Understanding Students as Achievers and Learners

Abstract

Teachers’ data literacy and interpretive process are critical to understanding how they make sense of data. However, little is known about how mental representations shape and evolve in response to teachers’ interpretive process. In the present study, I model and explore this recursive relationship between teachers’ cognitive framing and interpretive process. Findings suggest that teachers evoke two frames, understanding students as achievers and learners, with implications for their cognitive focus on and interpretation of interim assessment data. Furthermore, findings suggest teachers’ interpretations feed back into cognitive frames via three mechanisms: elaboration, preservation, and reframing. Implications include cognitive framing as a leverage point for iterative school improvement, interim assessment report design, and new perspectives in the narrative around data use in education.