Harnessing the Power of Data: Effecting Improvement in Schools

1. Harnessing the Power of Data: Effecting Improvement in Schools Please answer our survey at www.zellerandassociates.com/IL-TCE. It’s “zeller and associates” as all one word with “dot com”… Forward slash… And “IL-TCE” must be in CAPS!

2. Harnessing the Power of Data: Effecting Improvement in Schools Dr. Leslie R. Wilson Gerry Zeller June 2009 2

3. Agenda • Beginnings • Illustrative Story • The Cycle • Bernhardt’s Four Lenses • Tools • CAI Tools • Solutions • Reflection and Evaluation 3

4. Protocols for this Academy

5. Survey Results • How much experience is in the room? • How involved are you with data? • What do you hope to learn today? 5

6. Know and be able to do • School Improvement = Problem Solving • Problem Solving = Process • Bernhardt’s Four Lenses • Demographics • Student Learning • School Processes • Perceptions 6

7. Story 7

8. Area of Concern 8

9. Targeted Concern There were approximately 15 students out of total student population of 1,000 that were dropping out of school when they reached their 16th birthday. 9

10. Generate Hypotheses: Answer the “Why?” 10

11. Hypotheses Generated • Young men leave school. • Low income students do not value education. • Students who get discipline referrals want out. • The lower the GPA, the more likely one is to walk. • Parents didn’t finish high school, children won’t. • Single parent families and similar find it difficult to shepherd students through school. • These students come to us with poor test scores. • These students earn too few credits. • These students are frequently tardy or leave early. 11

12. Determine, Collect, Disaggregate and Analyze Needed Data Gender No SES No Discipline Yes GPA No Parental Background No Family Makeup No Entry Test Scores No Credits Yes Attendance Yes 12

13. Develop Solution Criteria • Diploma/GED (Rigor) • On Campus Program (Relationships) • Quick Successes (Relevance) • Non-traditional School Day (Relevance) • In-depth Knowledge of/Caring for Students (Relationships) 13

14. Investigate Solutions • Brainstorm: What ideas do we have? • SBR: What does research suggest? • Best Practice: What are other schools doing? 14

15. Select Best Match to Criteria: Late School • Diploma/GED • On Campus Program • Quick Successes • Non-traditional School Day • In-depth Knowledge of/Caring for Students 15

16. Implement Solution • Human Resources • Material/Facility Resources • Policies/Procedures 16

17. Communicate Solution Constituencies • Formally • Informally 17

18. Monitor Progress 18

19. Monitor Progress • Method • Frequency • Responsibility 19

20. 20

22. What Does Your Improvement Model Look Like?

23. Mission Why do we exist? • Vision What promise have we made to our community?

24. How well are we keeping our promises? Student Learning Lens • Are all students meeting standards? • Are they in-step with their peers nationally? • Internationally?

25. Meeting Standards Interactive Illinois Report Card • Performance Over Time • By Grade Level • By Subject Area • By Cohort • Comparison To Others • Scatter Plots • Compare Tool 25

26. Meeting Standards Nationally • College Board • http://www.collegeboard.com/splash • ACT • http://www.act.org/ • Advanced Placement • Newsweek 26

27. Meeting Standards Internationally • PISA Program for International Student Assessment • TIMMS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study

28. How well does what we do help us keep our promises? School Processes Lens • Do they get enough instruction? • Do we put them in the right place?

29. State Report Card 29

30. Special Educ. Profile 30

33. Enrollment Mobility Drop out/Retention Ethnicity Gender Grade Discipline Referrals Suspensions/ Expulsions How well are we keeping our promises to ALL students?

34. How well does the WHOLE community perceive we are doing? • Staff • Students • Parents • Alumni • Community

35. Bernhardt Perception SurveysSocial – Emotional Measures • When I am at school, I feel: 35

36. On-line Survey Tools • Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/ • Zoomerang http://info.zoomerang.com/ • Profiler Pro http://www.profilerpro.com/ 36

37. 37

38. Do We Have the Whole Picture? 38

39. How well are we keeping our promises? Do some areas need attention?

40. Generate Hypotheses • Eighth graders cannot do Math. • Eighth grade teachers cannot teach Math. • We do not use the appropriate eighth grade textbook. • The test is too hard. • … • It’s the drinking water. 40

41. Correlations • Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner • Reading and Writing

42. Hypotheses of Practice What is it that we are doing that might contribute to our results?

43. HoPs are explanations • That come from school and classroom factors • About practices that can be altered

44. HoPs should not be about • Characteristics of students • Unalterable factors

45. Instead of These students are poor. Use Students of poverty are not gaining ample access to reading materials from our school. HoPs

46. Data Ground Rules • No blaming students • No blaming teachers • Data are just information • Use data for instructional purposes • De-emotionalize data

47. Analyze Data

48. The Five “Gets” • Get Data • Get Them Electronic • Get Them Disaggregated • Get Them Graphical • Get Talking (Bias and Consensus) 48

49. Get It Graphical: 1869

50. Get It Graphical: 2009 http://www.wordle.net/