About

Tonya R. Moon is a faculty member at the UVA School of Education and Human Development, serving as a Professor. Her research and teaching interests include the use of student data to support students’ academic needs, with a focus on issues related to accountability, such as the effects of high-stakes testing on classrooms, teachers, and students. She explores the assessment of gifted children, program evaluation, and research methodology. Moon collaborates with educators both nationally and internationally in the area of assessment to better address the academic diversity of today’s classrooms through differentiated instruction. She is a co-author of the books 'Assessment in a Differentiated Classroom: A Guide for Students Success' and 'Using Differentiated Classroom Assessment to Enhance Student Learning.' Additionally, she serves as the co-director of the University of Virginia Institutes on Academic Diversity.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Mathematics education
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Pedagogy
• Public relations

Selected publications

• Talking about data: an analysis of data-team conversations and principals’ influence on them

  Journal of Educational Administration · 2025-02-27

  articleSenior author

  Purpose School principals are increasingly responsible for acting as instructional leaders, but research on data teams typically considers principals as secondary players responsible for ensuring that meetings occur but not necessarily for their quality. We investigated how elementary school principals in one district committed to data use influenced data team conversations. Design/methodology/approach In this study, we analyze observation data of 34 data-team meetings held in four elementary schools in one rural district. Findings We found that principals regularly dominated the data-team meetings, strongly influencing decisions related to students discussed, how they were discussed and what decisions were made as a result. Moreover, data-team decisions seldom resulted in actual instructional change but instead most regularly ended by “staying the course.” Originality/value There are a number of implications to consider as a result of the many squandered opportunities to leverage data to lead instructional change. This study is one of the few to focus on how principals influence (and can limit) data-team conversations about students and instructional response.

  PublisherDOI

• School Leader Preparation in the U.S. State of Virginia: Exploring the Relationship between Data Use in Standards and Program Delivery

  Education Sciences · 2024-10-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  National school leadership standards are now de facto curriculum for preparation programs. Data use is embedded throughout standards to guide school improvement and classroom instruction. Yet, across a number of areas, pre-service principals do not appear ready to lead once in the field. Principals are responsible for using various data to guide internal policies, school cultures, and capacity building, largely supporting teachers by establishing norms, expectations, and clear visions for data use in instructional decisions. In this study, we examined leadership preparation programs in one U.S. state to understand how data use is addressed in leader preparation. Our analysis of course description, syllabi, and program director interview data resulted in the following findings: (1) programs and courses seldom explicitly acknowledged data use as a topic; (2) when data use was acknowledged as a topic, it was infrequently tied to standards; (3) connections between data use and instructional change were limited; and (4) most programs relied on internships for leadership preparation programs to learn data use practices. There are opportunities for programs to make connections between standards, data use, and instructional improvement more explicit, as well as to clarify expectations for and increase oversight of field-based mentors.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Equipping Preservice Teachers for Data Use: A Study of Secondary Educator Preparation Programs in Virginia

  Journal of Teacher Education · 2024-10-20

  articleCorresponding

  Because data-informed decision-making (DIDM) can help teachers meet diverse learners’ needs (van Geel et al., 2016), educator preparation programs (EPPs) must ensure that preservice teachers (PSTs) develop the data literacy skills needed for effective data use. However, little is known about the ways in which EPPs work towards building PSTs’ data literacy, despite licensure and accreditation requirements compelling EPPs to do so. In this study, we analyzed survey, document, and interview data from Virginia EPPs to determine what present practices for DIDM preparation are taking place across the state. Results point to a lack of uniformity among EPPs for how preparation is undertaken, and that PSTS seem to have limited coursework on data use. Additionally, there appears to be minimal collaboration between EPPs and clinical partners, such that PSTs infrequently have opportunities to engage in DIDM during field experiences.

  PublisherDOI

• Performance Assessments: The Role in the Identification of Gifted Students

  2023-05-10 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The chapter provides an introduction to performance assessments and other non-test assessments, including their advantages, disadvantages. Another aspect of performance assessments that makes them promising for use in a gifted identification system is that the assessments can, if developed properly, provide multiple pieces of information across different content areas. While performance assessments hold much promise as one component that can be used in a gifted identification system, evidence must to be gathered to determine whether these potential benefits are realized in light of possible limitations. With the use of performance assessments as one component of a gifted identification system, it is necessary to ensure that assessments uphold professional measurement standards that have been set. The purpose of setting cut scores for performance assessments used in a gifted identification system is to minimize what is called a Type I error, false positive, that is, making a claim that someone is eligible for services when in fact they are eligible for services.

  PublisherDOI

• Project-Based Assessments

  2022-05-21 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author

  Project-based tasks and rubrics, including performance assessments, are alternatives to traditional types of assessments, which offer opportunities for students to engage in the application of their learning instead of passive recitation of knowledge and skills. In classrooms employing project-based tasks, students investigate issues, problems or opportunities embedded within contexts that have relevance to their interests and are appropriate for their age. “Non-traditional” assessments of these types have potential benefits for student learning, if designed and implemented correctly, including: (a) demonstrating developing expertise of a discipline; (b) increasing student motivation in both the learning and assessment contexts; (c) developing students’ critical, creative, and metacognitive skills; and (d) offering opportunities for increased access to post-secondary careers. Despite these benefits, there are also potential liabilities, particularly surrounding issues of equity and access for all groups of students and diverse classroom contexts. Examples of various approaches to non-traditional assessments will be examined from a practical lens, including considerations for employing these tools within schools and programs.

  PublisherDOI

• Modeling Data Use for Effective Instruction

  Encyclopedia of Teacher Education · 2022-01-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Where’s the data to support educators’ data use for instructional practice?

  Theory Into Practice · 2022-06-30 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  Data use has gained policy traction at the federal, state, and local levels in the United States and internationally, and is now embedded in teacher, principal, and district leader standards in the U.S. However, many decisions implemented in policy and practice are being made on insufficient evidence and assume a relatively straightforward, intuitive, and coherent data use process in which educators have access to data; the data are appropriate for the task at hand; and that they have the skills to retrieve, analyze, and respond appropriately to directly or indirectly change instruction for the better. Yet, research indicates that in actuality the practice of educator data use is complicated and heavily influenced by both organizational and individual factors such as school leaders’ influence on teachers’ data use, and teachers’ beliefs about, capacity for, and use of data for instructional decisions. Because we and many others in the field of education have come to see the potential value and utility of data use by educators, we offer the five recommendations to improve educators’ data use for instructional practice.

  PublisherDOI

• Alternative and Nonverbal Assessments

  2021-09-03 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter provides an overview of the most commonly used terms in the fields of alternative assessments and nonverbal assessments, as well as what the current research base indicates regarding both types of assessments. The ability to draw defensible conclusions from the research regarding the use of alternative assessment and nonverbal assessment is dependent upon the depth and quality of the research base. Assessment plays a major role in the held of gifted education when it comes to high-stakes decisions, unlike other educational areas. In general education, roots of the term alternative assessment can be traced back to the mid-1980s when alternatives to standardized educational assessment were being discussed due to the extreme focus on multiple-choice testing in the American educational system. The ideas in this chapter are culled from empirical work conducted within the US and with US student populations, focusing predominantly on the area of gifted education except when there is little to no research in the area.

  PublisherDOI

• Modeling Data Use for Effective Instruction

  Encyclopedia of Teacher Education · 2021-12-09

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Designing and Implementing Interactive, Collaborative Family Literacy Events

  Gifted Child Today · 2021 · 5 citations

  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Pedagogy

  Shared experiences through school-hosted events, such as family literacy events, can afford opportunities to support and extend academic learning while fostering positive home–school relationships. This article describes the importance of developing primary-grade students’ literacy skills through a talent development lens and explains several ways to nurture students’ literacy skills and recognize potential, gifts, and talents during family literacy events. This article features one of the activities from the family literacy events, Environmental Print Bingo, a modification of I-Spy and Bingo which uses rich and varied environmental print resources. A description of this activity, necessary resources, and implementation tips are provided. Options for differentiating this learning activity to provide more challenge for gifted learners are suggested. Throughout the article, the application of a pedagogy for early childhood gifted education and Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence as a framework are discussed; these approaches informed the design of all family literacy activities. A brief overview of nine additional family literacy event activities is also shared. Welcoming and involving families of English learners is an important consideration in many communities, and therefore, preparation tips and considerations for facilitators that will help maximize the participation of all families are included. Finally, reflections and helpful advice for implementing family literacy events in your school communities are presented, including advice for implementing online family literacy events. Ultimately, this article should help readers conceptualize, plan, and implement family literacy events in their school communities.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Catherine M. Brighton

  33 shared

• Carol Ann Tomlinson

  University of Virginia

  24 shared

• Carolyn M. Callahan

  University of Virginia

  20 shared

• Carolyn M. Callahan

  University of Louisville

  12 shared

• Amy Price Azano

  6 shared

• Coby V. Meyers

  University of Virginia

  6 shared

• Sarah Soyeon Oh

  5 shared

• Emily Hailey

  University of Virginia

  4 shared

Education

• PhD , EDLF

  University of Virginia