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Getting MORE Excited About USING Data - Book Cover

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Updated Edition of Bestseller

Getting MORE Excited About USING Data

Third Edition (Revised and Updated Edition)
By: Edie L. Holcomb

Foreword by Shirley Hord

Use data to construct an equitable learning environment, develop instruction with formative assessment in mind, and empower effective professional learning communities just the way ESSA intends with this invaluable resource.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781506357256
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2017
Page Count: 280
Publication date: March 07, 2017

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Description

Put data to WORK to better meet the needs of all students

Have you become hyper-focused on state tests? Do you have important data collected, warehoused, and gathering dust? The time has come to dust off that data and put it to work for your students.

The new reporting requirements under ESSA, combined with the flexibility to act on that data, provide a huge opportunity for education leaders. This is your opportunity to rebuild data processes and rekindle excitement about using data for school and student growth. Getting MORE Excited About USING Data addresses both cultural and technical aspects of using data, starting with underlying beliefs about students, assessment, and individual and collective teacher efficacy. This updated edition features:

Guiding questions and protocols for effective professional learning communities, shared leadership teams and subject/grade teaching teams
New material on the use of formative assessment in schoolwide planning and instructional design
Renewed focus on the role of students
Tips on the electronic challenges of storage, retrieval, privacy and security
Real-life examples from schools and districts ranging from specific data displays to sustained, long-term change

The straightforward language, adaptable models, and focus on human elements make Getting MORE Excited about USING Data an essential resource for every leader. The time is now to use data to establish a collaborative culture with student success at its core.

“Holcomb leads educators to use data as a catalyst to foster their passion for continuous learning, I highly recommend her pragmatic approach in looking at data as a means to stir the hearts and minds of educators for the sake of our future human resources: the students we serve.”
Kathy Larson, Author
Coaching for Infinite Results

"This book is full of practical supports, resources, and illustrations. It is well grounded in the work of schools and the importance of data to that mission."
Megan Tschannen-Moran, Professor of Educational Leadership
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Key features

Frequent references to changes in the law and their potential to redirect our focus and improve our outlook
Realities of how NCLB affected teachers – from fears of sanctions on their schools to use of test scores to evaluate their performance and in turn threaten their employment, which for most is also their mission in life
New material on tender morale issues – teacher sense of efficacy individually, collective sense of efficacy throughout a school, and cultures of trust – critically important for the adults and linked by evidence to student learning
Identification of technological advances that facilitate use of data, along with needed steps to counter the realities of threats to privacy and security
A more inclusive approach to discussions of leadership – shared, distributed, at all levels, drawing on personal influence as well as position power
Refined descriptions of the work of Shared Leadership Teams and Data Teams, with an entire new section on the use of data in Teaching Teams
Attention to the concepts and balance of formative, benchmark, and summative assessments and their appropriate uses in school-wide planning and instructional design
Increased attention to the role of students – resurrecting other sources of data that reflect the whole child and engaging students with their own data
Updated sources of best (evidence-based) practices
Redefined roles of the central office in support of schools
Use of data to differentiate professional development among schools and individual teachers, and the positive impact that teacher evaluation rubrics could provide
New tools for team productivity, including the use of norms and protocols
Current case studies from a diverse set of schools not present in former editions

Author(s)

Edie L. Holcomb

Edie L. Holcomb is executive director of curriculum and instructional services for Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She has experienced the challenges of improving student achievement from many perspectives:

From classroom teacher to university professor
From gifted education coordinator to mainstream teacher of children with multiple disabilities
From school- and district-level administration to national and international consulting
From small rural districts to the challenges of urban education

She is highly regarded for her ability to link research and practice on issues related to instructional leadership and school and district change—including standards-based curriculum, instruction, assessment, supervision, and accountability. She has taught at all grade levels, served as a building principal and central office administrator, and assisted districts as an external facilitator for accreditation and implementation of school reform designs. As associate director of the National Center for Effective Schools, she developed a training program for site-based teams and provided technical support for implementation of school improvement efforts throughout the United States and in Canada, Guam, St. Lucia, and Hong Kong. She developed a comprehensive standards-based learning system for the staff and 47,000 students of the Seattle, Washington, city district and has supervised K–12 clusters of schools and evaluated principals.

Her work received the Excellence in Staff Development Award from the Iowa Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development in 1988. In 1990, her study of the needs of beginning principals was recognized by the American Association of School Administrators with the Paul F. Salmon Award for Outstanding Education Leadership Research.

She served as an elected member-at-large on the Leadership Council for ASCD International, played an active role in Washington State’s School Improvement Assistance Program, and contributed to development of the new School System Improvement Resource Guide. Holcomb is the author of four previous books and numerous articles and reviews.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Foreword by Shirley Hord

Preface

Why Another Book

What’s New Here in the Third

What This Book Is Not

What This Book Is

How This Book Is Organized

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1: Excited About Data—Really?!

Unexpected Excitement

The Urgency Remains

Excitement—Killed by Compliance

Every Student Succeeds Act Enters Amid Continuing Challenges

What Data Matters Now

Progress in Data Use

Excitement Extinguishers

Chapter 2: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It Fits Your Beliefs

Espoused School Beliefs

Beliefs About Students

Beliefs About Assessment

Surfacing Beliefs and Acknowledging Differences

Collective Commitments and Courageous Conversations

From Caution and Compliance to Commitment

Chapter 3: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It Feels Safe

Fear of Evaluation

Fear of Exposure

Fear Masquerading as Resistance

Surfacing the Fears

Responding to Concerns

Building Trust

Chapter 4: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . You’re Not Doing It Alone

Team Structures for Collaboration

Communication for Team Connections

Common Language for Collaboration

Norms and Protocols

Interdependence of Culture and Structure

Chapter 5: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . You See Faces in It

Seeing Faces of Diversity and Equity

Watching Faces Over Time

Features on the Faces Are More Than Scores

Hearing the Voices From the Faces

Helping Students Face Their Learning

Face-to-Face With Families

Chapter 6: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It’s Easy to Get

Types of Data Displays

Key Features of Data Displays

Access to Data

Doing It Ourselves: A School Creates Its Own Data System

Chapter 7: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It Fits a Bigger Picture

A Contrast of Cases

Components of the School’s Big Picture

Key Points for Stakeholder Involvement

Picturing the Work of Teaching Teams

Inquiry in Teaching Teams

Viewing Teaching Teams in Action

Chapter 8: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It Saves Resources

Consolidating Multiple and Existing Plans

Testing Assumptions Before Seeking Solutions

Confirming Best Practices

Learning From Best-in-Class Schools

Vetting New Programs

Saying “No, Thank You”

Chapter 9: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . You Can Do Something About It

Stick to Your Own Sphere

Analyze the Offered Curriculum

Fill Curriculum Gaps

Critique the Culture

Compare Best Practice and Typical Practice

Determine What to Try—and What to Stop

Develop Action Plans

Chapter 10: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . You Have Time to Deal With It

Kinds of Time Needed

A System Look at Data

Studying and Repurposing Time Available

Using Time Wisely

Chapter 11: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . It Shows You’ve Made a Difference

Tending to Teacher Efficacy

Producing Evidence of Implementation

Generating Evidence of Impact

Using Data to Demonstrate the Difference You Make

Reaping Unexpected Benefits

Spreading a Little Cheer

One School’s Story

Chapter 12: You Get More Excited About Data When . . . You Have Appropriate Support

Touch the Talent in the Trenches

Deliver on Reciprocal Accountability

Redesign Professional Development for Learning

Model Use of Data for Continuous Improvement

Revisit Curriculum Roles

Dedicate Time

Tailor Tech Support

Test Data Warehouses

Protect Data Security and Privacy

Support Principals

One District’s Inside-Out Story

Chapter 13: Get More Excited

Review and Reflect

Choose Your Next Steps

Rock Your World

References and Suggested Readings

Index

Reviews

"A wonderful style of writing; very approachable and practical. Dr. Holcomb offers great tools, ideas, and strategies on using data."

Jane Chadsey, Vice President
Educurious, Seattle WA

"Edie Holcomb’s materials are thorough and useful. I utilized the previous edition of this book when teaching districts to use data to identify how to improve the academic achievement of students with disabilities."

Eva Kubinski, School Administration Consultant
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Madison, WI

"This book is full of practical supports, resources, and illustrations. It is well grounded in the work of schools and the importance of data to that mission."

Megan Tschannen-Moran, Professor of Educational Leadership
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA

"Dr. Holcomb provides vignettes and examples that offer insight into the day-to-day realities of school improvement issues. The ideas are presented in a logical manner and questions throughout the book provide opportunity for reflection."

Pamela H. Scott, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

"When Dr. Holcomb published her first edition of “Getting Excited About Data”, I was intrigued. She was not only a colleague of mine, but the term “excited” about data held a curiosity for me as data, at that time, had a sterilized, impersonal , and even fearful perception for teachers who truly entered the field as caring, nurturing professionals that fostered student development in a wholistic framework. I came to think otherwise after reading her work. Now, with her third edition and Dr. Holcomb’s intent to lead educators to use data as a catalyst to foster their passion for continuous learning, I highly recommend her pragmatic approach in looking at data as a means to stir the hearts and minds of educators for the sake of our future human resources: the students we serve."

Kathy Larson, Author/Consultant
Coaching for Infinite Results

“Yet again Edie Holcomb has engaged her exemplary skills in creating a significant new edition. This third volume conveys for us rich new ideas, understandings, and insights in providing the culture, content, and processes that will ensure that our data use leads to increased teaching quality and better outcomes for our students.”

Shirley M. Hord, Scholar Laureate
Learning Forward, Boerne TX

Other Titles in: Leadership | Data-Driven Decision Making | School Change, Reform, & Restructuring

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