Collaborative professional development on data‐based decision making for primary teachers of struggling readers: Responding and refining

• Published in: Journal of research in reading 2022-08, Vol.45 (3), p.425-446
• Main Authors: Washburn, Erin K., Bailey, Kathryn, Pierce, Abby, Stewart, Cathleen, Hawley, JoAnn, Blackman, Jennifer, Fenty, Nicole
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collaboration; College Faculty; Cooperation; Data; Data Analysis; Data Use; data‐based decision making; Decision Making; Early Childhood Teachers; Elementary School Teachers; Faculty Development; Feedback; Illiteracy; Knowledge; Learning; Primary Education; Professional development; Program Development; Reading; Reading Difficulties; Reading Tests; Skills; Teacher education; Teachers
• ISSN: 0141-0423; 1467-9817
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.12396

The purpose of this manuscript is to share the work of a collaboration between professional development providers and university faculty as they created, implemented and refined a professional development series focused on supporting primary teachers' use of data‐based decision making in reading. Using a formative and design‐based approach, multiple sources of informal, formative data were collected (surveys, memos and teacher feedback). Data analysis led the team to make refinements to the professional development in response to three broad challenges experienced during Year 1 of implementation. Key refinements made to the professional development series included (1) breaking down the data‐based decision making (DBDM) process in reading into more tangible, explicit components (e.g., identifying appropriate assessments, organising and analysing data, using data to target instruction); (2) creating materials tailored specifically to support teachers' knowledge and skills in the DBDM process; and (3) identifying external affordances or barriers to teacher implementation of DBDM (e.g., access to high quality reading assessments and/or intervention materials, communication cycles with other teachers/providers). Challenges experienced and refinements made in this study may provide a framework for thinking about how to support primary teachers to use DBDM in reading and may help administrators understand and reflect on systems‐wide factors that may play a role in supporting or hindering teacher enactment of and confidence related to DBDM. Highlights What is already known about this topic Data‐based decision making (DBDM) is a key practice and process for identifying struggling readers and intervening early. Although research has identified positive outcomes associated with DBDM, generally speaking, concerns about assessment ‘illiteracy’ among practicing teachers abound. Targeted professional development can help teachers build general data and assessment literacy skills and knowledge related to DBDM. What this paper adds Conceptual models of DBDM have been reported but are general in design with few focused on DBDM in reading. In this collaborative research project, we used a formative and design‐based approach to explore the creation, implementation and refinement of a professional development series aimed at building teachers' capacity for DBDM. Three key refinements were made to the professional development in response to challenges experienced during first y