by Debbie Pitts, Coordinator, Quality Improvement and Accountability
Much of life is based on
numbers—the score on a test for a license to drive, an ACT number high enough
for entrance into a college or university, and a balance in a bank
account. Schools prepare students to
reach their full potential and strive to meet community needs against a
backdrop of human circumstances and demographic realities. In the field of
education, numbers provide tremendous value when trying to individualize
student instruction, identify trends, and evaluate teaching methods. But what
can numbers tell us about students, teaching methods, and our school district?
Medical treatment would not
be considered adequate if it relied only on feelings or hunches without numbers
(blood pressure, lab test results, etc.). In his preface to Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing
Impact on Learning, John Hattie highlights the treatment regime for a
child, Elliot, who survived leukemia:
He
has been part of a community of doctors, nurses, teachers, friends, and
family—so many were involved. The impact of the dosage and treatment was
constantly monitored to ensure that it was leading to the criteria of success.
Decisions were made in light of the monitoring; teams worked to understand the
consequences of treatments; an evidence was the key to adaptive professional
decision making—all aiming to maximize the impact not only on the medical, but
also the social and family, aspects.
Certainly, when educational
treatment is prescribed, progress must be monitored and treatment adjusted as
needed. Teams must work together to achieve results, and data must be used
consistently and wisely, in a positive way, to support best outcomes for
student learning.
Use Multiple Measures
Always use multiple
measures to analyze student learning and school performance. One data point is
not conclusive evidence on which to create plans or achieve continuous improvement.
Dr. Victoria L. Bernhardt, Executive
Director of the Education for the Future Initiative, and Professor in the
College of Communication and Education at California State University, Chico, stresses
the importance of using multiple measures of data in her research. She
advocates incorporating information from the categories of demographics,
perceptions, and school processes, in addition to student learning data, to
provide a complete picture and move forward with continuous improvement. (See: http://eff.csuchico.edu/downloads/TestScores.pdf).
Following are a few
considerations to keep in mind to ensure use of data is effective.
Beware of Averages
Keep in mind when looking at averages it
is important to look at the components that make up the average. For example, a
building or district may be moving ahead, but are students at all levels doing
well? It is also important to understand that percentages are built on
individual pieces of information (e.g., scores, survey feedback, etc.). That
being the case, percentages cannot be averaged together to determine an
accurate overall percentage unless there are the exact same number of
scores/incidents making up the percentages being averaged. For example, let’s
say we want to know an average score for students in two buildings—Building A
with an enrollment of 250 students and Building B with 500 students. If we
averaged the two building averages, the answer would be giving equal weight to
both buildings. What we really want is an average for the 750 students who
attend the two buildings.
Percent Change
Change shows an increase or decrease
over time, whereas percent change adds perspective to the amount of
change. For example, the Springfield School District grew in enrollment from
23,960 in 2009‐2010
to 24,928 in 2013‐2014. The population change represented an
increase of
968 students in five years; the
percent enrollment change was a 4.0 percent increase. To calculate percent
change, take the amount of change (968) divided by the starting point number (23,960).
As another example, if what is being measured dropped from 200 to 175, the
formula for percent change would be: ‐25/200 = 12.5 percent
decrease.
However, percent change can
be misleading unless the total number representing the change is known. Remember
the old adage that you can make numbers say anything? For example, if only one
student performs above grade level at the beginning of the year in a class of
25 students, but two perform above grade level at the end of the year, it is a
true statement to say: “This class had an increase of 100 percent reading on
grade level this year.” The statement is true, but misleading.
Data Not Always Numbers on Paper
Finally, never forget
gathering data to take action is a broader endeavor than just compiling formal
assessment results, attendance figures, and other numbers. Teachers collect
information to inform instruction by using quick checks, discussion, and a
variety of student activities to measure depth of student understanding and to
guide instruction.
“When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading
numbers any more than you read words when reading books. You will be reading
meanings.”
‐ W. E.
B. Du Bois
