Data Analysis

Amidst our class discussions on data analysis, I find myself at the beginning of the school year collecting data on pre-tests for the entire Sophomore class due to our Advanced-Ed certification. All students will take a grammar test at the beginning and end of the year. We will then record the data on this test for the next few years to study trends.

My only apprehension about this data collecting is the material we are collecting. Is this information we are testing important? Is this what we want to guide our curriculum throughout the year? Is there better data out there to collect?

I like that we are collecting data to analyze our department and how students are succeeding. I just wonder if we are checking for understanding with the right material in this standardized testing driven schol. Our data discussions from this class paralleled alot of these same concerns.

Data Executing and Other Thoughts

I have been gone for about a month, unaware that I should have been keeping a weekly blog about all the events in the class, but without further ado, I am back in action.

This week's class asked us to consider data in the classroom. I am completely aware that rooting your decisions with data as a backbone is a main goal. However, the idea of data collecting, assessing, and enacting with that change just seems so complex because it is never black and white. Knowing what data to collect, making sure that data is not skewed at all, and really figuring out how to use that data is no easy feat. There's not an instruction book on what to do with data to follow. Really, it requires us educators to use critical thinking skills and find ways to help kids and develop plans after reading data. It's a little intimidating at this point in my career as I go on my fourth year of teaching.

Reverting away from data collecting, I did find the "Hw to Thrive as a Teacher Leader" book to be helpful in communicating logical ideas of how to promote healthy leadership in the teacher role. It also offered ideas as to how administration should be taking on leadership roles as well. What this book did was really make me reflect on what I could be doing more, how I could step up as a teacher leader, and really assess the type of administration that is leading the school I am employed with.