The integration of data into educational decision-making processes is becoming increasingly relevant worldwide. It is recognised as important for fostering school improvement, enhancing leadership effectiveness, and optimising student learning outcomes. However, data usage practices often vary significantly based on contextual factors. In this context, this qualitative research focuses on the specific case of Ecuador and aims to understand how Ecuadorian school leaders identify, characterize, interpret, and use diverse data sources to inform decision-making for different educational purposes. We conducted eleven semi-structured interviews with principals and vice-principals across seven schools in Quito/Pichincha. Thematic analysis shows leaders primarily equate data with formal numerical and documentary records, while qualitative and informal data is secondary. The dominant use is accountability and procedural justification, strategic planning appears intermittently, and instructional use is episodic and often contingent on external support. Information environments are fragmented with uneven access, timeliness, and comparability. Organizational routines for collective sense-making are weak and depend on individual initiative amid limited training and mixed staff attitudes. Professional judgment is central to giving educational meaning to data but is seldom scaffolded by stable structures. The findings suggest feasible ways to move beyond the numbers, clarify the purpose of learning, simplify and systematise data flows, establish collaborative routines that are low-burden, and strengthening data literacy, including in the areas of ethics and data protection. Rather than tightening accountability regimes, policy and leadership efforts should focus on strengthening collaborative information practices that support professional judgement and improve decision-making in context.

Keywords: Data-informed decision-making, educational leadership, school improvement, data literacy, qualitative research, Ecuador.