Drowning in Data?

Drowning in data? Fatigued by the increasing expectations to collect data and use it to drive decision-making? Snared and confused by data traps?  Join us on a rescue mission to break down the buzzwords and actually make sense of the data that matters for our students and our schools.

The ability for organizations to collect, analyze, and make smart use of data is crucial for thriving institutions- especially schools. The increased focus on student performance data, survey data, and other sources of institutional data drives a new urgency for theoretical framing and practical knowledge in this area. This push towards data collection and data-driven decision making is especially evident in the accreditation protocols in use in Catholic education across the United States. Since the landmark publication of The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (2012), Catholic schools have been called to commit to clear performance benchmarks and work towards their implementation. This call necessitates deeper professional development towards smart and effective data-informed school improvement. Sometimes school leaders believe that this means appointing or hiring a single person to do this work on behalf of the school. Leaders either outsource data analysis or throw up their hands in despair.

 

We argue that smart, effective, data analysis is not the responsibility of only one or two educators in a school, but the responsibility of many in the school community and a strategic way to ensure that all areas of the school are thriving. Our workshops create opportunities for teachers and administrators to engage in and lead data analysis to foster and sustain the Catholic identity and academic excellence of our schools.