What Does Your School Data Team Sound Like?

A Framework to Improve the Conversation Around Data

First Edition
By: Dean T. Spaulding, Gail M. Smith

Written to help teams navigate the world of data analysis for on-going school improvement, this book offers an easy to follow framework that dives deep into data-driven instruction.

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What Does Your School Data Team Sound Like? - Book Cover

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781506390925
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2018
Page Count: 176
Publication date: July 30, 2018

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Author(s) Table of Contents

Description

Get your data team working effectively!

Data is a valuable resource for improving education. Unfortunately, many school teams struggle to make sense of new and often overwhelming data. What Does Your Data Team Sound Like? provides an approach that supports teams as they review a range of data sets, and improves their conversation about effectively applying data to instructional decision-making. Written to help teams navigate the world of data analysis for on-going school improvement, this book offers an easy to follow framework that dives deep into data-driven instruction. Readers will find:

Easy, step-by-step analysis techniques
Case studies that demonstrate different approaches
Checklists and flowcharts to help visual the process

Developed by expert authors who have worked with data teams across a wide variety of settings and scenarios, this book will help educators take action to create better learning environments for students.

Author(s)

Dean T. Spaulding

Dr. Dean T. Spaulding is currently an assistant professor at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, where he teaches educational research and program evaluation. Dr. Spaulding is the former chair of the Teaching Evaluation SIG for the American Evaluation Association. He also has been a professional evaluator/researcher for fifteen years and has in-depth experience serving as an evaluator on multiple state and federally funded projects. More specifically, he has conducted evaluation for programs focusing on K-12 settings, the use of technology in the classroom, as well as working in the area of teaching and learning with at-risk youth populations. At the government/state agency level, Dr. Spaulding has conducted research and provided programmatic feedback for New York State Department of Education, New York Sate Department of Public Health, and the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH). Dr. Spaulding also is one of the authors of Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to Practice, 2006, Jossey-Bass Wiley, San Francisco, and the author of Program Evaluation in Practice: Core Concepts and Examples for discussion and Analysis (2008), Jossey-Bass Wiley, and Action Research for School Leaders (2012). Dr. Spaulding is also a consultant at Z Score Inc. dspaulding @zscore .net

Gail M. Smith

Gail Smith, a native of Brooklyn New York, received her BA and MS at State University College at Oneonta, NY. She received her masters’ in education administration at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her thirty-six year career at an upstate New York urban school district included positions as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and deputy superintendent of schools. In 1988, Gail was one of five finalists for New York State Teacher of the Year. After retiring, Ms. Smith worked for two years as an administrator at two different schools on Native American reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. She returned to her home district in July 2008 to work as a consultant and mentor for their Instructional Leadership/Instructional Coaches project. She also is the proud mother of three children.

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

1. Changing the Lens With the Data Analysis Team (DAT)

Is Data the New Four-Letter Word?

Changing the Lens for How We View Data

Where Did All This Data Come From?

Okay, Let’s Change the Lens!

Summary

2. What Should Your Data Team Look Like?

Mixed Versus Nonmixed Data Teams

Goals of the Data Team

What Are the Roles and Responsibilities of Each Team Member?

How Will Meetings Be Facilitated?

Preparation, the Key to Success

Activities

Summary

3. Getting Over the Fear of Data

Fear of Data

What Is a Data Set?

What Is a Database?

Archival Data

Setting Up a Database

Entering Data Correctly in a Cell

Levels of Data

Assessment Data

Levels of Accountability

Activities

Summary

4. How to Know What Works

What Works, Anyway?

What Are Improvement Cycles?

How Do Researchers Determine What Works?

Pre-Post One Group Design

Summary

5. Following the Steps in the Exploratory and Confirmatory Cycles

Exploratory Cycle

Confirmatory Cycle

Summary

6. More Ways to Examine Data

Using Different Variables to Sort Data

Graphing Data

Types of Graphs

Activity

Summary

7. Collecting Formative Data

The Role of Formative Data in the Confirmatory Cycle

Using Classroom Observations as Formative Data

Reliability of Observational Data

Tips for Conducting Observations

Using Surveys as Formative Data

Piloting the Survey

Collecting Survey Data in School Settings

Activity

Summary

8. Adding Parents to Your DAT

Include Parents, Rather Than Exclude Them

Parent Validity

Activities

Summary

9. Continuing the Conversation Surrounding Student Data

Looking at Individual Items

Adding Other Variables to the Conversation

Looking at District Level Data

Summary

10. Scaling Up Data

When to Expand to Other Locations

A Model for Scaling Up: Patterns in the Data

Using Capacity to Scale Up

Summary

Epilogue

References

Index

Other Titles in: Data-Driven Decision Making | Standards & Accountability | Data Analysis

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