Drive Decisions with Open Air Data

We are about six weeks into the school year. We had some initial data from last school year and summer that could inform the initial steps we took, but now it is time to get serious about planning for the students that we have in front of us and moving them toward proficiency.

I take this part of turnaround leadership very seriously. We do not have a single moment that can be wasted in classrooms in order to ensure that our students make the growth that is necessary for them to have the future that they deserve. To be able to immediately respond to the needs of our individual students requires knowing our students, understanding how they learn and where their gaps are, and believing in where they can be with our help. Teacher preparation programs do not train teachers to think this way - to plan in such a way that they can modify and adapt the standards to meet the needs of every individual child in the classroom - but it is necessary in order to move our students that we develop the skills to plan in this way.

Here is an example of our September data based on the STAR Reading Assessment.

What do you notice? As a school building leader, what would your first step be? As a teacher leader, how would you begin to look differently at the needs of your students? As a classroom teacher, what would you immediately begin to consider in order to plan for the students in your classrooms? 

I have a colleague who has her teachers create individualized plans for every student across their grade level team so that they can have a strong plan for moving each student toward proficiency. That is a powerful way to drive decisions based with the data. Whateer your approach to owning, sharing, and planning based on your data, it is essential to name the students at each proficiency level and have a clear plan for moving those students. There must be as strong of a plan for the students who are in green (at proficiency) as there is for the students who are in red. 

My plan is to meet with each grade level team and ask them to name the students performing at each level of proficiency, as well as information about each student in order to round out our understanding of what each child needs. Each grade level team will create a data wall that will track the interventions and progress for our students. This adds a level of accountability for the data. It also makes us constantly aware of where students are performing and our obligation to providing them what they need to move toward proficiency with grade level standards. 

Driving decisions with data is an essential component of school turnaround. The model above, which builds on a key quote from Peter Senge, supports the assertion that without the use of data to drive decisions, the underlying structures and mental models will not be significantly impacted. As Senge stated in The Fifth Discipline, "In a learning organization, leaders are designers, stewards, and teachers. They are responsible for building organizations where people continually expand their capabilities to understand complexity, clarify vision, and improve shared mental models - that is, they are responsible for learning." Turnaround leaders must own their data and be able to lead the next steps for changing the events, patterns, structures, and mental models underlying the practice in classrooms. Making significant change requires that we have a clear plan for moving our students toward proficiency. Every moment counts. 

What is the Impact on Kids?

No matter what we are doing - whether we are planning, analyzing data, collaborating with teams of teachers, or looking at student work - we should be asking ourselves "What is the impact of this work on our students?" In other words, how are we making a difference each and every day for every single child we serve? This is quite a shift in thinking. If I am continually reflecting on what is the impact on kids, then when my students don't "get" my lesson or my approach - I adjust. I change it. I think about how I can reach and teach that child and I make adjustments. That is a very different approach from writing plans that I will teach no matter what.

We administered writing benchmarks as part of our turnaround goal to increase 75% of our students' writing scores by at least one point on the NYS rubric. Our grade level teams have been able to look at student work to identify trends (across classroom or grade level teams) and gaps (individual or small groups of students who lack specific skills or conceptual understanding). This has allowed us to plan more effectively - even within our curriculum - to give students more of what they need. The impact for our students has been clear as we see students who are aware of what quality work looks like and what they need to do differently to get closer to their goals. Involving students in understanding their own data by looking at specific growth on individual indicators within the rubric has had a powerful impact on students owning their own progress and targeting their own improvement.

So, what is the impact of using data to identify gaps and trends in student learning? Why is it worth the amount of time and effort that it takes? If we think about the amount of time that we, as educators, spend planning, wouldn't it make more sense for that planning to be targeted to the needs of students in order to ensure that we are moving students to where they need to be? If I give myself permission as a teacher to say, my team mate needs to focus on this strategy because that's what his/her students need, but my students need something different, AND then I share this thinking with my colleague through collaborative discussions and unpacking the standards - we both benefit from understanding our students more deeply and have increased our toolbox of strategies to meet different learners. The impact on using data to drive instruction is far reaching. Our students grow in their learning and understanding and are better able to meet or exceed grade level expectations. Our planning becomes more effective at reaching and teaching all of our students. Our school communities become more collaborative and better able to determine the specific competencies and skills that students must master to be proficient in the standards. It is time well spent and is the work that we need in order to turnaround our schools.