Data Driven Decision Making Goes Cyber Elementary Online Teachers' Perceptions and Use of Data Driven Instruction

Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) is the process of using assessment data to determine instruction in class. Contemporary use of DDDM has grown from the No Child Left Behind’s emphasis on using standardized testing results to measure school effectiveness. Most research on the topic of DDDM focuses on brick and mortar schools, however, virtual instruction programs are becoming more prevalent. For example, the state of Florida requires school districts to offer up to three full time virtual instruction programs for students in kindergarten through 12th grades. Virtual instruction programs have a unique set of challenges when it comes to implementing DDDM due to the fact that administrators, teachers and students are separated by time and space. The purpose of this study was to understand how elementary online educators perceive the use of data to make instructional decisions and how they were doing so in their synchronous classes. Eight online elementary teachers from three different virtual instruction programs were interviewed to find out more about how DDDM is implemented in virtual instruction programs. Purposeful sampling was used to identify typical cases, and an interview guide with open-ended questions was used to gain further insight into the online teacher’s perspectives on how they specifically, or the school generally, implemented these principles. Interviews were analyzed using directive content analysis in order to identify patterns and themes with the responses of participants. All eight participants of the student said that they thought using assessment data to inform their instruction is a useful practice, however, they did identify some barriers to effectively doing so. While online teachers had many organizational tools for assessment data, they questioned the validity of the data due to a lack of teacher oversight. Additionally, the participants felt confident in their ability to analyze assessment data and make decisions about what should be taught in synchronous classes. A lack of research based instructional strategies made it challenging to implement instructional plans. Finally, the participants identified a lack of professional development on implementing DDDM, but had mixed thoughts on whether they would actually prefer more support from their administrators on the topic. In conclusion, the implications for practice gleaned from this study vary due to the structural differences of the virtual instruction programs. Still, one factor of importance is the ability to collect valid assessment data, since all other aspects of DDDM rely on assessment data being a genuine reflection of the students.