Unexplored Opportunities in Professional Development to Build Equitable / Ethical Use of Data That Helps Us with Instructional Planning

All Content Focused PD Has Nuggets of Possibilities – Part 1

The typical place where teachers participate in PD that directly touches on “ethical” use of data is when the new features of Internet applications are introduced. Or, as part of an on-boarding process when beginning a new teaching assignment in a new school or district. On these occasions, we become acquainted with FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) and COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) are highlighted. We are given guidelines for the use of social media, how to protect the images of our students and any personal information about them. We’re increasingly all becoming more aware of the disastrous possibilities lurking around all of our communication devices. This is good! We must keep learning and be wary as each new technology moves into our classrooms and homes.

The reality, however, is that the brief amount of time that technology vendors devote to this topic, doesn’t get close to addressing the larger issue of how the data generating in their systems – interim and benchmark assessment systems, personalized learning systems, data analytic programs, is being used ethically and equitably as we strive to make the best instructional decisions for our students every day. We know the value of pop-ups to inform. Why aren’t more data providers, creating pop-ups to provide ethical suggestions for teachers to explore when considering results of one chart, graph, or table? Questions to ask with links to additional data to interrogate in ways that shed new light on decisions.

I’m pleased to say, that examples of schools using data unethically, are few and have never occurred in any of the districts where our team has provided PD and coaching in data use over the years. Still, more is needed to help all of us be aware of areas where our lack of knowledge about contexts and content may lead us to making decisions based on false assumptions about student learning. And, indeed, it’s possible to use data poorly to justify never challenged assumptions. Which is why, in our book, The Ethical Use of Data in Education, we offer suggestions for altering the landscape of Teacher Preparation Programs, as well as PD across the spectrum of teachers’ professional experiences.

When you think back to both your undergraduate and graduate studies in education, what were your experiences with exploring student, community or content data as it relates to student learning progressions, impact of poverty, cultural background differences, or neurological challenges experienced by many student learners? What guides teacher preparation programs in developing their courses of study and intern programs for rising teachers? The answer is state standards for teaching and state codes of ethics. And to date, only two states explicitly mention FERPA. Nineteen mention protection of student privacy. However, few states or professional organizations, go far enough to guide TPPs in developing course content that fully develops our knowledge of what it can mean to use data responsibly.

More to come. What is your experience?

 

What’s Working?

As educators look at End-of-Year state assessments, End-of-Course results and other data points used to track progress toward achievement and growth goals, teachers are getting more experienced and comfortable identifying gaps in learning.  What they aren’t as comfortable and confident about is knowing what to do next – how to use what they’ve learned to take action beyond student grouping decisions – how to create lesson plans with specific instructional strategies aimed at engaging students more effectively in the concepts and skills needed. An even further reach is encountered when it comes to expanding their investigations into verifying the reasons “Why?” students are experiencing the challenges revealed. 

Continuous, effective use of data by teachers requires that all three components of learning from our data are part of professional routines in a culture where we believe it is our moral responsibility to help all students thrive.

1. Examine student learning and other relevant data to identify who is getting it, who isn’t, what aren’t they understanding and what aren’t they able to do successfully.
2. Use that information to plan specific instructional strategies to engage students in the areas needing additional learning and plan how to measure the impact of those strategies.
3. Continue to broaden the analysis to identify and verify the root causes of student learning gaps.

No. 2 above is perhaps the most critical component of the cycle and it actually speaks to a topic that

in itself warrants careful attention and requires additional analyses beyond the classroom. What’s working? And what isn’t? Which students are we leaving behind?

The reality in most schools is that as teachers are focused on their students, they are also often implementing new materials, new intervention programs (Social Emotional, Growth Mindset, Brain-based Learning, etc), developing higher level questioning strategies, identifying ways to scaffold rigorous instruction for ALL students. The list goes on and it’s all happening concurrently. But when we see improvements or our state report card ranking moves up a level, we aren’t sure which programs or combinations of changes contributed to the outcomes, or which ones had no impact whatsoever, except on our budget.

New programs and initiatives should from the outset include the following questions: What is the change we want to see, what will it look like when it’s implemented successfully, how will we know that it is successful, what is the evidence we’ll gather to help us know if it’s working?

Are you asking these questions?

 

Test Prep vs. Looking at Student Work

By Mary Anne Mather, Managing Editor
TERC’s Using Data For Meaningful Change Blog
TERC Using Data Senior Facilitator

Many districts are heading into spring state-level testing. It’s irrefutable that the opinions surrounding the pros and cons of such assessments make for heated discussions in many circles. Not the least among the disputes is the time spent on what some call “teaching to the test.” The high stakes value placed on these tests can make even the best of us do things we don’t really embrace as best practice.

At TERC, we try to look at it from a different angle. What if our day-to-day work as professional-level instructors set the stage for students to perform better on the standardized tests because we intricately understood the ins and outs of what students do and do not know? Armed with that knowledge, we can plan classroom instruction that closes the gap between misconception and success. It’s most likely going to influence test scores, while addressing essential grade-level learning goals. That’s where looking at student work samples comes in!