Data, Data Everywhere

Bringing All the Data Together for Continuous School Improvement

Victoria L. Bernhardt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317432050
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

The latest book from best-selling author Victoria L. Bernhardt is an easy-to-read primer that describes what it takes to achieve student learning growth at every grade level, in every subject area, and with every student group. In this new edition, readers will learn how to use data to inform their continuous school improvement as they develop an appreciation of the various types of data, uses for data, and how data are involved in the process. This accessible, updated edition provides a wealth of straightforward and accessible strategies that will allow educators to become comfortable with the many uses of data in increasing student improvement.

Data, Data Everywhere, 2nd edition, provides a framework and summary of the continuous school improvement framework. It is a perfect resource for teachers, administrators, support staff, and students of leadership to guide comprehensive school improvement that will make a difference for all students.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Data, Data Everywhere: Bringing All the Data Together for Continuous School Improvement, Second Edition, is dedicated to answering the question: “What does it take to improve schools so all students learn every year, in every grade level, and in every subject area?”

After multiple decades of research and working with schools to improve, we know that at least eight things need to be in place for schoolwide improvement to result:

1.  Teachers and administrators must truly believe that all children can learn, or learning cannot and will not happen.

2.  Teachers and administrators must honestly review and use their data—all their data, not just analyze a gap here or there.

3.  There must be one vision for the school – we have to get all staff on the same page so they can move forward together.

4.  Schools need one plan to implement the school vision. We cannot implement multiple unrelated plans. If we can create one vision, we can create one plan to implement that vision.

5.  Curriculum, instructional strategies, and assessments must be aligned to student learning standards. We need to agree on what we want students to know and be able to do, and align our curriculum, instruction, and assessments to build a continuum of learning that makes sense for students.

6.  Staff must collaborate and use student, classroom, grade-level, and school-level data. Teachers need to work together to determine what they need to do to ensure learning for every student.

7.  Staff need professional learning to work differently when the data tell them they are not getting the results they want or expect. Professional learning refers to ongoing, job-embedded, results-oriented learning.

8.  Schools need to rethink their current structures as opposed to adding on to what exists. (Structures include how curriculum and instruction are delivered. Add-ons are programs and interventions added to close a gap.)

What ties these eight non-negotiables together is a framework for Continuous School Improvement and leadership.

FROM A SINGULAR FOCUS ON COMPLIANCE TOWARD A COMMITMENT TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

When schools focus primarily on compliance, they tend to concentrate their school improvement efforts on what and how they are being measured. Consider, for example, elementary schools in the United States when the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability laws came into being in the early 2000s. Schools were measured on English Language Arts and Mathematics, only. Many schools believed that if they did well in Reading, everything else would follow. School days were reorganized to provide blocks of time for Language Arts. Many schools made incredible improvements in Language Arts because of that focus; however, Mathematics scores stayed pretty stagnant during that time. A few years later, many states changed their Mathematics tests to require students to show how they came up with their answers. To meet these new accountability requirements, schools scrambled to teach writing, math vocabulary, and math concepts. With the new focus, those scores improved. Sadly, the Language Arts scores tended to go down.

Fast forward to a decade later. Schools were accountable, for the first time, in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Guess what we found? Science and Social Studies had not been taught in some schools in the previous ten years.

When schools focus only on one part of student learning, the other parts will fall apart. Similar scenarios were created when schools focused on specific groups of students not making proficiency, or on the “Bubble Kids.” “Bubble Kids” are students who perform just below proficiency. The thought is that by focusing on bringing these students up to proficiency, the school is sure to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Unfortunately, when schools focus only on a small group of students, the other students do not benefit. (Adequate Yearly Progress, as defined by a state, describes the amount of yearly improvement each school and district is expected to make in order to enable low-achieving children to meet high performance levels expected of all children.)

Although efforts focused on one area or one student group caused increases to the detriment of other areas, many good things came from NCLB. Needs of student groups who never succeeded before were being met. Teachers learned they have to work together to get schoolwide gains—improvement in one grade level builds on the improvement of the previous grade levels. Schools learned that although they were being measured on one test, it takes more than just improving the results on that one test to get improvement throughout the school. Principals have learned to lead and facilitate improvement efforts and to support teachers’ efforts.

And now where are we? Schools are in great need of a framework for Continuous School Improvement to tell them where they are in the process to help them stay focused on systemic improvement. When schools use a framework for Continuous School Improvement along with comprehensive data analysis, they understand how they are getting their results—what is working, and what is not working. They know the structures that need to be in place for Continuous School Improvement.

Figure 1.1 shows the differences in actions on important measures between schools focused on compliance for accountability and schools that commit to using comprehensive data analysis for Continuous School Improvement.

Figure 1.1
DIFFERENCES IN ACTIONS BETWEEN SCHOOLS FOCUSED ON COMPLIANCE AND COMMITTED TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Most of all, schools committed to using comprehensive data analysis to continuously improve their learning organizations are able to blend creativity with discipline to create their future. Schools focused only on gaps and compliance can neither innovate nor create a future that looks different from the status quo. Such an approach inhibits systemic improvement and limits progress towards excellence and real equity.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE?

It will take one school year for a school staff to do all the work described in this book. If parts of the work are already done, a staff might still want to spread out the work throughout the year.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.  What would it take to get student learning increases for every student in your school?

2.  Where does your school stand with respect to Figure 1.1?

3.  Why might you read this book independently, or as a staff, to learn about how to improve teaching and learning through Continuous School Improvement and comprehensive Data Analysis?

APPLICATION OPPORTUNITIES

1.  Take an honest look at your school’s student achievement results. Are the results improving in every grade level, subject area, student group, and for every student? If the answer is “no,” please commit to engaging in these Continuous School Improvement efforts.

2.  Review Figure 1.1. On which side of the figure does your school fall most often? Discuss with staff.

3.  Does your staff want and need support in determining how to continuously improve all aspects of your learning organization? Join us in this journey. We will guide you through the process.

CHAPTER 2

THE CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK

Schools engaged in Continuous School Improvement clarify whom they have as students, understand where the learning organization is right now on all measures, consider processes as well as results, create visions that make a difference for whom they have as students, help everyone get on the same page with understanding how to achieve the vision, and know if what the learning organization is doing is making a difference.

Education for the Future

Schools need a Continuous School Improvement Framework to improve teaching for all teachers and learning for all students.

Figure 2.1 displays the Education for the Future framework for Continuous School Improvement. This framework helps schools create a learning organization that will make a difference for all students and all teachers. The framework consists of five simple, logical questions:

Where are we now?

How did we get to where we are?

Where do we want to be?

How are we going to get to where we want to be?

Is what we are doing making a difference?

Figure 2.1
Education for the Future
CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK

From: Data Analysis for Continuous School Improvement (3rd ed.), (p.14). By V.L. Bernhardt, 2013, New York, NY: Routledge.

These questions, or components of the framework, are presented in this chapter, along with why it is important to consider each question and the answers. The chapters that follow organize the information for easy application, show why each component is important, and how to engage staff members in the work.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Knowing where a school is now is the part of planning for Continuous School Improvement t...