Data that Matters - Gathering, Organizing and Making Meaning of Data in a Professional Learning Community

On November 2, I will be presenting a full-day workshop through the McGill University Distinguished Educator Series. During the day, we will focus on data. We all have plenty of it, but how do we gather it, how do we organize it, and how to we turn those numbers onto meaning? We will look at how we can use data, not just as individual educators, but in a community of learners.

If you would like to register, you can download the form here.

Data That Matters

Renewing administrative certification in Alabama is done through the "Professional Learning Unit," acquiring a set of five over a five-year period. Thought retired from public education (although anyone who has kept up with me knows that I am not retired--just went a new direction ) I am still keeping this certification alive.

Six months ago, I participated in an online course entitled "Leading Data-Based School Reform." The "final project" is to come back six months later and show how I am implementing concepts related to this topic. Because the course is designed for administrators, the expectations is that I show not what I implemented for my personal growth, but how the concepts impact others. Below is the "showcase" in which I demonstrate a tool I created, explain how others can use it, and provide it as a free download.

Attending National Middle School Association Convention?

If you are attending the National Middle School Association Convention in Baltimore, please join me for these two presentations, both happening on November 5:
Your Own Blog in 10 Minutes or Less (2:00)
Data That Matters: Using a Balanced Scorecard to Summarize and Organize Data (3:45)

Here is a brochure for the event.

Update from Yesterday's Workshops

Thanks again to everyone that came to one or more of my workshops at AETC. I have made the revisions I needed on the "Data That Matters" spreadsheet. It is ready for you to download and use. You can click here to go to the Free Reources page on my blog, 

I have removed the password from New Alabama Graduation Rate Calculator. Just below it on the Free Sources page, you will see the "New Alabama Graduation Rate Help Document." It will serve as a guide for how to use the calculator.

Collecting Data

Every year, schools across America have in their computer databases a wealth of data that can be reported in any number of ways. Every year, schools across America dump a portion of that data as those computer programs promote students from one grade level to the next, promote the exiting grade of the system entirely, remove the connection between a student and the teacher from the previous year, and change the school year calendar. The challenge comes in making good decisions about what data to extract before the data is rolled over for the next year.

Here are the suggestions I gave our school system's reading coaches and elementary principals on what reports to run from Accelerated Reader and STAR. What is listed may seem like a great deal, but in less than an hour you will have data that can be used for year-to-year comparisons and will be useful for years to come. As far as where to file them, my filing cabinet has a folder labeled Assessment Data—Accelerated Reader and one labeled Assessment Data—STAR. There is also a folder for each of the other assessments we give (ADAW, ARMT, etc.). Each begins with “Assessment Data” followed by the name of the assessment. Each year is stapled together. That way, one folder holds all of the Accelerated Reader data for a number of years. By labeling the folders the way I have suggested here, every piece of assessment data is right together in the filing cabinet where it is easy to access.

Accelerated Reader

Schoolwide Summary—Set date range from the first day of the school year to the last. Group by Grade. This report will give you your year in terms of how each class earned points, the % of questions answered correctly, the book level on which the class is reading, and what % are at-risk. You see the same information for the grade level as a whole. This is your best “at –a-glance” report.

Diagnostic Reading Practice—Use the same settings as above. This report will give you a record of every one of your children in terms of points earned for the year, % of correct answers, and average book level.

Marking Period Progress—Select all marking periods. This report shows you how each class progressed over the year in several key areas (basically the same areas as the Schoolwide Summary).

Quiz Usage—Set the date range for the first day of the school year to the last. Select the 10 most taken quizzes. Sort by Rank. You will see the results for each class. This report will give you an idea of the most popular books for each class.

Point Club Summary—Select the date range for the first day of the school year to the last. Select the point clubs you would like to view. This report will give you an idea of which children the top point earners throughout the school.

STAR

Snapshot Report—Sort by grade level. For every student, you will see their score for the most recent test. Pay particular attention to the Grade Equivalent score. You also see group averages for each grade level.

Growth Report—You will be able to see the results of each administration of STAR for each student.

In a future post, I will provide some suggestions for other data that a school may wish to keep year after year and then how to organize that data.

Analyzing data with spreadsheets

Over the years, spreadsheets have been one of the biggest times avers I have found. A few minutes spent thinking through what I want a spreadsheet to do and setting it up to do so saves hours of repetitive calculations.

If you are in the school business and want to learn how to use Excel to analyze your data, I have a recommendation for a great place to start. School Data Tutorials provides detailed instructions on setting up spreadsheets and writing formulas. The site uses Camtasia Studio to produce the tutorials, meaning you hear the instructor talking to you, view the instructor's screen, and see every move of the instructor's mouse. It's as if the instructor were sitting beside you. Best of all, the examples are germane to analyzing data in an educational setting.

P.S. Thanks to Jan Borelli for putting me onto this site. Jan is principal of Westwood Elementary (the Hippest School in America), located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. You can read some of her thoughts at Dr. Jan's Blog.