Does Collaboration Facilitate Data Use in Schools?

Abstract

School teachers are often encouraged to analyze data in groups or teams, and strong collaborative environments are seen as an important context for effective data use. This study investigates the relationship between teacher reports of collaboration and two dimensions of data use. in schools. The data analyzed for this study were collected from a survey of teachers in 37 schools in a large urban northeast school district in the United States and analyzed in a multi-level framework. Findings show a strong and significant relationship between collaboration and data use, even after controlling for individual teacher background characteristics and school culture characteristics. These results affirm the hypothesis that data use is commonly a collaborative activity in schools and that collaboration strengthens data use practices.