Elementary teachers’ use of data-driven instructional practices

A school in South Carolina developed a strategic plan to implement a professional learning community structure in the school, where teachers work together to evaluate student data to improve instruction. However, teachers at the school did not understand how to use data-driven instructional practices to drive classroom instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore why elementary teachers at this school in South Carolina did not understand how to use data-driven instructional practices. The framework for this study was the learning target theory of action, focusing on researching the data-driven instructional practices teachers used when working with data. I developed the research questions to explore the data-driven instructional practices teachers at this school in South Carolina used and how they perceived the practices in their classrooms. A basic qualitative research design was conducted using ten semi structured interviews with kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers. The interviews were transcribed, and open coding was used to identify common themes. Teachers at the study site used a variety of formative assessments to drive instruction, but few teachers could provide a clear account regarding their data collection methods.