Getting started with data: Part One of the “Next Steps in Instructional Coaching” series
Yes, I know. Data, data, data. With a purposeful approach to looking at data, even the most reluctant dataphobe will find some value and walk away with something useful to think about.
One important note: Students are not numbers.
Looking at data, while a necessary part of the job, is not more important than getting to know your students as people and learners.
That being said, looking at data might illuminate some patterns!
- To see what worked
- To see what didn’t work
- To think about next steps
scores, performance on individual standards, percentage of students successful on any given task or assessment, or records pulled from online programs such as iStation, Education Galaxy, or the other 8 million options out there.
 |
This bar graph reflects how students performed on the main standards assessed in this unit, in English and in Spanish (that’s why there are two colors)
Who will be responsible for actually collecting and representing the data? Will your teachers have to do it (can be more effective and realistic in some situations) or will you create it for them? Do you have any software (such as Eduphoria: Aware) that can automatize this for you, or will you need to do it by hand? But after an assessment, I used our software to collect and organize the data by grade level, teacher, and individual student. Much of this was automated and so the process was reasonable for me to complete in a short time frame.
This chart on the left, for example, included all the data required for data review. But it is incredibly overwhelming! It’s so much information that it’s hard to even notice anything. It has data for each teacher on a variety of skills and strategies, and in some cases (the pink numbers) in more than one language. That’s a lot to take in!
This chart represents less information, but it’s a little more readable. However, it’s a grade level overview, which may or may not be helpful, depending on your purpose.
This chart shows data by teacher, but rather than noting each standard, it’s an overview of the test and how many students passed. This is a different kind of data. To use something like this effectively, you probably need to ensure that each teacher has his/her own standards- or item-based data. If not, it’s impossible to tell what you’re looking at!
This is only the first post in a series of posts about looking at data. But it includes some important questions to think about!
For my next post, read about what to do with all that data you’ve collected!
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share with you some important information about these topics:
Tuesday, August 1: Working with Data: What to collect and why to collect it
Saturday, August 5: Facilitating a Data PLC: How to get people thinking
Tuesday, August 8: Growing Leadership in Teachers: teacher modeling
Saturday, August 12: Hosting a Teacher Conference
This will be my first year in a joint role as instructional coach and director of an 8th grade Project Based Learning academy. I've been a classroom English teacher for the last 9 years. My biggest question right now is how to ask my principal to be more specific about how my work will be understood and how I will be assessed without seeming needy or demanding.
That is a great question! Do you have a formal evaluation system in your district? I wonder if you could ask to see it now so you know what you'll be held accountable for. Another great way is to request a goal-setting conference with your principal. You can discuss goals for your work this year and throw in the "how will this work be assessed?" question naturally.
This is my first visit to your blog, I will definitely be back!
Thank you! I'm glad you found something useful!
Looking for some ideas on how to have teacher's sign up for coaching sessions. Love reading your posts!
Thank you! That's a great question – I'll put it on the list to write about in the future!
I'm the Instructional Lead Teacher and Testing Coordinator, this is my 2nd year in these positions. I always have to present data to my administrator and staff and I'm not computer savvy so I have the hardest time trying to figure out what kind of graph to use and how to show the data. Hopefully when I read all your informations it helps a lot. Thank you for sharing you have great ideas and tips
I am in charge of data collection this year…..great tips! Thanks
I love the thought of easing the anxiety of a "dataphobe"! In today's high-stake testing, data must be collected and reviewed so coaches need to come up with ways to make it as painless as possible and even to help teachers see it as a valuable tool to improving their craft and building capacity.