The Capacity-Opportunity-Motivation (COM) Model of Data-Informed Decision-Making in Education

Schools and districts continue to struggle with implementing data-informed decision-making, considered a powerful driver of school improvement and student achievement. “The Capacity-Opportunity-Motivation (COM) Model of Data-Informed Decision-Making in Education,” authored by Rutgers research professors Itzhak Yanovitzky and Cynthia L. Blitz and presented at the Ninth International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN17), introduces the COM model as a means for tracking and evaluating the mechanisms and processes that can support effective data-based collaborations.

Topics discussed in the paper include:

• Effective data-based collaborations that may facilitate institutionalization of data use routines are not well articulated.

• Key COM components and mechanisms that can productively guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of collaborative data use interventions, as extracted from an integrative review of the research utilization literature on data use in teams.

• Findings relative to individual- and team-level COM variables.

• The placement of “data use” on a behavioral continuum that can inform the design and implementation of interventions and collaborative structures tailored to educators and organizations.

• The use of COM for connecting program inputs to outcomes and for diagnosing areas that could benefit from targeted investments.