This qualitative study investigated the types of content-based student performance data World Language teachers used to improve instruction and student academic achievement, the purposes for which they used data, the issues they encountered, and the suggestions they made for more effective use of data. The Standards for Foreign Language Learning (1996) served as the conceptual framework. Twenty interview questions stemmed from four research questions, which were in turn tied to the conceptual framework. Data was gathered during in-person interviews of five French and five Spanish teachers. It was transcribed and sorted into emergent categories using open coding (Creswell, 2008, p. 226). The findings were organized and presented according to the study's research questions. The most striking findings of the study were that participating World Language teachers primarily collected data related to the standards' foci (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and they varied substantially in the types of data they collected, showing two polar extremes. On the one hand, there was a "data expert" and on the other a "data novice." While the "data expert" reported collecting a variety of data in all areas of the standards, the "novice" reported collecting very limited data. Participating teachers indicated that they collected data for analysis, giving feedback, monitoring student understanding, informing instruction, and reaching out to the community. Participating teachers reported problematic data issues across all of the language standards, the most common of which involved addressing issues with the Communities standard. Aware of the challenges they encountered with this standard, participating World Language teachers suggested teaching culture-centered lessons and teaching students how to compare and contrast products and practices from different cultures. Recommendations stemming from the findings were that World Language teachers should receive similar training, so everyone learns the same data skills. Data experts should teach other teachers how to analyze and use data. The Foreign Language Learning Standards should be reviewed to explicitly include "integrated skills." Further research should replicate this study using mixed method with a larger number of World Language teachers, including teachers of additional languages. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]