Exploring data use practices around Europe: Identifying enablers and barriers

• Studies the use of data in five different European countries.
• Identifies different data sources school leaders and teachers can use to base decisions on.
• Identifies the school development, accountability and instruction purposes for which school leaders and teachers currently use data.
• Discusses how enabling factors, such as data access and information systems, can also work as barriers toward the use of data.
• Compares data use within and across schools and countries.

In this article we explore what data-based decision making use looks like in schools in five different countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and the Netherlands). We explore for what purposes data are used in these countries and what the enablers and barriers to data use are. The case study results show that schools in all five countries use data for school development, accountability, and instructional improvement. Also, the schools in the five countries struggle with the same type of problems: e.g. lack of access to high quality data, lack of professional development in using data, and a lack of collaboration around the use of data. Finally, we discuss how some enablers can turn into barriers for effective data use.