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Just like any other sector education is big on data!  Individual student data, school data, district data, and state data.  Side note--- data vs datum---discuss.

There are a couple of ways to collect student data: standardized tests (summative assessments) , formative assessments, and teacher observations.  I'm not a fan of high stakes standardized testing, but I find formative assessment vital in meeting student needs.  Teachers use formative assessment as a yard stick for student learning and to affect their teaching.  Side note---- affect vs effect---- discuss.

Another way to use data to benefit teaching strategies and student outcomes is progress monitoring with something like AIMSweb.  Progress monitoring is exactly what you think... you monitor your students progress, usually in core subjects like math and reading.  Usually the testing is done at least weekly, some teachers do it more often.  A service like AIMSweb provides testing materials and plots the progress so teachers, parents, students, and administrators can monitor student progress.  This type of monitoring is vital in primary grades.  75% of students identified with reading problems in 3rd grade still struggle with reading in 9th grade--- from the National Assessment of Educational Progress 2008.  Wow!!  Read that again.  Early reading intervention is vital.  

As a future elementary teacher I will to collect data on students that I feel are struggling and need to see the special ed specialist.  The rule of thumb is to have 6 weeks of data: quizzes, tests, homework, teacher observation, interventions tried and parental observation.  Documentation is crucial to obtaining special ed services for struggling students; early intervention is the best chance for student success.

 I think that high stakes testing is an educational bandwagon, but formative assessment benefits students and teachers.