Using Evidence in Teaching Practice Implications for Professional Learning

Using Evidence in Teaching Practice is a text designed to assist pre-service and practicing teachers to examine the implications of student achievement information for classroom teaching. It is based on research that showed when teachers used evidence in this way, student achievement improved. The text draws on the experience of teachers involved in this and other research, to illustrate the different parts of the process and provides many reading and writing examples from New Zealand classrooms. Each chapter outlines key considerations when teachers use evidence to inform their teaching. These considerations range from becoming aware of the information teachers use to construct their "logs-in-the-head" on individual children as they observe in classrooms, to mining more formally collected information from standardized assessment instruments. Chapters conclude with a brief section on how the information may be used by teachers in professional learning communities.