Making%20Data%20Walls%20Accessible

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Making Data Walls Accessible

• Presented by Christine Mulgrave
• EDL 626
• Fall, 2007

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Goals of Project

• The become more versed with the use of CT Reports
• Become more familiar with Connecticut Education
  Data and Research (CEDaR) resources
• Develop a systematic mechanism for making the
  displaying of data more accessible to all users
  (tech geeks, Dr. Datas, and technology neophytes
  alike)
• Examine ways to clearly articulate strategies for
  school improvement using Connecticut Leadership
  Standards based upon data

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Overview

• Purpose Payoffs of Creating Data Walls
• Presents an overall picture of student progress
  for a set period of time
• On a classroom level
• On a grade or content level or across grades
• On a school-wide level
• On a district-wide level
• Note trends and outlines strategic plans for
  improvement
• Portable, user-friendly and informally educates
  the larger community how to read and evaluate
  data
• Used to present data, not impress viewers

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Challenges

• Technology
• accessing and operating common assessment tools
• time to explore or time to setup structures
• Knowledge
• analyzing data
• developing instructionally constructive /
  pertinent questions
• Opportunity
• sharing data in a risk-free environment
• reflecting on instruction openly

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Elements of a Data Wall

• External Data (left panel)
• tables, charts graphs
• illustrate exam scores
• State and district
• provides demographic information
• observations/interpretations
• Internal Data (middle panel)
• highlights teaching strategies
• data to support teaching strategies
• observations/interpretations
• Inferences and Conclusions (right panel)
• next steps / an action plan
• samples of assessments items

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Traditional Data Walls

• Semi-portable
• Semi-accessible by some stakeholders

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Gathering Data

• Assessment Resources
• Summative Assessments
• Classroom exams
• Standardized exams
• Other Measures of Teaching Practices Student
  Learning
• Performance assessments
• Portfolio pieces
• Some Considerations
• Where is the Data?
• Which stakeholders have access?
• What role will they play?

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Displaying Data

• Structure of Data Walls Brochures (DWBs)
• Outer
• Cover (school identifiers, title, focus
  statement, time frame covered)
• Inner flap (purpose outlined, research question)
• Back (data from Strategic School Profiles)
• Inner
• Left Panel (state, district assessment trends)
• Middle Panel (classroom or school level
  strategies supported by data)
• Right Panel (Action Plan reflecting current
  practices)

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Possible Uses Benefits

• Sharing of information with stakeholders
  students, families, faculty and the larger
  community
• Consolidation of various content areas into one
  easy to read pamphlet
• Facilitate on-going data-driven dialogue
• Widespread data use and literacy
• Data through collaborative inquiry

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Have a Go

• Participants will collect data
• A participant will input data
• Email or Print (optional)

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Next Steps

• Develop an implementation Action Plan
• Expand technology used
• Move to .pdf forms
• Grow into online database tool