Data and Teaching

Moving Beyond Magical Thinking to Effective Practice

Joseph P McDonald author Nora M Isacoff author Dana Karin author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Teachers' College Press

Published:22nd Jun '18

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Data and Teaching cover

Data use in teaching is at the heart of current educational policy and school improvement efforts. Dispelling magical thinking that it is a simple solution to underachieving schools, this timely book explores what data use in teaching really is, how it works in theory and practice, and why it sometimes fails to achieve expected goals.

Drawing on their research in nine of New York City’s most poverty-impacted schools, the authors dive deep into school systems and routines, as well as into teachers’ practices and students’ experiences. They also zoom out to capture the larger currents that have made this school reform strategy so prominent today. Each chapter includes a discussion of a new direction that schools and teachers can take to ensure that data use in teaching actually spurs growth in learning.

This resource extracts lessons from both chaotic and productive data implementation in order to inform practice and fulfill hopes for better schooling, richer teaching, and deeper learning.

Book Features:

  • Provides practical guidelines for effective use of data in schools and classrooms.
  • Includes vivid descriptions and relatable narratives.
  • Explores in rich detail what teaching is and how it works.
  • Combines insightful ideas and powerful stories with concrete steps for improvement.
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“McDonald, Isacoff, and Karin offer a rich and authentic look into how student performance data are currently understood and how they are being used by teachers and school leaders in schools serving many students living in poverty. Additionally, they offer some general guidance for those school leaders aiming to engage in more effective related practices. In doing so, they communicate well the notion that effective data use in teaching is a highly worthwhile, but also a highly complex and resource-intensive, endeavor. We anticipate that Data and Teaching: Moving Beyond Magical Thinking to Effective Practice will be an engaging and thought-provoking read for school leaders looking to more effectively integrate data into their teaching practices.”

― Teachers College Record


" an accessible, illuminating read that will prove valuable to school leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers, and researchers. The school portraits featured are captivating and complex, and the “New Direction” sections sandwiching each of these portraits offer pithy, actionable avenues for administrators and practitioners looking to shift the way they do things in schools"

—Harvard Educational Review


“ Data and Teaching: Moving Beyond Magical Thinking to Effective Practice is a guide created especially for professionals and policymakers in the field of education working to improve underachieving schools…highly recommended, especially for public and college library education shelves.”

-- Midwest Book Review

ISBN: 9780807759073

Dimensions: 229mm x 156mm x 8mm

Weight: 238g

168 pages