Which of the following is NOT a reason for data collection?

The selection of planning future professional development as the option that is not a reason for data collection is valid because data collection primarily serves to inform and improve direct interventions and practices within the school setting rather than professional development planning. The other options—determining the effectiveness of interventions, identifying problems to plan interventions, and deciding on the relationship between interventions and positive student outcomes—are all directly tied to the process of collecting data that is necessary for evaluating and improving educational practices.

Data collection is fundamentally about gathering evidence that helps educators and psychologists understand the current state of students' needs and the effectiveness of the strategies employed to address those needs. For instance, by collecting data, professionals can analyze how successful a specific intervention is by observing changes in student behavior or academic performance.

While planning for professional development is important, it is a secondary consideration and generally arises through the analysis of data already collected about student needs and intervention outcomes. Therefore, it does not belong to the primary reasons for data collection in the context of immediate student-focused outcomes.