How can we move beyond data to achieve true wisdom?
In the realm of education, data has long been a cornerstone for decision-making. From primary schools to multi-academy trusts the journey with data has been extensive. Imagine the countless spreadsheets produced over the years, the numerous uploads and downloads from management information systems, and the endless presentations of data dashboards. Despite these efforts, the anticipated improvements in pupil outcomes often remain elusive. This raises a critical question: How can we move beyond data to achieve true wisdom?
Data alone is not enough
Reflecting on my experiences, I recall the initial excitement of adopting sophisticated data dashboards, convinced they would revolutionise education, as HE-MAN said, ‘I have the data power’ (or something like that). Data from various systems —attainment, behaviour, attendance, and more — was meticulously compiled and presented to senior leadership teams. Yet, despite having all the data, the expected improvements in pupil outcomes were not as significant as hoped. This led to a realisation: Data alone is not enough. It can be misleading, incomplete, or even irrelevant, often confirming existing beliefs rather than challenging them.
A poignant example of this is the ‘Scared Straight’ programme, cited by Ben Goldacre in his 2013 paper, “Building Evidence into Education.” This was a programme in which young children were taken into prisons and shown the consequences of a life of crime, in the hope that they would be more law abiding in their own lives. This makes sense on paper and following the children who participated in this programme into adult life, it seemed they were less likely to commit crimes, when compared with other children. However, when a randomised trial was finally done, it was found that the ‘Scared Straight’ programme – rolled out at great expense, with great enthusiasm, good intentions, and huge optimism (sound familiar?!) – was actively harmful, the reality, based on the research evidence, was that the programme actually made it more likely that those children taking part would go to prison in later life. This underscores the importance of rigorous evidence and research in evaluating educational interventions.
Similar scenarios are not uncommon. In 2009, a youth development programme aimed at reducing risky behaviours inadvertently led to higher pregnancy rates among participants. These examples highlight the potential pitfalls of relying solely on data without thorough research and evidence.
How will the Teacher Education Dataset (TED) do things differently?
At the National Institute of Teaching, we believe that moving from data to wisdom requires openness to research collaboration. Our vision is to enhance the quality of teaching and school leadership through rigorous research, applying insights to professional development programmes, and sharing findings with the sector.
One of our flagship projects is the Teacher Education Dataset (TED). TED aims to transform the development of quality teaching in England by building a national data infrastructure that links teachers (anonymously) across schools to pupil attainment. This allows for comprehensive analysis of teacher effectiveness, considering factors like prior attainment and demographic information.
Designed with high standards of data privacy and research ethics, TED is intended as an open resource for the education research community. The goal is to generate insights into the characteristics and practices of the most effective teachers and allow researchers nationwide to deliver research securely to the sector.
Creating a community of practice
Collaboration is key to TED’s success. We are working with stakeholders like Evidence Based Education and the Bennett Institute for Applied Science at Oxford University. The Bennett Institute is helping produce an education version of their OpenSafely software, a secure analytics platform used in the NHS. This platform allows research to take place without researchers viewing raw records, protecting privacy.
In the initial phase of TED, we partnered with Professor Rob Coe at Evidence Based Education to test the feasibility of collecting anonymised school data and using it to analyse teaching aspects like professional development. The positive feedback from teachers and leaders, along with the quality of the test data, showed that this project could work. Professor Coe’s findings provide the proof needed.
We hope TED will help teaching and teacher education to become an evidence-informed profession, where high-quality evidence is used for decision making. Working with the Research and Best Practice team at NIoT has opened my eyes to the importance of generating high-quality evidence about teacher development. We’ve shown that it’s possible to create a community of practice around data, where researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders collaborate to improve teaching and learning.
Our aim is to foster a culture where evidence is routinely used, and professionals have more autonomy and confidence in their decisions. The key to making the right decisions is thorough research and evidence. While data extraction and analysis are important, having evidence to support our actions is crucial. With TED, we can test our theories and gather supporting evidence, ensuring our focus is on the right areas. This approach will greatly benefit our decision-making process, and perhaps, like HE-MAN, we will be masters of the data universe.