Making Student Data Part of the Conversation!

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. Recognizing different levels of Data Literacy among teachers was key as every teacher had a different comfort level when it came to data consumption. Other important aspects were to demystify the data, encourage transparency, and let teachers familiarize themselves with the data, making the process of using data collaborative rather than competitive. The article also provides great insight as to what tools, both external and internal, have been used by the school as well as how to start and maintain a data culture. Seeing the effects of regular use of data and having data-informed, data-rich conversations had an amazing impact on school performance and culture. Humboldt teachers have grade-level meetings every week to review their data together and strategize, as well as sharing tips and practices. "Teachers are talking data all the time," Young says. You can read the full article here.

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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...

The End of Year Data Handover

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Which comes first? The process or the culture?

“Should we meet with primary and secondary leadership teams separately or together?” This question came up during a recent chat with Joe Barder, IT Director at AIS Lagos, when we were figuring out a strategy for building their data culture. A simple question, but it got me thinking a lot about the difference between organizational culture and organizational practices, and how we need to consider both when fostering change. At AIS Lagos, everyone is eager to dive in and start analysing data. However I also sensed some hesitation from Joe about jumping in without first establishing norms and shared practices. The question of whether to have data discussions at a whole school or division level is really about whether we want to start with targeted, relevant, and actionable sessions tailored for each group, or if we take the time to develop a whole-school shared understanding of what it means to be data-informed. In other words, do we focus on the culture or the practice? On on...

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