Using Data to Impact Teaching and Learning

Instructional coaches’ time spent scheduling assessments to gather data, entering the data, interpreting the data, distributing the data, and reviewing the data with teachers can be met with teachers responding with less than an enthusiastic ear.

“ …some teachers actually refer to data as ‘ the other four letter word’—time being the first one. Teachers say that pouring over reams of data takes time from where they want to be — in the classroom with students. Skepticism abounds, and concerns about how the data are used are very real. Some educators worry that the data are part of a “gotcha”, being used to evaluate their performance in unrealistic ways. What’s more, they say the data they are being required to examine has little utility in their practice.” (From: Ethical and Appropriate Data Use Requires Data Literacy)

Dr. Heather Hill, a researcher and professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, suggests that we might want to reconsider the investment of instructional coaches’ and teachers’ time in these meetings. In a review of studies that examined the impact of whole-team data discussions, Hill found that two had positive impacts, one had a negative impact, and the rest had zero impact. “Across 10 different programs which tried to see this theory in action, there were zero [showing] impacts of getting teachers to really be productive, understand what kids don’t know, and change their instruction. That convinced me we’re doing something wrong.”

Here are some practices I have found that lead to increased teachers’  conversations around data and to future teacher actions being generated.

• Data produces questions, not answers. A data wall is really a questions a wall.

Several years ago, I heard Andy Hargraves comment that schools should not be data driven but instead data rich. Data driven could suggest that the data makes decisions. I don’t want my blood pressure deciding my medication. I do want my doctor to have lots of data and then the doctor to make the decision. Teaching decisions should be made by teachers, and the richer the information they have about learners, the better.

In Data-Driven vs Data-Informed, Georgia Pollock reports:

“In data-informed decision-making, data is still an important component, but it is used as a tool to guide decision-making, rather than being the sole basis for it. Data-informed decision-making takes a more flexible approach that incorporates both quantitative data and qualitative information. In this approach, data is used to inform and support decision-making alongside other factors, such as personal expertise, professional judgment, and context. Being data-informed is beneficial in complex situations where a range of factors must be considered to make informed decisions, which is why it is usually the better approach for schools.”

• When possible, have teachers predict what assessment data will show.

I find this strategy increases the quantity and quality of questions emerging from a data review. When differences exist between predictions and data results, questions emerge. Questions are the element that leads a PLC conversation that initiates critical thinking and the design of a plan for action to generate a desired student learning outcome. Action is crucial for teachers to find value in working with data.

• Limit the amount of data that teachers are working with.

In many elementary schools I find teachers spend too much time collecting and/or examining too much data. In these cases they rarely get to action. That lack of action leads to great frustration. Instructional leaders should work with teachers to select the most important data to support decisions about crucial areas of student learning. The school improvement plan should help identify where to begin.

• Teachers need to trust the data they are working with.

I have frequently been in the middle of PLC data meetings where teachers are expressing doubt in the accuracy/validity of the data in identifying students’ learning achievement. My first response is to encourage teachers to gather assessment documents from their classrooms that illustrate “why they doubt “ and share that with their PLC colleagues for study. In some cases I’ve encouraged PLCs to create their own assessment that they feel more accurately identifies student current mastery. Leaders need to build trust in the data to gain teachers investment in the process.

• Spend PLC time studying student work samples as well as data.

My experiences are that teachers move to action more readily from conversations around student work samples. With secondary teachers, examining students’ actual work or test documents generates more “ideas” than just discussing scores. Often the questions that arise from data, especially from systemwide assessments, can be explored further and deeper with student work samples. Data creates questions that are explored with student work samples generating hypotheses around teacher actions that change student learning processes and outcomes.

As school leaders we need to continually explore how to maximize the value of teacher time that is invested in examining data.