Putting Data Back Into the ‘Palms’ of Duval County’s Teachers

By Mary Anne Mather, Managing Editor
TERC’s Using Data for Meaningful Change Blog

TERC’s Using Data facilitators have been working for the past two years with 30 elementary schools in Duval County Florida. This is possible through funding from a U.S Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant to study the efficacy of the Using Data for Meaningful Change processes.

As our time together winds down, the Duval schools are sharing stories about transformation in practice, focus, and student achievement.

 

The Journey to Create a Data Driven School Culture

Collaborative inquiry posters showing causal analysis based on San Mateo Elementary School data

The Data-Aware Principal: Reflection #1
Guest Blogger: Lindsay P. Sharp, Principal, San Mateo Elementary School, Duval County Public Schools, Jacksonville, FL

As a principal, it’s clear to me that I need to be data informed. My job depends on it—literally, since I am evaluated by my school’s achievement. More importantly, though, my heart depends on it—I am committed to seeing data not as just numbers, but connected to the success of the students and teachers in my school.

As the school’s leader, my thoughts turn to the best way to translate my own state of “data informed-ness” into meaningful action, and I have come to understand the key lies in putting my efforts into creating data leaders beyond the principal’s office. My Using Data colleagues are now in every classroom in my school! Accomplishing this level of a “using data school culture” depends on a process that involves professional development, support, and dedication over time. We work at it every day.

 

Teacher Teams Help Test Scores. Really? Always?

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Senior Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

I was bolstered by this bit of news from Tennessee via Learning Forward about the efficacy of teacher teams that meet regularly to share data and strategies. The article is a sound-bite about the good news for student achievement in Wilson County that leaves me hungry for the details about how their meetings are structured, what data they look at, and how that data inform practice. From the published results, they seem to have discovered the perfect storm where collaboration, data, and strategies/solutions meet to make a difference. I, for one—as a facilitator of processes to help conjure similar storms, applaud them!

But the news item also reminded me that there’s more to this kind of success than simply meeting as a team and sharing “what works.”

 

Can We Influence Public Policy? Shifting Data Resources from Systems to People

In early May, TERC’s Using Data Director, Diana Nunnaley, was invited to attend an important national meeting that can have future influence on public awareness, policy, and pre-service and in-service teacher preparation related to data literacy for teachers.

Diana was selected because of the groundbreaking work TERC initiated over ten years ago, developing a process of collaborative inquiry that engages teachers in cycles of data analysis and root cause analysis to inform instructional changes. Using Data currently works in districts and schools nationwide, building teacher-led data teams and facilitating a proven process of data analysis, instructional improvement, and increased student achievement—all leading to successfully narrowing achievement gaps among student population groups.   

The meeting was coordinated by WestEd and Education Northwest, and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It brought together 50 nationally recognized experts who have studied the meaningful use of education data to improve instruction. They represented several universities, education research organizations, professional development providers, and foundation leaders.

Diana shares a glimpse of the discussions that ensued at the meeting and the musings they spurred. She concludes with a call to action for all who are committed to excellent education for all children…

 

Using Data Tip #7: Finding the Time For Data Inquiry

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Senior Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

As powerful as an inquiry process might be, it is only good if practiced regularly.

Recently, we met with teams of teachers in Florida who are learning the TERC Using Data process of school-based collaborative inquiry. Between our two scheduled face-to-face sessions, these data teams returned to their schools to apply the process they had learned and dig deeper into their own data analysis with colleagues. One returned with an epiphany. “I thought we were learning a quick way to ‘fix’ things. I now realize that there is no quick way to do this. You just have to take the time to engage in the process, understand what to do to get results, and do it!”

Meaningful data analysis, pinpointing student learning problems by triangulating multiple data sources, deconstructing student work samples, finding root causes for emerging problems, and launching a plan to tackle these problems takes time.

Anyone who has ever integrated inquiry into classroom instruction knows how time-consuming it is…and how valuable. The same holds true for a data analysis process based on collaborative inquiry.

 

Using Data Tip #6: Beginning a Causal Analysis Process: Why Asking “Why” Once is Not Enough

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Senior Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

Once a school or grade-level data team has analyzed several data sources to pinpoint a student learning problem, they often feel ready to leap into action and solve it. To ensure that the solution pursued produces the hope-for results, it’s essential to engage in a collaborative process of causal analysis to identify the “root” cause of the problem.

There are many tools that support root cause analysis, one of them is referred to as Why-Why-Why—a question-asking technique used to explore cause and effect relationships. Why-Why-Why helps a group look beyond symptoms to underlying causes by taking the identified problem and asking why it exists at least three times—each time probing more deeply.

 

Using Data Tip #5: Getting to the Bottom of “Why” Before Investing in Solutions — Make Inferences and Question Your Data’s Story

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

“Make data observations. Then generate possible explanations that inform next-steps to finding the best teaching and learning solutions.”
(from: Love, Nancy et al. The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students, 2008.)

Data analysis is more effective, and more on-target for getting student achievement results, if a team of stakeholders first observe and list as many details as possible about what the data reveal, followed by making inferences about these observations, and then asking “why is this happening?” “what else do we need to know to be sure?”.

Infer/Question is the fourth stage in a team-based, 4-phase dialogue process* that guides deep discussion toward deriving accurate meaning from performance data. (See more information about Step 1: Predict, Step 2: Go Visual, and Step 3: Make Observations.)

These action steps will help you and your data team share inferences about the story the data reveal—inferences that will inform important next-steps toward identifying a valid student learning problem and its true causes.

 

Using Data Tip #4: Make Data Observations — Before Identifying Solutions, Get All the Facts on the Table

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Anne Mather, Using Data Facilitator & Social Media Liaison on Twitter & FaceBook

Set aside assumptions, and focus on just the “data facts” before leaping to explanation and interpretation.
The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students

Teachers are natural problem solvers. When we see evidence of individual students struggling, or indicators in our data that groups of students are underachieving, we are anxious to find solutions. The Using Data process advocates a “hold your horses” mindset that can help teachers to better pinpoint a student learning problem before jumping to explanations, interpretations, and quick-fix solutions. Data analysis is more effective if a team of stakeholders takes the time to observe and record as many details as possible about what the data reveal.

Observe is the third stage in a 4-phase dialogue process* that guides deep discussion toward deriving accurate meaning from the data. (See more information about Step 1: Predict and Step 2: Go Visual.) Engaging in this process as a data team, rather than individually, can garner the greatest impact toward improved student achievement.

 

The Portico Problem: In Praise of Item-Level Data Analysis

GUEST BLOGGER: Dr. William L. Heller, Using Data Program Director, Teaching Matters*

As a facilitator of the TERC Using Data institute, I try not to play favorites among the different stages of the process. Every link in the chain is important towards improving student outcomes. But I must confess that I always look forward to the item-level analysis with just a little extra bit of enthusiasm. This is where the school-based data teams that I work with are most likely to achieve a breakthrough and gain new understandings about the problems their students are having. Even the teachers who arrive being the most skeptical about the importance of data are subject to “Aha!” moments when they actually look at the questions their students got wrong on the exams and are able to specifically target a cause and a solution.

 

Building Capacity For Using Data Well: Who should lead the data initiative?

By Diana Nunnaley, Director, TERC’s Using Data

Two thoughtful building administrators wanting to invest in a meaningful and effective initiative for data use in their schools recently came to me and asked. Who is the best person to lead a school’s data initiative?

Both of them, in their initial thinking, wondered if the best approach might be to have a district or building  “data person” present analyzed data findings, student learning problems, and identified solutions to the faculty. While this solution might address budget and scheduling constraints, in my experience it falls short of building and sustaining meaningful data use in a school. I have found that, in many cases, the “data person” is better with formulas and answers than with helping a broader group of stakeholders ask the right questions in order for them to recognize their own place in the CAUSE, as well as their place in the SOLUTION, toward enacting improved student achievement.

So…who IS the best person to lead a school’s data work? The best person is really a data team, led by a designated data coach who assumes the responsibility of organizing data meetings and resources, but who shares responsibility for meeting facilitation, data analysis, verifying causes of student learning problems, and identifying solutions. Together, the team members participate in focused professional development that builds common vision, language, and facility with an iterative process for engaging in data dialog. The REAL question is, “Who should be on the data team?”