September 2007 — Features
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Data-Driven Decision Making :: The 'Other' Data
Most districts know the benefits of tabulating and tracking student performance. But now many are finding there's even more to gain from number crunching by casting out a wider net.
DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE! It's more than a
chipper jingle for the information age—it's a daily reality
for school systems, which must determine how to
break down so many numbers efficiently, effectively,
and to their best advantage. Between standardized tests
and tools from companies such as Pearson Education,
Wireless Generation, and Riverside Publishing, educators
and district superintendents alike are up to their
eyeballs in facts and figures about student performance
that they can use as the basis for curricular decisions.
Still, there's more to assessment than student performance.
A growing number of K-12 school districts
across the country have turned to traditional technologies
to collect new information about non-academic
indicators, such as employee retention, transportation
efficiency, or how many students purchase
lunch when the cafeteria offers hot dogs.
Many districts also chart demographic data, taking basic responses on enrollment forms and funneling them into a student information system for the scoop on how many students are coming from single-parent homes, or how many students are only children. In the majority of cases, districts incorporate statistics on gender and race, as well as information on the percentage of new students who speak English as a second language.
In a recent though still rare development, schools have signed up to collect data about student perceptions. Melissa Getz, president of Online School Surveys in Albany, CA, says several districts have hired her organization to help them compile information on issues such as how safe students feel on campus, how fair they believe their teachers are, and whether they see racism on campus.
"All of this data is important to some degree," she says. "The bottom line is that the more data you collect, the better your decisions will be."
