May 2003 — Special Feature
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Data-Driven Decision-Making
Data-driven decision-making also promises real economies of operation -getting it right the first time saves money because it means an end to remediation and improved performance across the board. Equally important, improving educational performance means increased public confidence in the schools, which will make it easier to muster resources for education. The stakes couldn't be higher. Put bluntly, as the population in our society ages, competition for resources will increase precisely when it is essential to get greater performance from our schools. Today's students are tomorrow's tax-paying adult citizens, and the better educated they are, the better off society will be as a whole.
Conclusion
I hope schools will come to understand that data-driven decision-making is genuinely useful and desirable. However, even if they don't, they must understand that they have little choice but to start implementing it. President Lincoln began the modern practice of collecting education data at the national level 150 years ago, and with No Child Left Behind, data will have to be used, not just collected. It will be used to plot progress (or lack thereof); plan and execute instructional interventions; report results; as well as hold students, teachers, administrators and school systems accountable.
Like death and taxes, in the foreseeable future, no educators will be able to escape the demands of data-driven decision-making. And if they're thinking like entrepreneurs, and not like our friend Bartleby, they'll see the opportunity in the challenge.
Denis P. Doyle is a nationally recognized education writer and consultant. He is the co-author of Winning the Brain Race and Reinventing Education. Doyle is also the editor of 'The Doyle Report,' a weekly e-newsletter on education reform and technology (www.thedoylereport.com). Co-founder and chief academic officer of SchoolNet Inc., Doyle can be reached at denis@schoolnet.com.
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