Teachers’ perceptions of the factors influencing their engagement with statistical reports on student achievement data

Abstract

In Australia, as in other countries, school students participate in national literacy and numeracy testing with the resulting reports being sent to teachers and school administrators. In this study, the Theory of Planned Behaviour provides a framework for examining teachers’ perceptions of factors influencing their intention to engage with these data. Most teachers perceived the data to be useful, but there were some negatively held views. For both primary and secondary teachers, males were more positive and had weaker perceptions of barriers to their use of data from system reports compared to females. Teachers who had studied statistics at the post-secondary level and/or attended relevant professional learning generally felt more capable of using the data, and senior teachers and principals were more favourably disposed to using these kinds of statistical reports. Many teachers had concerns about the timeliness of the data’s release and the effort required to interpret them.