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Data Visualizations as Aesthetic Devices of Valuation: Diverging Views of the 'Good' Pupil Performance

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Title: Data Visualizations as Aesthetic Devices of Valuation: Diverging Views of the 'Good' Pupil Performance
Language: English
Authors: Helene Friis Ratner (ORCID 0000-0002-0842-4049)
Source: European Educational Research Journal. 2025 24(5):639-653.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Test Results, National Competency Tests, Norms, Graphs, Data Use, Computer Assisted Testing, Progress Monitoring, Student Improvement, Achievement Rating, Comparative Testing
Geographic Terms: Denmark
DOI: 10.1177/14749041251322204
ISSN: 1474-9041
Abstract: This article examines how Danish national test data visualizations enact the 'good' pupil performance. Theoretically, the article advances the idea of data visualizations as 'aesthetic devices of valuation', foregrounding visualizations as socio-technical and evaluative processes that can shape teachers' attention and vision. This allows examining how the transformation from numbers into visual shapes renders different aspects of pupil performance visible and valuable through aesthetic tactics of bringing data into relation. Empirically, the paper examines national test visualizations from two different governmental periods, showing how they through different aesthetics mobilize, respectively, national benchmarking and individualized progression, reflecting changing governmental logics. Data visualizations thus entail an infrastructural politics of valuation and are not merely a neutral technical background for political and pedagogical battles over what counts as the 'good' performance. This has implications for how teachers can relate to pupils through data in an era where a visual culture of dashboards and data visualizations is becoming pervasive in educational landscapes.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 20260101
Accession Number: EJ1517012
Database: ERIC
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  Data: This article examines how Danish national test data visualizations enact the 'good' pupil performance. Theoretically, the article advances the idea of data visualizations as 'aesthetic devices of valuation', foregrounding visualizations as socio-technical and evaluative processes that can shape teachers' attention and vision. This allows examining how the transformation from numbers into visual shapes renders different aspects of pupil performance visible and valuable through aesthetic tactics of bringing data into relation. Empirically, the paper examines national test visualizations from two different governmental periods, showing how they through different aesthetics mobilize, respectively, national benchmarking and individualized progression, reflecting changing governmental logics. Data visualizations thus entail an infrastructural politics of valuation and are not merely a neutral technical background for political and pedagogical battles over what counts as the 'good' performance. This has implications for how teachers can relate to pupils through data in an era where a visual culture of dashboards and data visualizations is becoming pervasive in educational landscapes.
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      – SubjectFull: National Competency Tests
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      – SubjectFull: Norms
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      – SubjectFull: Graphs
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      – SubjectFull: Student Improvement
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      – SubjectFull: Achievement Rating
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      – SubjectFull: Denmark
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