Feedback and data are only good if we use it. As a math coach I am constantly pulling reports to look at student performance and gains. In our system we use i-Ready to evaluate student performance and then using the data we individualize the instruction to help students grow. We take the diagnostic of i-Ready three times a year. Each time it gives myself and the teachers instant and detailed information about each student and ways to close gaps on specific standards.
I am fortunate enough to be able to go out to the schools I serve and help lead professional learning communities. These meetings are a time for us to delve deeper into the data and walk away with a plan for our students. Here is one of the PLC presentations that we used at one of our schools. We really wanted teachers to be intentional about the data. We walked through the instructional groupings and looked at the tools for instruction lessons based on these student groupings. The picture below shows an example of the tools for instruction lessons.
The CoSN standard that I linked this experience to was 5H-Analyze and identify on an ongoing basis individual and team strengths, required areas of growth, and how teams and their members are being deployed and redeployed.
Sheninger (2019) states, “pedagogy trumps technology" (p. 97). Technology should enhance learning, not take the place of the teacher. In an article written by Sheninger (2017), he discusses the importance of ensuring good pedagogical practices are happening first and then adding in technology second as an enhancement to the learning process. Assessment and feedback are critical and necessary to provide rigorous instruction.
Sheninger (2019) refers to rigor being levels of thinking:
Scaffolding for thinking
Planning for thinking
Assessing thinking
Recognizing the level of thinking students demonstrate
Managing the teaching/learning level for the desired thinking level
It is important for us to communicate and for teachers to ask themselves if the technology they are using is relevant to the learning. Our instructional department asks teachers to require students to spend forty-five minutes on their i-Ready path each week. This path is based on the most recent diagnostic. However we need to do a better job in our PLC’s of communicating and emphasizing the importance of making sure the students are passing the lessons given instead of just getting in the minutes. Danley (2020) states, “using the data, teachers can help students by providing more instruction for that student or by challenging the students that already have a grasp on the content”. If teachers are looking at lessons passed instead of total minutes, they can focus on specific standards and content needed to close the gap or provide extension lessons. We have already discussed changes to this process moving into next year. Specifically how small groups can look based on the data findings and how the technology component of i-Ready can enhance the learning instead of being just one more "have to".
Looking at data can be very telling. According to Danley (2020), “achievement data demonstrates the low and high end of student performance. It benefits teachers by being able to determine instructional strategies that worked or didn't”. When we use the data to help drive our instruction, it helps us to prioritize the big things. I wish we had provided more time during this PLC to really plan out instructional practices needed (outside of using technology to “complete” i-Ready for the week) to help move the students. I always appreciate the meetings where I leave with something I can use. Looking at and analyzing data can be a lot. We do not want our meetings to leave teachers with paralysis by analysis. There is more to a child than the three data points that i-Ready gives. However, we want teachers to take advantage of the opportunity to know how to move their students through intentional and meaningful conversations with their peers.
Governor Ivey just recently signed the Numeracy Act. This act aims to improve math instruction and performance. We know the changes are coming. It is just a question of when. I am working with my district to implement things now before the Act’s changes reach us. Most of our schools do not have a building based math coach. The ones that do are paid with Title I money. The program area specialist and I have recently rolled out a MODEL(Meaningful Ongoing Development of Excellent Leadership) team program for next year. This team will help lead math instruction in their buildings. Our hope is that this will help engage teachers and build their capacity in math practices in order to better serve and grow students. This team will also be the voice of their peers. Through intentional conversations with their grade level, the turnaround will hopefully make them feel like they have a voice in math and minimize the disconnect that so many are feeling. Our goal is to shift some of the focus back to math and provide rigorous instruction to help raise math proficiency not only for our district but for the state of Alabama.
References:
Danley, A. J. (2020). Providing teacher candidates experience in data teams: analyzing literacy data. SRATE Journal, 29(1).
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed). Corwin.
Sheninger, E. (2017). To enable powerful learning, put pedagogy before tech. Wise. https://www.wise-qatar.org/enable-powerful-learning-put-pedagogy-before-tech-eric-sheninger/
Erica,
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher in the same district as you, I am so excited to have you in this current position. I am excited to see the new MODEL team for the upcoming year so that we can have more direct contact with other schools and collaborate by grade levels to find what works best. Little et. al (2021) discussed the importance of utilizing data from various sources to impact direct instruction to increase student performance. Sheninger (2017) also stated the importance of having a strong school culture to promote students' academic success. I feel that having the opportunity to build these outside relationships will have a direct impact on the culture of our district.
I am also excited to see the plans you all have in integrating iReady into a more powerful tool to utilize for more than just student scores. We have had issues with students not worrying about actually passing the lessons but making sure they have the time in each week. That obviously is not beneficial for them. We started using a tracker for lessons passed or failed and it was very eye opening to see.
References:
Little, C. W., Lonigan, C. J., & Phillips, B. M. (2021). Differential patterns of growth in reading and math skills during elementary school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(3), 462–476. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.1037/edu0000635.supp (Supplemental)
Sheninger, E. (2017). To enable powerful learning, put pedagogy before tech. Wise. https://www.wise-qatar.org/enable-powerful-learning-put-pedagogy-before-tech-eric-sheninger/
Erica,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. I am a data lover and enjoy the data meetings where we actually talk about student data and next steps to take to help close the gap or to help enrich lessons. In a study conducted by Wilkerson et al. (2021) it was found that only 71% of teachers used summative data, but 94% used formative data.
I am so excited to be a member of the MODEL team next year. I am looking forward to collaborating with other teachers from different schools and I am hoping we have time to also collaborate with members from different grade levels. By being a member of this team, I am hoping that I can help teachers in my building understand the importance of using data to drive their instruction. I like how Sheninger (2019) points out to “think about the formative and summative assessments you either use or see in your role as an educator” and to ask yourself if students are demonstrating higher level thinking skills (p. 97). These are important things to think about and to help drive instruction. Like you said, I would love to see our math instruction become more rigorous so that our proficiency level is increased.
Thanks for sharing,
Dana
References
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed). Corwin.
Wilkerson, S. B., Klute, M., Peery, B., Liu, J., National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (ED), Regional Educational Laboratory Central (ED), & Marzano Research. (2021). How Nebraska teachers use and perceive summative, interim, and formative data. Study Brief. REL 2021-054. In Regional Educational Laboratory Central. Regional Educational Laboratory Central.
Nice post Erica! I'm a personal fan of data. I love to use the data to help solve or explain things. I'm also familiar with hearing the word i-ready. Planning and thinking ahead are important in education as it relates to getting data from our students. "Research has consistently indicated that the number one factor that impacts student learning is the quality of the teacher.
ReplyDeleteThus success in improving outcomes through the use of technology means better support for current teachers or finding ways to add more positions" (Sheninger, 2019, p.86). This other article I came across talks about how "student data was analyzed using an independent samples t-test to compare academic performance of high school students to university students" (Rutz, 2022). Quality data can do so much if we continue to develop better ways of doing things in life.
References:
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed). Corwin.
Rutz, E. (2021). Student interest and perfance in Dual Enrollment Engineering Courses. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 22(3), 46-52.