Demonstrating the Value of Integrated Data Systems: Data-Use Practice in Four AISP Network Sites

Abstract Objectives Administrative Data (AD) are a key component of nutrition data systems, but little is known about how AD are used or can be reshaped for accountability and action. We studied factors influencing AD use in India's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), in two Indian states; and assessed how an m-Health intervention (Common Application Software (CAS)) changes it. ICDS-AD system consolidates data from 11-recording registers updated every month by ∼1.3 million frontline workers (FLW). CAS digitizes these records and creates dashboards for real-time monitoring. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 82) with supervisory staff at sub-district [Lady Supervisors (LS); Child Development Project Officer (CDPO)] and district level [District Program Officer (DPO)] to understand AD use patterns, facilitators and barriers. Data were coded, summarized and analysed across levels of supervisory staff. Results LS supervise FLWs, visit villages monthly to monitor data, and collate it to the sub-district level. Due to limited time and pressures to update AD on time, LS focus on data completeness and not on quality or data use. At the next level, CDPOs review and discuss program targets for indicators with LS, and check data completeness. They create monthly reports on targets for the districts, based on LS reports. At the district, DPOs use compiled reports to review subdistrict performance and discuss any gaps with CDPOs. CAS makes the data entry, compilation and report generation easier for all users. LS can monitor data entry daily in CAS and data collation is automated. CDPOs can review the CAS dashboard and use it to discuss issues with LS and DPOs. However, program target indicators dominate use of data. In CAS areas, these include growth monitoring completion, home visits, identification of malnourished children, and their referral. Overall, data use is target-driven, with indicators for monitoring prioritized by program management. Conclusions Focus of data use has been on reporting up on target indicators rather than on local program improvement, due to staff and time constraints. CAS can address some AD use constraints by easing data entry and data compilation but a data culture that focuses on predetermined target indicators can limit use for local program improvement. Funding Sources Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via grants to IFPRI and UCSF.

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Professional Learning for Using Data: Examining Teacher Needs & Supports

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811511700405 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 117 (4) ◽

pp. 1-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jo Beth Jimerson ◽

Jeffrey C. Wayman

Keyword(s):

Teacher Perceptions ◽

Professional Learning ◽

A Priori ◽

Data Use ◽

Learning Needs ◽

Data Systems ◽

Support Providers ◽

Computer Data ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Teacher Needs

Background In the last few decades, a focus on school accountability at the state and federal levels has created expectations for teachers to attend to data in increasingly structured ways. Although professional learning is often cited as an important facilitator of effective data use, research that focuses on the intersection of professional learning and data use is scarce. Examining teacher perceptions of data use supports, and contrasting assertions of what is desired in data-related professional learning with accounts of the ways in which this professional learning actually happens provide an avenue for exploring these issues and for building a research base that can inform the work of district and campus leaders as well as support providers. Focus of Study This study aimed at examining teacher needs specific to data-related professional learning through a lens informed by knowledge-based organizational learning. We were guided by two broad questions: (a) What knowledge and skills do teachers need in order to engage in data-informed practice? (b) How do professional learning supports address these needs? Research Design The qualitative study draws on document analysis as well as interview and focus group data collected from n=110 participants (teachers, school leaders, and district support staff) in three school districts in central Texas. Flexible a priori coding rooted in our conceptual framework was employed to examine data for themes common across district settings and across school levels (e.g., elementary, middle, high). Code counts were used to further examine areas of professional learning focus and/or apparent imbalance. Findings Educators articulated professional learning needs related to data use in six main areas: (a) asking appropriate questions of data (to guide analysis and use); (b) accessing and operating district data systems; (c) data literacy/interpretation; (d) fitting data use with day-do-day practice; (e) sharing information via collaboration; and (f) knowledge codifica-tion. Of these, data capture via computer data systems was by far the most prominent focus reported by educators in each district. Clear plans for addressing data use capacity through professional learning supports were lacking. Recommendations Taking into account teacher perspectives on what professional learning for data use was needed and on how such supports were, in reality, structured, we make three recommendations: (a) purposefully embed professional learning for data use in ongoing organizational routines; (b) mitigate the district level silos that separate training-on-computer-systems from professional learning focused on turning data into action at the classroom level; and (c) seek balance in supporting the constellation of knowledge and skills that contribute to data use capacity.

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Key informant perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for using routine health data for decision-making in Senegal

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-06610-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Pierre Muhoza ◽

Haneefa Saleem ◽

Adama Faye ◽

Ibrahima Gaye ◽

Roger Tine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Data Quality ◽

Data Use ◽

Routine Data ◽

Civil Society Organizations ◽

Data Systems ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Key Informants ◽

Challenges And Opportunities

Abstract Background Increasing the performance of routine health information systems (RHIS) is an important policy priority both globally and in Senegal. As RHIS data become increasingly important in driving decision-making in Senegal, it is imperative to understand the factors that determine their use. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 high- and mid-level key informants active in the malaria, tuberculosis and HIV programmatic areas in Senegal. Key informants were employed in the relevant divisions of the Senegal Ministry of Health or nongovernmental / civil society organizations. We asked respondents questions related to the flow, quality and use of RHIS data in their organizations. A framework approach was used to analyze the qualitative data. Results Although the respondents worked at the strategic levels of their respective organizations, they consistently indicated that data quality and data use issues began at the operational level of the health system before the data made its way to the central level. We classify the main identified barriers and facilitators to the use of routine data into six categories and attempt to describe their interrelated nature. We find that data quality is a central and direct determinant of RHIS data use. We report that a number of upstream factors in the Senegal context interact to influence the quality of routine data produced. We identify the sociopolitical, financial and system design determinants of RHIS data collection, dissemination and use. We also discuss the organizational and infrastructural factors that influence the use of RHIS data. Conclusions We recommend specific prescriptive actions with potential to improve RHIS performance in Senegal, the quality of the data produced and their use. These actions include addressing sociopolitical factors that often interrupt RHIS functioning in Senegal, supporting and motivating staff that maintain RHIS data systems as well as ensuring RHIS data completeness and representativeness. We argue for improved coordination between the various stakeholders in order to streamline RHIS data processes and improve transparency. Finally, we recommend the promotion of a sustained culture of data quality assessment and use.

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Districts’ Efforts for Data Use and Computer Data Systems: The Role of Sensemaking in System Use and Implementation

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811411600203 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 116 (2) ◽

pp. 1-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Vincent Cho ◽

Jeffrey C. Wayman

Keyword(s):

Social Adjustment ◽

Data Use ◽

Extended Period ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Data Systems ◽

District Leaders ◽

Educational Decisions ◽

Computer Data ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Interpretive Flexibility

Background Increasingly, teachers and other educators are expected to leverage data in making educational decisions. Effective data use is difficult, if not impossible, without computer data systems. Nonetheless, these systems may be underused or even rejected by teachers. One potential explanation for such troubles may relate to how teachers have made sense of such technologies in practice. Recognizing the interpretive flexibility of computer data systems provides an avenue into exploring these issues. Objective This study aims to explore the factors affecting teachers’ use of computer data systems. Drawing upon the notion of interpretive flexibility, it highlights the influence of sensemaking processes on the use and implementation of computer data systems. Research Design This comparative case study draws upon interview and observational data gathered in three school districts. Matrices were used to compare understandings about data use and about computer data systems within each district by job role (i.e., central office member, campus administrator, and teacher), as well as across districts. Results Our findings challenge commonplace assumptions about technologies and their “effects” on teacher work. For example, access to a system or its functions did not determine changes of practice. Paradoxically, we even found that teachers could reject or ignore functions of which they were personally in favor. Although computer data systems can support changes of practice, we found that agency for change rested in people, not in the technologies themselves. Indeed, teachers’ sensemaking about “data” and “data use” shaped whether and how systems were used in practice. Although central offices could be important to sensemak-ing, this role was often underplayed. Conclusion We provide recommendations regarding how researchers, school, and district leaders might better conceptualize data and data systems. These recommendations include recognizing implementation as an extended period of social adjustment. Further, we emphasize that it is the unique duty of school and district leaders to share their visions regarding data use, as well as to engage in dialogue with their communities about the natures of schooling and data use.

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District-Wide Effects on Data Use in the Classroom

Education Policy Analysis Archives ◽

10.14507/epaa.v20n25.2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 25 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jeffrey C. Wayman ◽

Vincent Cho ◽

Jo Beth Jimerson ◽

Daniel D. Spikes

Keyword(s):

School Districts ◽

Principal Leadership ◽

Classroom Practice ◽

Data Use ◽

Data Systems ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Computer Data ◽

Using Data

In the present study, an examination is conducted in three school districts of how data are used to improve classroom practice. In doing so, we explore the effects that attitudes toward data, principal leadership, and computer data systems have on how data are used to affect classroom practice. Findings indicate that educators are ambivalent about data: they see how data could support classroom practice, but their data use operates in the presence of numerous barriers. Many of these barriers are due to principal leadership and computer data systems; these barriers often have negative effects on attitudes toward data and disrupt the progression from using data to inform classroom practice. It is hypothesized that many of these barriers can be removed through effective district policies to improve structures and supports for using data.

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Supporting the initial work of evidence-based improvement cycles through a data-intensive partnership

Information and Learning Sciences ◽

10.1108/ils-09-2020-0212 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Alex J. Bowers ◽

Andrew E. Krumm

Keyword(s):

School Leaders ◽

Data Use ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Data Sets ◽

Complex Data ◽

Digital Learning ◽

Data Systems ◽

Content Type ◽

Complex Data Sets ◽

Data Visualizations

Purpose Currently, in the education data use literature, there is a lack of research and examples that consider the early steps of filtering, organizing and visualizing data to inform decision-making. The purpose of this study is to describe how school leaders and researchers visualized and jointly made sense of data from a common learning management system (LMS) used by students across multiple schools and grades in a charter management organization operating in the USA. To make sense of LMS data, researchers and practitioners formed a partnership to organize complex data sets, create data visualizations and engage in joint sensemaking around data visualizations to begin to launch continuous improvement cycles. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed LMS data for n = 476 students in Algebra I using hierarchical cluster analysis heatmaps. The authors also engaged in a qualitative case study that examined the ways in which school leaders made sense of the data visualization to inform improvement efforts. Findings The outcome of this study is a framework for informing evidence-based improvement cycles using large, complex data sets. Central to moving through the various steps in the proposed framework are collaborations between researchers and practitioners who each bring expertise that is necessary for organizing, filtering and visualizing data from digital learning environments and administrative data systems. Originality/value The authors propose an integrated cycle of data use in schools that builds on collaborations between researchers and school leaders to inform evidence-based improvement cycles.

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