Guest Post: Delaware’s Education Insight Project (Part 2: What Will It Look Like?)
The following is a guest post by Mike Oboryshko. Mike is a Red Clay parent and a friend of mine and of this blog.
In Part 1, I introduced the Education Insight Project, and went over the RFPs that define the beginning of design and implementation. In Part 2, we will get into some more detail.
What do the dashboards look like, and what does Texas have to do with any of this?
Now, I’d like to be able to give you a list of all the dashboards, and tell you what they look like and how they work. But that would be missing the point of the RFP. The Dashboard RFP specifies that the job of figuring out what dashboards to build, and how they work, will be done by the winning vendor (together with DOE).
There is some direction though. The Dashboard RFP specifies that the dashboards will be developed according to a reference design created by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF). Yes, that Michael Dell, the billionaire computer guy from Texas (why is Texas always in the middle of these things?). Dell has created a foundation devoted to education, among other things, and one of its undertakings was to help Texas develop a new technology platform for its education system. From the Dashboard RFP:
The dashboard and its database will be based on design documentation funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation that can be found here: http://www.texasstudentdatasystem.org/dcd and here: http://www.districtconnections.com. This documentation will be revised and extended based on Delaware’s dashboard analysis and design process.
So the winning vendor’s job (together with DOE) is to review the Texas implementation, conduct further analysis together with Delaware stakeholders, and then figure out how to use or modify the Texas design to suit Delaware. We can copy and modify the Texas dashboards, or build our own. The point is that once the Data Warehouse is in place (see Part 1), new dashboards can be created fairly easily, once we know which ones we want to build.
I personally am hopeful there will be some dashboards aimed at parents, and that parents will be given a seat at the table when they are being designed. The Governor has in fact blogged about a Parent Dashboard, and expects it to be implemented later in the project. I have been trying to find out the scope and level of detail of student information in a Parent Dashboard. Will the current Home Access Center will be replaced by a new dashboard, or if it will co-exist with the new dashboards? I could not find an example of a Parent Dashboard in the Texas implementation.
To find out more about the MSDF Texas implementation, check out:
http://www.texasstudentdatasystem.org/dcd
http://www.districtconnections.com (documentation)
These links (on http://www.texasstudentdatasystem.org/dcd) give the best idea of what the Texas implementation looks like from the teacher’s point of view. I expect the Teacher Insight Dashboard will look a lot like this:
Elementary school
Middle school
High school
What is the data-driven approach?
Honestly, I don’t know that much about it. Professional educators will be able to describe the data-driven approach far better than I can. Basically, it is a common-sense approach that will be recognizable to anyone familiar with some form of process management: If you want to improve something, first you have to measure it. And you have to be able to see the data in different views, and work with it over time.
Importantly though, a data driven approach is necessary to implement a meaningful accountability system. Without data, accountability is just politics. So if I were a teacher, I don’t think I would be anxious about the data driven approach at all. Teachers, learn the system thoroughly and use it to your advantage. It can help you more than it can hurt you.
Suddenly you will have access to the same numbers and reports that are being used to evaluate you, and you can review them every day if you want. Once you know what numbers are being watched, you can keep on top of those numbers faster than they can. As long as they are the right numbers to be watching, this is a win-win-win: good for the students and the school performance, and for your own evaluations. And now that you know there is an easy-to-access data warehouse, you can ask for any amount of custom reporting if you have to make a case and you need support. Ask for the data dictionary, and get a geek friend to help you. I suspect the teachers who don’t embrace the new system will be the ones always behind on their numbers.
How will the metrics be used?
One important use of metrics, arguably the most important, will be to track student performance to identify when a student needs intervention. The graphic below is from the Texas web site explaining how metrics are used to identify a student who needs help with math. The point is that once you can visualize all in one place how a student has been performing over time, you can recognize the need for intervention.
Tyson’s standardized math scores have declined “nearly to failing” over three years. Last year he got a D in Pre-Algebra, and this year he is failing Algebra I and has missed 6 of 30 math classes. In this example, the system is tracking multiple metrics over multiple years: Standardized scores, class attendance, course grades, and “benchmarks” (whatever they are).
So this is great, right? The technology has flagged Tyson as needing intervention. The only problem is, Tyson’s six year old sister could have told you last year Tyson needed help in math! Why did Tyson not receive intervention last year, after the first week he started bringing home D’s from Pre-Algebra?
Based on what I see here, it is because the metrics are tracking at the course-grade level, not at the daily assessment level. This is what designers of information systems call granularity. If the system metrics had been granular enough to track daily assignments and tests, failing assignments could be flagged at a much earlier time for more meaningful intervention, in time to raise Tyson’s grade in Pre-Algebra, and have a much better basis for success in Algebra 1. Waiting for course grades and standardized tests to come in is not fast enough to help in a meaningful way. Perhaps the “benchmarks” are tracking daily grades? If so, then the tracking needs to rely more on the current data.
Kids are growing up fast, and we can’t be waiting for last year’s data before we take action. Interventions need to be identified over weeks, not years, and then performed as micro-interventions that will be less costly and more likely to succeed.
Of course, tracking daily assignments is hard. It is harder to design and build such a system, and harder for the teachers to keep up with the necessary grading and data entry. But if we want to use this system for meaningful and timely interventions, we will have to do it.
More metrics
Another example of metrics used to identify intervention occurred to me. One student can be getting assignment grades of “100, 0, 100, 0, 100,” while another student in the same class gets scores of “60, 60, 60, 60, 60.” Both students fail the course with the same grade, but they require very different interventions.
Issuing a failing grade to a student is a very serious matter. If a student receives a failing grade, we need to know why. Not at interims, not after the marking period, not next year, but NOW. If you are only tracking at the course grade level, all failing students look the same. Waiting for that D to come in, and then figuring out how to intervene, is too late.
So here’s my idea: Every time a teacher issues a failing grade, he or she should be required to enter a reason along with the grade. Just a short list of canned reason codes will be fine. Did the student answer all the questions wrong? Did the student lose the paper, or forget to turn it in? Did the teacher refuse to accept completed work a day late? Is the teacher just in a bad mood on Thursdays? Or will some teachers back down on issuing the failure, once they realize it will have to be explained on the record? How can we help students who are failing if we don’t know why?
The data will show what the problem is, as long as our metrics are tracking at the class assignment level. Is the student doing badly with assignments on Mondays? Is the teacher giving an inordinate amount of zeroes?
Either way, for this metric to be meaningful it will have to be built into the online grading system. I suspect it is not. And the workshop for developing the metrics is happening in the very near future.
REL workshop
To develop the underlying metrics for the new system, Delaware will turn to the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic. REL is a research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and this is exactly the sort of thing they exist for. From the RFP:
At the request of the Delaware Department of Education, the Regional Education Lab Mid-Atlantic is currently in the planning stages of conducting an expert roundtable on the development and implementation of student-level indicators and metrics for use through data dashboards. Invited experts will be nationally recognized authorities who are knowledgeable on both the research and implementation of data dashboard systems. The roundtable will be based on a series of discussions, intended to be engaging and interactive, focusing on what are good student-level indicators/metrics, what are they good indicators of (i.e., academic achievement, dropout, etc.), what indicators are most useful for various stakeholders (e.g., administrators, teachers, parents), and using visual presentations of data for ease of use and comprehension. The event will be held in Delaware for a predetermined list of DDOE and district personnel.
Dashboard RFP, Section 3.2.2
So this is where the performance metrics will be decided: whether we track students at the assignment level or the course-grade level, whether we track reasons for failing grades or not, what data is included in accountability measures. This is essential information that the geeks need to know to design the database and the applications. That is why the winning vendor is required to attend and integrate the workshop outcome into the design.
If you are feeling left out, don’t. I know well that one of the biggest causes of project failure is an endless requirements phase that requires consulting everyone in multiple rounds of revision and approval. And the political costs of screwing up the RTTT money would be very, very high, as would the loss to our students. In this RFP I can sense a team that knows what it wants and needs to move quickly.
On the other hand, it would be useful to at least allow meaningful written public input into the REL workshop or any suitable points in the process, and a way to report back on the outcome of that input. In the current process, I don’t see parents having a seat at the table.
In Part 3, I will discuss the upcoming training sessions on the new technology for teachers and administrators (sooner than you think), and how any of this may or may not benefit parents, students, or teachers.
Tags: Education, Race To The Top
Jason330’s Law: As the data required by a system becomes more granular, the probability that teachers will use the system approaches zero.
I’m not slamming teachers, but read this again:
It sounds great but you are describing a classroom with two full timer’s. One gifted teacher paired with one diligent data guru/interventionist. We are tasking teachers with more and more, there is a tipping point.
Jason, the granular data in this example is “grades for assignments.” Teachers are already handling it.
The issue is how will the back-end systems report and display that data, and what is the threshhold for flagging failing students – years? or weeks?
That is just one of the decisions that will be made when designing the new system.
Mike’s Law: Any new system we build has to identify students who need help at least as fast as Tyson’s six year old sister.
So the data flags Donald Green for some intervention based on a failed quiz and missed homework in week three of semester 1. Good to know, but…now what? Like I said, I think it sounds great, but technology alone seems pointless to me absent some investment in human beings. Look at the Harlem Children’s Zone for example, they used human bodies to create a, “holistic system of education, social-services and community-building programs”
The bottom line might honestly be that we, as a state, are too cheap to have first class school systems.
Think of this system as a capital investment in our education infrastructure. With the RTTT grant we have a one-shot chance to upgrade our technology and we need to make the most of it.
True, we will still have the same old problems of class size (too big) and operating budgets (too small), but we will be no worse off than before and maybe a little better.
Good point.
Project Management Dashboards are all the rage in my industry — they can be really nifty ways of collecting, displaying and sharing data about the health and progress of any project. The ones that really let you drill down into schedules, costs and maybe even associate some of this with daily QC Reports can be incredibly useful (and our clients like them).
The fundamental problems with this are always the problems with data — it is really only as good as its input (you can control this) AND it is only as useful as the skill sets of the user. So that you can get all kinds of data about schedules or costs in any point in time, but unless you know your stuff, you have aren’t going to be able to use this to assess project risks or opportunities. Or even tie it to identified project risks and opportunities. I’ve seen this Dashboard in use where there was a real asymmetry in knowledge base — as in one side of the transaction (client, engineer, contractor, regulator) doesn’t get much past the whizbang of the thing, but can’t employ it to its best effect.
It isn’t entirely clear to me how these Dashboards would be used by teachers or parents or students. But whatever happens, a whole lot of education needs to occur to make sure that this isn’t just a more expensive record-keeping function. That said, I wonder if a metric giving a kid a “rolling” grade in a class — a grade accessible daily by said kid and said kid’s parent might be an interesting approach. That kind of thing would have been highly motivating to me, but maybe others aren’t so motivated by grades.
“an inordinate amount of zeroes?”
Here’s one of the problems. How can we expect excellence from our teachers and students when we’ve already decided everything has to fit on the curve? I’ve taught all kinds of kids, in almost every environment except a conventional classroom. And I can tell you, half my problem on any given day is that the teachers before me just kept passing kids along, and they don’t know how to respond to standards.
Public school teachers work in an environment where THEY are punished if all the kids don’t progress. they’d have to be pretty darned stupid not to realize that holding out for good work, instead of accepting mediocre, is only going to get them in trouble. Now you have new metrics so they can’t give a kid a wake-up call on a popquiz, because the RTTT manager will be in their inbox the next day to find out why they have given out “an inordinate amount of zeroes.”
yeah. That’ll fix it.
An F should not be an enigma. It should be transparently explained why the F was given. And if you are going to explain it, let’s also track it, so the data can show what the problem is.
Why would you want to dish out F’s and not even have to explain why?
How can we help kids who are failing, if we don’t know why they are failing?
We know why they’re failing. Definitionally, they’re failing because they don’t meet established standards.
Ok. You want to set standards outside the classroom. That’s curriculum, textbooks, and standardized testing. You want to set classroom conditions outside the classroom. That’s class size, admissions, length of day, length of year, staffing & support services, as well as student population issues like poverty, abuse, special needs, etc. You want to set evaluation outside the classroom. That’s second guessing grades, posting homework assignments on the web and evaluating teachers by student success metrics.
Who shall we fire, next? Can’t ‘fire’ students… they’re “no child left behind”. Can’t ‘fire’ legislators and school boards… they’re elected. Can’t ‘fire’ parents.
You put all the power outside the classroom and all the accountability at the teacher’s desk.
Sorry heragain… I hear your tone, but I am not following your logic.
The course grade is too big a chunk of data to rely on without also knowing what went into making that course grade. It is also too slow.
“We know why they’re failing…” I respectfully disagree, especially after reading your comment. That is the knowledge the data driven approach will provide. We can’t just intuit our way through this.
So you think every kid who gets an F on an assignment gets it for the same reason? Or do you think there can be different reasons?
Like I said, the student who gets “100, 0, 100, 0, 100” is very different from the student who gets “60, 60, 60, 60, 60.”
Would you give them the same intervention? I hope not.
The Insight project is really about using the data we already have, not about collecting new data. I happen to think we would be better off if we also collect the reason for issuing an F, because right now the reasons are being lost in the mist of time.
I have no objection to collecting the data. The problem I have is with the implication that someone will be evaluating “an inordinate amount of zeroes.” That’s where your plan is in trouble.
Because, if you REALLY want to know, you get the response of Natalie Monroe. Remember that?
“I hear the trash company is hiring.”
“I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son.”
“Rude, beligerent [sic], argumentative f**k.”
“Just as bad as his sibling. Don’t you know how to raise kids?”
“Asked too many questions and took too long to ask them. The bell means it’s time to leave!”
“Nowhere near as good as her sibling. Are you sure they’re related?”
“Shy isn’t cute in 11th grade; it’s annoying. Must learn to advocate for himself instead of having Mommy do it.”
“Too smart for her own good and refuses to play the school ‘game’ such that she’ll never live up to her true potential here.”
“Am concerned that your kid is going to come in one day and open fire on the school. (Wish I was kidding.)”
Teachers aren’t therapists. They’re not angels. They’re not mind-readers. As a parent, one semester when my son wasn’t performing in class, I wish the teacher had phoned me so I could kick his ass. He had to do it over. However, there was no way that teacher could tell my son’s “never really grasped the importance of turning in homework” from his neighbor’s “high every day because his life is nowhere” or his deskmate’s “worried about her mom’s health issues.” Teachers can’t write down what they think (I had a student once whose review would have been “This boy is spoiled rotten. You’re not doing him any favors.” ) so they can only write down what they think you want to hear.
See, this “too many zeroes” jazz, supposes that the outcome of a test will be a curve. A couple of kids will pass with distinction, a bunch of kids will pass, a few will just barely pass, and some will fail. We can track an individual kid’s progress. We can see that he fails tests every other week, and maybe we can guess that he fails them after his weekend with a non-custodial parent who keeps him up all night. What’s the note you’re going to write home to solve that? But a classroom full of kids is not, necessarily, a big enough statistical universe to make a complete fail on a test “too many zeros.”
And until teachers KNOW they won’t get in trouble for saying, “They didn’t study for this because they’d rather watch Glee.” your data will be worthless.
My biggest concern is the cost of the software vendor (Sunguard) for Red Clay. How much will the IT admin’s cost us – millions?
How much will the IT admin’s cost us – millions?
I’ll do it for only $1 million.
Cassandra,
This “… I wonder if a metric giving a kid a “rolling” grade in a class — a grade accessible daily by said kid and said kid’s parent might be an interesting approach. That kind of thing would have been highly motivating to me, but maybe others aren’t so motivated by grades.” … reminded me of the book, Reality is Broken. http://realityisbroken.org/
The premise is that life should be more like gaming.
A rolling grade is simply your current class average. We already have this in HAC; it is usually up to date within no more than a week or so, depending on the teacher.
Yes, kids can make a game of looking at HAC every day and keeping their averages up, or filling in blanks for missing assignments, Data spread over years won’t have the same relevance to them:
comment rescue via Kilroy
It is no accident Clark made this quote at a Baldrige award ceremony.
The dashboard example from Texas is much too complicated then. It needs to be one page with one overall student “score” which students can level up by scoring points.
Weighted point values for tests, homework, being present, parents showing up at conferences, etc.
Also – The students need to be able to improve test scores by being able to take them (or versions of them) multiple times.
End social promotion and add graduation exit test.
Also, do better assessment of those entering the teaching field. Perhaps education major should have a minimum of a 3.5 high school GPA in order to get accepted in college education / teaching programs.
When I was the PTA President at Conrad Middle School grades 6-8 I participated in DEDOE’s Quality Review of Conrad. I about pulled my hair out when DEDOE ask they ask 6th grade teachers what are they doing to bring students up to grade level? Meaning those students coming in with 3-4 grade skills. 6th grade teachers teach 6th grade curriculum! Once you start breaking a class into three and four groups according to skill it undermines that grade curriculum and negatively impacts all students. Conrad tried Saturday enrichment classes and turnout was poor. In my opinion if we want to appease reformist with a longer school year perhaps we should “require” students failing to attend Saturday enrichment classes designed to tutor students where needed. Also, a Saturday program might bring out more mentors willing to give up a few morning hours.
Most student fail because parents fail! Most dysfunctional students are a product of dysfunctional parents. If the United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan or Teach for America CEO Wendy Kopp aka Mrs Richard Barth CEO of KIPP were to teach class would 100% of their students meet standards?
Delaware’s official High School Dropout rate is 3.9% lowest in over 30 years! Can we assume the likelihood that its possible high school dropout rate will never be zero?
The cycle of failure should not be pinned on the back of public school teachers when it is failed mandate driven by business leaders that rewrite curriculum and standards in an average of 10-15 years. ESEA aka NCLB has been around since 1965 and was never meant to reform public education as whole ans was meant to provide supplemental reading and math to high poverty children who often fail. If the are no connections to poverty and academic achievement why was ESEA enacted?
I really hate how we’ve got into a ed reform rut of only focusing on teachers. I feel we have set up impossible standards – public schools have to have students meet a standard set by selective private schools. Public schools don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing their students.
“Public schools don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing their students.”
And that needs to end for charter schools so that we can really evaluate the charter concepts. 65% of Delaware charter schools fail to me the standards. The reformist tied more charter schools to the RTTT grand. Why create more failing charter schools?
Ending social promotion is a hard thing to do but we need to make these hard choices. Many high school graduates aren’t prepared for college! why ?
I really hate how we’ve got into a ed reform rut of only focusing on teachers.
It does feel that way sometimes based on the comments, doesn’t it? But I think that viewpoint reflects anxiety more than reality. As I said in the post, I think the data driven approach will help teachers more than it hurts them.
If you don’t have data, you are just relying on someone’s subjective opinion of you – in short, politics. Teachers can be unfairly hurt using that approach too. I know I would fear a politically-based evaluation more than a data-based evaluation.
I suspect the people who are the most adept at succeeding in subjective evaluations are the loudest voices against the data driven evaluations.
Part of the RTTT application was a section where we had to establish our commitment to supporting the new reforms in the long term. We answered that basically be documenting our past increases in total education spending – not really the most reassuring answer.
But with the Insight project, all our disparate data will be corralled and turned into information. How we use it is up to us. Once we have a fact-based picture of what is going on, we can turn to our Districts and our General Assembly for the necessary resources.
Mike, im still not seeing adequate protection for teachers. this proposal seems to put a lot more responsibility and accountability at their feet. Every time you add something for a teacher to do, you have to multiply it by the roughly 100 students they have every year. I think parents get caught up thinking their kid it the teacher’s primary focus.
I am also still a little confused about “explaining the grade” Like i said, i did poorly in a few classes and there were phone calls home, conference requests, you name it…all before the report card came out. Different teachers in different grade levels made the attempt to help.
I can tell you why kids fail a class…. non participation. Our standards have been lowered so much to make sure no one fails, just showing up and doing the homework can let you pass. Honestly, it isnt the nuances of your idea. It seems very well thought out and well planned. It is too close to the “blame the teacher” mantra gong around these days for my tastes… unless i am really missing the point.
this proposal seems to put a lot more responsibility and accountability at their feet.
Well, yes. Accountability seems to be the thing these days. And the teachers did sign off on RTTT, although I am sure individual teachers still have reservations.
But I think that while the new system will put more accountability on teachers, it will also offer them new tools to protect themselves against unfair dings on their performance. I would hope their union representatives would become adept at constructing reports from the new database to defend teachers.
Like i said, i did poorly in a few classes and there were phone calls home, conference requests, you name it…all before the report card came out. Different teachers in different grade levels made the attempt to help.
True. Individual efforts by teachers always have been the bright spot, and always will be. But the following year, all the record shows is your course grade. Nobody knows if you got a D because you are of below average aptitude, or because you are an absent-minded genius who forgets to do his homework, or because you got stuck with a teacher who likes to give out F’s like M&Ms. We can’t understand these things unless we track them.
“Public schools don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing their students.” And that needs to end for charter schools so that we can really evaluate the charter concepts.”
Yes, because what’s really important is evaluating the schools, not educating the students. The last thing we should do is test the students, find the best and brightest and place them in a school that challenges them.
Thank you for the succinct illustration of what’s wrong with the system.
If you’re truly concerned about cherry-picking students, please take a look at the vo-tech districts. Instead of letting them choose college-bound students, as they do to improve their standing in state tests, they should be choosing kids who need the vocational training because they aren’t academically strong.
There’s way too much finger pointing from all sides and not enough solutions. Public education has turned into the ultimate blame game. Parents blame teachers and administrators. Administrators blame parents and teachers, and teachers blame parents and administrators. Not one of these groups is really focusing on solutions, but all of them love their horror stories.
If you’re serious about education there are solutions, but the problem is most people aren’t serious. Smaller class sizes, holding kids back a grade, striving to make all schools equal – all these things cost time and money.
The truth is that we’ve written off a certain population and are obviously okay with certain schools being dumping grounds. (Red Clay excels at this) The flip side is that I question how superior our “superior” schools really are. There seems to be a lot of faux achievement based in part on puffed up grades and standardized tests that, imo, if passed only demonstrate basic understanding. Getting a 5 on the DSTP really isn’t anything to brag about.
We seem to focus on data as a way to advertise our schools rather than a way to improve them. Everyone hates the testing, unless they’re touting their child’s or school’s score – then it miraculously matters.
” I can’t make kids learn, but when those kids have the data in their hands and they understand that they are responsible for learning, then it becomes their mission
This presumes that kids have data in their possession that tells them that they are *learning* — not that they’ve gotten better at taking tests.
But I think that while the new system will put more accountability on teachers,
A new system ought to measure the accountability of the major influences on whether a kid succeeds in schools — so that some metrics on parental involvement seems to be key too. If this starts with the presumption that teachers are in control of all of the factors that influence any kid’s testing or learning metrics, you’ve already started well behind the eight-ball. Which is close to heragain’s point, I think.
In a blame game, he who shouts loudest or has the most connections wins. Data will cut through all of that.
Data will also help us build a case for asking for more resources. In a referendum, a lot of the opposition stems from a sense that the schools will waste the money. In the future, districts will have to justify their requests with reference to the data, along with citizens watchdogging the district budget to make sure the money is used effectively.
Your suggestion that today’s referendum voters make rational choices is heart warming.
A new system ought to measure the accountability of the major influences on whether a kid succeeds in schools — so that some metrics on parental involvement seems to be key too
Agreed. The Texas site does acknowledge parent participation as a metric, but it doesn’t appear it is built into the technology.
You all really should read through the Texas metrics first.
Bring your skepticism, but remember we are building a new system in Delaware and we can define whatever metrics we want based on what Delaware needs.
If you have metrics you would like to suggest, take your best shot at trying to get involved in the REL workhop.
What’s to stop teachers/schools from inflating grades in order to 1) avoid conflict/extra work explaining the bad grade and 2) helping to justify their deserving a referendum.
This system is ripe for abuse. That doesn’t mean I don’t see the benefit. I do. I also see a lot more passing grades in the name of avoiding headaches. Mike, your motives are the best and completely focused on education, many others won’t be approaching this data the same way. If this data is tied to job security/referendums then I’d expect it to be manipulated.
“If you want to improve something, first you have to measure it. And you have to be able to see the data in different views, and work with it over time.”
Ah, yes. The problem isn’t that we’re spending too much time and effort measuring things in the education system — it’s that we’re spending NOT ENOUGH time and energy!
Guess what — none of those countries clobbering us uses these systems. Did it ever occur to you that Mr. Dell has a vested interest in selling information-tracking systems and technology?
The private schools I put my children in after giving up on the public schools didn’t have such a system either. What they had was teachers who called me or emailed me as soon as my kids didn’t turn in an assignment. If they weren’t making progress, I got a weekly or biweekly report from the teachers involved.
The grade is not the only metric. The metrics used for funding and accountability are generally based on standardized tests and other measures that are not so subject to manipulation. I don’t believe AYP includes course grades.
1) avoid conflict/extra work explaining the bad grade
In general, I don’t think the impulse to hide data is a healthy one. Teachers owe parents and student an explanation for an F. A simple checklist of five or so reason codes is not too much to ask.
I get that, Mike. I also get human nature.
Geezer – so let’s put every kid in Delaware into a private school, then everything will be fine, right?
Ah, yes. The problem isn’t that we’re spending too much time and effort measuring things in the education system — it’s that we’re spending NOT ENOUGH time and energy!
We don’t have to spend more time and energy – we are going to let the machines help us spend less.
The point of Education Insight is that we are making an attempt to understand data we already have. It doesn’t collect any new data. It simply organizes and presents our current data. For the most part, teachers and administrators will continue to use the same systems they are currently using to enter data.
Mike. A: The schools WILL waste the money. That’s a given.
B:Data doesn’t cut through anything. Data is data. It just lies there. Then someone with a poorly designed study stuffs a pre-selected assortment of it onto a graph purporting to ‘prove” whatever they set out to prove.
C: You’re not listening. Several people have said here that ‘data will be crap if the teachers perceive it as attached to THEIR job security.’ That is a PROBLEM. People have said, ‘we already have measurements, what we need is some way to address the issues the measurements reveal.’ That is a PROBLEM. People have said, ‘we all know kids are being promoted who haven’t mastered the material, and that has to stop.’ That is a PROBLEM. People have said, ‘the way kids are sorted into schools (including vocational and charter schools) makes our approach to testing ridiculous.’ THAT is a PROBLEM.
I was reading an article yesterday about how parents who live in states (like Texas) which ban affirmative action in college admissions are transferring their kids TO underperforming schools so they’ll stand higher in class rank. Please don’t bring me educational solutions that have the word “Texas” in them as anything but a swearword.
“Standardized tests not subject to manipulation” lol. I have a 1500 word stack of SAT vocabulary sitting next to me. There are a dozen companies that can raise your kid’s SAT score, or money back. THAT is what people complain about when they point out that all your “testing” just makes teachers ‘teach to the test.”
Testing isn’t teaching. Passing tests isn’t learning. It’s just an excuse the people in charge make for their cowardice in facing the challenges we have created in our schools.
” or because you are an absent-minded genius who forgets to do his homework, ” that one.
Mike, i guess my viewpoint is that the F happy teachers who just dont care make up an extreme minority. The rest are in it for the right reasons and do the best they can. Most teachers i know and talk to are against standardization and centralization because every student learns so differently, it is impossible to have one way of teaching. I know that is not what you are suggesting, but a standard form of measurement will, as it did with the disastrous NCLB, lead to “teaching to the test”. The result is kids who know how to tae one evaluation and can do well on it and have no actual knowledge. The people who need to be making the decisions on how to educate kids have to be the ones who have made education their life’s work.
“we are going to let the machines help us…..”
famous last words right before the mechanical overlords enslave us all 🙂
heragain, I am having trouble distinguishing your criticisms from nihilism.
“famous last words right before the mechanical overlords enslave us all”
… ben typed on his computer.
Be specific, Mike. It isn’t Nihilism to say that some approaches don’t work. It’s nihilism to say ‘no approach can possibly work.’
You’re in this process. I’m a lifelong Delawarean, a parent, and a teacher (not a public school teacher.) I’m a homeowner. I pay huge amounts of school taxes. I am invested in the success of the Delaware school system, longterm. I not only want it to work, I NEED it to work.
But I’m also pretty conversant with data, and its limitations, and with humans, and theirs. I say, “the current plan you have presented has ZERO chance of improving the outcome for Delaware students, as a whole. A teacher dashboard that I could read would have helped me boot ONE of my five children, ONE class, ONE semester… in his 22 years. I don’t believe it will help even a substantial minority of Delaware students and I think it has a potential for creating more problems for teachers… and the people quitting teaching right now are exactly the people we need to hold on to.
Because the profession of teaching in a public school is becoming so awful that soon the only reasonable incentive for it will be the hope of pederasty. Please come up with a plan that makes that untrue.
As far as the Race to The Top MOU that all “stakeholders” sign is a myth! Parents were not part of the conversation prior to the state applying for RTTT or Common Core Standards. Only after wining RTTT and agreeing to Common Core Standards did Markell and DEDOE have community town hall meeting for parents and the community.
I was at the Red Clay board meeting when they agreed to sign the RTTT MOU and DEDOE put a gun to their heads. Either sign and get part of the RTTT grant or don’t and you will fund new state education regulation aligned to RTTT objectives.
The new data will help teachers better define student needs. However, with the intense needs that will be produce teachers are not equip to have 50% of their class on IEP like curriculum. RTTT does not address discipline which is a major distraction in the classroom. RTTT will not require students to do their homework or attend school.
Delaware wins yea wins RTTT funding of $119 million dollars and 50% stays at DEDOE and what happen was, a new DEDOE department was created called the School Turnaround / RTTT Department. MORE administration! Originally the district level required data coaches was to come out of the state’s share but no the districts are told they are paying. Remember that Ed Job stimulus money Red Clay is reserving for next year (which is allow by the feds)? DEDOE is tell Red Clay to use it to back fill next year’s budget to cover some up coming cuts.
Jason check out how the Bush family is cashing in on all the data reform http://kilroysdelaware.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/is-arne-duncan-on-the-bush-family-payroll/
Data is great and I love reviewing it! Response to data needs to come from all stakeholders parents, school administration, teachers, legislators and even taxpayers when referendums are warranted.
House Bill 26 http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS146.nsf/vwLegislation/B48022DA4AEBA16D85257815005F9B0F?open will require the State Board of Education to digitally record their public meeting and put on DEDOE webpage. Red Clay and Christina does this without legislation or an executive order.
Reform comes from transparency!
God bless the data but don’t screw the teachers because managers can handle finances.
“so let’s put every kid in Delaware into a private school, then everything will be fine, right?”
If that’s your takeaway, I have to doubt everything you say. A rational person’s takeaway would be “maybe would should adopt methods that work in other countries and other schools in this country.”
The problem isn’t the data. The problem is the way it could be manipulated, and my money’s on it being manipulated. Figure out how to eliminate the manipulation and we’d have a useful tool – which is the way I think Mike is looking at this.
My fears revolve around the data being used as a blunt instrument to punish and a PR vehicle to promote. But I get that I’m cynical.
my money’s on it being manipulated.
That is how data driven accountability works – people work to make their numbers go up. I would LOVE to see the numbers being manipulated up, as long as we are tracking the right numbers. If we are tracking the wrong numbers that is a different problem.
Making sure we track the right numbers is apparently being left up to the REL workshop. They are all smart people, but I think there is some concern here about getting other input, and being willing to think out of their comfort zone.
But before you go offering them input, make sure you know what you are talking about. You need to understand something about education, about technology, and about statistics.
Well, Mike, it’s too bad no one here knows anything about education (such as having advanced degrees) technology (such as running a widely read blog) or about statistics (such as being professional scientists.)
Would you like me to hold something while you remove your arrogant foot from your mouth? 😀
I’m including myself in those who don’t have enough educational knowledge.
I do know something about technology though, and so far I don’t see any suggestions for metrics on this page that are in shape to be brought to a technical team.
Databases are very unforgiving of opinions.
I’m including myself in those who don’t have enough educational knowledge. That was me.
Would you like me to hold something while you remove your arrogant foot from your mouth?
I think we are done here. Maybe I’ll run into you on one of hte
I see I am suddenly having a tough time posting, just as we are talking about technology.
Anyway heragain, I hope I run into you at one of the working committees, so I can hear more of your ideas.
I think we are done here.
Why?
I’d like to know why too. heragain has made multiple *great* points on weaknesses in the current system that aren’t especially available to remediation by a better data presentation. I know I’m interested in how these things get addressed.
There is a *very* big difference between “data driven” and “data informed”. It is a very big handicap to any task when one of its stakeholder parties mistakes knowing the data for actually doing something (besides beating up the messenger) with that data that serves the overall goal. This is the thing I was pointing to earlier in talking about my own industry’s experience with PM Dashboards.
Mike keep sharing !
I agree the concept of data driving reform. But must agree that the concept isn’t new. DSTP was the data machine prior to this RTTT round.
Real time information is very important and with DCAS’s growth model concept we’re on the right track. My concern is classroom teachers will be overwhelmed with supplemental needs of their students.
Tying data to teacher performance without doing the same to all stakeholders is unjust. Data can be be manipulated like DEDOE does with adjusting cuts scores. Too many adjustment skews year to year data to a point of not comparing apples to apples. Same goes for high school dropout rate. Last year Delaware 3.9% a 30 year low! How could that be if schools are failing so much requiring federal intervention?
The data “reveals” middle schools represent the so-called cracks in public education but yet what successful innovation have been applied?
The old story about the zero-gravity pen is an urban myth, but it’s based on reality. Developing a pen for use in space cost over $1 million (by a private inventor, not NASA), and the Russians for several more years just kept using pencils (and grease pencils).
As Mike’s example notes, even Tyson’s sister knew he was in trouble in algebra class.
A big reason we waste so much money on school administration is the accumulation and analysis of data. If this can help in that area, great. But just as computer screens did not produce a paperless society, I don’t think this is going to reduce the need for paper-shuffler-less schools. If anything, I suspect it might increase the need for them.
Mike, you made a witty retort to my little snarky quip, but i dont feel like you addressed my actual comment. It sounds like it will be the teacher’s job to make sure the data collected from the standardized tests reflects good grades.. That is what NCLB did and a huge majority of teachers said it has hindered their ability to educate because they are teaching to a test so the student’s pass that test and the school doesnt get shut down.
Now, what is the penalty for a teacher who does a fantastic job educating their students about what their (hypothetically) long career has shown them is important, DOESNT teach to the test and has classrooms full of engaged and educated young people who dont do well on the state mandated test? yeah, that is a hypothetical strech, but there are lots of teachers who would love to throw out the content of the state tests and teach what they feel is more important.
An education is an organic mental process between the teacher, student and (in grade school) parents. I dont see how adding a bureaucracy and 3rd and 4th parties who dont know anything about the individual situations will do much good.
I think that, to some extent, the goal here is not to add to the teachers workload. Nor is it to teach to the test. The testing process has actually improved from the early DSTP days with shorter, more frequent tests that show intra-year progress.
I think the goal is to take the data that teachers are already gathering (assignment grades, test scores, attendance, etc) and putting them on a system that will make that info available to parents and, I suppose, administrators. Once that data is online it would give the ability to assist a teacher in identifying a pattern of achievement (or not) of individual students.
For example, if a science teacher in middle school sees 130 students a day, she will be unlikely to deduce some patterns of grading in a single student (Johnny has missed 80% of his lab reports). Having the data in some easier to read environment with some built in method of identifying outliers and providing access to all of the stakeholders in realtime would smooth some of the edges of a teachers life.
Sure it would cost the teacher some time, initially, as they learn the system, but the investment would open up a line of communication that parents and teachers don’t often see.
When I taught students with autism, we measured progress in smaller increments than snail-hours. But we collected a LOT of data. Probably 25% of my time was data-gathering. I would have killed for an easy place to aggregate that data and see real progress and areas that needed more attention.
Wingnuts know plenty of people who would kill to have the opportunity to kill for an easy place to aggregate data.
“For example, if a science teacher in middle school sees 130 students a day, she will be unlikely to deduce some patterns of grading in a single student (Johnny has missed 80% of his lab reports). Having the data in some easier to read environment with some built in method of identifying outliers and providing access to all of the stakeholders in realtime would smooth some of the edges of a teachers life.”
That’s a great point.
I think however that the lines of communication already exist. It just takes parents being proactive to make it work.
It’s the “why isnt my kid doing well?!” argument. the answer to that is “if you dont know, you are a bad parent” Sorry if that hits anyone here, but it’s true.
Look at how the right wing attacks teachers… (mike, i dont…DONT think you are doing anything close to this) … they tell outright lies about how much they get paid, try to say they only work part time…. they vilify the teachers so they can justify cutting their salaries…. then wonder why the “best and brightest” arent looking for teaching jobs. The people who ultimately pay are the students.
Just make sure you arent making the job of “public school teacher” an undesirable career… the consequences of that are far worse than one teacher who loves the letter F
It’s the “why isnt my kid doing well?!” argument. the answer to that is “if you dont know, you are a bad parent” Sorry if that hits anyone here, but it’s true.
AMEN !!!!!!!!!
I’m sorry I offended you, Mike. I just thought it was ironic that someone whose qualifications in this area seem to be knowing liberal geek (a distinction most of us share) and being a parent (ditto) should think to lecture a “room” full of people who have great educational distinction (for the most part) on talking about this.
I may differ, from time to time, with opinions held by bloggers and posters here. But I keep coming back because it’s the smartest discussion on the issues around. I thought, when your gaffe was pointed out, you might apologize.
Wrong there, too. 😉
DASHBOARD! Pandora or someone, help me get this seen, please
http://networkedblogs.com/fAioa
From a twitter friend of mine.