ERIC Number: EJ1082209
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0007-1005
EISSN: N/A
Data, Numbers and Accountability: The Complexity, Nature and Effects of Data Use in Schools
Hardy, Ian
British Journal of Educational Studies, v63 n4 p467-486 2015
This article draws upon research in one school in Queensland, Australia, to explore how the push to data influences teacher work and subsequent student learning. This "rise of data," often oriented towards "external" and performative processes of accountability, exhibits itself in many ways, but is particularly evident in teachers' engagement with various forms of regionally and centrally sanctioned, and often standardized, measures of attainment, typically expressed in numbers. Drawing upon the sociology of numbers, and Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of "field," "habitus" and "capital," the research shows how the emphasis upon data collection reveals a "field of schooling practices" characterized by concerns about collecting, analysing and improving numeric data; standardized and centrally sanctioned data as forms of capital of increasing value; and a teaching disposition/habitus characterized by constant monitoring of student performance through virtual and physical data bases. The research reveals how the "logics" of schooling may be in danger of being dominated by more centralized, standardized forms of numeric data for performative accountability purposes, even as more educative logics are evident.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Accountability, Academic Standards, Standardized Tests, Sociology, Educational Change, Elementary Schools, Teacher Attitudes, Principals, Administrator Attitudes, Semi Structured Interviews, Change Strategies, Academic Achievement
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A