It is hard to limit a discussion of what I learned this semester in Data Analysis & School Improvement to only three items. The course not only offered an overview of the importance of a school’s data review, but also provided practical information about data sources. My most important takeaway, however, was the understanding that data are not just test scores, and that the purpose of data is to inspire questions. My second takeaway from this course was the power of using data analysis to drive school improvement. My school has a data team, and we review a variety of test scores, but we could target instruction with laser-like intensity if we went deeper with our questions. Using item level test analysis combined with student work samples would give a clearer picture about our students’ understanding. Finally, and this might be the most practical takeaway, was the realization that being able to dissect and disaggregate data and present it in an understandable format to multiple audiences is critical to school leadership. There were many instances this semester when what I learned from my educational research class combined with data analysis directly contributed to school technology planning and vision development.
Although the data overview field experience was extremely valuable as being immediately useful as I developed a grant application, the most valuable field experiences of this course were my review of data inventory and educational initiatives. Those two experiences are complimentary and eye-opening. I plan to share those two documents with my administrators and data team this year to see whether we are duplicating efforts, or if all those pieces contribute differently to our school improvement strategies. I plan to continue to use data discussion techniques this year as a member of our Instructional Leadership Team, to help bring focus to using data to focus our attention on specific areas for instructional improvement.
The biggest challenge I will face this year in participating in data analysis will be time. My role in school pulls me in different directions, but at the same time I believe my participation is valued because I have a “big picture” perspective of our school’s environment, since I am not tied to a specific grade level or classroom. My goal is to help guide discussion in such a way that my colleagues come to discover the importance of data discussion as a professional learning strategy that lays the foundation of educational excellence.