One of the most difficult things to do in education is connect the dots from year to year. It sometimes feels like we reinvent many data systems without taking full advantage of the information we put together the previous year. I pitched the idea of having a scholar data wall to Design Team recently. This is something
WCE has done in the past, so they took the initial idea and developed plans for a pocket chart system to look at our scholars from K through 5. That pocket chart system is starting to take shape in my office. The idea is to collect usable data based on
RTI and pass them along year to year. I have invited the
Birdville Cluster Elementary teachers to get together to look at this and other systems for collecting relevant data and passing them along effectively from year to year. I'm looking forward to getting these systems up and running this year so we have good information in August to start next year. Take a minute to see the data wall, and think about other ways we can collect the pass along scholar data to strengthen our verical alignment. Your comments on this post will be helpful in my planning session with the other principals.
One of the most difficult things to do in education is connect the dots from year to year. It sometimes feels like we reinvent many data systems without taking full advantage of the information we put together the previous year. I pitched the idea of having a scholar data wall to Design Team recently. This is something WCE has done in the past, so they took the initial idea and developed plans for a pocket chart system to look at our scholars from K through 5. That pocket chart system is starting to take shape in my office. The idea is to collect usable data based on RTI and pass them along year to year. I have invited the Birdville Cluster Elementary teachers to get together to look at this and other systems for collecting relevant data and passing them along effectively from year to year. I'm looking forward to getting these systems up and running this year so we have good information in August to start next year. Take a minute to see the data wall, and think about other ways we can collect the pass along scholar data to strengthen our verical alignment. Your comments on this post will be helpful in my planning session with the other principals.
20 comments:
I think it is a wonderful idea in order to keep a continuity of learning for the scholars. If the new teacher has the information from the previous year, they are better equipped to tailor their lesson plans to differentiate towards each student from the beginning. We should also create an actual pass along folder with test results from the previous years, writing samples from the beginning of the year and from the end of the year and anything else we feel might be helpful. We also need to remember that scholars mature over the summer and how they performed the previous year might not be how they will perform the coming year. Family and life situations change over the summer as well. It's all about the scholar.
I agree with a pass-along folder. I have used them in the past, and they have been effective in knowing where the scholars are academically, as well as talking with parents about progress. A data wall sounds like a great idea. I need to check it out this week.
I think the data wall is a great idea. You are right, we did do something similar in the past, but once the year was through, the data was lost. This way we will have continuity from one year to the next. Hopefully, after we've gotten a few years under our belt, we'll really see its true benefit. I think we also need to revisit the use of continuous improvement in our classrooms.
I think the scholar data wall is a valuable tool. First and foremost, it gives meaning to all of the data we collect throughout the year. As a kindergarten teacher, I appreciate that the time spent gathering data from the scholars will be passed along and help their future teachers to guide instruction.
We used a data room when I worked at Hallsville. It was invaluable for placing students the next year- The data wall took the emotion of student placement out of the picture. During the summer when everyone had a little time to breathe and reflect the data served as a great way to plan for student needs for the upcoming year.
Great idea for monitoring student progress! Visual aids are always the best!
I love the Data Wall. It is a great way to prevent information from falling through the cracks. I also like the pass along folders. I would lke to go back to using the pass along folders too!
I also think both ideas could be very helpful! In speical education all kids come with a folder and they always provide tons of helpful information.
I like the idea of having the RTI>special needs of our scholars highlighted on the data wall. When making classes for next year, it will be a great way to "see" what a class will look like--the needs for differentiation,etc. I've used pass along folders. The only drawback is sometimes information is repetitive--turning something in to the office and also placing it in the folder means more paperwork for the end of school; however, I do like the Norma Jackson style writing samples!!
I think the idea of a data wall is great! Teachers would be able to know at the beginning of the school year where their scholars are and what needs to be done to help them succeed that year. I know I would like having that visual to look at. We also did writing folders at my other school in Keller. It was nice to have sample writing the scholars did to know where they stood at the beginning of 4th grade.
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I think the data wall will be rockin'! The idea of student information being well known to other teachers simply allows us to be more informed about our scholars. I love the idea of not just knowing what is on their pink and blue forms, but a bigger idea about what their school success looks like in a nutshell. I would have loved to already have sample writing and even reading levels at the beginning of the year. It almost seems like we reinvent the wheel without using a procedure such as the data wall. I think it will be a big help in future years.
I used a pocket chart system to coordinate and keep abreast of my employed students when I taught Career Prep. It worked well.
I love the visual aspect. I love that it's easy to amend. I love that it's readily available. I like that several people can access and assess it at the same time and physically manuever around it easily. Also, the long term usage is appealing.
The data wall seems to be a great idea! It will be a nice visual aide and a helpful tool in creating classes, which will be most beneficial to our scholars!
Why not? Let's get the data wall going.....I'm such a visual learner that I need something like a data wall to help me stay focused on where my scholars are in their learning. In addition to the data wall, I also like the idea of the pass along folders. We've done pass along folders in the past, but somehow the idea went away and never came back. As a teacher, I would like to have access to my scholars test results from previous years, writing samples, etc....
A data wall is an excellent way to present and track a clear and focused goal to make it transparent to all of the learning community. When a goal is made clear, better results will soon follow. Everyone knows what we are reaching for; we are more likely to grasp it.
I like the data wall and think it will be very useful. I like that we will have info at our fingertips that we can easily manipuate. I think it is important for us to be able to monior the growth of ALL of our scholars to make sure all scholars are showing progress and growth (not just RTI students).
DATA FOLDERS-we voted a few years ago to do away with them because they were becoming bogged down with too much info that was not useful. We went to just using the pink and blue cards. If we decide to do folders, I think a checklist of what to include for each grade level would be helpful.
I agree that the data wall will be a useful tool to the teacher and others who have a need to know about each scholar. I agree with Janna that it will be helpful to see the progress of every scholar, not just the RTI ones. I also agree that the pass along folder needs to contain the same info for each grade level. I would think the teacher receiving the new scholars would be most interested in how the children were performing near the end of the previous school year.
I think the data charts are a great way to keep an ongoing assessment of each of our scholars and can provide beneficial information to the receiving teacher. As a fifth grade teacher I appreciated any information I received about an incoming student. Time is always an issue so having relevant information passed on from the previous year can help speed things along in many ways. The only request I would make is that time again is given to teachers to study the pass along folders or data charts or speak with a previous teacher before school begins. Trying to analyze that data after school begins is often pushed aside in the momentum of getting school started.
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