Data-Based Decision Making Part I:
What You Need to Know
Read Part II
Barbara C. Storandt, Ms.Ed
Manager of Research and Evaluation
In today’s data-driven educational climate, administrators and teachers nationwide confront a deepening expectation to use complex and diverse sources of data to inform their educational programs. Using the common language of data, educators have the means to expand their conversations about student learning beyond the classroom to the community, the region, the state and the nation.
The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) is based on a foundation of four pillars: stronger accountability for results, more freedom for states and communities, proven education methods and more choices for parents. One of the common threads woven into each of the four pillars is an emphasis on using data wisely to make informed choices about education at federal, state and local levels. In order to use data effectively, educators must have access to data that are gathered accurately, are reported clearly and are useful at a local level.
Gathering Accurate Data
A hallmark of NCLB requires states to develop annual assessments for gathering
data on schools’ and students’ educational progress that
align closely with state standards for teaching and learning. Annual
statewide assessments provide an independent measure of whether students
are meeting state standards, as well as an early indicator showing when
a student needs extra help.
NCLB also requires districts and schools to gather each student’s and teacher’s demographic data to track annual trends in educational performance within and among various demographic groups.
Reporting Data Clearly
One important link between gathering and using data lies with effective
reporting. Under NCLB’s accountability provisions, states are required
to publicize report cards of district and school performance within and
among demographic groups. Some states, such as New York, have been
producing school report cards well in advance of NCLB’s requirements,
while others have only recently begun this process.
School report cards provide performance and demographic data at the individual-student, -grade, -school and -district levels to a variety of constituents including teachers, administrators, parents and the general public. They provide a rating of basic, proficient or advanced performance for students in a variety of separated subgroups such as race, ethnicity, gender and English language proficiency. The report cards also identify schools needing improvement, corrective action or restructuring under NCLB.
In addition to school report cards, some states provide interactive, customized reports of student performance for various audiences such as parents and classroom teachers. This more specialized type of report enables teachers to manage data in ways the more-static report cards do not allow.
Using Data Locally
While the federal government requires districts and schools to gather and
to report performance and demographic data, the local educators face
the obligation of using that data meaningfully to shape instructional
practice. Seemingly subtle ways that data are gathered and reported
can have a significant impact on whether and how administrators and teachers
use these data locally to direct resources, for example, toward those
who are falling behind.
Five years after the federal NCLB (2001) was signed into law, administrators and teachers have no shortage of available data. Rather, collating and making sense of the data available at all educational levels proves a much more delicate task.
“We have so much more data to work with now than we ever had before,” says the principal of a middle school in Western New York. “But I only have time to use some of it and my teachers will only use the action points I give them after I have digested the data first. Using data proactively has trickled down to some principals, but not yet to teachers. ”
Understanding the federal expectations for data collection, reporting
and usage represents an initial step toward achieving data-driven educational
progress.
Read Part II of this series...
This is the first article in a three-part series about data-based decision making. The next two articles will identify some of the common areas where using data proactively at the local level breaks down, and will describe ways for dismantling the barriers to proactive data usage.
To learn more about Hezel Associates’ data based decision making services, call 1-800-466-3512.