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Lesson 3, Task 1 - Analysis and Discussion of Data


The National School Improvement Tool says the following about the analysis and discussion of data:
  • the school has developed and is implementing a plan for the systematic collection of a range of student outcome data including both test data and quality classroom assessments;
  • the school has identified and can demonstrate that it is using tests and other assessment tools to monitor school-wide achievement and progress in areas of national focus such as literacy, numeracy, science, cross-curricular skills and attributes, and levels of student resilience, wellbeing, and social and emotional development;
  • the school uses data to identify starting points for improvement and to monitor progress over time;
  • arrangements have been put in place for the collection and analysis of school-wide data and for summarising, displaying and communicating data, including to parents and the school community;
  • all teaching staff have access to a broad range of student achievement and wellbeing data and use it to analyse, study and display individual and cohort progress;
  • professional development is provided to build staff skills in analysing and interpreting data;
  • school leaders, as part of their responsibilities, regularly work with their teams to review achievement data relating to their areas;
  • time is set aside for in-depth staff discussions of achievement data and of strategies for the continuous improvement of student outcomes;
  • the school includes in its data gathering input and feedback from students and parents;
  • the school systematically monitors other performance data, including data relating to student attendance, school disciplinary absences and other behavioural data, school completion, student destinations and stakeholder perceptions and engagement;
  • data are used in building a culture of self-evaluation and reflection across the school; and
  • the school uses data to inform school-level decisions, interventions and initiatives. 
Reflecting on these dot-points, there are a number of questions that come to mind, such as: How do schools go about measuring resilience or emotional development? How often is enough when it relates to coming back to data? Each term? Each Semester? Each fortnight? Who is responsible for collecting and collating data to make sure it is all in place? How do teachers get together to have meaningful conversations? Especially if they are a part of multiple 'teams'? How do you measure 'growth' in areas that do not necessarily have a continuum? What are the means in which parents are engaged? Does this need to be formalised? 

Although this tool provides a useful point of reflection, what is most important are the discussions associated with what the different elements mean within the particular context in question.
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