Jennifer BorigoliSupporting Effective Data Teams

jenniferb@lciltd.org716-574-6682

Twitter: datadiva

Essential Question: Is there a best way

for schools to support the use of

data?

My personal essential question:

Can we reduce learning to a

number?

Do you honestly want to know what X exactly is? Is your life going to be improved by momentarily knowing what x is? No. Absolutely not. This whole problem is a conspiracy against hardworking American students. Let me tell you, solving for X right now is not going to stop the recession. It fact, it’s not going to do anything. And another thing. When have you ever had to know what is X is in your long esteemed professional career? Exactly. This is a futile attempt for “educators” in this district to boast of their student’s success rate. I am going to go the rest of my life not knowing what X is. Because what is X when you really think about it? A letter, the spot, two lines crossing each other. I don’t think anyone will ever really know what X truly is because the essence of X is beyond our brain potential. In conclusion, Harry S. Truman’s middle name was just the letter S, not an actual name. Now that is a letter that’s actually being utilized. See, you learned something, and it was not because of this logarithm. The End.

Guiding Question 1: What do good data do?

Data are...• “the compelling evidence that

grounds conclusions in actual results, not speculation” (Love, 2009)

• “Information output by a sensing device or organ that includes both useful and irrelevant information” (Webster)

• Regardless of definition, data – by themselves – have no meaning

In other words…

• Data are pieces of evidence that can provide you more information about your school’s curriculum, teaching and student learning

Data =

John Tukey (Statistician)

“Far better an approximate answer to the right question, than the exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.”

“There are no data that can be displayed in a pie chart, that cannot be displayed BETTER in some other type of chart.”

Albert Einstein

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not

everything that counts can be counted.”

Is this a friendly universe?

Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories,

instead of theories to suit facts.”

Who committed the crime?

Victoria Bernhardt

Based on whom we have as students, how they prefer to learn, and what programs they are in, are all students learning at the same

rate?

Many data teams...

Where did we fail?

It begins (and ends)

with questions

Mindfulness and Making Change

Creating new categories/Labeling and relabeling

Being open to new information

Being aware and seeking more than one perspective

Focus on process rather than preoccupation with outcome

Communities for Learning 2011

To what extent are the data we collect and use aligned

with what we value in teacher and student learning?

ARCS Page 3• Alignment• Representation• Culture• Sustainability

ARCS activates, supports, deepens and/or mends a school’s ability to become a self-sustaining, self-improving, empowered learning organization.

Representation

Whose perspectives and voices do we include when

we determine what students know and can do?

Sustainability

What data are we using to measure our ability to

become the school we want to have?

culture involves…

What people value

What theydo What they

produce

Culture and the Dispositions of Practice

The Dispositions of Practice are abiding tendencies

whose development will support and deepen a

school culture that embraces an intelligent use

of data

Dispositions• Focus individuals and the school

on things that matter• Assess our growth as individuals

and as a school• Improve how we communicate,

what we do and what we produce

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

CollegialityInvolves having members:• learn with and from

others• act on the belief that

learning and working with others increases their expertise

• produce work that results from engaging in collaborative learning and problem solving

Related data question

What could you do to ensure that your conversations

about data enable you to truly learn with and from

each other?

Data literate

Data shy

“Less than 20% of teacher preparation programs contain higher level or advanced courses in assessment design or instructional data analysis.”

Inside Higher Education, April 2009

Supporting Collegiality• Protocols– Round-Robin– First Word, Last Word– Say Something

• Ground Rules– “Everyone has an equal voice, regardless of

title or background knowledge”

• Language– What inferences might we draw?– What are some conclusions we might

explore?

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

Commitment to Expertise

Involves having members:• refining and expanding

their knowledge and skills

• disseminating their knowledge and expertise within and outside the school

• engaging in learning and work that addresses school or other organizational needs

Related data question

What protocols are in place to ensure that all

educators in our community become

proficient data users?

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

Commitment to ReflectionLooks like members:• thinking about their

thinking and learning to set goals, assess and understand themselves, their work and their school

• sharing their thinking to develop and evaluate it

Related data question

When and how do teachers reflect upon

the data they collect?

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

Commitment to Understanding

Involves members:• pursuing questions

and developing their understanding of ideas, concepts, etc.

• using research and evidence

• accessing multiple perspectives

Related data question

What guiding questions frame our data collection,

analysis, and plan implementation?

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

Courage and Initiative

Involves:• discussing

uncomfortable topics or issues, including own values and questions

• accepting the discomfort that stems from the need to change

• seeking or accepting new or unfamiliar roles, responsibilities or challenges

Related data question

Do we collect the data that are useful or do we collect data that are easy to collect?

LCI, Ltd. (2009)

Intellectual Perseverance

Involves members:• considering ideas or

questions for a period of time to improve their work

• revising and revisiting work and thinking to improve it and to reach high standards

• withholding the need to finish work before it’s the best that it can be

Related data question

What role do multiple measures play in

confirming or challenging findings from one data

source?

Am I healthy?

Text to 22333

Collegiality

Expertise

Reflection

Understanding

Courage and

Initiative

Intellectual Perseverance

1 - 5 106627 106681 106687 106693 106694 106695

6 to 10

107364 107365 107386 107412 17413 107449

more than 10

107364 107365 107386 107412 107413 107449

Quantitative Analysis

Protocols

#1: High, Medium, Low Analysis#2: The Tuning Protocol#3: Standards in Practice™#4: Wows and Wonders

Here’s What!Specific facts

or information

(data)

So What?Interpretation

of the data

Now What?Implications/

New questions,

data sources

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