Christina Battaglini

EDC 257
M4A2-Data Analysis
Professor Lopez
4/17/2016
For students to be successful and learn academic content, teachers must diligently plan
lessons and assessments that align with content standards. Standards are broad statements about
expected student educational outcomes (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p.281). These focus on
the end result. For example, Common Core Standards are general and guide what students
should be able to do by the end of the school year. These broad terms do not dictate the methods
teachers use for daily instruction. Assignments for daily use in the classroom are more effective
when teachers are focused on the end result (Wong & Wong, 2009, p.235). Without focusing on
a well-written objective, students may get sidetracked and lose focus. When students are
confused they lose motivation to accomplish the activity and learning goal.
Standards are set for the districts by the states and objectives come from standards. Teachers
focus on breaking down standards into units and daily lessons. Objectives are measurable and
observable and guide students toward achieving the goals (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p.282).
Student mastery of the objective is lost when teachers deliver the daily lesson plan without first
aligning the objective to the standards. For example, if the standard is for students to be able to
determine foreshadowing in a text and the objective is for students to read the text and write a
page report, then the teacher has failed to align the objective with the standard. It is an
ineffective lesson because students wont understand why they are doing the work. A better
written objective is: Students will be able to determine foreshadowing in the text by giving two
examples. As stated in The First Days Of School, Students get more done when they see where
they are going and what they are doing (Wong & Wong, 2009, p.235). Effective teachers always
keep the end result in mind and refer students to the objective often to keep them focused.

Assessments are an important part at any level of education. Elementary, middle school, high
school and college teachers all determine if the student gained knowledge by analyzing
information gather from tests. Assessment both enhances learning and informs teaching
(Snowman & McCown, 2013, p.307). By using formative assessments the teacher can determine
at what level students understand the content. From this informal assessment teachers determine
whether to go on or review the material. If assessments are not focused on the goals or
objectives, then these tools fail to properly evaluate students progress. This gives teachers an
idea of the students level of basic knowledge. For example, teachers can analyze data from
standardized tests such as AIMS to determine which areas to focus on in the beginning of the
year. Conducting assessments and then analyzing the data guides teachers to make better
informed decisions about students learning.
Goal setting is a very powerful tool used to help students gain self-efficacy. When a teacher
helps students set individual, achievable goals it increases self-esteem and motivation. Data
notebooks can be used for both behavioral and academic goal setting. For example, in the video
from Sue Cleveland Elementary School one student discusses his behavior Data Notebook. He
understands the relationship between good behavior and positive rewards (Discussing Data
Notebooks, 2013). Also, keeping a log in a data notebook shows him his successful days. With
these notebooks students are given a way to track progress and learn to read data. It also helps
students achieve academic goals. A 4th Grade student, Robert, from the video talks about his
math sheet that is color coded to show him what skills he needs to work on (colored in Red),
needs a little more work (colored in yellow) and which skills he has mastered (colored in Green)
(Discussing Data Notebooks, 2013). Students are equipped with a quick visual on how they are
doing and what to work on improving.

Data show teachers, parents, whole classrooms and individual students progress made in
academic areas. Tangible results from testing help teachers focus instruction and goals for
students. Data talks with the whole classroom encourage everyone to do their personal best.
During the video at Corvallis Elementary it shows how talking with the class about their growth
makes them excited and motivated. For example, the students were very excited to see that they
grew in reading from 172 points to 183, surpassing their goal of 180 points (Lucio, 2010). This
kind of talk puts students on the same page and not competing against each other. Showing
students how theyve grown as a whole class encourages a sense of community where learners
have an interest for all to succeed. Also, once the students see how they have grown, setting
goals for the next quarter doesnt frighten them, they look forward to achieving the next step.
The important aspect is to set achievable goals that inspire students to reach their goal.
For teachers to quickly gather information from students about their understanding of material
or opinion about lesson effectiveness using classroom response system is valuable. Discussions
take extra time, get off track and dont allow teachers to absorb all the information given.
Teachers have many tools they can utilize in order to gather specific information quickly.
Implementing a response system such as Clickers can help teachers maintain student interest in
the lesson and check for understanding of key points. The teacher doesnt have to wait until an
assignment is turned in (Bruff, 2010). Also, a teacher may want to get student input on how to
make lessons more effective.
Collection of student information for educational purposes by schools is not new. What
has changed is how it is stored and fears about its use. To begin with, most of the information
used to be held by the school system. Recently, as more and more data is generated, schools are
turning to outside sources to manage the large amounts of information (Whats Really At Stake,

2014). The purpose of generating, storing and analyzing data is to help teachers better
individualize instruction for students. In this way, teachers access the data, interpret the results
and make more informed decisions about adapting curriculum to meet the needs of each student.
Another point as stated in the ESEA Reauthorization Article, For teachers to use data, they must
trust the data are accurate, valid, and reliable(Why Data Matters, 2015). It is equally important
for the data to be high quality for teachers to use it to enhance student achievement.
Tracking student progress throughout their school years helps both teachers and parents. They
are able to quickly see where the student is growing and in which areas they need help. In our
rapidly changing, fast paced educational world it is important for teachers to have up to date data
collection services. However, gathering of student information by outside sources has many
parents concerned. Legitimately, problems arising from marketers, security and a never ending
data trail have parents questioning the benefits of this system (Whats Really At Stake, 2014).
For example, if marketers are able to solicit to kids based on information kept is their profiles,
maybe the negative consequences outweigh the benefits. States and districts are working hard to
safeguard students information and the federal government needs to support this action too (Why
Data Matters, 2015). In this way parents, teachers and schools can utilize the benefits of storing
and analyzing student data and feel comfortable knowing the information is protected and safe.

References
Bruff, D., Classroom Response Systems (Clickers). (2010) Center for Teaching; Vanderbilt University.

Retrieved from: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/clickers/

ESEA Reauthorization: Why Data Matter; (2015) Data Quality Campaign (DQC)
Retrieved from: http://dataqualitycampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ESEAReauthorization_DQC-Recommendations.pdf
Lucio, J. (2010, May 6) MAP Goal Setting.mov [Video file].
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVLwu6uQK2I
NWEA MAP Goal Setting Instruction [Video file]. (2012, June 13).
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYRWdEQp4ic
Snowman, J. and McCown, R. (2013) Ed Psych
Cengage Learning

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth,

Sue Cleveland Students Discussing Data Notebooks [Video file]. (2013,Feb. 8).
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZZS4RJmtc
Whats Really At Stake? Untangling the Big Issues Around Student Data. (2014, May 22) Mind/Shift;
KQED News. Retrieved from: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/22/whats-really-at-stakeuntangling-issues-around-student-data-privacy/
Wong, H.K., Wong, R.T. (2009) the First Days Of School Mountain View, CA;
Harry K Wong Publications, Inc.