1. Fostering a Culture of Data Use
2015 Leadership Conference
“All In: Achieving Results Together”
Fostering a Culture of Data Use
Presenter Information: Robb Geier
Public Consulting Group

2. A Data Use Story

3. Let’s Analyze Our Data
Your School

4. Our Immediate Findings
Something isn’t working!

5. School Improvement Goals
School D will increase the percent of proficient and advanced students in each 6th through 8th grade from nineteen percent (19%) in ELA to forty-nine percent (49%). Students in grades 6-8 will score 4 or better in Writing as measured by the state test.

6. Improvement Initiatives
Data Analysis & Data-Driven Instruction
Brain-Based Learning
RTI/Intervention Plans for below basic subgroups in Math & Reading/LNG
Horizontal & Vertical Planning
Team Building & Collaboration
Effective Communications with Parents & Teachers
Differentiated Instruction
Technology Integration
Test-Taking Strategies

7. Our Leadership Dilemma
What can cause a disconnect between data analysis and improvement initiatives?

8. Data Use Theory of Action

9. Slide 9
Culture:
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization

10. Barriers to Data Use Cultural Barriers Technical Barriers
Political Barriers
Ingram, D. S. (2004). Accountability policies and teacher decision making: Barriers to the use of data to improve practice. Teachers College Record, 106(6), 1258–1287.

11. Cultural Barriers
Many teachers have developed their own personal metric for judging the effectiveness of their teaching and often this metric differs from the metrics of external parties (e.g., state accountability systems and school boards).
Many teachers and administrators base their decisions on experience, intuition, and anecdotal information (professional judgment) rather than on information that is collected systematically.
There is little agreement among stakeholders about which student outcomes are most important and what kinds of data are meaningful.
Some teachers disassociate their own performance and that of students, which leads them to overlook useful data.
Ingram, D. S. (2004). Accountability policies and teacher decision making: Barriers to the use of data to improve practice. Teachers College Record, 106(6), 1258–1287.

12. Technical Barriers
Data that teachers want – about “really important outcomes” – are rarely available and are usually hard to measure.
Schools rarely provide the time needed to collect and analyze data.
Ingram, D. S. (2004). Accountability policies and teacher decision making: Barriers to the use of data to improve practice. Teachers College Record, 106(6), 1258–1287.

13. Political Barriers
Data have often been used politically, leading to mistrust of data and data avoidance.
Ingram, D. S. (2004). Accountability policies and teacher decision making: Barriers to the use of data to improve practice. Teachers College Record, 106(6), 1258–1287.

14. A Data Leadership Model
PCG Education
4/14/2018
A Data Leadership Model

15. Slide 15

16. Functions of a District Data Team
Create and articulate the vision for data use
Set and model expectations
Implement and uphold policies for data use in the district
Identify data to be collected
Manage data infrastructure and access
Design meaningful data displays
Select or develop models for inquiry and data use that will be used district-wide
Model the inquiry process publicly
Provide training and professional development to support district departments, principals, school data teams, and teachers in their use of data
Use data to identify professional development needs
Monitor the progress of the district toward achieving its vision for data use
Establish the lines of communication necessary to share results and best practices
Vision and Policy Management
Data
Management
Inquiry, Analysis,
and Action
Professional Development
Monitoring and Communication
Functions of a District Data Team © Public Consulting Group

17. Vision and Policy Management
Setting the vision for how data are to be used.
Setting and modeling expectations.
Implementing and upholding the policies for data use across the organization.

18. Vision and Policy Management
Questions to Consider
Actions to Take
What is the current vision for data use in your organization?
How does the district specifically support, through structures and policies, the implementation of that vision?
Who needs to be part of the conversation?
Meet with principals, coaches, and other instructional leaders to communicate the vision for how data are to be used.
Review scheduling and common planning time to ensure that all teaching staff have the time to use data collaboratively.
Additional Questions:
Is it a powerful vision that will improve student achievement?
Where is improvement needed?
Additional Actions
Develop and communicate a organizational vision for data use

19. Why Does Vision Matter?
The vision drives decisions about strategy and use of resources
Everyone in the system gives the same responses to important questions, like “why is data use important to teaching and learning?”
Stakeholders demonstrate shared belief, collective clarity, ownership, and energy for the work at hand
People are able to look beyond smaller challenges and focus on what is really important

20. An Observation
“At the building level, we saw a few impressive data initiatives and uses, but there is ample room for improvement throughout NCSD. Although many principals are supportive of data use and some are already personally invested in it, the principalship in NCSD is generally not a strong facilitator of data use. Through no fault of their own, principals were unprepared for data use, both in terms of their own skills and in terms of leading faculty. Similarly, teachers have not been adequately prepared to use data. Our results found that whereas many teachers were engaged in data use, many were not, and few were able to articulate how data helped them change their practice.”
Wayman, J. C. (2007). The data informed district: A district-wide evaluation of data use in Natrona County School District. Austin, TX: University of Texas.

21. A Second Observation
“The data showed that NCSD was constrained in using data due to a lack of district vision —”
Wayman, J. C. (2007). The data informed district: A district-wide evaluation of data use in Natrona County School District. Austin, TX: University of Texas.

22. Envisioning the Future
A vision statement looks to the future and defines how things will be improved over current status.

23. Envisioning Data Use
How do we expect people to be using data at the following levels of our educational system?
State DoE
District
Department
School
Instructional

24. Data Management Identifying data to be collected.
Managing data infrastructure and access.
Designing meaningful data displays.

25. Data Management Questions to Consider Actions to Take
Do users have the data they need when they need it? How do we know?
What feedback channels exist to help improve our data quality and reports?
What specific steps can you take to improve how data is collected, managed, and reported?
Ensure teacher access to existing data and data analysis tools.
Monitor data quality and provide documentation and ongoing training to data collection staff.
Identify reports needed for particular data use needs.
Some types of reports might include student roster report with historical data; reports to monitor key performance indicators for principals.

26. Inquiry, Analysis, & Action
Selecting and implementing a model for data use.
Developing focusing questions.
Analyzing data to make decisions about curriculum, staffing, resources, and professional development.

27. Inquiry, Analysis, & Action
Questions to Consider
Actions to Take
Does your organization have a common approach to data- driven inquiry? What is it called?
Is use of the model widespread? Why or why not?
Who needs to be involved in a conversation about how your district uses inquiry?
Analyze data at the state or district level to identify essential questions across schools; e.g., “What are the early warning indicators of students at risk of dropping out?”.
Coach school improvement teams to use data to set goals and develop action plans.
Other specific actions that can be taken:
Use data to assess the efficacy of the district’s instructional coaching; e.g., are our instructional coaches working with the right teachers on the right strategies based on student needs?

28. Professional Development
Providing training and professional development to support data use by:
District-level departments
Principals
School Leadership Teams
Teachers
Using data to differentiate professional development according to need.

29. Professional Development
Questions to Consider
Actions to Take
What kinds of professional development about data use have been provided?
How has this professional development been differentiated?
How is assistance deployed to support issues identified through using data?
Identify and train staff to serve as facilitators of professional learning communities in high need schools.
Use student achievement data and information collected from PLCs to target embedded professional development where it is most needed.
Other Questions to Consider
What structures and teams exist in your district? How is professional development delivered through each of these?
Who needs to be involved in conversations about professional development in your district?
Other Actions to Take
Conduct targeted professional development for new teachers and principals in district data use protocols to ensure effective use.

30. Communication & Monitoring
Communicating district-level focusing questions and findings.
Monitoring school-level use of data.
Collecting and sharing results.

31. Communication & Monitoring
Questions to Consider
Actions to Take
How does your district currently foster interschool communication about efforts to improve student learning?
How do district administrators currently monitor the effectiveness of the supports they provide?
Establish quarterly roundtable meetings with leaders to review key performance indicators for school improvement and student achievement.
Collect student learning challenges being addressed by teams to identify patterns across schools and ways to provide assistance.
What steps can you take to improve both of the first two questions?
How can you make use of available technology to help with these activities?
Who would need to be involved in conversations about policies, technology, time, and other resources to support data use?

32. Slide 32
Culture:
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization
Let’s look at our definition again.
What does it take to align attitudes, values, and goals in an organization?
How do we get people to faithfully implement practices, every time, every day?