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EdTech
Why K–12 Schools Should Establish a Data-Driven Culture
By Amy Burroughs
The essential ingredients for a data-driven culture have little to do
with data itself, experts say. The real shift occurs when everyone in
the educational community starts to change what they talk about and how
they respond to conversational outcomes. “That’s what exemplifies
higher-performing schools that have transformed their entire culture:
District leaders, school leaders, teachers and students are all working
around the common goal of improving learning outcomes for students
based on the data they have available,” says Mariana Aguilar, the
research manager at GoGuardian, a software solution that helps schools
filter, manage and monitor devices and content.
In practice, data-driven education can be challenging — but it’s worth the effort, say educators who have done it.
In California, the Saugus Union School District is in the third year of
a professional learning community initiative focused on data-driven
instruction. The PLC, implemented at SUSD’s 15 sites, includes a new
curriculum and assessment structure. But what really moves the needle,
according to three SUSD principals, are the insights that emerge when
educators gather to discuss that data.
“The conversations are completely different,” says Mary Mann, principal
of SUSD’s Cedarcreek Elementary School. “They’re less about the latest
place to go on a field trip or what culminating project we’re going to
do and more about ‘My students learned this, and I know it because the
data shows it.’”
These insights, in turn, support data-driven education that can boost retention and graduation rates.
Why It’s Important to Base Educational Decisions on Student Data
Without analyzing student data, it’s all too easy to base decisions on opinion, assumption or anecdotal evidence, Aguilar says.
“The biggest miss for schools is not being able to make data-informed
decisions that can optimize how funds are spent, how students receive
resources and how teachers are being given resources,” she says. “What
happens a lot of times, then, is you go with the loudest voice in the
room.”
SUSD’s goal is to answer four questions: What do we want students to
learn? How do we know if they’re learning? What do we do if they’re not
learning? What do we do when they’ve mastered the material?
Data ensures that insights are accurate and actionable, says Jennifer
Bell-Ellwanger, the president of the Data Quality Campaign, a nonprofit
advocating for data policy and use. “It really helps teachers
personalize learning and pathways,” she says.
That, in turn, empowers teachers to be more agile in their instruction
and to increase students’ ownership of their work. For administrators,
data in schools can improve ROI on technology investments and highlight
best practices.
At BASIS Charter Schools, for example, an extensive set of assessment
tools helps to guide iterative adjustments to curricula, says Peter
Bezanson, CEO of BASIS Educational Ventures. In one case, data showed
that the students of a particular biology teacher consistently
outperformed their peers, so BASIS designated her the biology mentor
for all the schools.
“We said, ‘You’re going to push out your syllabus to everyone, and
you’re in charge of the degree to which they can alter the syllabus,’”
Bezanson says. “All of that comes directly from the data, not the
personality of the teacher.”
How K––12 School Districts Can Create a Data-Driven Culture
Frank conversations and transparency about results are necessary to
data-driven instruction, but they can be uncomfortable, educators say.
“A key part of being a data-driven culture is you have to be able to
stomach the idea that you’re not as good as you think you are or as
other people think you are,” Bezanson says.
At SUSD, that’s one reason the principals emphasize trust and a shared
vision among colleagues. “It’s not a ‘gotcha,’” Mann says. “We all need
to succeed together.”
She recommends that leaders celebrate successes, no matter how minor, and start small to build buy-in.
“When teachers see how students are learning, design interventions
based on the data and see the growth, that’s what hooks them,” says
Carin Fractor, principal of SUSD’s Bridgeport Elementary School.
“That’s when the excitement comes.”
At SUSD, assessments and analysis happen throughout the school year.
“We don’t spend a lot of time looking at end-of-year data,” Fractor
says. “That’s an autopsy. The data that is the closest and the most
recent is what we want to spend our time analyzing.”
Finally, data-driven education must be a priority, says Michelle
Velikorodnyy, principal of SUSD’s Charles Helmers Elementary School,
even if that means other projects take a back seat.
“It has to be very intentional,” she says. “Otherwise, it won’t happen.”
The Right Tools for Data-Driven Decision-Making in K–12 Education
Data literacy is also essential, yet it’s an area where many teachers
struggle, according to research from the Data Quality Campaign.
Its 2019 poll of teachers found that only 17 percent had learned to use
data during their preservice training, and 45 percent reported teaching
themselves about data on the job. Even so, the majority of teachers (86
percent) said data was important to their effectiveness.
Automated tools can shorten the learning curve and create more time for
analyzing student data. “It is nice to have a data management system so
you’re not bogged down in collating and disaggregating data by hand,”
Mann says.
One such tool, Lightspeed Systems’ Relay platform, gives schools a
dashboard view into the use of digital content — applications, software
and online resources — and supports filtering, management and
monitoring. It also helps districts identify the most effective
resources, particularly as they seek to address dropout and graduation
rates.
“The insight you get from software that’s telling you who is using what
can help you make better professional development decisions around that
curriculum,” says Lightspeed President and CEO Brian Thomas. “That
drives better adoption of those tools, so you can bridge that gap
between who is successful and who isn’t.”
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