LAC School Spotlight - International School of Beijing

International School of Beijing

(by Ruth Poulsen, Director of Curriculum and Assessment, ISB)

THE SCHOOL
Number of students: 1700
Grades: EY-12
Number of faculty: 200
Curriculum: IB DP, Common Core
Accredited by: CIS
Joined LAC in 2019 School Year

THE CHALLENGE
What was the challenge the school was facing?

ISB is very rich in the amount of data we collect, but we found that a challenge was that we were housing that data in various places. LAC gave us one place to start visualizing all of our data in one place.

Why was LAC chosen?

We started with another company at first, but LAC’s visualizations were much cleaner and easier to understand. We really loved the individual student reports which visualize various kinds of data side by side.

HOW IS THE LAC PLATFORM BEING USED NOW

Who uses the platform at the school?

Our leadership team looks at schoolwide data together twice a year, once in October and once in June.

Teacher leaders in various subject areas look at programmatic data once or twice per year.

Individual teachers look at the LAC portal data 1- 3 times per year, depending on their subject area and grade level.

How often and at what critical times of the year is it being used the most?

In Elementary school, teachers do Beginning of year, Middle of year, and end of year data meetings. In Secondary, this is more like twice a year.

What are the ways in which data and the platform are being used by teachers and leadership?
We often use the “Here’s What, So What, Now What” protocol to reflect on the data in order to name patterns and consider multiple possible inferences before taking any action.

What is the impact, how has it changed the culture/ conversations/ work, etc.?
Growing a culture of data reflection and responsive teaching is a major challenge. Teachers are much more likely to see the benefit of talking about student data now that they have had several impactful experiences where they can see how useful data can be in planning instruction that meets the needs of their students.

What key decisions are being made with the use of data and the platform?

We consider programmatic decisions based on macro data and responsive instructional decisions based on individual student and class data.

WHAT ARE THE WAYS IN WHICH YOU SEE THE SCHOOL USING DATA IN THE FUTURE?

One of our major challenges is deepening our capacity for responsive teaching--and that’s not usually based on data that goes into LAC portal, but rather is small formative checks that then teachers use to adjust their instruction. But experiencing the larger data meetings run by the teachers leaders and Office of Learning are one step that can help teachers build their capacity to apply this in smaller, more pervasive ways, so we plan to continue to build these systems and structures.

Comments

The End of Year Data Handover

“And then she went to the porridge of the Little Wee Bear, and tasted it, and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and she liked it so well that she ate it all up, every bit!” — Goldilocks and the Three Bears For many of us, the sun is shining and we are in the mad dash of wrapping things up before escaping for a well deserved summer. I suspect it would be an easy task if wrapping up was all we had to do, but of course it’s never that simple in a school. We don’t just pack up our class, we need to hand them over to next year’s division and teachers, and get ready to receive our next batch. The data handover is enormous, and figuring out the what and how requires a “Goldilocks” attitude - we’ve got to get it just right. Quantity: Sharing enough to inform, but not so much that it will overwhelm next year’s teachers. Ingredients: Not sharing just numbers, but also anecdotal records and holistic data that will help teachers know students better and so...

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...

Growing Data Champions

In my work with schools, I’m always on the look out for a school’s data champions: the early adopters of a culture where data is valued and is used to improve schools and student outcomes. Data champions help colleagues understand how to find, interpret, and use data effectively. They are also translators, able to turn complex findings into clear and actionable insights. Image by Mohamed Hassan form PxHere - CC0 Public Domain We often go looking for data champions in the IT office, or failing that, in the math department, but the truth is that data champions are hiding in plain sight everywhere; anyone who believes in using data to inform choices, and who can convince others of the value of data, has the potential to become a champion. So how do we find and grow these “sleeping champions”? Jim Collins share strategies for building “enduring greatness by cultivating a talent pipeline”. In a data context, this could include: Modeling data-driven d...

Learning Analytics Collaborative

Search This Blog