Data Driven Instruction

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The book Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo has been an enlightening book, and the potential I see for transforming schools is phenomenal. The drivers of this framework are assessment, analysis, action, and culture.

Assessment

In the first chapter Bambrick-Santoyo laid the groundwork with an assessment strategy to use to gather data. He described how assessments should be the starting point, transparent, common, interim, aligned to state tests and college readiness, aligned to instructional sequence, and cumulative throughout the year. The rigor of assessments should also match the material in class and the rigor of the end-of-year assessment, and they should happen every 6-8 weeks. The assessments should be created prior to teaching (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, pp. 11-13, 19, 28-29).

Analysis

Analysis was the topic of the second chapter. Analysis of interim assessment data is important because it can identify strengths and weaknesses of students, and goals can be set. Effective analysis will include four levels of analysis: 1) question level, 2) standards level, 3) individual student, and 4) whole class (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p.41). Ideally, the data report should be created within 48 hours and be just one page per class because longer reports are less likely to be used (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, pp. 44, 50). I have experienced this in my own benchmark reports, which are often close to 20 pages long. I find myself being overwhelmed with the data, and just use the simplest to interpret. I will try to use a simplified report as recommended on page 42 of the book the next time I give a benchmark exam. The author recommended having the test on hand when doing the analysis in order to compare the results on the report with the actual test, and he asserted that this is the only way to do an effective analysis (p. 47). Bambrick-Santoyo (2010, p. 50) provided a list of questions to ask during analysis as summarized below:

Global Questions (read the newspaper)

Dig In Questions

Class performance as a whole – how did they do? Standards - what are strengths/weaknesses? Where is more work needed? Standards – comparing old and new standards - Are they forgetting or improving on old material? Question types – how did the results on the question types vary? Students – identify the strong and weak students

Bombed questions – same wrong answers chosen? Why/why not? Standards – did each question on the same standard have similar results? Were the question levels the same difficulty? Standards – do similar standards results affect each other? Sort data by scores – find questions that separate proficient and not proficient students Students – look horizontally to see if anomalies happen with certain students

Another important part of the analysis component is training for school leaders on how to lead analysis meetings effectively. These meetings are critical to changing the culture of the school from what is being taught to what is learned Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p. 53). Analysis meetings can be done one-to-one or group meetings. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. Either way, in order to be effective, these meetings should include the following components:

• Prior to assessment:

  • teachers review assessment and plan toward its rigor,

  • teachers predict student performance on each question,

  • professional development is done on assessment analysis and action plans,

• Post assessment:

  • teacher analysis and teacher action plan completed,

  • leader analysis completed,

  • leader review teacher’s action plan, and finds content expertise specialist if needed.

• Both people have a copy of the assessment in hand,

• Data is the central focus,

• Standards tracked across different assessments to look for improvement,

• Write down solutions in action plan (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, pp. 56-57, 60-61)

Action

Giving students interim assessments and gathering data is pointless if that data is not employed in the classroom (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p. 69). In order to use this data, teachers should use it to create action plans based on the conclusions drawn from the data. According to Bambrick-Santoyo (2010), the action plan should include new strategies for re-teaching and a specific timeline. Using new strategies to teach the difficult standards will lead to improved teaching and learning. The author also recommended creating a lesson plan template that has a reflection plan at the top with the action plan components included, so that lesson plans are done with the action plan in mind. The teacher can highlight the parts of the plan being used in the lesson (p. 73, 75). Bambrick-Santoyo (2010) also provided a list of tools to enhance lessons that could be used in the action plans for any content area and grade level including:

• Ongoing in-the-moment assessments,

• Rewriting objectives to make them more specific to target specific skills,

• Use “Do Nows” in a strategic way, making sure they are at the appropriate level of rigor,

• Use differentiated instruction,

• Use assessment-aligned exit tickets,

• Use student errors to help them find the right answer,

• Reduce the amount of time the teacher talks and increase the time students think,

• Use peer-to-peer support strategies,

• Allow students to evaluate themselves, and

• Make sure homework focuses on the areas that most need review (p. 78-84).

As I read through Bambrick-Santoyo’s (2010) book, the following sentences jumped off the page at me, and I wondered if this is even possible.

“Make every second in school count: When designing the academic calendar, school leaders should take into account time needed for the re-teaching that action plans might require. All efforts should be made to use every minute of school time for learning and growth” (p. 88).

There are so many interruptions to teaching in schools today that are considered normal. Class time is routinely sacrificed for pep rallies, social services programs, fundraisers, service projects, athletic and other extra-curricular events during the school day, miscellaneous testing, etc. In my school, it is rare to go a week without at least one class being disrupted for something that is not directly tied to the assessments we are judged upon. As a result, it is hard to get any momentum going in the classroom. Administrators routinely tell us that we need to teach bell to bell, so they understand the importance of using class time wisely. However, there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to guarding that class time by reducing the number of these interruptions. This area would have to addressed in a major way if this type of program were to be implemented in my school, and I suspect many others too, based on my experiences in other districts.

In addition to making sure that every second counts, Bambrick-Santoyo (2010) says administrators also have a role in ensuring that action plans are carried out. They can make sure after-school tutoring is based on assessment data, include other adults (secretaries, aides, volunteers) as a support to students and teachers, and hold teachers accountable. Teacher accountability can be held by leading the analysis meeting and working with teachers to create good action plans, and keeping the data analysis and action plan in mind when doing observations and when reviewing lesson and unit plans. (pp. 85, 88-89). Administrators also promote adherence to action plans by using the results meeting protocol when teachers meet in small professional learning communities. The protocol has an agenda that is based on the learning goals and interim assessment results and how to re-teach troublesome standards. Teachers will focus on one standard and certain questions and develop action steps to re-teach that standard (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, pp. 91, 93).

Students should also be included in the action plans. Students need to know the end goal, their progress toward meeting it, and what actions are needed (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p. 96). A simple template given to the students can help them to assess where they stand. The author states that unless students are included in the data-driven instruction, it will not be effective (p. 99). I was intrigued by the template they provided, and I plan to create one to use with my students on the upcoming semester exams. One of my shortcomings as a teacher is how to include students in the analysis after the test without boring them to tears. This looks like it may have promise because it will help them to see more than just the right and wrong answers.

Culture

In order to implement a data-driven instructional model, the culture of the school must be structured in a way that it can work. Bambrick-Santoyo (2010) says that “working to build a data-driven culture is fruitless until you define the concrete drivers that guarantee it” (p. 106). These drivers are:

• Leadership team that is active to facilitate data analysis meetings,

• Professional development – introductory and ongoing

• Implementation calendar that has time for all components (assessment, analysis, planning, re-teaching), and

• Building by borrowing (p. 119).

The author described how building buy-in is not necessary to begin the process. The results will produce buy-in. The implementation will have various phases, and buy-in usually begins to happen naturally along the way as results are examined (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p. 107). He also described two groups of teachers who should be involved in the leadership team: the expert network and the trust network. If these two groups are involved and willing to participate, the rest of the faculty will come along. The expert network are the strongest teachers with the greatest expertise, and the trust network are the ones who have great levels of influence because they provide guidance and support (p. 110). Taking these groups of teachers to visit high-achieving schools, who are successfully using data-driven instruction, so that they can see what it looks like and build by borrowing is also a great way to achieve buy-in (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, p. 114). The author states, “with a well-trained leadership in place, seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome; without them, even ideal conditions cannot guarantee success” (p. 120). This training is for both teachers and administrators.

In order to develop a data-driven culture, administrators need to ensure that the calendar is conducive to allowing time for all steps, and the assessments should be the priority on the school calendar. The interim assessments should be scheduled every six to eight weeks working backwards from the end-of-year exams. Once the assessments are scheduled, time for professional development for analysis and action plan development should be scheduled, and time for re-teaching must also be considered (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010, pp. 112-113). The author also recommends, that administrators should also ensure the calendar is clear of any conflicts (like the end of the grading period) during the interim assessment cycles, so that teachers have adequate time to do the analysis and action plans (p. 121).

Personal Application

As a teacher, I do not have any control over the calendar, the professional development the school provides, the programs the school chooses to use, or what other teachers do in their classes. Even if my school does not do data-driven instruction, I can do my own analysis and create my own action plans. I can create a culture of data-driven in my own class. In the past, I have done many of these things on my own, just not to the degree specified here. I tie my assessments to the end-of-course exam. I use old STAAR questions on my own assessments, so my students are used to seeing them and ready for the level of rigor there. I analyze how the class did on each standard, but I have not done analysis as deeply as recommended in this book. This is an area where I could grow. I have not made formal action plans based on my analysis. I make notes about what needs to be re-taught, and when it naturally comes up again, I re-teach it then. When it is time for the review for the STAAR, I focus more on the standards where students had trouble throughout the year. I am sure being more formal in writing down action plans would help me to do better at this than just the index card notes or mental notes that I have been doing. I have learned a lot from reading the first few chapters of this book, and I will definitely implement what I have learned into my classroom going forward.

Here is a video with a different perspective on data driven education. If you are short on time, start at 6:31.

Reference:

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2010). Driven by data: a practical guide to improve instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

TEDxTalks. (2015, November 6). Data-driven education | Khurram Virani | tedxwestvancouvered. YouTube. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3eO8gYmWCc.