Examining the relationship between data-driven decision making process at school and school effectiveness

Schools store students' personal information and academic achievements, teachers' personal and professional information, and many other data obtained during the education and training process. Converting stored data into assimilated information and using it in the decision-making process enables the development of schools to meet their needs and desires by providing information about students. This research aims to determine the relationship between the data-based decision-making process in schools and school effectiveness. The research was designed with the relational research design, which is a quantitative research method. The population of the research consists of 120 school administrators working in Nazilli, İncirliova and Germencik districts of Aydın province. Data-Based Decision Making in Schools Scale and School Effectiveness Scale were used as data collection tools. SPSS 24.0 program was used in data analysis. Looking at the results of the research, it can be seen that the data-based decision-making process and school effectiveness level in schools do not differ according to gender, educational status and school type variables. When we look at the age variable, it is seen that there are significant differences in the data-based decision-making process in schools. It is seen that the perception levels of school administrators who are 50 years old and above are higher than those who are under 39 years old and between the ages of 40-49. The perception level of the data-based decision-making process in schools varies according to the length of service of administrators. It was revealed that participants who had been managers for 16-20 years had the highest average score. A significant difference was found in the data literacy dimension between the three districts selected according to their socio-economic status. This difference exists between Germencik district and Nazilli district. The data literacy perception levels of school administrators working in Germencik district are higher than those of school administrators working in Nazilli district. There is a positive, moderate and significant relationship between the data-based decision-making process in schools and school effectiveness. Based on the results of the research; Suggestions were made such as providing in-service training to school administrators for data literacy, carrying out the necessary work to strengthen the technological infrastructure and equipment in schools, and providing school administrators and teachers with the support they need to make decisions based on data.