There is no right kind of data to use for this process; however, we recommend starting with data that exists within your sphere of influence. For example, looking at school-wide data may provide some interesting insights about the context in which you are teaching, but may be difficult to influence at the classroom level. The process is as follows click section to scroll there :. It can be helpful to brainstorm some possible questions you have about student achievement, instructional practice, or classroom conditions conducive to learning.
This initial brainstorm can help you to articulate a problem statement or guiding question that will help direct your data inquiry process.
Many students performed poorly on the last unit assessment. Which topics did students most frequently struggle with, and to what extent do outcomes vary across different student groups? Looking for a printable version of this tool? Please download the PDF. Once you have identified the problem statement or guiding question you want to investigate further, the next step is to identify the specific data source s to review.
While standardized testing data can serve as a valuable tool for understanding student achievement trends in our schools, they may not always provide educators with the real-time data necessary to make day-to-day decisions about how to adjust instruction to best meet the needs of students.
There are, however, a wide range of other data that educators are collecting everyday that can provide immediate and valuable information about students that informs and influences how we teach, as well as where and what we review, readjust, and reteach. Once you have identified a set of data to review, it can be helpful to consider ways to visualize your data.
Looking at spreadsheets packed with student test scores can be overwhelming and make it difficult to pull out potential patterns. Instead, taking the time to generate some simple charts or graphs can make a big difference in terms of making the data accessible and meaningful. At this stage, focus on making data observations: What do we observe in the data? What patterns do we notice? For example, the data might show only one year of student performance, rather than a series of years that support a trend.
This process might also prompt thinking about additional data sources that could be helpful to better understand your problem statement. The following protocol can help you have an effective and productive conversation about your data. Once you have completed the data dialogue protocol, you can use your conclusions to identify student learning goals on which to focus improvements and map out specific action steps for adjusting your practice.
Your data analysis can lead you to identify patterns in student learning, including common strengths and challenges. In this step, you can engage in conversations with colleagues to formulate hypotheses about the reasons for these patterns, including why students are performing in a certain way and how specific adjustments to your instruction can help students achieve your learning goals.
Based on your hypotheses, you might decide to change or supplement your curriculum, try new instructional strategies, or seek alternative resources to better support student learning. When teachers understand this assessment data, they are positioned to make decisions that inform instruction and positively affect student outcomes. Data-driven assessment is only valuable when the data is actionable. A continuous feedback loop that consists of planning, teaching, assessing, and adapting can help drive meaningful data-driven instruction.
Assessments that are solely used as a measurement of learning do not benefit students in a timely manner; assessments for learning however are game changers! It gives the teacher the ability to make adjustments to their teaching so that no students are left behind. The ability for teachers to adjust their instruction to meet the needs of students is paramount.
Feedback on student progress should start in the beginning of the lesson. It should continue during the lesson as students are forming their understanding of the concept, as well as at the end of the lesson…when typically summative assessments are given.
In the article, Feedback in Schools, Hattie discusses seven understandings that teachers should follow when giving effective feedback as summarized by the author of this blog :. Transferring power to students in order to monitoring their own learning can be difficult. There are many strategies teachers can use in order for students to create a strong sense of agency.
Teachers can use are self-assessment and self-reflection, they provide for closure at the end of every learning segment, and they can use rubrics, checklists, and peer assessments. These are all strong metacognitive practices that can start as early as kindergarten and can be found in effective teacher's classrooms all the way through a student's schooling. Self-assessment can be included in all lessons at the beginning, middle, and even the end of an instructional segment.
Students can first score themselves against criteria in a pre-assessment. Finding out what they know about a subject area, schemata as coined by Jean Piaget , can be a powerful tool for teachers. Teachers can then determine how deep and how fast they can instruct according to pre-assessment data from students. This data can tell a teacher areas of strengths and areas of needs for individual students, as well as holistic data for the class or grade level.
Combining this pre-assessment data along with prior summative data give the teacher various data points in order to make more effective and efficient instructional decisions. Self-assessment conducted in the middle of the lesson segment gives teachers data to inform instruction.
The data lets teachers know if students are on the path to achieving the overarching learning targets. In addition, the data lets the teacher know how effective their instruction is so far and gives them direction on pacing and mastery of content. The power of self-assessment data along with teacher formative assessment data give the teacher two data points in order to make more effective and efficient instructional decisions.
Self-assessment at the end of the lesson provides students a chance to self-reflect on where they started from in the lesson or unit segment, and where they are at the end. Using summative assessments coupled with formative and self-assessment data inform instruction for exemplary teachers. These teachers understand that data drives instruction and they have evidence to inform the decisions they make.
Checklists, rubrics, and peer assessments are devised to organize and chunk learning; they can be strong tools for creating agency. When a student follows a checklist in order to complete given tasks, they are in charge of their learning. Likewise, when rubrics are used, students can set a goal with the given criteria. If the rubric is clearly communicated, delineated out so students can ascertain the given criteria, increased student achievement is evident.
Peer assessments can change student products and increase student achievement. When a positive learning culture is created in a classroom, peers play a vital role in assessing their peers.
When the information is used in a formative nature, students can improve their work. Peers can work on collaboration skills, teaching others, as well as creating a strong positive learning environment when done appropriately with respect and kindness.
When a teacher uses assessment data to drive instruction, differentiation is a powerful strategy to meet individual, group, and classroom needs. Differentiation seeks to determine what students already know, what they need to learn, as well as allowing them to demonstrate what they know through multiple methods.
Lastly, it encourages students and teachers to add depth and complexity to the learning process. Recently there has been a few articles in the news about the difficulties of effectively differentiating instruction. The arguments by James Delish in a Education Week article, Differentiation Doesn't Work , state the following two reasons why this strategy is failing in our schools:.
To some degree, Delish's arguments are viable. Exemplary teachers in Charlotte Danielson's Model understand that differentiation is the key to individualizing student learning. In the past decade, personalized learning has become a prominent goal for educators across the country. Addressing students needs is a difficult task. Since , this definition is still considered best practice in education today,.
Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. Although assessments of learning are important if we are to ascribe grades to students and provide accountability, teachers should also focus more on assessment for learning.
These types of assessment — formative assessments — support learning during the learning process. Since formative assessments are considered part of the learning, they need not be graded as summative assessments end-of-unit exams or quarterlies, for example are. Rather, they serve as practice for students, just like a meaningful homework assignment.
They check for understanding along the way and guide teacher decision making about future instruction; they also provide feedback to students so they can improve their performance. Educational consultant Rick Stiggins suggests "the student's role is to strive to understand what success looks like and to use each assessment to try to understand how to do better the next time.
When I work with teachers during staff development, they often tell me they don't have time to assess students along the way. They fear sacrificing coverage and insist they must move on quickly. Yet in the rush to cover more, students are actually learning less.
Without time to reflect on and interact meaningfully with new information, students are unlikely to retain much of what is "covered" in their classrooms. Formative assessments, however, do not have to take an inordinate amount of time.
While a few types such as extended responses or essays take considerably more time than others, many are quick and easy to use on a daily basis. On balance, the time they take from a lesson is well worth the information you gather and the retention students gain. The National Forum on Assessment suggests that assessment systems include opportunities for both individual and group work. Listening in on student partners or small-group conversations allows you to quickly identify problems or misconceptions, which you can address immediately.
If you choose a group assessment activity, you will frequently want to follow it up with an individual one to more effectively pinpoint what each student needs. Often, the opportunity to work with others before working on their own leads students toward mastery. The group assessment process is part of the learning; don't feel you must grade it. The individual assessment that follows can remain ungraded, as well, although it will be most useful if you provide some feedback to the learner, perhaps in the form of a brief comment or, at the very least, a check, check-plus or check-minus, with a brief verbal explanation about what each symbol indicates You have mastered the skill , You need more practice, etc.
Using at least one formative assessment daily enables you to evaluate and assess the quality of the learning that is taking place in your classroom and answer these driving questions: How is this student evolving as a learner?
What can I do to assist this learner on his path to mastery? I have chosen a variety of quick ways for you to check for understanding and gather "evidence" of learning in your classroom. The quick formative assessments found within this book are designed for easy implementation in any classroom.
Almost all can be used, with a little modification, throughout grades and across the curriculum. A few are better for either younger or more sophisticated learners. Each strategy is labeled for easy identification by grade level on the list of strategies.
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