This paper is from Session 5B: Evidence-based management

which comes under Topic 5: Statistics education in the disciplines and the workplace

How do school principals understand and use the statistics in reports from national large-scale assessments?

Presenter

• Iddo Gal (University of Haifa, Israel)

Co-author

• Hani Shilton (Ministry of Education, Israel)

Abstract

This paper describes selected results from a project by the National Authority for Measurement & Evaluation in Education (RAMA) in Israel that examined how school principals understand the statistical information in national assessment reports they work with, and use the results for school improvement. The paper presents a new multidimensional conceptual model developed to guide the project and preliminary results based on interviews with school principals and supervisors. Based on the results, we reflect on the nature of the complex interpretation tasks faced by school principals who use reports on comparative large-scale assessments involving both achievement tests and school surveys, and on the link between principals’ statistical literacy and evidence-based management practices as school leaders. The study examines implications for statistics education and professional development of school principals, and for the design of statistical reports.