Here are my thoughts on Picciano, Chapter 5, about data-driven decision making in schools and how it is implemented in my school. I feel very fortunate to be part of a successful data driven decision making team!
Picciano, A. G. (2011). Wisdom and data-driven decision making. Educational leadership and planning for technology (5th ed., pp. 68-90). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.
Tai,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog video this week. You are so right that we are creatures of habit and tend to resist change. This applies to all aspects of life. It is very important for teachers to be involved in all aspects of strategic planning processes; after all, the classroom teachers are with these students and truly know them best and their guidance is invaluable. I do think it is great that so many people are involved in the decision making process at your school…even down to the school psychologist! Picciano explains this when he writes to, “include administrators who know their schools and constituents, teachers who know their students and curricula, and staff who know their operations and services” (2011, p. 74). The more educated people who can be involved in the process, the better as it strengthens the outcomes. Each person obviously only wants to do what is best and having the data to back it up is ideal. You mentioned that you record data through assessments, but how else does your school record data and how is it presented at the strategic planning meetings? It really does appear that your school takes data-driven decision making seriously and I bet that it has significantly impacted the growth and success of the school because of this. Great post!
Reference
Picciano, A. G. (2011).Educational leadership and planning for technology (5th ed.). Hunter College, NY: Allyn & Bacon
Rachel--Thanks for your feedback. I do think my school has found a good balance with the amount of people--not too few where there is a lack of information and not too many where there are too many voices and no consensus can be reached. Our school also records office referrals--when students meet with the administrators due to misbehavior of some sort. We use Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) and our PBIS team reviews this data and makes changes or offers incentives to students in order to diminish undesirable behaviors that are recurring. Thanks for asking!
ReplyDeleteTai
Hello Tai, I too think it makes sense to make decisions based off of certain data, as it (the data) can really provide valuable insight to certain situations. I do think leaders do have to be wise about which data they are making decisions about. I have worked at a school where we were just collecting data for the sake of collecting data, with no real direction or purpose for the use of the data. That can be very frustrating for the educators that have to collect it, as it makes them feel as though they are wasting their time. It sounds like the way your school analyzes the data could be very beneficial for both the students and the staff. The fact that the teachers participate in analyzing the data will add to teachers feeling appreciated and valued. Decisions must be made by well informed people and well informed people have the right data at their fingertips. If leaders have access to good data that has been properly dissected, than it becomes more likely that strong decisions can be made.Thanks for your post
ReplyDeleteReggie
Reggie--Thanks for sharing your feedback. I really like the point you make about teachers feeling appreciated and valued, and as a teacher who is a part of this process, I feel it is very true! --Tai
DeleteTai, I really enjoyed listening to your blog post. I could not agree more that many humans have a very difficult time with change. I for one am one of those many people. I believe that by using data to support the change helps to ease the change. If I know there is a valuable reason to change something, I am far more willing to comply and accept the change that if I am forced to do something or change something with no backing or reason as to why. I like clear answers as to why and also how to implement the change. As for using the data, my district also uses our weekly professional development time to look at data and create intervention groups that will allow us to help the students that are not quite at grade level and are falling behind. This is how we base all of our tutoring and intervention groups.
ReplyDeleteSteph--I appreciate your comments about change--I feel I am the same way! It sounds like we are at similar schools when it comes to tutoring and intervention groups. Thank you for sharing. --Tai
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