ITEC 7305
Using Data Wisely
Using data wisely involves ensuring its analysis and application to student learning problems. That process in itself includes an involved process of asking “why” so that our school is able to discern a pattern from the data we are seeing and carefully determine the causes. Data shouldn’t be used to punish or to place blame, though. If used correctly, data can be a powerful source of information for a school to make instructional plans. That is what I want for our school.
Valuable Lessons
In fact, the three most valuable things I learned in the course were about reading and applying data. First, I learned that a lot of information can be gleaned by charting the data that a school has and seeing what is not represented or analyzing what the chart does not say. So many times I’ve been in meetings where faculty members make assumptions about a direction to proceed in when we don’t know if the percentage change in a graph is actually representative of that many students in reality. Second, data can be presented in ways that stretch or disfigure a trend. And so, it’s important to recognize when a graph or chart is misleading in its representation of the intensity of facts because of the delivery of it visually. Lastly, I learned that combining several graphs together can tell a story. That story can reveal a void in a school, a place that needs attention. So, responsible representation of the data is important, and once that is assured, a data coach will do well to look for patterns in the graphed data which point to an overall trend in the school’s progress.
Support
The most valuable experience in the course was the Data Overview, since it combined the learning of collecting and responsible sourcing data, visually representing it, and then looking for patterns which told the story of our needs as a school. I thought that the data Overview was a really difficult assignment since mining the data was not a clear or straightforward process. However, that experience alone taught me where to go for support and the right people to ask for help in my school. It turns out that our Principal is very familiar with the data that describes our school, and he was interested to help provide me with the data I did not have access to on my own.
Data Tells a Story
From the results of the Data Overview, I can tell that our school needs to concentrate efforts on literacy in every subject, not just ELA. I can tell that our weak point is test-taking literacy for ELL students, especially the Hispanic population. So, it seems that literacy in every subject is a goal for us. And that is powerful knowledge. There might be room for some support from the English teachers, but honestly, small changes in what is prioritized in, say, a Science classroom, would absolutely help students to succeed. If teachers taught the language of their subject and embedded help in the language of test-taking verbiage, our students would be able to apply what they do know to the test. |
But this process isn’t without challenges. For instance, some teachers have a mindset that they are only responsible for teaching content, not how to read it. This is a mindset that is difficult to combat. But, maybe giving teachers a few modules that help to teach their vocabulary will inspire them to create content like it on our LMS. Then, there will be the challenge of time. No teacher feels like there is endless time when the testing cycles begin. Those schedules are not easy to combat,either. However, I feel that knowing what the student learning problem is is the first step toward gaining ground with literacy action. Above all, it will be difficult to argue with the results from an improved test taking literacy for ELLs.