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Finding The Stories
Behind The Data
Ministry of Education
Webcast
December 6, 2006
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Part 1
How to work with
school data
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Introductions and Overview
Co-Presenters
Kim Howland
Parent/SPC Member, SD68
Charlie Coleman
Principal/SPC Member, SD79
“Data for Beginners”
•Who?
•Why?
•How?
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Goals for this webcast
1. Understanding data sources
•Information
•Evidence
•Data
2. Connecting data with:
•Student learning
•School planning
•Stories behind the data
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Starting the Conversation
Think about something you enjoy doing. It
can be a hobby, sport, skill or talent.
•How good are you at it?
•Were you always that good?
•Are you improving? How do you know?
•How good do you want to be? By when?
•How will you know that you are getting
better?
Click PAUSE to discuss.
Click PLAY to resume.
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The Planning Cycle
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The Planning Cycle
Working Together:
• Learning Communities are collaborative
• School improvement is a team effort
• The process should involve everyone, not
just a select few
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The Planning Cycle
Review:
• Review current school plan
• Monitor progress of goals
• Ask if the current strategies are
making a difference
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The Planning Cycle
Collect Information:
•Gather information, evidence, data
•Consider various sources
•Determine what is relevant
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The Planning Cycle
Analyze:
•Engage in conversations about the data
•Ask questions about the data
•Consider the unique needs of the school
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The Planning Cycle
Plan for Improvement:
• Select goals that matter to your school
• Set meaningful and measurable targets
• Choose strategies that will impact
student learning
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The Planning Cycle
Implement the Plan:
•Take action based on the plan
•Involve parents, staff and students
•Be flexible; the plan must be able to
adapt to changing circumstances
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“Improving districts and schools
are actively considering at least
three sources of evidence
including classroom, school,
district and provincial data”
District Review Guide
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Sources of Evidence
classroom
school / school community
district / community
provincial
(See Handout)
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Sources of Evidence
“Sources of Evidence”
(See Handout)
At your table…
• Take 3 minutes to preview this handout
• What stands out for you?
• Discuss with a partner. 2 minutes
• Table Talk. 3 minutes
• What questions arise from this handout?
Click PAUSE to discuss.
Click PLAY to resume.
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Classroom Evidence
Examples of classroom-based data include:
•BC Performance Standards
•Unit tests and quizzes
•Report card marks
•Teacher observations, checklists and notes
•Assessments developed by teacher, school or district
•Attendance information
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School-Level Evidence
Examples of school-level data include:
•Reading assessments
•School-wide writes
•Report card marks
•BC Performance Standards
•Behaviour & attendance information
•Satisfaction Surveys
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District-Level Evidence
Examples of district-level data include:
•District-wide assessments (reading, math, etc.)
•District-wide write
•Report card marks
•Participation rates
•Discipline & attendance records
•Demographic information
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Provincial-Level Evidence
Examples of Provincial-level data include:
•Ministry of Education Satisfaction Surveys
•Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA)
•Provincial Exams
•Dogwood Completion Rate
•Grade-to-grade transition rates
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Classroom
School /
school community
District/
community
Provincial
•Classroom data informs
instruction and tracks progress
of individual students.
•School data tracks progress
and informs school practices /
policies / goals and objectives.
•District data tracks trends and
informs district practices /
policies / goals and objectives.
•Provincial data tracks trends
over time and reveals patterns
and systemic strengths and
weaknesses.
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Commonly Used Terms:
(Jargon Alert!!!)
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•
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See handout: “Commonly Used Terms”
Take 5 minutes to preview this handout
Is there something of particular interest? Why?
Discuss with a partner. 2 minutes
Table talk. 3 minutes
What did you find that was new or surprising?
Click PAUSE to discuss.
Click PLAY to resume.
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Part 2
Finding the stories
behind the data
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Questions and Answers
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“It’s not the raw scores that count
but what you do with them”
Michael Fullan, Macleans, May 2001
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ANALYZE
Finding the stories behind the data:
1. Look for patterns and trends over time
2. Check participation rates
3. Check the data for sub-populations (i.e. Male,
Female, Aboriginal, ESL)
4. Compare data from different sources
5. Ask questions and generate alternate hypotheses
6. Plan for improvement based on the data
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An Elementary Example
READING (2002 - 2006)
Students (% ) meeting or exceeding expectations
100%
84% 87% 83%83%
78% 78% 79%
80%
60%
67%
74% 73%
72%
78% 81%
40%
20%
0%
Jun Dec Mar Jun Dec Mar Jun Dec Mar Jun Dec Mar Jun
BC Performance Standards (each term)
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Interrogating your data
• What good news is here for us to celebrate?
• What points seem to pop up?
• What is missing?
• What is surprising, unexpected or unexplained?
• What other sources of data would be useful to us?
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A Middle School Example
In your materials…
•Find the data for “Erehwon Middle School”
•Have a 5 minute conversation
•Start by asking questions…(see next slide)
Click PAUSE to discuss.
Click PLAY to resume.
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Looking at some data
- What important points seem to emerge?
- Are there patterns that you notice?
- Based on this data, what appear to be
strengths of the school?
- What is missing? What does the data not
tell us?
- Based on this data, what goals might be
included in a school plan?
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A Secondary Example
Secondary School
Social Responsibility Goal
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What to do with the data:
•Ask lots of questions
•Focus on student learning
•Find the stories behind the data
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Collecting & Analyzing
Information:
(See Handout)
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60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Reading Grade 5
Not
meeting
Minimal
Meets
Exceeds
Use the guiding questions in the handout to discuss
this at your table.
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Indicators/evidence
Results to Date
Target
What data did we look at?
How are we doing?
What do we hope to achieve?
District-wide Assessment;
Grades 3
and 6
BC Social Responsibility
Performance Standards:
Solving Problems in
Peaceful Ways. All Grade 3 and 6
students in the school, assessed by
classroom teachers
(June 2005)
June 2005
% at each level of BC
Performance Standards
Percent fully meeting or
exceeding expectations
combined
Grade 3 74%
Boys
67%
Girls
82%
Aboriginal 67%
Grade 6 64%
Boys
54%
Girls
76%
Aboriginal 46%
gr. 3 n=115
(96% participation);
Aboriginal n=30
gr. 6 n=131
(93% participation);
Aboriginal n=26
Increase the percent of
students who "fully
meet" or "exceed"
expectations for Solving
Problems in Peaceful
Ways.
Increase the percent of boys who
fully meet or
exceed expectations in
this area.
Increase in the percent of Aboriginal
students who
fully meet or exceed
expectations.
Comments/Summary of Progress
Baseline data has now been established
and will be supported with structures and
strategies.
The results show that at both grades,
teachers’ ratings of girls were substantially
higher than for boys. Aboriginal students,
overall,
were less likely to be assessed as
fully meeting or exceeding expectations
than non-Aboriginal students.
When Grade 3 and Grade 6 data were
compared, younger students were more
likely to be rated as fully meeting or
exceeding expectations than were
older students.
The lower pattern of ratings for Aboriginal
students is troubling, and the basis for these
decisions by school staff needs to be
carefully examined to ensure
that there is no systematic bias in the
results. A similar examination of ratings for
boys also needs to be undertaken. This
may involve a focus group of teachers.
Use the guiding questions in the handout to discuss
this at your table.
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Use the guiding questions in the handout to discuss
this at your table.
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Table Talk
Look at the sample data in the handout
“Collecting and Analyzing Information”.
At your table discuss:
•What is new or surprising for you?
•What stories might be behind this data?
Click PAUSE to discuss.
Click PLAY to resume.
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The Planning Cycle
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Questions for Continuous Review
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What are we most proud of in our work towards
improving student achievement?
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What results are we finding so far?
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What strategies are working well?
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What strategies might need to be revised?
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Have we met our targets – if not, why?
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What adjustments might need to be made?
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What are some new priorities or challenges that
we might need to address?
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Celebrations!
It is important to celebrate your success stories.
This should occur regularly. Examples of this include:
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Individual student “high fives”
Newsletters, memos and presentations
Conversations in the parking lot
Discussions at school functions
Conversations in the Staff Room or Parent Room
PAC and SPC meetings
How else could you celebrate success stories?
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Conclusion
ACT!
To accomplish great things, we must not only dream, but act.
- Bill Blackman
INQUIRE!
To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions
-Author Unknown
PERSEVERE!
Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult
may become easy.
- Bill Blackman
CELEBRATE!
“Celebrate what you want to see more of”
-Thomas J. Peters
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Thank you!
For more information check out:
•www.bced.bc.ca/spc
•January 31, 2007 SPC Webcast
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