Response to Intervention assists educators with the basic and necessary steps to provide students with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), and includes: Vignettes, examples, and forms based on the problem-solving and standards-based approaches to RTI A chapter illustrating how RTI techniques benefit students who are economically underprivileged and/or culturally and linguistically diverse A chapter devoted to Frequently Asked Questions Featuring helpful charts and reproducibles, this timely resource is sure to become a valuable guide as educators implement programs to document how individual students respond to specific educational interventions.

Developed specifically to overcome problems with traditional standardized instruments, curriculum-based measurement (CBM) has steadily increased in educational use. These brief assessment probes of reading, spelling, written expression, and mathematics serve to quantify student performance as well as to enhance academic achievement. Their widening use as a means of evaluation and ultimately of instruction, has created a corresponding need to expand the applications of this methodology to diverse populations. This new volume addresses that need by focusing on the broader application of CBM, providing practical new measures, as well as detailing their use with specific student groups.