Using Data to Improve Learning in Schools and Districts

1. Using Data to Improve Learning in Schools and Districts Oregon DATA Project Strands 1 and 2 Remix

2. A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. Francis Bacon

3. Essential Questions • How are administrators and teachers deciding what evidence to collect and use to make decisions? • What data are essential to ensuring continuous improvement? • Where can administrators find state assessment and report card data? • What tools can be used to help focus analysis, planning and evaluation?

4. Professional Learning Norms • Engagement • Pull your own Learning Wagon • Respect • Choice and Responsibility • Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. Abraham Lincoln

5. Why Use Data? Initially the use of data was generally to monitor compliance and identify needs

6. If data are to improve learning in districts and schools, it must first be transformed into ‘actionable information’

7. Data transformed into actionable information can be used to • Support decisions about • Programs • Staffing • Budgets/resources • Instruction, etc. • Communicate progress to • Students • Parents • School board • Community stakeholders

8. “The downfall of low-performing schools is not their lack of effort and motivation; rather, it is poor decisions regarding what to work on.” --Richard Elmore4

9. There’s so much data, so what data do we use?

10. “Funneling” Data3 Broadly Explore Successes & Challenges Use simple or complex data tools to collect and organize data. Winnow Data Infer Cause/Effect Relationships Use process tools to winnow data, set SMART goals, and hypothesize improvement strategies. SMART Goals Hypothesize Improvement Strategies

11. How are administrators and teachers deciding what evidence to collect and use to make decisions? How do you focus on the right work? How is this work integrated into your CIP and SIP?

12. Start with your current reality: how effective is your current process?

13. Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson

14. Rate your perception of the effectiveness of your district or school in using the CIP or SIP process to improve student achievement. Then rate your district or school on each of the steps in the process (S-1).

15. Implications? • Discuss with your team or table: • In what areas of improvement planning do you perceive your school or district is effective? Not so much? • What implications does this have on the potential of your CIP or SIP process?

16. Seeking Wisdom to Act Through Data By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. Henry David Thoreau Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. Elbert Hubbard

17. Collective Wisdom • Collect, analyze and reflecton your outcomes and your process (plans and actions). • Act in an intentional manner—avoid desperation! • Self-evaluation and change requires an element of risk, minimize the negative outcomes through an intentional process based on actionable information.

18. How do you engage in an Intentional CIP/SIP Process? Integrate data and process tools: • Data tools • provide the means for gathering, organizing and categorizing data • Process tools • help you turn data into actionable information • increase your ability to make difficult decisions

19. A simple plan for integrating DDDM in CIP and SIP

20. Decision Making for Results* • A “Treasure Hunt” of successes and challenges • Analysis of the data—”meaning making” • Set priorities—”winnow the data” • Establish SMART goals • Develop instructional and leadership strategies • Describe desired results—for students and adults • Create an action plan, implement, monitor and • review * Source: The Leadership and Learning Center

21. What data are essential to ensuring continuous improvement? Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. Abraham Lincoln

22. L2 Matrix* Achievement of Results Leading Lucky Losing Ground Learning Understanding Antecedents of Excellence * Source: The Leadership and Learning Center

23. The Leadership and Learning Matrix Effects / Results Data Antecedents / Cause Data

24. Foundational Principles for Data-Driven Decision Making* • Antecedents • Classroom practices • Collaboration • Accountability • Continuous improvement See S-2 of Support Documents * Source: The Leadership and Learning Center

25. Understanding antecedents, causes and instructional strategies- Is critical to determining what to measure and monitor for improvement!

26. Planning for change requires an understanding of factors that impact outcomes.

27. Effect Data = Results or Outcomes • What students produce or do to demonstrate learning • Results of formal measures • Achievement tests, standardized interim assessments , screening and diagnostic tools, etc. • Results of informal measures • Alternate assessments, observations, interviews, etc.

28. Cause data, antecedents & instructional strategies • what the adults are doing • Information based on the actions of adults in the system • materials used • curriculum chosen • frequency of lessons • duration of lessons • instructional strategies

29. Cause-Data Helps Us Know • What teaching practices work to improve student achievement? • What practices do not work as well as anticipated and need to be modified or discarded? • How can current teaching practices be augmented to be more effective?

30. Consider how you would answer the following questions: • What evidence do you collect to determine whether all students are learning? • What evidence do you collect to determine how adults are impacting student learning? • What evidence do you collect to determine how school or district structures are impacting student learning? • What evidence do you collect to determine how instructional practices are, or are not, impacting student learning? Use S-3 & S-4

31. Supplemental S-4

32. Decision Making for Results* • A “Treasure Hunt” of successes and challenges • Analysis of the data—”meaning making” • Set priorities—”winnow the data” • Establish SMART goals • Develop instructional and leadership strategies • Describe desired results—for students and adults • Create an action plan, implement, monitor and • review * Source: The Leadership and Learning Center

33. The treasure hunt is not about ‘Gotcha!’

34. You never know what you will find to help answer critical questions for improvement Are you a Henrietta?

35. The treasure hunt is about discovery Discovering the unknown by examining cause and effect data to uncover the relationships that will enable improvement in challenge areas, and replication in success areas.

36. Don’t forget—sometimes you have to pick through the trash, to get to the treasures!

37. Where can administrators find state assessment and report card data? Use S-5, S-6 and the Navigating ODE Public Reports .pptx to guide your search for data.

39. Use questions and data collection tools to guide your work S-7 through S-10 are suggested materials to use to guide and complete your data collection and analysis. *Source: Center for Performance Assessment

40. Decision Making for Results* • A “Treasure Hunt” of successes and challenges • Analysis of the data—”meaning making” • Set priorities—”winnow the data” • Establish SMART goals • Develop instructional and leadership strategies • Describe desired results—for students and adults • Create an action plan, implement, monitor and • review * Source: The Leadership and Learning Center

41. What does it mean to focus on the right work? What tools can be used to help focus analysis, planning and evaluation?

42. Proactive Data and Process Tools • Pareto thinking • Ishikawa diagram • Critical incident • Force field analysis • Assessment calendar • Listening or Environmental scan • Flow charts • Five whys • Nominal Group Technique

43. Pareto Thinking Poverty in the hands of many Wealth concentrated in the hands of a few

44. Unequal Distribution of Things 80% Trivial Many 20%

45. 80% of health care budget consumed by five variables

46. 80% of the solution can be found in only 20% of the variables

47. Continuous improvement effortsimply a feedback cycle based on continuous inquiry Which instructional strategies lead to the most rapid rate of growth for student? Inquiry With what aspects of the content area are the students the weakest? Inquiry Data Pareto thinking -Aspects of ____ -Skills Which groups of students are most in need of improvement? Inquiry Data Disaggregated sub-groups Which content/skill area do our students struggle with most? Inquiry Data State Test District/School Assessments

48. Reading-with what aspects of reading are these students struggling the most? The Significant Few Vocabulary, Decoding, Comprehension-what sub skills do our students need to focus on to improve their comprehension? By targeting the most problematic area and progressively breaking it into smaller elements, teachers can “leverage” their instruction where the most significant gains can occur. Drawing conclusions, finding main idea,words in context, facts and details Apply the Pareto concept to your data

49. How do you move from to the significant few?

50. Decision Making for Results • A “Treasure Hunt” of successes and challenges • Analysis of the data—”meaning making” • Set priorities—”winnow the data” • Establish SMART goals • Develop instructional and leadership strategies • Describe desired results—for students and adults • Create an action plan, implement, monitor and • review