The impact of data use professional development on student achievement

This paper describes the data use professional development (PD) component of a whole-school intervention that has been replicated in 53 schools over eight years. Quasi-experimental designs were used to test for intervention impact. The intervention improved achievement in reading comprehension, writing and high school qualifications. Effect sizes were generally higher than international comparisons. The data use PD involved collaboratively analyzing data to determine the achievement problems; identifying and testing the causes of the problems using theory evaluation principles; and co-creating solutions. The relative contribution of the data use PD to the intervention and the importance of content knowledge are discussed.