ABSTRACT
While data use within formative feedback systems has been shown to improve teaching and learning in schools, the Data-Driven Instructional Systems (DDIS) research revealed that school data systems have at least two levels: a district-level, technologically complex summative system and a distributed, fragmented teacher-driven formative system (Halverson et al., 2007). Information was rarely exchanged across these levels and there was a lack of assessment data tools for teachers. Building upon the DDIS work, via a design-based research approach, the KidGrid iOS app research and development team collaborated with twelve intermediate school educators to design mobile data tools for teachers to use in the classroom. We found structural similarities in how teachers collected and recorded data. We also found that teachers valued the ability to customize their data collection tools. The design process highlighted the tension between district-level standardization and teacher-level customization requirements; the KidGrid app database and interface design mitigates this tension.
