One of the best administrators I have ever worked with grounded every decision in the essential question: “Is this what’s best for kids?” To get to the answers, she skillfully used data as a tool for school, teacher, and student growth. Whether it was tracking student behaviors, attendance rates, or having teachers track classroom growth and proficiency on short-cycle assessments and classroom assignments, she helped me to understand that the answers to almost any question or assumption I might make about a student could be discerned by analyzing the data as the key to unlocking deeper understandings. She taught me to be an intentional and thoughtful instructional leader for my students.
After 23 years in the classroom, I still set aside three weeks at the beginning of my summer break to outline and plan instruction for my classroom for the coming year. I use previous years’ plans, student grades, writing samples, districtwide assessment data and any other school or classroom data I can access. I value this practice because it eliminates any assumptions I might make about a student, as data removes the guesswork from my planning. Data from assessments, grades, and even attendance reporting helps me to make informed and meaningful choices for my students by painting a comprehensive picture of that student in the school environment. Using this information … allows me to better plan individualized classroom instruction for each student.
