Welcome to all members of the newly created Special Interest Group (SIG) on Data-Driven Decision Making in Education. It has taken a long time to get AERA to approve this SIG and we have now achieved SIG-In-Formation status. This means that we have three years to prove ourselves as a viable SIG, based on metrics that include membership, attendance at the SIG business meeting, proposals for conference presentations, mentoring, and dissemination. So please tell your friends who might be interested and please participate actively in SIG activities.

The purposes of the SIG are to provide an intellectual home for people working in the area of data-driven decision making; to foster collaboration among interested AERA members with regard to educational research focused on or related to data-driven decision making; and to foster collaboration among university/research entities, local, state, and federal educational agencies, and professionals working in areas of practice related to educational data use.

Data-driven decision making is a diverse topic of examination and data use is the foundation for most of educational research. It is fundamental. That said, the original conception for the SIG was to include several areas of focus and/or collaboration. They include, but are not limited to:

• components of data use (e.g., professional learning, data teams, data coaches, facilitators and barriers of data use);
• uses of “big data” and data analysis;
• longitudinal data systems; use of local data systems;
• theoretical issues related to data use;
• leadership for data use;
• uses of data by teachers, students, parents, school leaders, and system/district leaders;
• continuous improvement efforts in schools and cultures of inquiry;
• data literacy/capacity efforts;
• policy issues that surround data use; and
• issues of data privacy.

We hope that the SIG will be promote quality research, practice, and policy in the area of data-driven decision making. We also hope that the SIG will provide opportunities for colleagues to share their work, create new collaborations, and provide mentoring for young scholars and graduate students. We want the SIG to meet the needs of the members so it is important for initial leaders to hear from you. We have a listserv for communication but I am always willing to engage by email. You can reach me atemandin@wested.org.

We have a great initial leadership team and want to get more people involved. I will serve as the initial chair. Jo Jimerson is our secretary. Elizabeth Farley-Ripple is our treasurer. Edith Gummer and Kay Uchiyama are the program chair and co-chair. Kim Schildkamp is the social media representative. Jeff Wayman is membership representative. John Stevens is the webmaster. Kristin Vanlommel is the graduate student representative.

Please look out for the call for proposals coming from AERA soon. Although we are constrained by AERA for our initial convention presence, please consider submitting your work. We are limited to one formal session but have opportunities for roundtables and poster sessions. Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you in San Antonio.

Ellen Mandinach
Chair