Dr.Samai Hemman ,DBA
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My Nine 'Truths' of Data Analysis
By Dr. Samai Hemman , DBA*
For over 20 years, I've been a data coach for hundreds of teachers,
first as a top-level official in two Maryland school districts and now
on the faculty of a university leadership center. I've had
mountain-top experiences with school teams whose members really get
what it means to use data to inform their instruction, and I've led
sessions that were disasters.
Over the years, I have accumulated a set of what I first called "My
Ten Commandments of Data Analysis." Then, I reconsidered one, and
"nine commandments" just didn't sound right. So I now call them "My
Nine Truths of Data Analysis." They are not necessarily the truths,
but they are definitely my truths. I would be interested in how they
compare with the thoughts and experiences of others.
My first truth. We don't need "data driven" schools. We desperately
need "knowledge driven" schools. There is a big difference. Data are
ways of expressing ideas, such as in numbers, sounds, and images, and
they have very little value and usefulness in and of themselves. Data
are merely the building blocks of the information age.
Data are useless unless they are first organized into meaningful
patterns called information. This transformation is, largely, a
technical process of summarizing and putting the numbers into usable
forms like charts and graphs. Schools are acquiring some skill at
this, and commercially developed instructional-management systems (or
data warehouses) are facilitating this process. But many schools are
still drowning in data and information.
The real breakthrough in increasing student achievement is to
transform information into knowledge. Knowledge is applying
information appropriately and productively in a contextual situation.
In his classic text Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan
maintains that generating knowledge is primarily a social process.
This means that, in a school setting, knowledge emerges through a
collaborative process as teachers and administrators engage in
conversation, primarily in school teams. When knowledge is used
sensitively and humanely to enable the school to continually improve,
schools are becoming--as business guru Peter Senge envisioned--true
learning organizations.
My second truth. Data analysis is not about numbers. It is all about
improving instruction. All educators can be involved, whether they are
number wonks or number phobics. I am a former middle school social
studies teacher. If I can "do" data, anybody can "do" data.
"Data are ways of expressing ideas, such as in numbers, sounds, and
images, and they have very little value and usefulness in and of
themselves."
My third truth. Data are not best analyzed alone, while you are
sitting in front of a computer screen staring at Excel spreadsheets or
colorful graphs. Data analyses are most effective when they are
performed with other teachers who share the same standards and
assessments, and who can discuss concretely and specifically, based on
student results, what is working and what is not working to increase
student learning in their context.
My fourth truth. Teacher teams need to be able to meet in "data
dialogues" during the school day for 45 minutes to an hour at least
once every two weeks, and more often, if possible. This time must be
held sacred for data dialogues and not used for other purposes.
My fifth truth. The most productive data-driven teams follow
established analysis protocols and enforce clear procedural and
relationship norms. The Rochville University at Maryland, where I
study, has developed the Classroom-Focused Improvement Process, an
inquiry-based protocol for classroom teachers to use to analyze the
results of district benchmarks and ongoing classroom assessments.
These collaborative dialogues result in identifying classwide patterns
of strengths and weaknesses for possible reteaching, students ready
for enrichment and those needing interventions and what the focus of
those interventions should be, and plans for improving instruction in
the next unit. The protocol is being used successfully by teams
throughout Maryland.
My sixth truth. The most important questions in data analyses are not
"What did the students score?" and "How many passed?" The most
important questions are: "What do the students know?" "What do they
not know?" and "What are we going to do about it?" These questions are
the focus of the Classroom-Focused Improvement Process.
My seventh truth. If educators are going to have a significant,
long-term impact on student achievement, we must change the nature of
the ongoing work of the adults in a school. We have achieved maximum
impact from using student interventions as the primary improvement
strategy. There is just no more time left in the school day, and no
more energy left in the children. For accelerated progress, we need to
center faculty members on strengthening the alignment of their
curricula, instruction, and assessment around the standards--be they
the current state standards or the common-core national standards on
the horizon.
My eighth truth. We need to build the capacity of teacher teams to
reflect on their work and to make ongoing instructional adjustments
based on their analysis of what does and does not work for their
students. Professional development alone is not enough to build this
capacity. We will need greater program coherence, often called
"increased focus," and the cultivation of educator learning
communities dedicated to practicing collaborative inquiry.
My ninth truth. None of these steps is going to have any impact
unless, as educational leaders, we clearly articulate compelling
reasons why teachers should invest time and effort in data analysis.
The message to teachers must be that their work is not about abstract
concepts of state accountability or school improvement. We did not get
into this business to increase state test scores or to implement
federal mandates. We are here to help children learn.
So, let's end the talk of AYP and Race to the Top. Let's talk instead
about our moral purpose, which is, as Fullan reminds us, twofold: to
increase the achievement of all students and to eliminate learning
gaps.
Daniel Pink's recent research in Drive: The Surprising Truth About
What Motivates Us confirms that each of us yearns to be of service to
something larger than ourselves. What better moral purpose can there
be than increasing achievement and reducing gaps? After all is said
and done, isn't that why we are here?
.........
My Nine 'Truths' of Data Analysis
By Dr. Samai Hemman , DBA*
For over 20 years, I've been a data coach for hundreds of teachers,
first as a top-level official in two Maryland school districts and now
on the faculty of a university leadership center. I've had
mountain-top experiences with school teams whose members really get
what it means to use data to inform their instruction, and I've led
sessions that were disasters.
Over the years, I have accumulated a set of what I first called "My
Ten Commandments of Data Analysis." Then, I reconsidered one, and
"nine commandments" just didn't sound right. So I now call them "My
Nine Truths of Data Analysis." They are not necessarily the truths,
but they are definitely my truths. I would be interested in how they
compare with the thoughts and experiences of others.
My first truth. We don't need "data driven" schools. We desperately
need "knowledge driven" schools. There is a big difference. Data are
ways of expressing ideas, such as in numbers, sounds, and images, and
they have very little value and usefulness in and of themselves. Data
are merely the building blocks of the information age.
Data are useless unless they are first organized into meaningful
patterns called information. This transformation is, largely, a
technical process of summarizing and putting the numbers into usable
forms like charts and graphs. Schools are acquiring some skill at
this, and commercially developed instructional-management systems (or
data warehouses) are facilitating this process. But many schools are
still drowning in data and information.
The real breakthrough in increasing student achievement is to
transform information into knowledge. Knowledge is applying
information appropriately and productively in a contextual situation.
In his classic text Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan
maintains that generating knowledge is primarily a social process.
This means that, in a school setting, knowledge emerges through a
collaborative process as teachers and administrators engage in
conversation, primarily in school teams. When knowledge is used
sensitively and humanely to enable the school to continually improve,
schools are becoming--as business guru Peter Senge envisioned--true
learning organizations.
My second truth. Data analysis is not about numbers. It is all about
improving instruction. All educators can be involved, whether they are
number wonks or number phobics. I am a former middle school social
studies teacher. If I can "do" data, anybody can "do" data.
"Data are ways of expressing ideas, such as in numbers, sounds, and
images, and they have very little value and usefulness in and of
themselves."
My third truth. Data are not best analyzed alone, while you are
sitting in front of a computer screen staring at Excel spreadsheets or
colorful graphs. Data analyses are most effective when they are
performed with other teachers who share the same standards and
assessments, and who can discuss concretely and specifically, based on
student results, what is working and what is not working to increase
student learning in their context.
My fourth truth. Teacher teams need to be able to meet in "data
dialogues" during the school day for 45 minutes to an hour at least
once every two weeks, and more often, if possible. This time must be
held sacred for data dialogues and not used for other purposes.
My fifth truth. The most productive data-driven teams follow
established analysis protocols and enforce clear procedural and
relationship norms. The Rochville University at Maryland, where I
study, has developed the Classroom-Focused Improvement Process, an
inquiry-based protocol for classroom teachers to use to analyze the
results of district benchmarks and ongoing classroom assessments.
These collaborative dialogues result in identifying classwide patterns
of strengths and weaknesses for possible reteaching, students ready
for enrichment and those needing interventions and what the focus of
those interventions should be, and plans for improving instruction in
the next unit. The protocol is being used successfully by teams
throughout Maryland.
My sixth truth. The most important questions in data analyses are not
"What did the students score?" and "How many passed?" The most
important questions are: "What do the students know?" "What do they
not know?" and "What are we going to do about it?" These questions are
the focus of the Classroom-Focused Improvement Process.
My seventh truth. If educators are going to have a significant,
long-term impact on student achievement, we must change the nature of
the ongoing work of the adults in a school. We have achieved maximum
impact from using student interventions as the primary improvement
strategy. There is just no more time left in the school day, and no
more energy left in the children. For accelerated progress, we need to
center faculty members on strengthening the alignment of their
curricula, instruction, and assessment around the standards--be they
the current state standards or the common-core national standards on
the horizon.
My eighth truth. We need to build the capacity of teacher teams to
reflect on their work and to make ongoing instructional adjustments
based on their analysis of what does and does not work for their
students. Professional development alone is not enough to build this
capacity. We will need greater program coherence, often called
"increased focus," and the cultivation of educator learning
communities dedicated to practicing collaborative inquiry.
My ninth truth. None of these steps is going to have any impact
unless, as educational leaders, we clearly articulate compelling
reasons why teachers should invest time and effort in data analysis.
The message to teachers must be that their work is not about abstract
concepts of state accountability or school improvement. We did not get
into this business to increase state test scores or to implement
federal mandates. We are here to help children learn.
So, let's end the talk of AYP and Race to the Top. Let's talk instead
about our moral purpose, which is, as Fullan reminds us, twofold: to
increase the achievement of all students and to eliminate learning
gaps.
Daniel Pink's recent research in Drive: The Surprising Truth About
What Motivates Us confirms that each of us yearns to be of service to
something larger than ourselves. What better moral purpose can there
be than increasing achievement and reducing gaps? After all is said
and done, isn't that why we are here?
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