November

15, 2015

LESLIE FERRE

EDC 257 M4A2: Student Data

As teachers, we use information from many sources to make decisions about planning,
teaching, and assessing using a process that is known as data-driven decision making (Burden &
Byrd, 2013, p. 284). Assessments are typically at the heart of teachers arsenals of data, but
Ellen Mandinach (2013) says we should also include other sources of information such as
demographics, attendance, health, behavior, attitude, welfare, observations, and classroom
activities. In short, we need to use any information that will help us make the best decisions for
our students.
Including Students in Data-Driven Decision Making
One way that teachers can use student data effectively is to have students use their own
data as part of the learning process. When students use their own individual data to monitor their
progress, they see evidence of growth, which leads to a growth mindset (Mindshift, 2014). When
students use their own data to set learning goals, they become active agents in their own learning,
which will foster independent and self-directed learning (Mindshift, 2014). Finally, when
students use their own data they will no longer see assessments as judgments, but rather as the
useful tools they are meant to be. An example of this point is found in the Sue Cleveland
Elementary (2013) Video by the 3rd Grade Student David. David talks quite matter-of-factly
about his less-than-acceptable behavior in the previous month and he is happy to show how he
has improved his behavior in the current month (Sue Cleveland Elementary, 2013).
The biggest disadvantage I see with students using their own data, as a class or
individually, is when there is no growth or negative growth. This is something that I have
firsthand experience with at the elementary school that my children attended where MAP testing
was used to measure students growth. After each session of MAP testing, students growth was

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celebrated. Both of my children consistently scored well above grade level in every MAP test
that they took and we would often see negative changes in their MAP scores. There was never
any discussion about why their scores should not be expected to grow and, in fact, they were
encouraged to set growth goals. When data shows incremental improvements, it can be quite
encouraging; but I think that the opposite is probably also true: seeing incremental decline can
have a negative effect.
I do not think that these problems mean that students should not use their own data as
part of their learning. I do think it means that teachers need to have strategies ready for handling
no growth or negative growth situations for all students.
Classroom Response Systems
When I was a student, I frequently knew the correct answer to a teachers question, but
rarely offered it. In my case, classroom response systems would have increased my class
participation because they would have allowed me to demonstrate my knowledge to the teacher
anonymously. Aside from creating a safe space for shy and unsure students to participate in
class, I think that there are other reasons that classroom response systems will encourage active
student participation (Bruff, 2015). Students will be more likely to participate because they know
their input is required and can be monitored by the teacher (Bruff, 2015). Finally, since student
responses can be used to guide instruction, the lesson will be more relevant to the students
needs, which should help with their overall engagement in the class (Bruff, 2015).
Benefits and Challenges
I think the biggest challenge for teachers when it comes to student data is the shear
volume of information that teachers are expected to make sense of. In a previous section, I
discussed my frustration with how MAP scores were handled with my children. I was frustrated

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as a parent that the teachers did not fully understand MAP score issues for gifted students, but I
also understood it was too much to ask that they be familiar with the unique situations of a few
outlier students. The ease with which we can collect data is, I think, giving us more data than we
can perhaps use effectively.
With the large volume of data, comes the difficulty of storing all of it and many school
districts are turning to third party storage providers (KQED, 2014). A students record can
contain extremely private and sensitive information, which leads to concerns about privacy when
their records leave the school district, if even virtually (KQED, 2014). When student records
were only kept on paper, it took time and effort to create a copy of those data, which provided a
level of protection. Digital information is incredibly easy to share and there are real, and I think
valid, concerns about putting that sensitive information into the hands of for-profit businesses
that see data as a commodity (KQED, 2014).
Using Data to Guide Instruction
As teachers, we want our students to learn. Assessments, both formative and summative,
are the tools we use to monitor our students learning and guide our instruction (Burden & Byrd,
2013, p. 286-287). Content standards are the benchmarks that our students need to meet and it is
our job as teachers to make that happen. The only way to know if a student has met a benchmark
is to assess the student against that benchmark, so it is important that assessments be tied to the
content standards.
Standardized test results are summative assessments that are used by the districts and
states to monitor students learning as well as assess a schools effectiveness (Burden & Byrd,
2013, p. 307-308). There is quite a bit of information that can be gleaned from students
standardized test results about their strengths and weaknesses (Burden & Byrd, 2013, p. 310). It

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is important, however, that a teacher does not focus their learning goals on improving test results
and end up teaching to the test. We must always remember to set our learning goals and design
our assessments so they relate to the content standards.
Final Thoughts
We are living in a digital age where data is extremely easy to collect. It is not as easy, however,
to use all the data meaningfully or protect it completely. As we move forward, I think it will be
important for educators to remind themselves that just because data can be collected does not
mean it should be collected. We should only be collecting and using data that will enhance our
teaching and our students learning.

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LESLIE FERRE

References
Bruff, D. (2015). Classroom Response Systems. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/clickers/

Burden, P. R. & Byrd, D.M. (2013). Methods for Effective Teaching: Meeting the Needs of All

Students (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

KQED. (2014, May 22). Whats Really At Stake? Untangling the Big Issues Around Student
Data. KQED News: Digital Tools. Retrieved from
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/22/whats-really-at-stake-untangling-issuesaround-student-data-privacy/

Mandinach, E. (2013, September 17). Data literacy vs. assessment literacy. [Web log post].
Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Retrieved from http://
www.msdf.org/blog/2013/09/ellen-mandinach-data-literacy-vs-assessmentliteracy/

Mindshift. (2014, September 8). Making Students Partners in Data-Driven Approaches to

Learning. Mindshift:KQED News. Retrieved from
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/09/08/how-students-can-be-partners-in-data-drivenapproaches-to-learning/

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Sue Cleveland Elementary. (2013, February 8). Sue Cleveland Students Discussing Data
Notebooks. [YouTube]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZZS4RJmtc