Skip to main content

Using data to inform decision-making within the Student Support Team

LAC Case Study: International School of Phnom Penh

(This post is by Jonathan Smedes, Director of Learning, Teaching, Innovation and Impact at ISPP)

THE SCHOOL
The International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) is an internationally accredited day school located in the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. The school hosts students from approximately 50 different nationalities and has a current enrollment of approximately 920 students from Early Years to Grade 12. Established in 1989, the school has grown from a small community school, servicing a few expatriate families, to a beacon school in the region, attracting students from all over Asia and beyond who make Phnom Penh home. It is the only parent-governed, not for profit, internationally accredited (CIS/WASC) school in Cambodia. ISPP is fully authorized to run the PYP, MYP and DP and is a member of host of other international organizations. 

 

THE CHALLENGE

In the Secondary School (Grades 6 to 12), the Support Services Team (SST) meets regularly to make decisions about the services provided to individual students based on their unique needs. These needs could be related to English language placement, a learning support need, or even a counselling or health related response. As every student’s context and needs are different, the team relies heavily on qualitative (teacher feedback, observations, referrals, etc.) and quantitative (assessment achievement, standardized tests, etc.) data to make appropriate decisions about differing levels of support that can be provided to each student. 

 

Over the years, the team has struggled to compile and synthesize all of the data needed which will be used to inform their decision making. The sheer amount of data and the non-uniform way in which the data was housed meant that this task was time-consuming and caused a delay in decision making. It meant that students were not receiving appropriate responses or interventions to their needs in a timely manner and teachers became frustrated at a perceived lack of inaction. Furthermore, because the data was housed in a variety of different forms and locations, key pieces of information were sometimes missed, causing potential inappropriate responses to the original concern. 

 

THE SOLUTION 

ISPP became interested in Learning Analytics Collaborative at an early stage, primarily as a way to house important school-wide assessment data. It was originally felt that the benefit of the LAC would be to provide bigger picture information about school-wide achievement both over the course of a semester or year, and longitudinally. As years of data became available in this one-stop-shop approach, it quickly became clear that in the Secondary School, the greatest use for teachers was being able to drill down and receive information about individual student achievement. 

 

The SST was also naturally drawn to the individual student data dashboards as a way to create a quick snapshot of student performance over time in order to help inform individualized responses to student concerns. Where once, the team may have leapt to a conclusion about a particular student based on current teacher feedback, they were now able to provide much more context with more specific sets of longitudinal data that inform more appropriate responses and interventions. 

 

THE OUTCOME 

Nowadays, when discussing student concerns or achievement, the LAC is our first port of call. We have been able to work with the team at the LAC to make the data work for our context. We have developed whole school protocols for how teachers look at and make information decisions and there is now a culture that data can be used as a powerful tool to inform our practices and responses.


Popular posts from this blog

From Mission to Metrics

Last week a new LAC school presented me with an interesting question: “ How do we know we’re meeting our mission? ”. It’s the kind of question that we often ask ourselves at accreditation season, but how many schools can truly answer with confidence and evidence? The more I thought about it, the more I realised that unpacking this question is no different to any other data dive we might do. It requires us to understand what we’re measuring, to find a range of data to analyse, and then to use all that evidence to gain a deeper and more holistic understanding of our current situation and future goals.    Step 1: Translating values into visible behaviours What does our mission look like in action? When we are living our mission, our values align with our actions. Let’s take “lifelong learning” as an example phrase we often see in mission statements. Schools that value lifelong learning will likely have administrators that promote and encourage staff professional development...
Post a Comment
Read more

Using Social and Emotional Data to Promote a Positive School Culture

I came across this great article on Edutopia by Victoria Curry and Mike Setaro on how school leaders can combine traditional data with social and emotional data to get a full picture of the school experience of students and staff. It’s centered around Warm data that gives both dimension and measure to an individual’s and group’s social and emotional status. Opposite to Cool data points, that are a series of structural data sets such as enrollment, attendance, and academic proficiency that typically are the bedrock of school-based analytics. They talk about various examples of Warm data points among them on a matrix with different degrees of pleasantness and energy before engaging in learning (inspired by Mark Brackett’s work). These points can and should be captured, measured and visualized. The insights from this data should be of utmost importance for leaders to find strategies that capture and leverage information related to SEL and interpersonal skills. Harnessing this level of und...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nurturing Holistic Growth: The Role of Data Analytics in International Schools with a Focus on Social-Emotional Wellbeing

In the dynamic realm of education, international schools are increasingly leveraging data analytics not only to optimize academic outcomes but also to enhance the social-emotional wellbeing of their students. The integration of data analytics into educational frameworks enables institutions to glean insights that extend beyond traditional academic performance, fostering a holistic approach to student development. One of the pivotal aspects of data analytics in international schools is its application in the analysis of social-emotional wellbeing data. By examining factors such as student engagement, behavioral patterns, and emotional states, schools can gain a deeper understanding of the non-academic aspects of student life. This information is instrumental in tailoring support mechanisms to address the unique socio-emotional needs of each student, ultimately contributing to a more nurturing and inclusive learning environment. Data analytics proves particularly beneficial in identifyin...
Post a Comment
Read more