Chapter 13: Data Use and Education Psychology: Using Data to Understand the Whole Child and Inform Instruction and Educational Decisions

Data-driven decision making has become central to effective educational practice. Data use goes to the heart of the teaching and learning process and therefore is foundational to how educators make instructional and other educational decisions every day. It intersects with many topics central to the field of educational psychology including student learning, teacher knowledge, instruction, assessment, cognition, conative constructs, individual differences, and learner context. Prior chapters in this volume have focused on instructional decisions, assessments, individual differences, diversity, and student learning. It is therefore essential for educators to learn how to use data effectively and responsibly and become data literate. It is our contention that educational psychology courses can play an important role in helping to prepare educators to use a broad range of important data and information effectively to inform teaching and learning.