An Analysis of the Survey of Schools of Education on Use of Data in Their Teacher Preparation Programs: An Interim Report

This report documents the work of one component of a larger research effort. The objective of the project is to understand what schools of education are doing to prepare teachers to use data in their practice. The issue is multifaceted, complex, and systemic. Schools of education do not act alone to suddenly introduce courses on data-driven decision making into their curricula because they have a whim to do so, or because policymakers say that data literacy among educators is important. Schools of education must come to realize on their own that building the human capacity to use data among their teacher candidates is a response to needs from the field, stimulated in part by policymakers' rhetoric that education must become an evidence-based field. The study contains three distinct, but interconnected components that, in combination, provide a depiction of the landscape of teacher preparation and data literacy. The components include a survey to schools of education, a review of selected syllabi, and an analysis of state licensure documents and requirements. This document focuses on the survey component. This report is formally about the responses from schools of education to a survey they received asking about how data use was implemented in their teacher preparation program. The survey sought to understand in detail if, and if so, how, different schools of education from across the country were preparing the teaching candidates to use data for educational decision making. This was accomplished by asking a series of detailed questions about the school; the school's teacher preparation program including stand-alone data courses and courses where data use was integrated; the school's plans for new courses; and opinions of the emphasis on data use from the department of education and accreditation organizations. The survey was endorsed by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Preparation (NCATE), and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC). It was open from March 7 until June 30, 2013 through an online survey program. In total, 836 schools of education from across the United States and territories were invited to participate in the survey. The survey was comprised of 49 questions divided into eight sections: General Demographic Information about the School of Education; Stand-Alone Courses that Address Data Use for Educational Decisions; About the Course; Integration of Data Use Concepts and Skills into other Courses; Integration of Data Use Concepts and Skills into Field Experiences; Integration of Data Use Concepts and Skills across Program; Plans to Develop or Implement New Courses or Emphases on Data Use Concepts and Skills; and State and Federal Issues. In all, respondents from 208 of the 836 schools completed the survey, for a response rate of 24.9 percent. Respondents overwhelmingly report that data use is at least somewhat integrated into their teacher preparation program. Overall, 93.4 percent of respondents said that use of data to inform teaching and learning is a sustained component of at least part of their school's teacher preparation program. The survey responses indicate that responding colleges and universities claim that the subject of data use for educational decisions is a strong element of their teacher preparation program. The survey shows that respondents report assessment items as being more prominent components of their data use courses than are non-assessment items. This is a starting point for analysis of the survey. There are over 50,000 cells of survey results on which analysis is being conducted; and as additional questions and thoughts arise, additional analysis will be conducted. The following are appended: (1) Survey of Schools of Education; and (2) General Demographic Information. [For "Analysis of Syllabi Intending to Prepare Teachers to Be Data Literate: An Interim Report," see ED568598. For "An Analysis of the Licensure Requirements That Pertain to Data Literacy: An Interim Report, Revised," see ED568597.]