Got Data…Now What?
Bill Blynt
Jan 03, 2011
There is an abundance of assessment data in most school districts today. Federal and state education departments require documentation of student growth so the increase in student assessments continues to generate lots of data. These annual large-scale summative assessments generate lots of data but does it really help classroom teachers? According to Richard DuFour, districts are currently "data rich and information poor". The data generated often becomes useless due to the delay between the time the assessment is administered and the time it is released to schools for interpretation and utilization. It is this ‘gap' that has been instrumental in schools beginning to develop and administer frequent formative benchmark assessments.
What is the difference between summative and formative assessment?
How the assessment information is used determines if it is summative or formative. Summative assessments, according to the National Education Association, are an assessment of learning. The tests inform others about how students are performing. Formative assessments are often referred to as assessments for learning. According to the work of Larry Ainsworth in his book, Common Formative Assessments, an assessment is formative when ‘the results from that assessment can be used to monitor and adjust instruction in order to improve learning for current students". When a teacher uses the results of an assessment "to identify particular learning needs of students so as to better meet their needs or to enable students to revise and improve their work" then the assessment is formative. When the data generated by these frequent formative assessments is used by teachers to adjust their instruction, inform students of their improvements and/or provide students with the opportunity to revise their performance substantial improvement in overall student learning will occur.
How can schools develop a process and a culture that reviews data on a systematic basis? Michael Schmoker, in his book, Results: The Key to Continuous School Improvement, states that "schools must find a way to make data understandable and review the data on a systematic basis." In his work, Larry Ainsworth suggests the establishment of Data Teams. Data teams are a team of educators comprised of teachers who teach the same content (grade-level or course) and meet regularly for the sole purpose of analyzing common assessment data. Based on the work of Douglas Reeves and Michael Schmoker, Ainsworth suggests a five step Data Team process (pg 96, Common Formative Assessments). The steps are typically followed in order but variations of the process may be required. The data reviewed by the teams is based on the results of pre-developed common benchmark formative assessments (both pre-assessments and post-assessments).
Step 1 - Chart the Data- Determine the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the established proficiency score on a commonly developed pre-assessment. Do the same for those who did not.
Step 2 - Analyze the Results- Determine areas of strength in proficient papers and areas of need from those who did not.
Step 3 - Set S-M-A-R-T Goal- Write a goal statement outlining expected student improvements by the end of the unit.
(S-M-A-R-T= specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely; Conzemius & O'Neill, 2001)
Step 4 - Select Effective Teaching Strategies-Select the best researched or evidence based strategies to achieve the goal.
Step 5 - Determine Results Indicators- Determine how to gauge the effectiveness of the team's selected instructional strategies.
This five step process results in the development of an action plan that provides teachers with feedback on student performance in time for them to adjust the instructional process to improve student achievement. When student results improve on assessments for learning, the results of the summative assessments of learning are likely to also improve.
Sources:
Common Formative Assessments - Larry Ainsworth and Donald Viegut
Results: The Key to Continuous School Improvement - Michael Schmoker
Ahead of the Curve - Douglas Reeves, editor
