Using Data--Whatever you thought,
think again

Edna Varner
Cornerstone Leadership Associate

 

Without a doubt, schools cannot improve without data to drive instructional decisions.  We know that.  Schools abound in data, so using data should not be a problem.  We do not get it soon enough to make the kinds of decisions a summer allows, but we are certainly getting it faster than we did a decade ago. 

Districts teams are making the rounds to share and discuss test data with school faculties who then meet in grade level groups, asking targeted questions about the numbers, rethinking strategies for underachieving subgroups, and analyzing particular test items so that last year’s failures will not be this year’s repeat performances. Cornerstone schools are using a variety of strategies to make meaning of and to display data for ongoing use.   Data is the substance of inquiry for data teams, and the content for data portfolios, data walls and data rooms—all successful practices in successful schools.  We want to be those schools.   

To be successful, schools must work smarter instead of simply working harder, and working smarter will require rethinking how we use existing tools, processes, and practices to tell a story we all must understand.   Education literature suggests a number of ways to improve practice for using data. This article presents a starter list of three.


#1:  If you think having access to more test data will help your team make decisions that get great results, think again.

We know that test data is important, but it is not the only important data school teams need to improve student learning year after year.  In her book, Using Data to Improve Student Learning in Elementary Schools, Victoria Bernhardt suggests we rethink data collection to include demographics, perceptions, school processes, and evidence of student learning.  The following key questions are designed to address the context of student learning that either supports or fails to support continuous progress.

Key Questions:
  • Who are our children?    (Do our practices support the achievement of all children, even those who are now different from the ones we taught years ago?)
  • How do we do business?   (Are some children experiencing school differently?  What does our data tell us about how underachieving students experience school?)
  • What does our data tell us about where we are now?  Where do we want to be?
  • What are the gaps between where we are and where we want to be?
  • What are root causes of the gaps?  What action plan will address them?
  • How will we implement our plan?
  • How will we monitor and evaluate our efforts?

Cornerstone Schools already have a useful data source that answers a number of the above questions--the School Review.  By design, it helps a school look at how it does business and offers evidence of a school’s intent in practice. Not only does the School Review provide valuable insights into how successful and unsuccessful students are experiencing school differently, but it goes one further by suggesting appropriate next steps for action plans in its guiding questions (see School Review manual) and recommendations.


#2: If you think that high test scores this year mean you have improved practice, think again.

In a year of good scores, schools must be equally diligent at inquiring about trends and root causes.  It is not enough to get good scores, Doug Reeves explains in his Leadership for Learning Framework.   Leadership teams must know what they know.  They must understand how their practices influence instruction and know that they improve achievement across subgroups. A lucky year of incredible achievement followed by a year of plummeting scores is far more devastating than slow, but steady progress. 

One purpose of the Leadership for Learning Framework is to dispel the notion that high scores necessarily mean high effectiveness and low scores mean ineffectiveness.  As the diagram below shows, replication of achievement over time is the goal.

Leadership Framework

If you can delegate data analysis and action to the teachers, think again?
Instead of a witch hunt for broken kids in need of fixing, Reeves suggests a “treasure hunt” guided by the questions, “What do our results tell us about our most effective professional practices, and how can we identify and replicate those practices?”  

Norma Empringham said it well in her article on school self review in this issue of the newsletter

:... if we take time to look below the surface of really vibrant successful schools, we find that they are constantly examining what is going on, seeking out what works and is successful in promoting student achievement, and identifying areas for improvement. These schools know themselves well and look for affirmation from external agencies to ensure they are on the right track and have not missed anything.


#3:  If you think the faculty can do what is necessary to improve student learning without leadership, think again.

“If the job of educational leadership is not about student achievement, what in the world is it about?”     --D. Reeves

Principals are busy people with lots of responsibilities, but student achievement must be job number one. Student achievement is much less likely when data walls are the constructs of anyone who happened to have a free period, the data room is rarely a venue for grade level meetings, the data portfolio has moved from a drawer only to end up on a shelf, and the data team meets without principal leadership for much of the school year.

The kind of professional inquiry and action research required of faculties determined to create cultures of learning and achievement cannot be delegated
to hard working teachers who simply report to the principal.   The school principal must be actively engaged, hands-on, and as much a researcher as the rest of the team.  Of course, teachers provide leadership, but they look to principals to model what they are still learning.

Dropping by data team meetings is not leading.   Every meeting must be planned with as much attention to objectives and outcomes as a good lesson.  While principals may not chair each meeting, there must be no doubt that they are providing leadership by articulating and inspiring the shared vision, asking the tough questions that raise expectations and ensure rigorous processes, enabling others to act through planning, professional development, implementation, and evaluation, and encouraging the hearts of teachers, parents, and others on the journey of continuous progress.

References

Bernhardt, Victoria L.  Using Data to Improve Student Learning in Elementary Schools.  Eye on Education, Inc.

Reeves, Douglas.  The Learning Leader.  ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development).