Skip to main content

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 decision making

  • Provide opportunities for people to learn and share data literacy skills.

  • Recognize and reward data wins.

  • Create a safe space for exploration and honest discussion around data findings.

The LAC Playbook shares examples of how schools have found success by recruiting champions from IT and Academics, who work in partnership to share a consistent message.

What other ways do you find and grow your data champions? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

Atlas Protocol - Looking at data

The Atlas Protocol is one of the most commonly used structured dialogue formats among schools to facilitate a conversation about data for teachers and other members of the faculty. Learning from Data is a tool to guide groups of teachers discovering what students, educators, and the public understands and how they are thinking. The tool, developed by Eric Buchovecky, is based in part on the work of the Leadership for Urban Mathematics Project and of the Assessment Communities of Teachers Project. The tool also draws on the work of Steve Seidel and Evangeline Harris-Stefanakis of Project Zero at Harvard University. The protocol gives a detailed step by step guide on how to prepare and conduct a healthy, productive conversation about and with use of data. It starts with a selection of datasets that do not lead to a single conclusion and generally lead to rich conversations. From that point forward, the protocol describes 6 stages the group has to follow with the help of a facilitator in...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Data Can’t Do

I came across this fascinating article from the The New Yorker that really speaks volumes about how careful we have to be when it comes to using and visualizing data. Whenever you try to force the real world to do something that can be counted, unintended consequences abound. The COVID pandemic demonstrated just how vulnerable the world can be when you don’t have good statistics, and the US Presidential election filled our newspapers with polls and projections, all meant to slake our thirst for insight. The same applies to education where knowing what to measure, but also why you want to measure it, is the primary hurdle to tackle. We all have a tendency to naturally trust data as it aims to represent something we are observing. However there are times when simply even solid data is not enough for decision making. That’s why the context, the aim, and the balance between quantitative and qualitative data is so important. As the article states: “The great psychologist Daniel Kahneman, w...
Post a Comment
Read more