Learning Analytics Collaborative

(This post is by Andrew Blair, Head of IT Services and Solutions, Zurich International School) With over 1200 K-12 students and 280 employees, Zurich International School is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization World School and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission on International Education. ZIS is also approved by the Department of Education of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. It delivers a strong academic program, centered around the traditional core disciplines, preparing students for entrance into colleges, universities, or other institutions.   Due to an increasing collection of academic performance data from various internal and external sources, ZIS is continually seeking ways to improve the collation, correlation and readability of separate data sets for the purpose of informed decision making. Internal data sources include teacher-assessed subject grades, descriptors for standards and achievement levels for instr

(This post is by Ben Hacking , Deputy Principal at the Vienna International School ) Established in 1978, the Vienna International School (VIS) is a CIS accredited, IB World School situated in Vienna, Austria.   The School serves students from kindergarten to grade 12 who come mostly from the diplomatic corps and international businesses based in Vienna.   Diversity is one of VIS’s greatest strengths and the School is proud that of the 1368 students attending, approximately 112 nationalities are represented around 85 native languages are spoken altogether.   This diversity is also represented amongst our approximately 270 faculty members, leadership teams and administrative staff.   VIS joined the Learning Analytics Collaborative (LAC) in 2017-18 after an extensive internal review of, and reflection on, our own data for learning practices.  Over time, we have worked with the LAC to develop a number of engines to support and empower our faculty with the data tools and inquiry processes

I’m sharing an article that tells the story of a school’s data journey. It is very typical of many schools around the world but also more challenging. A school that was once on the verge of being labeled under-performing, turned to data to move the bar on student success. It addresses the need of academic leadership and drive for change as a fundamental success factor in such a journey. Cole Young, the principal of Humboldt Elementary School, turned his passion for learning and data into a success story for the whole school. The journey wasn’t easy as the school didn't have a culture of data, and creating one was difficult, with school awashed with data and a degree of resentment and lack of direction among teachers. Young started by identifying key pieces of data that would be most useful for teachers. Humboldt staff met as a group to look at the numbers and talk about what to do with it, how it applied to research-based practices, and strategize collaboratively as a school. Recog