1. Dr. Jack P. Silva & Tracy E. Smith
Lehigh University College of Education EdL Data-Based Decision Making to Improve School Performance Summer 2017
Jack Intro
Dr. Jack P. Silva & Tracy E. Smith

2. About Us… How Did We Get Here?
Dr. Jack P. Silva
Assistant Superintendent & Chief Academic Officer
Bethlehem Area School District
Tracy E. Smith
Assistant to the Superintendent for Operations
Parkland School District
Jack and Tracy Bio

3. Educational Leadership Today
A Blending of Roles
T-Shaped Managers (Harvard Business Review)
CAOs and CTOs Ramp Up on Collaboration
Tracy (bring handouts); Talk about collaborative projects (e.g. FDK, Personalized Learning, Literacy); Jack will reference collective impact and strategic collaboration among school districts

4. E-mail: jsilva@basdschools.org Phone: 484-892-2593
Our Contact Information:
Phone:
Twitter: @basdjacksilva
Phone:
Twitter: @tsmithpsd

5. Let’s Get To Know Each Other…
Introduce Yourself: Two Truths and a Lie
Check-in:
How does this course fit into your professional or educational plans?
What experience do you have in using performance data in your field?
Jack leads discussion

6. Course Technology: Course web site, www.edl420.org
Gathering Course Contact Information (Google Form)
Discussion Board #1 – Tells Us About Yourself (one paragraph)
Contact List (Lehigh Accounts)
Please check regularly for announcements and important course updates

7. Let’s Go Over the Syllabus
PA Inspired Leadership Framework
Course Goals: I want you to be able to: see yourself as a program leader, feel comfortable with the theory and practice of data-driven school leadership, and develop products that can be readily-used in your districts/schools
Course Assignments and Grading
Break
Jack leads this conversation; introduction of McDonald’s French fries

8. An Illustration… How much should we trust the data?
McDonald’s French fry story; medical handout; how is the use of data in a K-12 environment similar and/or different from the use of data in the K-12 education environment (i.e. can K-12 education be treated as a business? Can it be commoditized?)

9. Three Important Data Contexts That You Must Consider:
1. Agreement on the program outcomes is often difficult to achieve.
2. The challenge of isolating the variable that influences the outcome--very difficult in education
3. The difference between “data-driven” vs “data-based” or “data-informed.” Data-informed leaders need to “suspend certainty” when using data.
Review article 4 Steps for Thinking Critically About Data Measurements

10. An exercise using the medical model:
Given the data, which of these two patients will live longer?
Why? Be prepared to defend your answer.

11. You have to do some networking …
Contact your principal and/or superintendent to get permission to access school/district-level data:
PSSA/PVAAS/Benchmark Assessments
Standardized testing
As much data as you can get on student achievement, attendance, conduct, etc.
Any district/school improvement surveys

12. Looking Ahead Read all the articles from today
Review web site,
Complete discussion board question #1
Think about possible topic for Op-Ed piece