Digital learning assessments and big data : Implications for teacher professionalism

Big data and digital learning assessments are becoming a central part of schooling systems, affecting education policy as well as school and classroom practices. Such growing centrality must be understood as part of the broader digital disruption that has resulted in data playing a more substantial role in educational practices and system monitoring. This disruption can be traced to enhanced computational capacity, but also to the rise of neoliberal politics and the re-structuring of governance according to accountability principles. The potential of big data and digital learning-assessments is widely recognized. However, there is also growing awareness of the many challenges and risks entailed by such transformations. This paper identifies and discusses these challenges, and suggests possible strategies to tackle such issues. Particular attention is paid to the impact of digital disruption on teachers’ identities and work, including a risk of deprofessionalisation. The paper argues that teacher professional judgement needs to be at the centre of quality school provision and be used in conjunction with the data produced through digital learning assessments. This move requires, in turn, a reprofessionalisation effort – that is, to provide teachers with the opportunity to develop the skills involved in analysing and turning data into pedagogical action.