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Acting on Data....Mixing Science with Art

3/4/2018

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Looking at data and acting on data are two totally different things.

This year we have access to data that we haven’t had before and learning to use it in a way that is productive and that drives instruction has made many of us uncomfortable. It can be easy to look at formative and/or summative data and come up with reasons as to why the data is what it is, and that is the direction that most of our initial conversations went. Putting a stake in the ground and saying "this is just how our data looks" and then listing all of the reasons why it looks that way
, doesn't align with Dufour’s four questions that drive a PLC’s work.
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Data is a puzzle piece which helps tell a student's story. When used correctly, data allows a teacher to make changes, innovate their teaching practices, and collaborate with their PLC. By no means is data the sole piece, but with it, educators can work toward the common goal of student learning. Curriculum is built and adjusted by what we learn from data. 


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*Adapted from Driven by Data by Bambrick-Santoyo and EL Education's research. 
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I have learned a few things about data driven instruction this year.
  • Looking at summative data when students have left a classroom and moved on can be compared to looking at an autopsy of their learning. We can see what they did and didn't master but we have lost the chance to impact their learning. Educators can use the data as an overall scorecard for the curriculum, but it can't drive instruction for incoming students in a measurable way. 
  • If new universal assessments are brought on board to help measure growth, teachers need to be educated about the research behind them, their purpose and how the data will be used. (If this doesn't happen, teachers may see the assessment as a compliance piece and the assessment may not be administered with fidelity. Then in turn the validity of the data that is being looked at may be questioned.)
  • When on-boarding new tools to disaggregate data, start small with something like a unit test. Beginning with backward planning is critical. Guide PLC's through the use of a Data Inquiry Cycle to analyze and act upon data. Encourage each PLC to be as concrete as possible.  
  • Too often the teacher is the only one that sees and tries to make meaning of data. The quicker and more personal the feedback is to students the better. Using data with students empowers them and allows them to take control of their learning. Students can use data to help them understand that learning is a process of growth over time. Educators who realize the full potential of data go beyond occasionally sharing test results with students. The systems and tools that a school uses should make it easy for students to view their own data. ​
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It takes TIME even with great tools.  As the time spent yields results and teachers see student's  learning progressing, buy-in builds. Rich, interesting discussions emerge within PLC's.  We have to honor this time and make sure that our teachers have it. 

As with most new things, it has been hard and we will continue to learn from others and ask questions. I am grateful for strong campus leadership committed to continuous improvement guiding our work. I also appreciate the honesty and feedback that the PLC's working with data on our campus have offered about their experience. I am convinced that with time, good tools and applying best practices, rich data mixed with the art of teaching will continue to impact learning.

A book that has been helpful in my own learning this year is  Driven by Data by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo. Thank you for the sharing this as a resource  @Jennifer_Hogan   and @DrJimmyShaw.  And a shout out to @cwehde for all of her help and support this year.

If you have thoughts, resources or blog posts that can help in our journey, I would love for you to share them!
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Differentiation can be Overwhelming: 4 Tools that Can Help

10/24/2016

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I remember sitting in a meeting two years ago and listening as teachers shared how upset they were that hardback textbooks were not being purchased any longer. Going from hardback to digital has been bumpy but looking at what students now have access to I would never go back to where we were. Today, our 1:1 classrooms have the ability to meet so many more of our students where they are at. 
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We hear the term differentiated instruction a lot.  We know that students in the same class cannot possibly all be at the same place in their learning. When faced with large class sizes the logistics of efficiently differentiating curriculum is challenging.

There are at least four different elements that teachers can differentiate within a classroom.
  • Content – what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information.
  • Process – activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of  the content.
  • Products – culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit.
  • Learning environment – the way the classroom works and feels.
Teachers who feel overwhelmed in addressing the diverse needs of their students, for example, have ready access to more options than ever before as a result of the wide range of tools available. Technology can equip teachers to address students’ needs in an almost limitless number of ways, through content input, learning activities, and opportunities to demonstrate comprehension.  The use of multimodal texts available on devices are also a game changer.
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Classrooms enhanced by technology provide support and structure to students. The technology can allow scaffolding to be in place for some and enrichment for students who thrive on challenge.  
Students for whom English is not a first language can become frustrated when presented with information that meets their English comprehension level but is far below their cognitive level.  These students benefit from supplementing verbal and written information with videos. In the past, teachers did not have access to resources that could individualize the material available to their students, now they do.
Four resources that a teacher can use to differentiate are listed below.

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  • Listenwise curates the best of public radio for the classroom, providing teachers with many collections including English, social studies, science and current events as well as the critical instructional tools. Bringing great informational storytelling into the classroom can meet every student where they are regardless of English level. Listenwise allows for students to hear content as well as read along with a transcript. The speed at which a student listens to content can also be adjusted. Jennifer Gonzalez has an awesome podcast and blog post available about Listenwise.
  • Newsela provides teachers, and students with over 1,000 current event articles scaled at five different Lexile reading comprehension levels. Articles are continuously being added to the site. Teachers can assign the lexile level of Newsela articles or students working independently can self select and adjust their reading level.
  • Discovery Education offers video resources that include closed-captioning. Many of their videos also are accompanied by transcripts of the video. Language development and comprehension are reinforced through providing spoken and written speech simultaneously.
  • Lit2Go offers texts from a variety of genres and has audio books that accompany texts. Readability levels for passages on Lit2Go are reported as Flesch-Kincaid grade levels which are roughly equivalent to U.S. grade levels. Lit2Go also provides spoken and written speech simultaneously.
What is truly exciting about using tools like the ones listed above is that they allow for students to access information and material in a way that was impossible to do when using static hardbound textbooks. Empowering students to know their lexile level and to read on a level that they can understand will accelerate their literary development.

What tools have you found that help teachers differentiate within their classroom?
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