Teachers’ Sensemaking of Data and Implications for Equity

Abstract

This article examines an understudied aspect of teachers’ sensemaking of student learning data: the way in which teachers explain the causes of the outcomes observed in data. Drawing on sensemaking and attribution theory and data collected in six middle schools, we find that while teachers most often attributed outcomes to their own instruction, they also frequently focused on supposedly stable student characteristics. By citing these characteristics as explanations for the results analyzed, teachers may have inhibited reflection on their practice and reinforced low expectations for English language learners (ELLs) and students in special education. These findings yield implications for (a) the effectiveness of data use reforms and (b) equity in the education of ELLs and students in special education.

Sustaining change towards racial equity through cycles of inquiry

“…The purpose of this study is to improve understanding of the conditions of data use that support organizational learning about inequitable policies and practices and how to go about changing them. The study contributes to the literature on data use and organizational change (e.g., Bensimon & Hanson, 2012;Bertrand & Marsh, 2015;Coburn & Turner, 2012;Dowd & Tong, 2007;Horn, Kane, & Wilson, 2015;Kezar, 2011Kezar, , 2014Marsh, 2012) by illustrating how local institutional reformers can effectively use and adapt data and data use protocols made available to them through state and national initiatives that include practitioner inquiry as an element of the change process.…”

Cognitive, educational and psychological determinants of prospective preschool teachers’ beliefs

“…Another important dimension of mathematics-related beliefs are beliefs that express stereotypes about the ability to learn mathematics (Braeken and Blömeke 2016) including group-specific stereotypes towards students with special needs or second-language learners (Bertrand and Marsh 2015). When holding such beliefs, teachers might show different expectations towards children viewed as 'less able' resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy (Rosenthal and Jacobson 1968).…”

Data use for equity: implications for teaching, leadership, and policy

“…However, when data are examined in a more superficial manner, teachers may not have an opportunity to dig deeply into these kinds of questions (Hoover and Abrams, 2013) and assumptions can go unexamined. Even more troubling, Bertrand and Marsh's (2015) study found that when educators used student characteristics as an explanation for results, they deflected attention away from their own practice and reinforced a culture of low expectations.…”

“…Although few studies to date (for an exception see Bertrand and Marsh, 2015) focus specifically on the equity-data use intersection, a number of prior studies have uncovered findings that reveal that potentially significant equity implications. For example, Lachat and Smith (2005) found that using data can help address false assumptions about the root causes of student achievement patterns.…”

“…Whether or not professional learning communities help schools realize the goals of data use depends a great deal on the nature of the inquiry around the data (Daly, 2012;Horn et al, 2015). Teachers are recognized as important sense makers who bring their professional judgment to bear in the process of examining and acting upon data (Bertrand and Marsh, 2015). Therefore, no decision is actually fully data-driven; rather, people filter data through their own lenses and experiences and chart a course of action accordingly.…”