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“Data-driven decision-making is about gathering data to understand if a school or district is meeting its purpose and vision,” says Victoria Bernhardt, author of Data Analysis for Comprehensive Schoolwide Improvement. “If we do not have a target, we could make decisions that essentially lead to ‘random acts of improvement.’” Instead, Bernhardt says, superintendents should strive for “focused acts of improvement,” which occur when schools are clear about their purpose, about what they expect students to know, and about what they expect students to be able to do. In data-driven districts, superintendents work side by side with other administrators, principals, teachers and parents to ensure all children achieve. Everyone strives toward common goals. Data provide quantifiable proof, taking the emotion and rancor out of what can be tough calls for superintendents and school boards (e.g., dismantling a popular but ineffective program or closing a school). Data also provide the substance for meaningful, ongoing dialogue within the educational community. From Using Data to Improve Schools: What’s Working Purpose: To provide a resource for administrators, central office staff, and data teams that assists in the establishment and/or strengthening of a data culture where all are involved in using data to improve student performance. Audience: Administrators, central office staff and data team members. |
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Many superintendents have a powerful ally on their side: data.
Increasingly, superintendents are using data to make smarter decisions, and
they are getting results. Instead of responding defensively to critics, they
are armed with facts and figures that tell a more complete story and help critics
understand the root causes of the challenges schools face.