Group items tagged

1. If you're not using data to make decisions, you're flying blind.

2. This is all about a process, not a specific technology.

4. You will be spending more money, not less.

The scenarios that illustrate each chapter come from two case studies, one based on a K-8th grade scenario and the other a 9th-12th grade setting. Data Wise grounds its discussion in examples from those contexts, keeping the material accessible and focused on realistic problems and solutions. Data Wise's process depends on collaboration and full faculty participation. With a sympathetic understanding of the inevitable limits on staff time, the authors discuss the best ways to structure collaborative faculty time and include three protocols to involve faculty and staff in gaining insight from data.

As school districts embark on the change process, they face many barriers to the adoption of data-driven decision making. School district leaders have not embraced continuous improvement. Priorities are not clear and goals are not tied to measurable objectives. Data is not collected uniformly between organizations and over time. Outdated technology cannot be used effectively. Educators lack training to define data requirements and apply data. Stakeholders do not trust the data collected or how it will be used.

Reports need to be timely, tied to objectives, and available to people with the responsibility and ability to act on them. Data reports that show data in different ways such as tables, charts, graphs, and trends enable more people to access and understand the information. Some of the decisions that might be made with data reports include: Tracking student achievement for diagnosis and placement Changing beliefs and attitudes that all students can learn Guiding teacher professional development Linking interventions to results Using data to create school improvement plans and assess progress Allocating district resources

The IT infrastructure underpinning most data-driven decision making systems requires a significant investment in hardware, software, implementation, and maintenance.