1. Data Enhanced Educational Decisions: A Framework
Janet Johnson
Kenneth Gattis
Cindy Corcoran
These resources and activities were created to help with pre-planning for all the different needs educators encounter for making data-driven decisions. These include writing School Improvement Plans, workplans for grant-funded programs, ASCA National Model plans, or simply using data to promote success.

2. Learning Outcomes Participants will
Have a framework for using Data Driven Decisions that supports
GEAR UP
School Improvement Plans
ASCA National Model
Have online resources for planning
We have created a framework for creating research-based data-driven plans to support students for success. This framework can serve as a basis for pre-planning GEAR UP workplans, School Improvement Plans, School Counselor plans, or any educational program. We know school counselors already have a framework data-driven decisions in the American School Counselor Association National Model. Our framework is for the planning that would precede using that or any model.

3. Work Plans for Grant-Funded Programs
Pre-Planning Tool
School Improvement Plans
ASCA National Model
Work Plans for Grant-Funded Programs
This diagram illustrates that our pre-planning tool is designed as a step before starting a data-driven plan that follows a specific model. The pre-planning tool organized the thinking that needs to precede starting any of those models.

4. Edstar Data Language Tower of Hope
Excellent
Pretty good
The objective is to move students to the higher color, and make sure the Blue get opportunities.
Ok, but need a little help
Edstar has created a language for talking about data. (In any data-driven plan, you need to talk about data.) The color code indicates the level of need for support or for opportunities. The relevant data may be different for each goal, but we can use this concept regardless of the goal.
Blue indicates the student is excellent already. This doesn’t mean they don’t need anything. They may need help getting access to opportunities. Green indicates the students are fine, but not over the top.
The yellow students are low-hanging fruit. They need a little help. They are not quite where they need to be.
Red students need a lot of help.
We call this color-coding scheme the Tower of Hope.
Need a lot of help

5. Picture: Desired Outcome
Post
Pre
Visualizing the data in colors, and the Tower of Hope, makes thinking about measurable objectives easier. The plans, services, and objectives need to be different for each color of the Tower. It does not make sense to write one data-driven plan with a measurable objective that is the same for the Blue students as for the Red students. We need a plan and objective for each.

6. Activity
In groups of 4-5, walk through the cards as instructed on the following slides.
We have created a hands-on activity to walk through the stages of pre-planning.

7. Start With Group Card Subject Color Grade Service
This card represents a group of students. We are going to make a plan for one subject, and one color of the Tower of Hope. We will stick to one grade level at a time because relevant data and appropriate services differ by grade, usually.

8. Select One Subject at a Time
Color
Grade
Service
Subject
Math
Choose one of the subjects for your plan. This kit includes math and English because it is a high school Career and College Ready planning kit, and those are the major subjects that are keeping our students from being career and college ready. We are choosing math for this example.

9. Select a Color-Band from the Tower-of-Hope
Subject
Color
Grade
Service
Color
Green
Choose one color from the Tower of Hope. The students in different color bands need different kinds of services.

10. Get a Cheat Sheet for Data
Select one column and identify the data and range for your grade and color band.
Edstar Analytics created “cheat sheets” that tell which data is relevant for specific goals. You select a goal or topic, and enter your address. A cheat sheet for that topic is immediately ed to you. Look in your spam if you don’t see it right away. The cheat sheet is color-coded.
Get a cheat sheet that will help you select data and a range for your color-band.
Note that the data you use to identify which students to serve may not be the same data you use to measure success. If you are serving 11th graders for Math, you may use their Pre-ACT scores to identify which students are in the color band of the Tower of Hope for your plan. Success cannot be measured with the Pre-ACT because they won’t take it again. We need to measure success with the ACT.

11. Grade 11th Select a Grade Level Subject Color Grade Service
Once you’ve got the grade level, you can now use your Data Cheat Sheet to select the data you will use to identify the students in the color-band. You may have more than one choice. You only need to choose one.
How you decide what to use should decide on which data you can easily get, and on which outcomes have the most meaning. For example, it may be easier to get EVAAS predictions than Pre-ACT scores. You have to be able to get the data to know who to serve.
As far as measuring success, you should use whichever metric matters the most. For College ready, ACT Math subscale matter far more than a report card grade, for example.

12. Enroll students in Honors math courses
Select Services
Subject
Color
Grade
Service
Service
Enroll students in Honors math courses
One strategy for raising the scores for the students who were Green on Pre-ACT may be to enroll them in more rigorous math courses.
They may also benefit from ACT prep or ACT retakes. Low-income students may need more help with these services than high income students because these are the sorts of services the parents of high-income Green students purchase for their children already.

13. Follow Along With App (On Phone or computer)
it to yourself. (Check spam.)
Go to the web app now and create the pre-plan. it to yourself.

14. Pre-Plan: Use as basis for Work Plans, School Improvement Plans, School Counselor Action Plans
When you submit, your pre-plan is ed to you immediately. If you are a school counselor, there are components that support the ASCA National Model.
This pre-plan provides all the critical components that you need before you start any data-driven plan. You need to decide which need level the plan is for, what data you will use to identify who to serve and how to recognize success.

15. Make another plan using web-app only.
(Don’t need cards every time.)
Try this again using the web-app only. Make a plan for a different group. This is just to reinforce the steps and components that are involved.

16. Use Real Data 11th grade Pre-ACT Math Make Tower-of-Hope
(ADD REAL DATA)
Now, take a look at some real data for your school. For example, look at the Pre-ACT math scores for your current 11th graders. Make a plan with the goal of moving those in yellow to green or blue.
Get the number of students in each color band, and graph them in the Tower of Hope web-app. This will help you visualize a realistic objective.

17. What is a reasonable objective?
Look at the scores of the students in the Yellow band. Look at the students. How many do you think you can reasonably move to the green or blue? Use the Tower of Hope to compute percentages for you.

18. Plan 3: Make Plan for 11th Grade Yellow in Math, using Pre-ACT to identify and outcomes in terms of ACT
Use the pre-planning web app to make a pre-plan for these students.

19. Strength Barrier Individualize
Select individual student cards. These represent students in the group for which you made a plan. Select a strength and a barrier for this individual. Discuss how you would make a plan to support this individual in addition to the group plan. Does he need something extra?

20. Educational Views Consistent With a Data-Driven Plan
EV 1. All students should be on the same learning paths.
EV 2. Academic data should be used to make academic decisions.
EV 3. All students need critical thinking skills and core knowledge by the time they graduate.
EV 4. The majority of careers that do not require 4-year degrees require 21st century skills and some post-secondary education.
EV 5. To make the benchmark math subscale on the ACT, students need a good understanding of arithmetic and basic algebra concepts.
EV 6. Being literate is more important today than ever before.
Some traditional ways of thinking conflict with educational views that are consistent with data-driven plans. Review these six educational viewpoints and discuss whether they conflict with any underlying assumptions currently in practice.
Each Educational View has one or more Strategy cards to support it. Select one Educational View that you think is important to be aware of, and then select one or more of the corresponding strategy cards.
Discuss how you will community these views to each group of stakeholders.
Review corresponding Strategy Cards. Reflect and Discuss

21. Educational Views Consistent With a Data-Driven Plan
EV 1. All students should be on the same learning paths.
EV 2. Academic data should be used to make academic decisions.
EV 3. All students need critical thinking skills and core knowledge by the time they graduate.
EV 4. The majority of careers that do not require 4-year degrees require 21st century skills and some post-secondary education.
EV 5. To make the benchmark math subscale on the ACT, students need a good understanding of arithmetic and basic algebra concepts.
EV 6. Being literate is more important today than ever before.
Some traditional ways of thinking conflict with educational views that are consistent with data-driven plans. Review these six educational viewpoints and discuss whether they conflict with any underlying assumptions currently in practice.
Each Educational View has one or more Strategy cards to support it. Select one Educational View that you think is important to be aware of, and then select one or more of the corresponding strategy cards.
Review corresponding Strategy Cards. Reflect and Discuss

22. EV Activity For Educational Views 3,4 and 5 complete the table.
How will you…
Communicate to Students
Communicate to Parents
Communicate to Staff
EV 3
EV 4
EV 5