Shifting Data Mindsets

One thing that I have learned on my journey in education is that not everyone is data positive like me. 

From the time when I was a new teacher, twenty years ago, working in primary schools offering reading support to second graders until now, where I am an emerging leader at a middle school with roles and responsibilities ranging from an Instructional Leadership Team member, a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Leader, and a Literacy TSA, my work has always been tied to progress monitoring and I have felt teachers’ tension, reluctancy, and trepidation about data. I have noticed that the general response to even mentioning “data dives” causes physical responses for some educators. Educators’ body language changes and their sentiment shows when they start rolling their eyes, putting their heads down, or folding their arms. This is a stress response and I can feel the tension in the room. Seeing educators have this type of reaction to the mention of data dives is a very common roadblock across grade levels and content areas at my school site. However, as an emerging leader, I see this as my opportunity to re-norm what data analysis is or can be. As a leader, I want to do what I can to promote analyzing student data to help teachers lower their affective filter in the adult learning spaces that I facilitate. 

At the beginning of the school year as a PLC leader at United for Success Academy in Oakland Unified School District, I knew part of my work was to structure opportunities for teachers to analyze student data. At our first meetings, I immediately noticed that teachers were bringing traditional class sets of data like a recent test that students took, or a class set of graphic organizers, or a class set of exit tickets.  While on the one hand, I was glad to see that teachers did bring data, I was also reminded that there are many types of data. I have a great appreciation for how both qualitative and quantitative data correlate and support each other. Many authors like Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan in Street Data, Linda Skrla Etal in Using Equity Audits to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools, and Kathryn Parker Boudett Etal in Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning make mention of this as well. However, being able to look at multiple sources of data and actually understand what the data is saying through analysis has not been the norm in my PLC. It is a huge undertaking!

While there is nothing wrong with traditional types of data, I realized something was missing. I also realized that I needed to be more explicit about what I meant when I said, “Bring in student data to analyze.” I turned to my Lead by Learning coach Nhi, who was working with United For Success’s Instructional Leadership Team. She reminded me that as a leader I get to frame what data can look like. Yes, it can be class tests and graphic organizers, and it could also be a recorded conversation from one student group or even a one-on-one interview with a student about their learning. This was exciting because it took the guesswork out of analyzing student data. It fills in gaps in a way that cannot happen when only bringing graphic organizers or exit slips to analyze student comprehension of a text or topic learned in class. A recording from the class where students were processing the content gives us access to hearing in real time how students are building knowledge and understanding collectively and collaboratively. It also reveals any misunderstandings in real time as well.   Having different sources of data available helps shine the light on what the actual root cause of any issues is. Douglas Fisher et al in Using Data To Focus Instructional Improvement remind us that students and families have insights and it is critical to make space to hear from them because they are directly impacted by our decisions as educators and school leaders. We should make more time to hear from all those who are in our students’ sphere of influence. 

At this point, I realized that I had to make a shift. The first thing I did after talking with Nhi was think about how to reframe what “data” is for my PLC. The next PD that I facilitated I made sure to start by sharing with teachers my view on data and said “data communicates information about our students, but we have to be willing to pay attention and comprehend what the data is actually saying. Data is a part of a student’s story that can highlight ways for us to support our students’ needs. Most importantly, data can change.” I also made sure to remind teachers that data is not always about quantity, but quality. Spending time analyzing a class set of data just because that is the data you have does not mean that it is quality data. 

There are many data sources one can select — from the time students come to school in the morning, to the time that they leave — everything is data. Data does not just come from inside the classroom. There is attendance data about how many students made it to school or class on time and how many students are absent. This may seem insignificant, but if students are not at school they are missing out on more than just instructional minutes; especially when they attend a community school like my site that provides free food, vision, dental, and other health services, counseling through our partnership with Seneca, and so much more that all help to foster a sense of belonging for our students. There is transportation data that may or may not be correlated with attendance data about how students are getting to school and how they are getting home. Do they walk alone or in a group? Do they get dropped off or do they take public transportation? Do they ride bikes to school or do they ride a skateboard? There is data about how many students stay for an after-school program. There is data about how many students play sports.  Data is everywhere! Quality data, though, is directly connected to and representative of the grade level standards, the content/language objectives for a lesson or unit, the students’/families’ goals, and the overarching school goals. This is the type of data that will allow us as educators to reflect on our instructional practices and make shifts as necessary to increase student growth outcomes. 

We have to determine what data will have the most impact in getting us closer to our goals for students and intentionally create space to analyze that data often and in a meaningful way for everyone in the students’ sphere of influence including students in the conversation as well. My goal as an emerging leader is to foster educators’ excitement about students’ data and an appreciation for opportunities to analyze multiple sources of data in order to understand our students’ needs more holistically. 

 I was delighted that there was an openness from teachers in my PLC  to create space to get feedback from students and families about their experience. Like author Dr. Muhammad Khalifa explains in Critically Responsive School Leadership; as well as what Dr. John A. Powell offers through the  Othering & Belonging Institute, being able to hear from them and learn more about their desires and concerns is in alignment with equity, well-being, improving learning and instructional outcomes, and building sustainable communities. Once you have all the data sources, then you can start to see patterns and trends. Analyzing data with staff often throughout the course of the year will foster more data informed instruction and support the growth and development of teachers and students. 

Working with Nhi from Lead by Learning fuels me to try new things and not become antiquated as a professional. I am excited about my next steps. Next, I want to survey teachers and see what types of student data they are interested in analyzing in order to build from a place of choice and passion versus past bad experiences with data. I hope that this will foster a more positive and productive mindset, as well as deepen engagement when analyzing student data. I want educators that I support in my PLC to not just be data-informed about where students are, but I want them to use the data to help transform their instructional practices and create a more equitable and culturally relevant learning environment for all students.

Shartresa Nixon is a graduate from the Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) program at  the Berkeley School of Education and is currently the Literacy TSA and AVID site coordinator at United for Success Academy. Ms. Nixon also facilitates the second Wednesday professional development for middle school reading intervention teachers in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Shartresa loves playing with her puppy Papa and reading in her hammock. 

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