Week 8 Discussion - Data-Driven Instruction and Assessment

Data-Driven Instruction and Assessment

by  - Monday, June 24, 2019, 12:54 AM

 

How will you respond? Other staff members are waiting to hear what you will say.

These are comments we often hear in professional development every year in our schools.  I would respond by showing the teachers that I agree in many classes we have students who do not seem “to care” about assessments.  This is an obstacle that we must overcome and find ways to reach that student so they understand that assessment drives our learning.  Showing teachers that administration understands the struggles within this process as well as the classroom is the first step to gaining trust in the process.

Why should data drive scheduling and the school calendar? Someone is going to tell you they have never seen a school calendar with the word "data" written on it. It is your turn to start changing a culture that has probably been part of the school for a very long time.

Plans and culture cannot be establish on a whim or just ideals. To analyze and utilize data effectively then we must be committed to setting aside specific dates and times not only for administering tests but also interpreting the data and planning instruction based on the student data.  Changing the culture that was previously in place must take place by creating validity in the culture of data driven instruction.  For data to be the driving force in instruction it must also drive scheduling and the school calendar so that interim assessments are planned ahead of time as well as time to analyze data and plan instruction. 

How will you start to turn negatives into positives?

Turning these statements into a positive begin by allowing teachers the chance to explain more about their resentment towards data-driven instruction.  Breaking down the fear and resentment that teachers have can be the first step in helping them understand that data lays the road map to each step in instruction.  I would then allow teachers to brainstorm ways to reach students that “don’t care how they do on the test”.  Our job is to reach every student and we must discover what ways we can reach these students and show them the validity of assessment in the learning process.