1. Digging Into Student Data
Oct. 24, 2006

2. Plan for Today 4:10-4:25 Introduction to Digging Deeper
4:25-4:55 Looking at Student Work
4:55-5:45 Single Problem Assessment Protocol
5:45-5:55 Break
5:55-6:15 A Sample Data Overview
6:15-7:00 School Team Work
Note: Harvard Standard Time
4:10-4:30 Course Goals and Expectations
4:10-4:20 Course Overview ppt
4:20-4:30 Norm Setting protocol
4:30-5:30 Cross-school work
4:30-5:00 Compass Points protocol
5:00-5:30 MCAS discussion, continuum protocol
5:30-6:00 Break, Registration, Survey
6:00-7:00 School team work/Consultations with instructors
6:00-6:15 Get to know team members
6:15-7:00 Construct the improvement cycle

3. The Data Wise Improvement Process

4. What are we digging for? Goal To identify a learner-centered problem
that we want to
work together
to solve

5. Steps of the Process Share a Data Overview with faculty
Begin to think about how to frame a learner-centered problem
Start a conversation about what else we need to know to define the problem more precisely
Collect the data and state the problem

6. Two Approaches to “Digging”
Look closely at a single data source
Explore multiple data sources

7. 1. Look carefully at a single data source
Choose a source that will help you really understand student thinking
Allow for challenging of assumptions

8. Why start with a single data source?
Help move past “stuck points”
Slow down, avoid leaping to solutions
Make the data analysis more engaging
Move beyond generalizations

10. Student Work on Question 26

11. 2. Dig into multiple data sources
“Triangulate” on the problem
Get a more complete picture of student performance

12. Why dig into multiple sources?
Develop a shared understanding of the knowledge and skills students need
Develop a common language
Avoid making inappropriate inferences from test results

14. Questions for Reflection
Do you have a solid understanding of why students are performing as they are?
Can you state the learner-centered problem in a way that focuses on the knowledge and skills you want students to have?
Is your understanding of the problem supported by multiple sources of data?
If you solve this problem, will it help you meet your larger goals for students?

15. Looking at Student Work Steve Seidel
Data Wise: Step-by-Step Guide for Using
Assessment Results to Improve Teaching & Learning
Harvard Graduate School of Education October 24, 2006

16. Thinking of student work as “raw” data…
What to do with that data?
How to make sense of it?
How to use those insights to improve instruction?

17. Questions for a Pair/Share:
How have you encountered “looking at student work?”
What worked and what didn’t work about your experiences in structured conversations about student work?
What questions did those experiences leave you with?

18. Five things you need to use that data well:
Collaboration
Clarity of purpose
A structure or method for analyzing it
A way to integrate that analysis into a larger view of what is going on in your classroom, school, or district
Follow-up and follow-through

19. A Brief History of Looking at Student Work
Before 1985…
The Prospect Center and Descriptive Review Processes
Literacy “Digs”
Teacher’s Seminars on Children’s Thinking
1985 to 1990…
Portfolios, Process-folios…but where’s the assessment?
1990 to now…
The Massachusetts School Reform Act of 1993
Coaches, Coaching, and Looking at Student Work: Required, then rejected

20. Some lessons learned over the years from looking at student work:
You can gain insights in many realms – about learners, the learning environment, the nature of work on a particular task.
You can’t do it alone. (Or, at least, you are much better off doing it with other people.)
You need a structure that serves your purpose.
Look first (and last) at work of students who you feel are not having satisfactory learning experiences in your classroom or school.

21. How to find the one in the many and the many in the one?

22. 9th Grade Student’s Self Assessment

23. The Steps of the Protocol (approximately 35 minutes)
The Single Problem Assessment Protocol Developed for Data Wise □ Steve Seidel
The Steps of the Protocol (approximately 35 minutes)
Read the problem and work out your own answer to it. Keep some notes on your thinking process. (5 minutes)
Share observations about the problem and your own problem-solving process. Specifically, what was striking to you about the problem and your efforts to solve it? (5-7 minutes)
Look at the student work (read silently). (3 minutes)
Describe what this student did and how she/he thought about the problem. (5 minutes)
Identify and share questions that have come up for you about this student’s grasp of the mathematical content of this question, based on your examination of this work so far. (5 minutes)
Share ideas about the implications for teaching and learning that you draw from your examination of this work. (10 minutes)

24. Looking at student work in the context of the Data Wise process

25. Franklin High School Data Overview: Mathematics
Instructional Leadership Team October 2006 Meeting

26. Purpose of today’s meeting
To start a conversation about math performance at Franklin by looking at how our 10th graders performed on the state test last spring

27. Agenda 3:00-3:25 Overview of presentation/discussion
3:25-3:45 Breakout to brainstorm questions
3:45-4:00 Reconvene to discuss next steps

28. How has performance changed over time?

29. How did 10th graders perform in 2006?

30. Compared to state?

31. Which students are failing?
By program…

32. Which students are failing?
By race/ethnicity…

33. How does performance differ by strand?

34. Compared to state?

35. What questions does this overview raise? Brainstorm in groups:
Roger
Mallory
Sasha
Adelina
Eddie
Will
Karyn
Dottie
LaShawn
Miguel
David K.
Ervin
David S.
Sondra
Jamal

36. What should we do next and who should do it?

37. For Nov 3: Data Overview Comprehensive picture of your school’s data
Intended to be shared with your faculty
Opportunity to address adaptive challenges
Opportunity to develop technical skills

38. Data Overview: Steps 7-11 Decide which charts to share
Identify additional data
Produce charts of this data
Plan how to structure discussion
Create PowerPoint presentation