Data in education

Whether data is available in abundance or not at all raises questions as to how it is compiled, selected and interpreted in order to draw relevant conclusions. How to ensure the quality and reliability of data collected, especially in varied and often complex educational contexts?

Secondly, the use of data in education raises ethical and societal issues. Who is behind the data and what are their intentions? What are the respective roles played by politicians, researchers and the business community in the quest for data? How to avoid the collection and interpretation of data being biased in the name of ideology?

Finally, data in education raises questions about its actual impact on the ground. To what extent, for example, do evidence-based policies lead to tangible improvements in the classroom and in pupils' lives? How to avoid excessive control mechanisms that jeopardise creativity and innovation in teaching and learning?

This dossier highlights the challenges and opportunities linked to the use of data, as well as the potential impact on education policies and teaching practices in six very different contexts: France, sub-Saharan Africa, Quebec, Belgium, Chile and New Zealand. 

The contributions highlight the impact of major international surveys such as PASEC, but also reveal blind spots in data collected, such as private tutoring. The papers point to the political issues involved in choosing to focus on certain data while ignoring others, and they show what the standardisation of education implies for the professionalism of education players. The dossier explores how involving pupils and teachers as co-constructors in the search for enlightening data opens up new avenues for improving teaching and learning for all.