A Focus on Results

Facilitated by: Debbie Schraeder, ESU#3

We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, school, and districts seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement.

-DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

2012 NDE Data ConferenceIt’s More Than Numbers

April 2-3Kearney, NE

Agenda•Welcome/PLC Connection

•Using Data

•Analyzing Data

•Questions about Data

Data decisions must reach the classroom.When teachers collaborate to examine student learning, they can set

meaningful goals and share ideas for improving instruction.

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Six Essential Characteristics of BeingA Professional Learning Community

1. A Focus on Learning 2. A Collaborative Culture 3. Collective Inquiry4. Learning by Doing5. Continuous Improvement6. Results Orientation

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The “Big Ideas” that Should Drive Your PLC Efforts

1. Focus on LearningWe accept learning as the fundamental purpose of

our school and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning.

2. Collaborative Culture We are committed to working together to achieve our

collective purpose. We cultivate collaborative culture through development of high performing teams.

3. Focus on ResultsWe assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams and schools seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement.

Critical questions that lead to learning for all…

What will students know and be able to do?Common outcomes

How do we know students learned it?Common formative assessments

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF ALL…

What happens if students do not learn it?Consistent and supportive responses

What happens if students already know it?Consistent and supportive responses

Over time…

We do more than enough assessment and we have a generous amount of data available to us.

The challenge is to make sense of the information we have and to determine whether it’s timely, accurate, and trustworthy.

Stories, are anecdotal evidence of our success…stories are a valuable source of data.

Assessments are also evidence of our success. They help us answer the question: How do we know students have learned?

Focus on Results ContinuumDiscuss with your team.

Handout page 3

Using Data to Increase Student Achievement

Using Data to Increase Student Achievement, Step-by-Step

By Nancy W. Sindelar. Classroom Leadership, March 2003.

• What Do Students Need to Know?

• How Will We Know if Students Have Learned It?

• What Will We Do if Students Haven’t Learned?

1. Use data to change the curriculum.2. Use data to refocus and improve instruction.3. Use data to address individual student weaknesses

and build upon individual strengths.

• Teacher Collaboration

Data Analysis Questions

•What do the data show? (facts)

•Why might this be? (hypotheses)

•How should we respond? (next steps)

Is it good because we’ve been doing it for a long time, or is it good because we have tangible evidence of its worth?

Achievement Data:State Assessment

Standardized tests ACT,MAT Etc.Alternative assessment data

Student gradesPortfolios

Demographic Data:Free/reduced lunch status

Parent education levelStudent ethnicity

Mobility rateDiscipline referrals, suspensions,

and expulsionsDaily rate of attendance

Profile Program Data:

Class sizeStaff years of teaching experience

Organization of the school day(time allotted to specific subjects)

Relationship of professionaldevelopment to the identified needs

Nature and frequency ofclassroom assessment

Four Lenses of Data

Perception Data:School climate data

Review of newspaper editorialsand letters

Student and/or parent surveysSchool safety data

Volunteerism in the school

DataDriven

Decisions

Common Assessment Results

•What do the data show? (facts)

•Why might this be? (hypotheses)

•How should we respond? (next steps)

Handout page 7

Sharing Data: Beginning of CommunityCollecting data is on the first step toward toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community.

-Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Every Teacher Should Have the Benefit of:

1. Regular and timely feedback on his or her students’ progress

2. …in achieving an agreed-upon essential standard

3. …as measured on a valid, team-developed common assessment

4. …in comparison to the other students in the school who are attempting to achieve that same standard.

To what extent is that happening in your school?

All Things PLC, All in One Place http://www.allthingsplc.info/

All Things Assessment, All in One Place http://www.allthingsassessment.info/

Where Do We Go From Here?Discuss with your team.

Handout page 8

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Please contact me at ESU #3 if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions…

THANK YOU!!

Debbie Schraeder402-597-4865dschraeder@esu3.org