Data-based Decision Making in Practice: Step 2

Step 2: Analyze & Prioritize

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How are you currently analyzing the data that you collect? How does that help you prioritize action steps?

[two_third]The failure to achieve meaningful outcomes during school improvement activities is often due to a poor match between problems and the intensity, fidelity, or focus of interventions that are required.[ref]Sprague, et.al., 2001[/ref]

When teams of teachers stay focused on strengths and obstacles viewed in student work, it can lead to a focused team dialog on specific elements of proficiency.

During this step, teachers review student work samples each member brings to the meeting. The team uses the work samples to identify strengths and obstacles as well as trends and patterns noted across all work. After review is completed, the team develops inferences regarding strengths and obstacles. Then, the team prioritizes actions regarding the most urgent needs of students (e.g. Focus more instruction on specific content not mastered by students).

Teams use student work to observe and identify strengths and obstacles (errors and misconceptions) as well as trends and patterns.
Teams infer based on data.
- What is present becomes strengths.
- What is missing becomes obstacles or challenges.
Teams prioritize by focusing on the most urgent needs of learners.

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Next Steps

Assess your team/building current knowledge and implementation fluency with Collect & Chart, then determine possible next steps, including:

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[li_item icon=”fa-check-square-o”]Identify academic strengths for each student sub-group.[/li_item]
[li_item icon=”fa-check-square-o”]Identify academic obstacles for each sub-group.[/li_item]
[li_item icon=”fa-check-square-o”]Identify behavioral strengths and/or obstacles for each sub-group.[/li_item]
[li_item icon=”fa-check-square-o”]Develop possible next instructional step (academic or behavioral) for each sub-group that directly connects to inferences made for each sub-group.[/li_item]
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OBSERVE

Collaborative Teams identify the strengths and needs of student performance and then form inferences based on the data. Collaborative Teams also prioritize by focusing on the most urgent needs of the learners. It is important to look at strengths first and then weaknesses.

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Strengths
Consistent skills
Trends

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Strengths and obstacles
Students consistently rated not proficient
Error Analysis
- Inconsistent skills
- Misconceptions in thinking
General trends
Trends related to certain subgroups (e.g., ELL, gender, race/ethnicity, school attendance, attendance in classrooms, engagement, etc.)[/tagline_box]

INFER

An inference is a possible explanation to derive meaning from performance data.

For each subgroup of students (Proficient and Higher, Close to Proficient, Far to Go, and Intervention) infer what each listed performance strength means (i.e., cause for celebration, build on strengths). For student work that is not proficient, infer what each listed misconception/obstacle means.

After examining student work, list strengths of student(s) who were proficient, close to proficient, far to go, and in need of intervention (or not likely to meet proficiency within the given time frame or without highly individualized supports).

Review Performance Obstacles by asking questions like:

What were their errors?
Is there a trend?
What is preventing these student(s) from becoming proficient?
Are there misconceptions about concepts or skills?

Then generate possible reasons students did not achieve proficiency.

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PRIORITIZE

The team can prioritize by focusing on the most urgent needs or learners. The urgent need of Proficient and Higher learners may be addressed through enrichment. The urgent needs of Close to Proficient, Far to Go, and Intervention will most likely be addressed through re-teaching.

For students in Proficient and Higher subgroups, prioritize what might be a logical Next Step for further instruction to enhance student knowledge and use of the prioritized standard. For students in the Close to Proficient, Far to Go, and Intervention subgroups prioritize which of the performance strengths or obstacles should be the logical Next Step for student instruction and support to develop and solidify student knowledge and use of the prioritized standard.[/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][tagline_box backgroundcolor=”#E1E1E1″ shadow=”no” shadowopacity=”0.1″ border=”0px” bordercolor=”#E1E1E1″ highlightposition=”none” content_alignment=”left” link=”” linktarget=”_self” modal=”” button_size=”” button_shape=”” button_type=”” buttoncolor=”” button=”” title=”Questions to Facilitate Prioritization:” description=”” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””]

What are the strengths of the student responses we have collected?
Do any responses stand out?
What is a sample of an ideal/proficient response? (Do we know what we consider proficient? Do we agree on what proficiency looks like?)
Which questions had a high number of correct responses?
Which questions were left blank or had a very low response rate? (We will consider these for targeted instructional/learning objectives.
What question or questions seem most difficult for students? On which concepts will we need to give focused and direct instruction?
What learning needs are evident?[/tagline_box][/one_half]

Analyzing Behavioral Data

For each sub-group identify if the following apply:

Student attendance is above 95%.
Low percentage of classroom managed problem behaviors.
Low percentage of student removal from academic instruction.

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Students are present at school.
Students remain in the classroom for academic instruction.

As grade level or departmental teams meet to chart and analyze data they need to consider academic strengths and skills, as well as behavioral strengths and skills. If the 3 conditions are met and the inference can logically then be made that indeed the primary intervention for this sub-group of students would be academic. The team can leave the pre-entered verbiage in the cells and move on to the academic interventions.

If students are not present in class on a consistent basis they cannot benefit from the high quality academic curriculum and effective instructional practices.[/tagline_box][/three_fifth]

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Which condition is not met?
Are universal effective classroom management practices in place the with consistency and intensity needed to meet the foundational behavioral support needs of the students under scrutiny?

If the team cannot answer “YES” to the conditions above for the students in the sub-group under scrutiny then the team will need to delete criteria not met and consider if universal effective classroom practices (for management) are in place?[/tagline_box][/two_fifth]

See Mo SW-PBS for information and training modules on research based classroom behavioral interventions.

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What does exemplary implementation of Analyze and Prioritize look like?

Essential Function: Educators use results to identify priority learning needs.

Team lists strengths, misconceptions, and inferences for 4 proficiency groups.
Strengths and misconceptions are directly related to the common formative assessment and all essential standards.
Learning needs are prioritized.
Prioritized needs are categorized according to a hierarchy of prerequisite skills.

Download the Data-Based Decision Making Practice Profile