The impact of effective collaboration on data-based decision-making and instructional practice for teachers participating in professional learning communities
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Teachers have been increasingly expected to use student assessment data to make informed curricular decisions and adjustments. This has led school districts to turn to data-based decision-making (DBDM) to create a streamlined and effective process of student assessment data analysis and reflection during professional learning communities (PLCs). While research has been conducted on factors which affect DBDM implementation, little research has been done on the specific decision making that occurs among teachers during DBDM, nor how that decision making translates to teacher practice. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, participants were studied through meeting and classroom observations, as well as participation in both focus group and individual interviews. Relevant documents such as instructional calendars and lesson plans were also collected. These data were analyzed for emergent themes to answer research questions about how collaboration impacts the DBDM process, decisions made, and teacher practice, as well as how social capital is leveraged by teachers after collaborating. This study revealed that the purpose of collaboration determined the type of data used, how it was analyzed, as well as the impact on teaching. Furthermore, it was found that teachers frequently used data from varied assessments to determine pace of teaching and identify effective and ineffective strategies. They were also highly willing to share effective strategies with other teachers in the network, as well as to seek out new strategies to replace those deemed ineffective by the data.