Written by Phil Eastman (Pivot Coach)
How effective is your school in making use of data to help inform actions that lead to improved student outcomes and school improvement?
Based on my time in schools and through the educators I now work with at Pivot, I see a large variation in people’s ability to gain the most impact from their use of data.
The most common of these issues include the following.
Whilst educators and schools are very committed (and mandated) to gathering, analysing and making use of data, their understanding of the data and their general data literacy is often quite low
They have good skills in measuring and collecting data, but they are often not as competent or confident in analysing and communicating accurate insights, and then translating these insights into actions that achieve change
There is often a heavy reliance on quantitative, student learning ‘lag’ data (see below for explanation on ‘lag’ vs ‘lead’ measures / data) to the exclusion of other types of data that is available to them
When identifying data informed actions, these are often not clearly aligned with the school Vision, Strategic plan, Priorities and Goals
The process for implementing change and following this through for a required period of time is often inconsistent and / or incomplete
What can you do to improve the impact and use of data in your school improvement efforts?
Here then, are a number of thoughts based on research and from practices in various schools we work with and have spoken to.
Align your areas of focus (i.e. what you are working on – your goals, projects and actions) with your school priorities and goals. Then be clear on what data you will use, analyse, communicate, and act on. Whilst this sounds simple enough it often is not as schools regularly take on too many projects and ideas at the same time or seek to implement changes at the wrong times of the year.
Ensure that you ‘triangulate’ your data – this means making comparisons from 3 or more data sets and sources to more accurately identify trends and insights that can inform your ‘theory for improvement’ / action plan.
Use several types of data in order to gain a more complete picture of the trends and insights in the data, leading to ‘wiser’ actions. Try not to rely too heavily on any one type of data.
Dr Selena Fisk (2023) identifies four types of available data for schools. These are.
Student learning data (e.g. Student assessment data, NAPLAN, ATAR, Essential Assessments etc.),
Demographic data (e.g. Census data, Student attendance & behavioural incidents, NCCD etc.)
Perception data (e.g. surveys – including Pivot Student Survey on Teaching & Wellbeing surveys, ATOS, NSOS etc.)
School process data (e.g. Meeting schedules i.e. types & frequency of meetings, curriculum documentation, lesson schedules, records of contacts with parents etc.)
Many of these are examples of Quantitative data. This is numbers based data, is relatively easy to gather, compare and analyse. It tells us the ‘what’ of a situation e.g. test scores.
Look to also include Qualitative data. Whilst this is more subjective and can be harder to analyse and compare, it can help explain the ‘why’ of an insight. e.g. teacher observations of a student in class over time will give an insight into their assessment score )
Involve the relevant stakeholders with their data and data analysis – “Do ‘with’, rather than do ‘to’” . For example, conduct discussions with your students regarding their Pivot SST data to identify specific areas for improvement and others to be maintained. Involve students in this process of improvement rather than have them just be the passive recipients of the teacher’s data analysis and actions.
Be aware of and address the ‘culture’ of the school in relation to using data. Encourage positive ‘norms’ around this E.g. “We use data for growth rather than judgement or blame.” “We stay inquisitive about what the data can be showing us.” “We measure what we value, and we value what we measure”
Choose your focussed actions wisely. Have your actions be informed by your data, aligned with research, be as low effort and high impact as possible. And ensure that you measure the impact of your actions
Look for’ Lead’ measures that will contribute to improving the ‘Lag’ measures e.g. In order to improve student test scores (which is a ‘lag’ measure, one occurs at the end of a unit or cycle), what are the specific actions we will implement and can observe and measure along the way to achieve this (‘lead’ measures)? Schools also often set the targets and actions but do not necessarily track or measure the actions and practices along the way.
Implement and follow an effective change and improvement process or cycle that utilises data. Depending on your school context or system you may have a prescribed one, but two that I recommend that complement each other are below. Both follow the basic process of utilising data to gain insights into potential areas of focus, then creating actions that are implemented and evaluated. I recommend a look at both.
Sources:
10 Step data informed change process - Selena Fisk EdD
(from, “Leading data informed change in schools" 2023)
The school improvement cycle – Bendikson & Meyer
(from, “It’s not rocket science: A guide to the school Improvement Cycle” 2022)
Plenty of thoughts and ways to help your school become better at utilising data to both inform and measure your school improvement path – all the best on your journey!
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