Wow, I've been hearing for ages now, "data driven decisions" and how important they are to our field. What I rarely heard was how to get ahold of that data and how to use it. In lecture this week, it was brought up that a mountain of data without any analysis and application is still just a mountain of data. I feel that way all the time - like I can get my hands on good data but I simply don't know how to put it all together in a meaningful way in order to make better decisions both in leadership for the school/district and in my classroom. I feel like I can navigate pretty well around WINNS and will be able to pull the data together and I'm anxious for the group session we're having on Sunday to talk about how to put the data to use. I've never been on a data retreat and so am a bit anxious to begin the virtual one and to see how that relates.
With all of the talk of what I haven't done with data, I do need to mention that I do use informal data collection to drive decisions in my classroom all the time whether it be a quick survey on student expectations or a reflective evaluation geared towards the staff to gain feedback of the implementation of a particular program or event.
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Ann,
ReplyDeleteI too have enjoyed my exploration of the WINNS site, and I believe that the data found there is both objective and meaningful. Each year, teachers at my school sit through faculty meetings that evaluate WKCE and ACT scores, and we are usually told about the great successes of our students. In some areas that is true, but I would rather focus on the areas of weakness. I have noticed a trend in lackluster student writing since I became a teacher ten years ago. The data from my school indicates that students score poorly on language skills, and that is an area that I hope to address. Although reading is still strong, I think it is only a matter of time for those scores to drop, as reading doesn't seem to be an emphasis in the district. WINNS gives me the data that will fuel my curriculum for next year, and I will focus on language skills instruction with my department.