Data-based decision making put to the test

The Dutch government introduced a new educational policy in response to the supposedly declining achievement levels of Dutch students in mathematics and reading comprehension. Schools are required to work in a systematic and goal-oriented way on maximizing the achievement of all students through the use of student progress data. In this dissertation, the effects of a data-based decision making (DBDM) intervention on grade 4 teachers from 60 primary schools were reported. In the first study, the intervention effects on teachers’ teaching efficacy were reported. The results showed that the experimental group of teachers had a significantly higher gain in teacher efficacy than the control group teachers on two (the instructional strategies scale and the student engagement scale) of the three scales while no effects were found for the classroom management scale. Even a year after the intervention had ended, the positive effects on both scales persisted. The focus of the second study was on the effect of the intervention on teachers’ instructional skills, as the implementation of DBDM in the classroom was considered an important element. It was concluded that the intervention had a positive effect on the instructional skills of teachers, and that teachers with varying initial teaching skills can improve their DBDM skills if coached. In the third study, we reported to what extent the intervention impacted students’ perceptions of their teacher’s teaching quality. The intervention did not have any impact on how students perceived their teachers’ skills. The aim of DBDM is to enhance student achievement. Therefore, the effects of the intervention on student achievement was the focus of the last study. The results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on the ability scores of students in the extended instruction group after one school year, an effect size of .19 was found for these students. Based on the findings recommendations for future research were formulated.