USING DATA FOR EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM WRAP UPfiles.ascd.org/pdfs/publications/quickreference... ·...
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This has been a sampling of the content from the full Quick Reference Guide (QRG), Using Data for Equity in the Classroom by Amanda Datnow & Vicki Park. If you would like to purchase the full QRG, you may do so at www.shop.ascd.org by searching for stock number QRG119076. USING DATA FOR EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DATA USE It is important to dispel some common myths that are alive and well in many schools because these misconceptions often discourage teachers from using data. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DATA USE? In many schools, it is defined as using data from standardized assessments, including benchmark assessments, to target students for instructional remediation, make quick decisions about which topics need more coverage, or place students into classes or groups. These limited definitions, focused on meeting accountability mandates, often don’t produce the intended improvements in student learning. They also work against equity goals. Our definition of data use is wider and involves a process of deep inquiry in which information on student learning, broadly speaking, is part of a conversation about instructional improvement and driven by the goals of equity and excellence. Data can drive. Data can provide very useful information that can inform instructional improvement, but data don’t drive. Data do not tell teachers what to do differently in the classroom, and looking at data alone will not improve teaching and learning. Rather, data use needs to be part of a broader process of inquiry that supports teachers to engage in professional learning. Data supersede teacher judgment. Data are meant to support teachers’ judgment, not be a substitute for it. Teachers’ deep knowledge and professional wisdom are integral to making sense of data and using it in thoughtful ways. Data use is limited to externally validated assessments, typically in the form of quantitative results. These data are often seen as less meaningful for teachers, and for good reason, as they feel disconnected from daily practice. We believe that all information that pertains to student learning counts as “data” and is critical in informing instruction. Data use and accountability must be linked. Although accountability is an inevitable part of life in schools, it should not be the driver of data use. In fact, a focus on accountability leads to mistrust and an orientation toward compliance rather than a focus on learning. The goal of data use is to identify struggling students. Although using data can reveal information about students who need additional support, this is not the sole purpose of data use. Data use should support the learning of all students, not just a select few. VICKI PARK is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. She focuses on urban school reform, assets-based leadership practices for equity, and organizational learning to improve outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students. She can be reached at [email protected]. AMANDA DATNOW is a professor in the Department of Education Studies and Associate Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Her expertise is in educational reform, and she conducts numerous studies examining the use of data for instructional improvement. She can be reached at [email protected]. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Datnow and Park are coauthors of Data Driven Leadership (2014) and Professional Collaboration with Purpose: Teacher Learning for Equitable and Excellent Schools (2019) as well as research articles and policy briefs on data use. ASCD PRODUCT #: QRG119076 (single); QRG119076P (25-pack)
Transcript of USING DATA FOR EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM WRAP UPfiles.ascd.org/pdfs/publications/quickreference... ·...
This has been a sampling of the content from the full
Quick Reference Guide (QRG), Using Data for Equityin the Classroom by Amanda Datnow & Vicki Park.
If you would like to purchase the full QRG, you may do so at
www.shop.ascd.org by searching for stock number QRG119076.
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USING DATA FOR EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM BY AMANDA DATNOW AND VICKI PARK
GUIDING QUESTIONS
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
QUALITIES OF DATA USE
Teachers are in the profession to make a difference in the lives of their students. They play a critical role in guiding, supporting, and even transforming students’ academic and social development. Teachers are always proud to share their success stories of students who grew tremendously in the course of a year, and students have strong memories of teachers who helped them reach their potential.
Where does data use fit into this picture? Data on student learning are ubiquitous in schools but aren’t always seen as essential to teachers’ guiding purposes. Moreover, teachers’ professional lives are crowded with a long list of responsibilities. Why should teachers make time to engage in data-informed instructional decision making?
It’s because data use can be integral to improving teachers’ professional practice and supporting all students to achieve their full potential.
Most teachers already engage in data use. Every day teachers gather and use a great deal of information about their students’ learning, both formally and informally, to guide their instructional decision making. The primary goal of this guide is to help teachers use information, or data, about student learning in ways that support the goals of equity and excellence in their classrooms. Our goal is also to enable teachers to make data use a purposeful, sustainable, and rewarding part of their professional practice rather than something that feels like a purposeless add-on to an already busy work day.
WHY USE DATA?
1
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DATA USEIt is important to dispel some common myths that are alive and well in many schools because these misconceptions often discourage teachers from using data.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DATA USE?
In many schools, it is defined as using data from standardized assessments, including benchmark assessments, to target students for instructional remediation, make quick decisions about which topics need more coverage, or place students into classes or groups. These limited definitions, focused on meeting accountability mandates, often don’t produce the intended improvements in student learning. They also work against equity goals.
Our definition of data use is wider and involves a process of deep inquiry in which information on student learning, broadly speaking, is part of a conversation about instructional improvement and driven by the goals of equity and excellence.
Data can drive.Data can provide very useful information that can inform instructional improvement, but data don’t drive. Data do not tell teachers what to do differently in the classroom, and looking at data alone will not improve teaching and learning. Rather, data use needs to be part of a broader process of inquiry that supports teachers to engage in professional learning.
Data supersede teacher judgment.Data are meant to support teachers’ judgment, not be a substitute for it. Teachers’ deep knowledge and professional wisdom are integral to making sense of data and using it in thoughtful ways.
Data use is limited to externally validated assessments, typically in the form of quantitative results.These data are often seen as less meaningful for teachers, and for good reason, as they feel disconnected from daily practice. We believe that all information that pertains to student learning counts as “data” and is critical in informing instruction.
Data use and accountability must be linked.Although accountability is an inevitable part of life in schools, it should not be the driver of data use. In fact, a focus on accountability leads to mistrust and an orientation toward compliance rather than a focus on learning.
The goal of data use is to identify struggling students.Although using data can reveal information about students who need additional support, this is not the sole purpose of data use. Data use should support the learning of all students, not just a select few.
QRG_Datnow_Park_Using Data Equity in the Classroom_HomeEd.indd 3 6/25/19 1:34 PM
5
17
18
USING DATA FOR EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM BY AMANDA DATNOW AND VICKI PARK
GUIDING QUESTIONS
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
QUALITIES OF DATA USE
Teachers are in the profession to make a difference in the lives of their students. They play a critical role in guiding, supporting, and even transforming students’ academic and social development. Teachers are always proud to share their success stories of students who grew tremendously in the course of a year, and students have strong memories of teachers who helped them reach their potential.
Where does data use fit into this picture? Data on student learning are ubiquitous in schools but aren’t always seen as essential to teachers’ guiding purposes. Moreover, teachers’ professional lives are crowded with a long list of responsibilities. Why should teachers make time to engage in data-informed instructional decision making?
It’s because data use can be integral to improving teachers’ professional practice and supporting all students to achieve their full potential.
Most teachers already engage in data use. Every day teachers gather and use a great deal of information about their students’ learning, both formally and informally, to guide their instructional decision making. The primary goal of this guide is to help teachers use information, or data, about student learning in ways that support the goals of equity and excellence in their classrooms. Our goal is also to enable teachers to make data use a purposeful, sustainable, and rewarding part of their professional practice rather than something that feels like a purposeless add-on to an already busy work day.
WHY USE DATA?
1
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DATA USEIt is important to dispel some common myths that are alive and well in many schools because these misconceptions often discourage teachers from using data.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DATA USE?
In many schools, it is defined as using data from standardized assessments, including benchmark assessments, to target students for instructional remediation, make quick decisions about which topics need more coverage, or place students into classes or groups. These limited definitions, focused on meeting accountability mandates, often don’t produce the intended improvements in student learning. They also work against equity goals.
Our definition of data use is wider and involves a process of deep inquiry in which information on student learning, broadly speaking, is part of a conversation about instructional improvement and driven by the goals of equity and excellence.
Data can drive.Data can provide very useful information that can inform instructional improvement, but data don’t drive. Data do not tell teachers what to do differently in the classroom, and looking at data alone will not improve teaching and learning. Rather, data use needs to be part of a broader process of inquiry that supports teachers to engage in professional learning.
Data supersede teacher judgment.Data are meant to support teachers’ judgment, not be a substitute for it. Teachers’ deep knowledge and professional wisdom are integral to making sense of data and using it in thoughtful ways.
Data use is limited to externally validated assessments, typically in the form of quantitative results.These data are often seen as less meaningful for teachers, and for good reason, as they feel disconnected from daily practice. We believe that all information that pertains to student learning counts as “data” and is critical in informing instruction.
Data use and accountability must be linked.Although accountability is an inevitable part of life in schools, it should not be the driver of data use. In fact, a focus on accountability leads to mistrust and an orientation toward compliance rather than a focus on learning.
The goal of data use is to identify struggling students.Although using data can reveal information about students who need additional support, this is not the sole purpose of data use. Data use should support the learning of all students, not just a select few.
QRG_Datnow_Park_Using Data Equity in the Classroom_HomeEd.indd 3 6/25/19 1:34 PM
© 2016 ASCD. All rights reserved.
ASCD PRODUCT #: QRG119076 (single); QRG119076P (25-pack)
WAITING FOR BARCODE — PLACEHOLDER
© 2019 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction.
SAVE 10% WHEN YOU BUY IN PACKS OF 25!SEE MORE GUIDES AT WWW.ASCD.ORG/QUICKREFERENCEGUIDES
ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. To request training in your school or district, contact ASCD’s Professional Learning Services at [email protected].
Learn more in Increasing Rigor in the Classroom, available now at ASCD.ORG.
VICKI PARK is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. She focuses on urban school reform, assets-based leadership practices for equity, and organizational learning to improve outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students. She can be reached at [email protected].
AMANDA DATNOW is a professor in the Department of Education Studies and Associate Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Her expertise is in educational reform, and she conducts numerous studies examining the use of data for instructional improvement. She can be reached at [email protected].
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
USE
Barraugh, A. (2017). Student work analysis. Presentation made at the UCSD Changing the Odds Summit, La Jolla, CA.
Booher-Jennings, J. (2005). Below the bubble: “Educational triage” and the Texas accountability system. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231–268.
Braaten, M., Bradford, C., Kirchgasler, K. L., & Barocas, S. F. (2017). How data use for accountability undermines equitable science education. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(4), 427–446.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2014). Data-driven leadership. Jossey-Bass Leadership Book Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley Inc.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2018). Opening or closing doors for students? Equity and data use in schools. Journal of Educational Change, 19(2), 131–152.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2019). Professional collaboration with purpose: Teacher learning for equitable and excellent schools. New York: Routledge.
Park, V. (2018). Leading data conversation moves: Toward data-informed leadership for equity and learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(4), 617–647.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Datnow and Park are coauthors of Data Driven Leadership (2014) and Professional Collaboration with Purpose: Teacher Learning for Equitable and Excellent Schools (2019) as well as research articles and policy briefs on data use.
6
WRAP UP
REFERENCES
SUPPORT teachers’ goals of making a
difference in the lives of students.
CONTRIBUTE with purpose
and professionalism.
ENSURE equity through equal opportunites to learn.
PLAN for student growth by identifying strengths.
GARNER coherence around the
goals of schooling.
GUIDE informed conversations about
curriculum and pedagogy.
COLLABORATE with purpose
and professionalism.
DATA TO
Thoughtful use of a wide range of evidence on student learning is critical to improving professional practice and to a social justice agenda in education. Data can be a helpful tool if used in the service of supporting student growth and instructional improvement. But data should be considered information to better understand student thinking and to refine teaching practice, not as a tool for compliance and accountability. They can also work as guides for reflection and further inquiry.
Being critical consumers and users of data can help teachers identify how to support student learning and their own professional growth. Working together to understand and use data thoughtfully can be powerful. Collaborating with purpose can help teachers work collectively to support continuous improvement that leads to equity and excellence and contributes positively to both student and teacher learning.
QRG_Datnow_Park_Using Data Equity in the Classroom_HomeEd.indd 2 6/25/19 1:34 PM
© 2016 ASCD. All rights reserved.
ASCD PRODUCT #: QRG119076 (single); QRG119076P (25-pack)
WAITING FOR BARCODE — PLACEHOLDER
© 2019 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction.
SAVE 10% WHEN YOU BUY IN PACKS OF 25!SEE MORE GUIDES AT WWW.ASCD.ORG/QUICKREFERENCEGUIDES
ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. To request training in your school or district, contact ASCD’s Professional Learning Services at [email protected].
Learn more in Increasing Rigor in the Classroom, available now at ASCD.ORG.
VICKI PARK is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. She focuses on urban school reform, assets-based leadership practices for equity, and organizational learning to improve outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students. She can be reached at [email protected].
AMANDA DATNOW is a professor in the Department of Education Studies and Associate Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Her expertise is in educational reform, and she conducts numerous studies examining the use of data for instructional improvement. She can be reached at [email protected].
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
USE
Barraugh, A. (2017). Student work analysis. Presentation made at the UCSD Changing the Odds Summit, La Jolla, CA.
Booher-Jennings, J. (2005). Below the bubble: “Educational triage” and the Texas accountability system. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231–268.
Braaten, M., Bradford, C., Kirchgasler, K. L., & Barocas, S. F. (2017). How data use for accountability undermines equitable science education. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(4), 427–446.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2014). Data-driven leadership. Jossey-Bass Leadership Book Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley Inc.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2018). Opening or closing doors for students? Equity and data use in schools. Journal of Educational Change, 19(2), 131–152.
Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2019). Professional collaboration with purpose: Teacher learning for equitable and excellent schools. New York: Routledge.
Park, V. (2018). Leading data conversation moves: Toward data-informed leadership for equity and learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(4), 617–647.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Datnow and Park are coauthors of Data Driven Leadership (2014) and Professional Collaboration with Purpose: Teacher Learning for Equitable and Excellent Schools (2019) as well as research articles and policy briefs on data use.
6
WRAP UP
REFERENCES
SUPPORT teachers’ goals of making a
difference in the lives of students.
CONTRIBUTE with purpose
and professionalism.
ENSURE equity through equal opportunites to learn.
PLAN for student growth by identifying strengths.
GARNER coherence around the
goals of schooling.
GUIDE informed conversations about
curriculum and pedagogy.
COLLABORATE with purpose
and professionalism.
DATA TO
Thoughtful use of a wide range of evidence on student learning is critical to improving professional practice and to a social justice agenda in education. Data can be a helpful tool if used in the service of supporting student growth and instructional improvement. But data should be considered information to better understand student thinking and to refine teaching practice, not as a tool for compliance and accountability. They can also work as guides for reflection and further inquiry.
Being critical consumers and users of data can help teachers identify how to support student learning and their own professional growth. Working together to understand and use data thoughtfully can be powerful. Collaborating with purpose can help teachers work collectively to support continuous improvement that leads to equity and excellence and contributes positively to both student and teacher learning.
QRG_Datnow_Park_Using Data Equity in the Classroom_HomeEd.indd 2 6/25/19 1:34 PM
