The data team® procedure
This project uses the data team® procedure to create a model for data-based decision making. By using the data team® procedure in a small research team of teachers and school leaders, they collaboratively use data to solve a certain educational problem within the school. The data team® procedure makes it possible for the team members to work on their own professional development as well as improving their educational practice by solving specific problems. Examples of problems that can be discussed in teams are disappointing results for a specific subject, the transfer between the third and fourth grade of ‘havo’ (higher general secondary education) and declining exam results. Essential to the data team® procedure is that the team opts for a problem which is important to the school.
The eight step data team® procedure
The teams use the eight step data team® procedure: figure 1. This procedure is based on an extremely effective Canadian method. By following the eight steps the team formulates a clear problem definition, formulates a hypothesis (with regard to what may cause their problem), collects and analyses data to either confirm or refute the hypothesis, implements improvement measures and evaluates the effectiveness of these measures.
Figure 1: 
The data team® procedure