Many surveys talked about making decisions based on intuition, personal beliefs, and anecdotal evidence. However, with big data, K-12 schools can now make more informed decisions about what works and what doesn’t.
So should K-12 schools establish a data-driven culture?
Making decisions in education is challenging.
Data-driven decision-making (D3M) can help make those decisions more manageable by providing a framework to use data effectively. When schools establish a data-driven culture, they can improve instructions, increase academic achievements for all students, fulfill student-teacher gaps, and make better decisions about programs and policies.
But where do you start? How does your school become data-driven?
The World Bank Research Program (WBR) is an essential source of aid for educational institutions in less privileged countries. The WBR has data compilers based in these countries responsible for gathering information about underprivileged children, their current education standards, living standards, challenges they face, and ways to encounter their problems.
Without such data and lack of reporting, the WBR program would be a complete disaster, and aid to these countries would never happen. Therefore, the WBR program is an essential part of the effort to improve education in less privileged countries. Without the WBR, many children in these countries would never have had the chance to receive a quality education. This is a perfect example of driving school decisions based on data.
When schools use data to inform their decisions, they can improve overall student achievement, save money, and make better decisions about programs and policies. But where do you start? How does your school become data-driven?
What is a Data-Driven Culture?
A data-driven culture is one in which individuals are encouraged and expected to use data to inform their decisions. This type of data culture exists in businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. So, why not in schools?
To make data-driven decisions, schools need data teams. Data teams are composed of individuals who collect and analyze data. School administrators, leaders, teachers, or parents can create these teams. They can also provide resources and support to ensure that data teams are effective.
There are many benefits of establishing a data-driven culture in schools.
Data-driven cultures can improve instruction, increase academic achievement, and provide improvements on all fronts for students.
School systems across the country are beginning to establish data-driven cultures. Prince William County Public Schools implemented a data-driven culture in Virginia through its “Data warehouse.” The Data warehouse is a central repository for all student data.
The school uses this data to inform decisions about teaching reforms, instruction mechanisms, and other programs. They’re employing this information to assist schools and central offices in student performance evaluation and a continuous improvement program.
Basing Educational Decisions On Student Data
When schools establish data-driven cultures, they can improve student achievement and make decisions based on evidence. School leaders, teachers, parents, and students can all play a role in establishing a data-driven school culture. Proper accountability for data at all levels can ensure that authorities better understand a student’s overall academic performance.
They also have more significant insights into how to improve the educational system. School districts that have not established a data-driven culture should include data reforms to enhance their instruction methods and, as a result, improve student achievement.
How to Improve Your Institution’s Data Culture
The school authorities and parents can collect data through surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, PTA meetings, and test scores. Once the data is collected, it must be analyzed to identify patterns and trends.
After examining the data, the authorities can decide about educational policies and programs and alter the school’s teaching methods.
The first step is to form a data-driven decision-making committee.
This committee should be composed of individuals from different occupations within the school. The committee should clearly understand the decision-making process and identify the key players involved in making decisions.
The next step is to develop a data improvement plan.
The aim of this plan should be to improve the methods of collecting and analyzing data. The plan should also address how the data will be used to make decisions. Once the data improvement plan is in place, the next goal should be to monitor and evaluate it regularly.
It is essential to involve all stakeholders in the data-driven decision-making process. This process should include teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Each stakeholder should have a voice in the decisions made about the school.
The final step is to implement a data-driven culture in the school.
Implementation can be made easy by educating all school community members about the data-driven decision-making process. Thorough training can address any issues and ensure the school community has transitioned into the new system. Implementation hurdles are common, but it is vital to keep at it and ensure accountability at all levels.
Let us consider the scenario of a school that wants to improve its math scores. While it is not a difficult task, it would require the head of the school and math teacher to set some clear objectives, to begin with.
The first step would be to collect data on the current math scores of the students. School authorities can collect data through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or test scores.
The next step would be to identify tools that ease teachers’ jobs to generate questions. One such tool is PrepAI. Once the information is collected, it must be analyzed for patterns and trends. Teachers are often overwhelmed with the preparation involved in test creation. Tools such as PrepAI have proven to be a great relief for teachers worldwide.
After the data analysis, the authorities can decide on a course of action to help the student/s get better at the subject by introducing special classes and several other implementations.
The data might show that most students are not proficient in math. The data might also show a significant difference in the math scores of different groups of students. Based on this information, the school might decide to implement a new math curriculum or hire a new math teacher. The school might also choose to provide additional resources for students struggling with math.
The key to data-driven decision-making is to use data to make decisions, not just based on personal opinions or hunches. The possibilities of what schools can do after analyzing gathered data are endless. And if it still has you wondering if the data culture is ideal for the education sector, consider the possibilities without it. One of the possibilities listed here is that in the absence of a data-driven method decision, you will go back to our traditional methods, which in some cases might not be as effective and one that is biased.
A study by the Data Quality Campaign showed that when schools use data to make decisions, students’ approach to their education and achievement improves significantly. And if that is not the ideal intent of the entire education system, then what is?
Improve Instructions To Students With Data
When data is valid and reliable, it can avoid harmful outcomes to a great extent. We cannot overlook some of the authorities’ challenges and pain points while working with data.
- Data entry: Data entry is a time-consuming process. It is essential to have accurate data, but ensuring that all entered data is correct can be challenging.
- Data analysis: Data analysis can be complex and challenging. School leaders, teachers, parents, and students may not have the ability to analyze data effectively.
- Data interpretation: Data interpretation can be difficult. Not everybody will agree on the meaning of available data and its interpretation.
- Lack of resources: School leaders, teachers, parents, and students may not have access to the resources they need to collect or analyze data.
- Unwillingness to switch from traditional methods: School leaders, teachers, parents, and students may resist change. They may not be willing to switch from conventional ways of instruction to data-driven approaches.
School authorities can overcome this challenge by providing training and support to school leaders, teachers, parents, and students. The school authority should provide resources and support to ensure that data teams are effective.
Case Study
Data-driven decision-making has been shown to improve student achievement. In one study, researchers found a school that used student achievement data to improve its instructional decision-making process and delivery capacity of teachers by up to 12%.
How Education Professionals Can Influence Data-Driven Decisions
Without a doubt, data-driven culture is essential to improve performance levels for students. It can also assist school administration in working with teachers to improve their teaching methods and make better decisions. There are many tools available to help K-12 schools establish this type of data-driven culture, but it is essential to understand the basics of what it means to make data-driven decisions.
Let us take the case of how the Department of Education in the US illuminated and solved the issue of chronic absenteeism in schools and how they ensured that it returned to normalcy.
Firstly, the admittance of the problem was necessary, precisely what the State education department did. They collected data from across the States and concluded that about six million students were chronically absent.
The next step was to identify the reasons for this absenteeism, which they discovered were primarily due to financial aid.
And finally, they offered solutions such as providing transportation, creating financial assistance programs through the state department, and offering after-school programs to help these students stay in school.
Let us consider another example where a principal wants to improve the rate of student achievement in their school. They can collect data on test scores and compare them with other schools in the district. Based on this data, the principal can decide what changes need to be made to improve student achievement in their school.
It is clear that the starting point for all the data the school authorities need is right in front of them.
Tools That Can Help Drive Data-Driven Decisions in K-12 Schools
There are several tools that K-12 schools can use to develop a data culture. Data-driven culture works well within the confines of a team that serves a designated purpose and common goal. K-12 schools could form two groups – namely SDLT and SDGB and assign them a purpose.
The School Data Leadership Team (SDLT) can consist of individuals responsible for collecting, analyzing, using, and sharing data to improve student achievement. The team should be composed of representatives from all stakeholder groups, including administrators, teachers, parents, and students.
The School Data Governance Board (SDGB) could be responsible for developing policies and procedures related to using data in the school. This team could comprise the K-12 school administration, facilitators, and the principal.
Both groups should fulfill their responsibilities but with a common objective of collecting and presenting data that can help improve student achievement in schools.
An excellent objective to work with such a structure would be to gain five key insights. Those five key takeaways could be as below:
- Schools establish a clear vision for data use
- Develop and maintain a district-wide data system
- Make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement
- Establish a data-driven culture in schools
- Build capacity to interpret and act on data through professional development and facilitation
Once the above objectives are met, and everyone is on the same page, schools could introduce one or more of the tools listed:
- Lightspeeds to monitor students’ online activity.
- Class Content and Lecture Delivery Tools.
- Collaborative tools.
- Homework/Assessment tools.
- Feedback/Polling tools.
The above tools are the personal prerogative of the school management, and they can decide how and when to make a purchase.
DRIP or Data Rich Information Poor Syndrome
There are several challenges when it comes to data-driven systems. The first challenge is data interpretation. School administrators and teachers need training in interpreting data to make informed decisions.
Another challenge is the DRIP syndrome or Data Rich Information Poor Syndrome. This happens when there is a lot of data available, but it is not being used to its full potential. This can occur when data is not being appropriately collected or not being analyzed correctly.
The last challenge is the lack of data literacy among parents. Parents need to be educated on interpreting and using data to help their children succeed in school.
Data-driven culture in K-12 schools has its challenges, but it is worth overcoming them to reap the benefits.
Some of these benefits include:
- School administrators and teachers can use data to make informed decisions about instruction and curriculum.
- Data can be used to monitor student progress and identify areas of need.
- Schools can tailor instruction to meet the needs of individual students based on selective data.
- A data-driven culture can improve communication between teachers, parents, and administrators.
- A data-driven culture can increase student achievement.
Four Key Elements That Can Help Schools Drive a Data Culture
- Data must only be used to inform decisions.
- A data team should be set up to collect and analyze them.
- School management should be involved in the process.
- Parents should be involved.
Parents’ Role in Driving Data-Driven Culture in Schools
School and parents both play a vital role in establishing and maintaining a data-driven culture in schools. Students spend as much time at their homes as they spend at school.
While parents help their wards with their education, they understand if their child has difficulty learning a particular subject or showing specific behavioral tendencies towards learning in general. They can understand their challenges and pass this piece of information (data) to the school administration to interpret and make the subject easy to understand.
School administrations can also design parallel and more receptive programs to aid these students. Schools should also take parents’ feedback about their child’s behavior at school.
Everyone involved in a child’s education must buy into the idea of a data-driven culture. While some may be more comfortable with data than others, everyone must have at least a basic understanding of how data can be used to improve the learning process.
School administrators, teachers, parents, the community, and students should all be aware of the available data and how to use it to improve their educational experience.
Conclusion
Driving a data culture in schools takes time and patience. It should be more necessitated than requested for the benefit of all. Once all parties involved should be groomed to gather, analyze, interpret, and act on the data, it should become a habit.
Education reforms are only possible when the collected data is accurate. Therefore, the school administration needs to report every piece of data responsibly. The benefits of having a data-driven culture should be visible to everyone in the school system for it to work.
Also, a data culture cannot work without school administrators’ buy-in. Leaders should have access to the data interpretation and decision-making process to make informed decisions that will improve student outcomes.
When all stakeholders understand and respect the role of data in schooling, then meaningful improvements can be achieved.
