DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

WELCOME Data Driven Instruction: The Key to Improving Student Achievement DOE: AS 177901 BRANDMAN: EDDU 9192 DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

We are a society that evaluates everything. We like to put a number or value on things so we can then rank them in relationship to other things. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

TV Nielsen ratings… #1 Movie based upon ticket sales College rankings in sports Restaurant rankings…YELP Hotels…1-5 Stars Tripadvisor Your admission to college High School sports teams DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

We also rank things by states. On one of the 3x5 cards at your table, each of you should number it 1-5. Answer the following 5 questions about where Hawaii ranks in relation to the other 49 states in the following areas? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Overall health (#1 healthiest…50 least healthy) Obesity (#1 slimmest...50 fattest) Percentage of smokers (#1 lowest % of smokers…50 highest) Percentage of college grads 25 and older (#1 highest %...50 lowest) Average starting teacher salary (#1 highest…50 lowest) DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Overall health #1 Hawaii is considered, by the United Health Foundation, to be the healthiest state in the US. This statistic takes into consideration a number of health factors. Least healthy…Mississippi DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

2. Obesity (Low # is skinny) #4 Thinnest state…Colorado (If Joe would move to another state they would be even slimmer) Fattest state…Mississippi DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

3. Percentage of smokers (Low is less smokers) #3 16% of the people smoke. Two states have a lower percentage of smokers… What states are they? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Utah 11% California 15% DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

4. Percentage of college grads #11 This is the percentage of people 25 years of age and older who have a at least a Bachelor’s Degree. Lowest state…Mississippi DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

5. Average starting teacher salary. #14 $38,479 Lowest…Montana, $26, 734. These figures are from the NEA for the 2011-2012 school year. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

At your tables, introduce yourselves and share your answers to the 5 questions. -Name -School -Grades/subjects you teach DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

So what did you learn from that exercise… DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Don’t move to Mississippi! DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Think in terms of advertising…. They are always throwing data (or what is suppose to be data) at us! -#1 Best selling… -9 out of 10 Doctors recommend… -#1 Doctor recommended… -New York Times best seller list… -Doctor preferred… -Safest car in its class… -#1 Resale value of any car in its class… DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

As you watch TV tonight or listen to the radio, listen for the ads using some sort of ranking to promote their product. Listen if they quote a source or not. Sometimes you’ll hear, “According to J D Power and Associates used car ratings.” Other times it’s just a number with no source. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Politicians look at the numbers all the time. Especially after they lose an election. What is important to the people? Which positions on particular issues are popular and which aren’t? Which groups are voting for me and which are voting against me? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

While they may say they vote their conscious, they know to get reelected they most vote consistent with the beliefs of their constituents. Which is not a bad thing. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Education is no different. We rank students, schools and the state. You can go to these websites and see where your school is ranked in the state. Great Schools School Digger DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Another quiz… Where does Hawaii rank in relationship to the other 49 states in… Taken from NEA stats. Have one answer per table. Number of school districts in each state? (Highest # of districts would be 1st) Percentage of male teachers K-12? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

3. Average teacher salary (not starting salary)? 4. Expenditures for public schools per student for K-12? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

50th… Hawaii is the only state that is governed as one school district. The next lowest (49th) is Nevada with 17 different districts. Texas is 1st with 1227 school districts in the state. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

2. Hawaii ranks 16th with 25.5% of teachers who are male. Kansas is number one with 33.1% of the teachers who are male. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

3. Hawaii ranks 20th with an average salary of $54,070. The earlier question was about starting salaries. New York is 1st with an average salary of $73, 398 DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

4. Hawaii ranks 16th with an yearly per student expenditure of $11,659. New York is 1st with an per student expenditure of $17,750 Arizona is 50th with an average expenditure of $6,448. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Those were 4 pieces of data. # of districts in each state % of male teachers Average teacher salary Yearly per student expenditures Do any of these numbers really matter? If you had to pick one that has the most impact upon student learning, which one would it be? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

So data is all around us and necessary for to make good instructional decisions. Without accurate or meaningful data, we are similar to a Doctor attempting to make a diagnosis without blood tests, EKG’s, X-rays, ultra sounds, etc. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

As educators, what we really need to know what knowledge and skills our student possess and what we still need to teach them. Without this knowledge, we are wasting valuable instructional time and effort. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

This concept is not new. Teachers have always been assessing student achievement, what we are doing today is a much more formal analysis of student performance. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

One of the more legitimate concerns about data today in education, is that we are spending so much time administering the tests and collecting the data, we don’t have time to teach. It is like the story of the farmer who wanted his cow to gain weight. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

He spent so much time taking the cow over to the scale to see if it was gaining weight, the cow never had time to eat. Are we sometimes assessing the students so much that we don’t have time to teach them? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

While we all would agree assessment is good and is necessary, like everything else in life, too much of even a good thing can become a bad thing. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Bottom line… The goal of this class to give you the knowledge and skills to use data to maximize your instruction. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

This includes knowing… -What data you presently have available to you. -What additional data you might need. -How to identify accurate and important data. -A variety of strategies to address any deficiencies that exist between what you want your student to know and what they actually know. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

The issue with all data, is threefold. How was the data was collected. How it is interpreted. How it is used. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Going back to question #1 in the quiz. Number of school districts in each state. How it was collected? This is easy as it is public record. Anyone can verify the accuracy of the data. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

2. How is it interpreted? This can vary as individuals or groups may use this data to push for their own agenda. They may pick and choose from the data to show how fewer school districts improve student performance or how more districts improve student performance. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

For example, Maryland ranks 48th in the number of school districts (24) and is ranked #2 in having the most High Schools (25.7%) receiving gold and silver medals. These medals are awarded based upon the percentage of students passing the AP exams and International Baccalaureate tests as well as scores on the state’s standardized test program. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

So it is obvious that the smaller the number of school districts in a state, the better the students perform. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

On the other hand, California ranks 2nd in the number of school districts (1042) and is ranked #1 in having the most High Schools (27.8%) receiving gold and silver medals. So it is obvious that having more districts in a state, the better the students perform. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

This is an example of how someone can pick the data or only use part of the data to advance their point of view. If I advocate fewer districts I mention the Maryland example. More districts the California example. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

If the data was then used to either force the creation of more districts or consolidate others, it is wrong. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Data interpretation is not always easy… We can see the same numbers, but sometimes in a different way. Similar to looking at the following visual illusions. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Is this person looking at you or to the side? DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Remember that things aren’t always what they appear to be. DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION