​Data’s in the Driver’s Seat

At Ten Broeck Academy in Franklinville, data has taken the driver’s seat to inform instruction. Last year, Principal Jennifer Cappelletti assembled a Data Leadership Team comprising of teachers from different content areas, as well as herself and Brendan Keiser, the BOCES Curriculum Coordinator, to develop a data-driven culture in her 7-12 building. To begin the cultural shift, the DLT started by creating a calendar for the year that included: three interim assessment testing periods and meeting dates for the DLT and for teachers to review their data. By creating a calendar for the year, the team committed to the initiative.
 
During the year, all teachers create and administer three interim assessments that are rigorous, aligned to the standards, and mirror the final assessment for the course, whether it is a state exam, Regents, or final exam. Teachers use eDoctrina and Castle Learning to link their assessment questions to their content standards. Both programs generate item-analysis reports with multiple data points, such as which questions students struggled with/mastered, the percentage of students struggling with/mastering a standard, and answer distribution for each question.
 
The DLT uses these reports to make initial observations of the data to help prepare for the data meetings with teachers. When the DLT meets with the teacher, the team works together to make observations, inferences about the data, and an action plan.  Meeting as a team is essential, especially for the last task, because everyone can work together to share new ideas and practices to help target areas of weakness, instead of just making an action plan where you reteach the content in the same way. Together, the DLT makes SMART goals with the teacher (Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) to best meet the needs of his/her students that he/she hopes to meet by the next interim assessment.
 
This process has been very successful.  Jennifer Cappelletti shares, “Over the past two years, we have made using data effectively a main focus in the high school.  With each data cycle we have evaluated the process and made adjustments to make the process more worthwhile.  This year, we added cross-curricular teachers at the same grade level examining each other's data together. The result has been a better understanding of each other's curriculum and collaboration on reaching common goals.”
 
Finally, to strengthen the data-driven culture, the DLT has been involved in CA-BOCES’ Informed Teaching Series. The team participated in four sessions, doing a deep dive into Leaders of their Own Learning, a book that details how to create a culture of student-engaged assessment that puts students in the driver’s seat in self-assessing their progress. Upon completing the program, the DLT met and identified five best practices they want to implement into their school culture. Great work, Franklinville teachers!

​By:  Brendan Keiser, CA BOCES Professional Development

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