We talk about student data. We encourage the use of student data in planning effective lessons. We seek to center our conversations and collaborations with other educators around student data; but,, what do we really mean when we use the words “student data”? Is the context in which we use these words really what we intend and is our understanding of student data really what it should be? Let’s talk about data and what effective student data is and is not.

While end-of-year and end-of-course exams mandated by the state certainly create student data, the data created is mostly summative in nature and gives us a big picture of “how we did” and a snapshot of how each student performed on various learning targets. The problem with this data is that while it may be useful for preparing a plan to address students’ needs in the future, it comes too late to act in a formative way in determining mastery of learning targets and the need for intervention. The data we need is provided by shorter, more timely assessment that will allow us as teachers to respond to student needs and provide intervention immediately.

This formative data could be generated by a traditional quiz, teacher questioning, group conversations and collaborations, written paragraphs, short answer responses, or even quick activities like thumbs up/thumbs down or yes/no response cards. The key to any activity is that it must be carefully planned to target a specific objective and must be able to measure individual students’ mastery of the learning objective. The data is created as a result of the activity and should allow us to identify which students are proficient at the targeted learning objective, which students are getting close and which students need more work. This data can tell us if we can give help to individual students and move forward with the class or if re-teaching the concept to the class as a whole is needed. The key to making the data effective is quick evaluation that allows for immediate decisions and response. It is small in nature, easy to evaluate and  allows quick response. This data is formative in nature and should compromise the bulk of student data created in the classroom.

Data generated by teachers in this manner also serves as the central topic for discussion when teachers collaborate for lesson planning and when meeting to discuss intervention for targeted students. This targeted data allows teachers to determine the effectiveness of recent lessons as a way of determining when to move forward to other learning targets and when to re-teach. It also is a useful tool for teacher conversations on effective, as well as, ineffective teaching strategies. 

The most effective and useful student data is generally that generated by the student in the teacher’s classroom. It serves to drive current instruction and intervention and is formative in nature. It is carefully planned and highly targeted with the single intention in mind of determining which students understand a concept and which students do not. Thinking of data in small pieces of information generated in class this way can change instruction in a big way!