ERIC Number: EJ1074647
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Oct
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-8312
EISSN: N/A
Teachers' Sensemaking of Data and Implications for Equity
Bertrand, Melanie; Marsh, Julie A.
American Educational Research Journal, v52 n5 p861-893 Oct 2015
This article examines an understudied aspect of teachers' sensemaking of student learning data: the way in which teachers explain the causes of the outcomes observed in data. Drawing on sensemaking and attribution theory and data collected in six middle schools, we find that while teachers most often attributed outcomes to their own instruction, they also frequently focused on supposedly stable student characteristics. By citing these characteristics as explanations for the results analyzed, teachers may have inhibited reflection on their practice and reinforced low expectations for English language learners (ELLs) and students in special education. These findings yield implications for (a) the effectiveness of data use reforms and (b) equity in the education of ELLs and students in special education.
Descriptors: Middle School Teachers, Comprehension, Academic Achievement, Data, Attribution Theory, Outcomes of Education, Student Characteristics, English Language Learners, Special Education, Teacher Expectations of Students, Equal Education, Reflective Teaching, Information Utilization, Schemata (Cognition), Qualitative Research, Interviews, Focus Groups, Observation, Surveys
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A