Ahead of the Curve - Chapter 10

Data on Purpose: Due Diligence to Increase Student Achievement

 “A purposeful, precise approach to selecting, analyzing, and understanding data can augment a comprehensive assessment framework and produce second-order change.  Data on purpose ensures at all levels to inform learning, teaching, and leading.”                                                                                     Stephen White

 In this chapter, he describes a purposeful, collaborative approach to data collection and analysis.  The chapter defines and examines four types of data.

• Learning – student outcomes on assessment
• Teaching – teacher actions
• Leadership – adds insight into which leadership practices are most effective
• Persuasive – build support for necessary changes in professional practice (pre & post tests)

First-level change - change in classroom practice and individual student achievement
Second-level change- system-level changes in school cultures that ultimately benefit all students.
Purpose of Leadership Data

• Helps determine the quality and consistency of leadership practices.
• Adds insight into which leadership practices are most effective in

–        Building capacity
–        Creating culture
–        Sustaining student achievement

• Data on leadership are the least prevalent but the most needed because research clearly indicates an impact on student achievement. 

Powerful Acts of Leadership that can be Evaluated with Data

• Modify time
• Modify opportunities
• Provide corrective feedback
• Replicate successful practices
• Make midcourse corrections
• Analyze diverse types of data
• Collaboratively implement and evaluate common assessments
• Develop & test hypotheses
• Tailor training to needs
• Commit resources

Triangulation – is used to extract meaning from raw data – to see the big picture and find meaning, see the key interactions among variables.

• Results in better alignment, sequencing, and content area focus
• Benefits include early recognition of learning gaps
• Evaluate student achievement data and teaching data to determine the impact of instructional strategies

Due Diligence – process of scrutinizing important information
Requires 3 areas to examine:
1.      High Yield Instructional Strategies – determine the relationship of instructional strategies to student achievement
2.      Collaboration
3.      Accountability – how frequently action steps or implementation protocols are monitored / supervised
 We see the importance of collecting and analyzing data to better our instruction and student achievement. While purposeful data is important, the following quote stood out from the chapter.
“All data are limited and incomplete, and perfection is not an option.”