Data analysis vs. quality instruction
Jan 21st, 2010 by Vincent Segalini
Data analysis has become a hot-button issue in public education since the advent of No Child Left Behind and standardized testing. Schools are focusing on data and how the data will lead to improved test scores and school success. Small group instruction, interventions, and focus on specific groups of students have proven to increase test scores. Using data to drive instruction, especially through interventions and focusing on individual groups or students, will increase performance, but educators cannot lose focus on providing quality instruction for all.
Quality education begins with quality instruction. If schools focus on providing quality classroom instruction for all students, this in itself will lead to increased student performance. Using quality classroom instruction across the board as the beginning point for increased performance, educators are providing the most important element of a quality education. From there, schools can use data to tweak and differentiate instruction for students who most need it. Educators need to remember that using data to drive interventions and to work with small groups of students is treating the symptoms. Training teachers to provide quality instruction across the board is treating the disease.
Data analysis and data-driven instruction is important, and it can be an important element of increasing student proficiency. However, focusing on quality instruction for all students will prevail as the key method of increasing a school’s performance level.
Working everyday with real children, not number, leaves me with a sense of ” At what point did we as educators and a nation get side- tracted from children centered?” All I hear is remediation, growth, data driven, move up scores! Daily I have real experiences of looking into the eyes of children without a number burned into their brows. Many haven’t achieved passing a landmark set by some unknown being foreign to what humans experience in schools. Growth is when a child sitting in the mist of other fourth graders whispers to her teacher (me) ” I have a secret to tell you. But you cannot tell anyone else. I cant’t read!” Observing her reaction when we first opened the text book I knew there was a problem. She and I worked hard this year – but I have 63 important real children daily entering and leaving our classroom doors. All different – important and needy in different ways. On paper each represents a fraction: some will increase scores, others increase composite numbers. Both students and me as a teacher are graded – for me, the threat of loosing a job I spent seven years as a student to earn and keep a committment of remaing a life-time learner. When I stop growing so will my students. From a student’s position – WOW I passed this one! or defeat and lose of self confidence. What I spend months striving to develop – one test crashes. I am not the most intelligent person in education, only a teacher whose opinion is not valued, children are dropping out of school as a way to hold on to what diginity is left after years of failure. If the higher being who rate education, students, and educators as failures or high achievers, would use drop out data, conduct focused surveys, and analyze the results a light bulb would enlignten society as to what we are doing. Wheels are in motion by fifth or sixth grade resulting in a STOP sign honored as rapidly as possible. Drugs, street gangs, jobless citizens replace classrooms. But then again what bussiness person will return daily to a place where they are labeled as failures?
Not every child or adult was meant to get a college education: elementary and high school a must, and developing citizens imperative! College is a place to receive training for specialized job credentials necessary to apply for a position.
As a high school drop out many years ago I experienced feelins of failure and an unforefilled dream of becoming a teacher. After years of what others labeled as asuccessful life, by my standards I remained a failure. It took years to become a risk taker, enroll as a “non-traditional student”, and pay every dime to find the pot of gold at my rainbow. Five degrees and obtaining National Certifiction have zero value when student performance scores label me as “Great, OK, or Underachiever”. Those labels have an impact on how I view myself: I am an adult whose dream was fulfilled – it is easy to connect with children. It was, and is, my goal to help children and young adults become educated – that is if analyzing score results provide evidence I should remain an educator. One after thought – even that is an invalid indicator: many students are listed on my classroom roster whom I never never teach (Exceptional Ed.). Why are we allowing American to judge people, including our children, as successful or failures based on numbers. Our great nation was not founded and developed into a world power by loosing respect for humans. Compassion is alive – except for our American citizens.