Presenting Data and Getting the Most Out of It

4 Corner Activity

“ State-determined achievement tests increasingly serve as the centerpiece of state accountability systems. But data from most states’ accountability tests, unfortunately, have almost no value for improving teaching and learning. More dangerously, such tests lull educators into believing that they have appropriate data when, in fact, they do not.” Popham, W. James.(2003)The Seductive Allure of Data. Educational Leadership, February 2003, Volume 60, Number 5

“Frequently, data are confused with information. However, data in themselves have no meaning. Rather it is engagement by Data Team members in collaborative inquiry that allows data to be ‘translated’ into meaningful information that then can be used to make decisions and improve instruction.” Love, N., Stiles, K.E., Mundry, S., DiRanna,K. (2008) The Data Coaches Guide to Improving Learning for All Students. Corwin Press

“Data are neither a substitute nor a surrogate for professional judgment. The purpose of data is to support, stimulate and inform the judgment that is necessary for educational improvement and accountability. Expertise has no algorithm. Wisdom does not manifest itself on a spreadsheet. Numbers must be the servant of professional knowledge, not its master. Educators can and should be guided and informed by data systems: but never driven by them” Hargreaves, A. & Braun, H. (2013). Data- Driven Improvement and Accountability. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [Nov. 11, 2013] from driven-improvement-accountability

“No matter how plentiful the metrics available for data driven improvement may be, they have little or no effect unless educators have not only the human capital and resources to analyze and act upon effectively, but also the social capital to collaborate in high-trust teams with collective commitments to continuous improvement.” Marsh, J.A., Pane, J.F. & Hamilton, L. S.(2006) Making sense of data-driven decision making in evidence from recent RAND research. Santa Monica, CA: RAND

Outcomes 1.Participants will explore the use of data to prioritize decision-making 2.Participants will gain experience in generating user-friendly school and/or district data 3.Participants will use data-analysis tools and apply their use to their current work

ORID Focused Conversation Data Analysis

Data Driven Dialogue* Phase I Predictions – Surfacing perspectives, beliefs, assumptions, predictions, possibilities, questions, and – expectations Phase II Observations – Analyzing the data for patterns, trends, surprises, and new questions that “jump” out Phase III Inferences – Generating hypotheses, inferring, explaining, and drawing conclusions. Defining new actions and interactions and the data needed to guide their implementation. – Building ownership for decisions * National School Reform Faculty

Data Driven Dialogue Continued* Remember: Just the facts! If you catch yourself using…, Because… Therefore… It seems… However… then stop! * National School Reform Faculty

Excel is our friend when you are trying to create charts and graphs.

What is the Data Telling You? The 5 Whys A tool that helps teams find the root cause of a problem or an issue. It leads the team to explore systemic explanations that go beyond: event-oriented excuses; the tendency to blame individuals; and a team’s inclination to first identify factors external to the system over which they perceive they have little influence.

Brainstorm As a result of your 5 Why questioning, brainstorm and identify the instructional, systemic and/or any other decisions that might be needed to improve the area you have identified as needing improvement.

Value Matrix Brainstorm Priority Setting Technique 1.Have group brainstorm on a topic a)List your brainstormed ideas in the left side “Item” column on the blank Value Matrix form 2.Use Value Matrix form to gather priority of group 3.Take data and plot in matrix 4.Have group determine what the data within the matrix means 5.Determine priorities

Value Matrix Activity 1.Each table should spend 10 minutes using the Excel chart data categories 2.Have each person complete the matrix ranking sheet 3.Each point (letter) is then entered onto your group’s matrix detail sheet 4.Determine the group’s priorities based on matrix

Importance

Action Planning Helps to decide when, if or how to make a change. This Action Plan is a data-driven decision.

Final Thoughts Impact on our work – Guiding Questions At your table discuss the following: – How might a SESIS or Non District Specialists use these processes within the Assess section of the QIP? – How might these processes be used in evaluating how an intervention has worked? – What issues might be raised by using any of these techniques?