Using Data Workshops
Reframing School Accountability
How can schools use test data constructively to guide school improvement decisions? For answers, many district administrators are turning to programs that require large investments in hardware and software to help manage the data. These programs can simplify the process of disaggregating test scores by categories such as poverty level, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency, but they do not identify the reasons for low student achievement. To make good use of test data, districts must invest in people. School staff need skills in analyzing data to improve student learning.
For several years, TERC has been helping teachers and administrators work collaboratively with data to investigate problems, look for solutions, take action, and monitor change. The process, as detailed in Using Data/Getting Results: A Practical Guide to School Improvement in Mathematics and Science by Nancy Love, challenges educators to seek out and analyze all kinds of data in addition to test scores, such as course enrollment, teacher and student interviews, student work, classroom observations, and relevant research.
The Need for Training
Quality data analysis requires training and experience. “Superficial data analysis can be worse then none,” warns Love. “I have seen too many schools take short-sighted action in response to test scores, such as tutoring the students performing just slightly below proficiency while ignoring other children who are not achieving. While these measures might result in short-term gains in test scores, they neglect critical issues like the rigor of the curriculum and the effectiveness of instruction—issues which are central to sustaining improvements in not just test scores, but teaching and learning.”
To help educators acquire the skills and knowledge to use data effectively, TERC has created a professional development program for data facilitators—teachers, school and district administrators, and staff developers—who lead the process for using data in their schools. The program is customized based on local goals and a needs assessment. The facilitators help create an environment in which teachers feel safe to examine their own assumptions regarding poor student performance and are able to evaluate the validity of those assumptions based on the data. Teams develop a shared understanding of student learning goals and set a course of action to meet those goals.
Getting Results
The collaborative inquiry process has helped several schools across the country make effective use of data to improve instructional practice and results for students. For example, middle schools in Canton City, Ohio, have doubled the percentage of students achieving a level of proficient or above on the Ohio Proficiency Test. They also report steady gains on their quarterly common assessments in mathematics. The collaborative inquiry process can help transform school culture in ways that make teachers and administrators feel fully accountable for the success of all their students.