The Do’s and Don’ts of Data Elementary Instructional Facilitators Caldwell County Schools

What We’ve Learned. . . Do: Don’t: Get buy-in from teachers and administrators. Include horizontal and vertical teams in data discussion. Discuss student data in terms of what students need to be successful. Discuss student data in terms of why the student is not responding to instruction. Use data conversations as a “gotcha” moment. Keep data “private.” Teachers can be defensive about what is considered private. Discuss data in terms of what a teacher is not doing. Discuss students as having deficits. Automatically assuming that the student has deficits halts conversations.

Data Walls Formats vary dependent on the needs of the school Show overall school data and individual student data Dynamic, not static

Data Walls Do: Don’t Show grade level trends Sort students to determine student needs Refer to data walls in discussions Keep walls in areas away from students and parents Single out teachers Sort students to determine which “won’t make it” at the end of the year Create a wall and never revisit it. Use the data walls in conversation/conference with parents or anyone that is not part of the school staff.

Data Walls

DIBELS Data Walls

Data Notebooks Vary depending on the needs of the school School notebooks Classroom notebooks Student notebooks

Data Notebooks Do: Don’t Design notebooks that are useful for tracking student progress. Allow students to set their own goals and track their own progress. Keep data notebooks accessible to teachers and/or students. Make notebooks “one more thing” that has to be done. If it’s not useful, don’t do it. Keep student data a secret from the students. Put notebooks in areas where they are not easily accessed or they will be forgotten.

Data Meetings Do: Don’t: Set an agenda and use meeting times to discuss student achievement. Look for trends in data. Set SMART goals for groups of students needing the same skills. Determine if interventions/ enrichment plans are effective. Use meeting times to gripe about students or other school issues. Use gut feelings to determine student needs. Leave the meeting without a plan for intervention/ enrichment. Leave plans open.

Data Meetings Action Plans: SMART Goals: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-bound

School Administration Do: Don’t: Be knowledgeable about the types of data being collected at the school. Set a high expectation for student achievement and instruction. Follow through and follow up with teachers and students. Assume that teachers will take care of data collection and know everything they need to know. Allow expectations to drop or discussions to fade. Forget to check on the progress of action plans and talk with teachers and students about their progress.

Instructional Facilitators: Do: Don’t: Assist teachers in data collection. Assist teachers in looking at ways to use data in instruction. Act as a reference for teachers in setting SMART goals and creating an action plan. Provide teachers with resources to carry out action plans. Inform teachers and administrators of trends occurring across the district. Coordinate testing. Analyze data for teachers. Write action plans or participate in the implementation of the plan. Write lesson plans for core instruction, enrichment or intervention. Compare schools to each other.

Questions