Standard 2.8 Data Analysis
Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to systematically collect and analyze student achievement data, interpret results, communicate findings, and implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning. (ISTE 2h)
Artifact:
Data Overview - Google Slide Presentation
Data Overview Screencast-O-Matic presentation:
Reflection:
This artifact is the Data Overview that I completed in ITEC 7305: Data Analysis and School Improvement. The purpose of this project was to give M.Ed candidates the opportunity to practice collecting and analyzing data with the end goal of communicating the data to staff members and recommending next steps to take based on the information that the data showed. The Data Overview shows mastery of Standard 2.8 - Data Analysis - which states that "candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to systematically collect and analyze student achievement data, interpret results, communicate findings, and implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning" because the project consisted of every step described in the standard.
First, I obtained permission from the testing coordinator at my school to use CRCT data from the past several years. Using both this resource and the GDOE, I collected data on my topic - 3rd - 5th grade CRCT reading data from 2012 - 2014. Once I had all of the data that I needed, I analyzed and interpreted the data. I looked for common trends, percentages of students who met and/or exceeded the standard, and changes over time. I also took into account the enrollment, gender, and demographic data of the school over that three-year time period.
The use of Excel allowed me to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources in order to communicate the findings. I created a wide variety of graphs that I was able to use to both interpret and communicate the data. Seeing data in the form of a graph made it much easier to understand as opposed to just looking at lists of numbers and charts. Next, I compiled all of this information into a Google Slide Presentation. That way, it is designed in a way that is easy to present to the staff and parents.Communicating this type of information in a way that is visually appealing and understandable is crucial when presenting data to teachers and parents.
Finally, my Google Slide presentation demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional practices and maximize student learning. According to the data, third, fourth, and fifth grade students needed to improve in their comprehension of informational texts. I listed a variety of technology programs that would be useful in helping students improve in this area. All of these tools are things I have utilized with my own students when I taught fourth grade, so I am able to help other teachers implement any of these tools into their classrooms. The programs I recommended were Actively Learn, Reading A-Z, Raz Kids, and Education Galaxy. All of these programs include reading informational/nonfiction texts and answering questions about these texts. All of these programs can be differentiated based on student reading level, and the texts that are used tend to be very interesting to students.
Through completing this Data Analysis, I learned how much work goes into putting something like this together. Finding data ranging over a period of several years and then synthesizing it all together and interpreting it accurately was a very extensive process. It took some thought to think about what had gone on at my school several years ago, and what types of professional development had been offered back in 2012. It was also difficult to determine why students scored lower in some areas than others. However, once I was able to determine these relationships, it made sense why students had scored lower in several areas of literacy, and I enjoyed coming up with ways for teachers to strengthen these areas in the future. Since the CRCT no longer exists, I would actually like to do this project over again in a couple of years using the Georgia Milestone data. I would be interested to see how students are doing in reading/language arts after all of these interventions and areas of support have been put in place.
This artifact impacts school improvement and faculty development because the Data Analysis presentation focuses on how the school can improve in their teaching practices. In addition, this artifact promotes student learning since ideally, students will benefit from the ideas I gave throughout the presentation for how teachers can improve their reading instruction.
This artifact is the Data Overview that I completed in ITEC 7305: Data Analysis and School Improvement. The purpose of this project was to give M.Ed candidates the opportunity to practice collecting and analyzing data with the end goal of communicating the data to staff members and recommending next steps to take based on the information that the data showed. The Data Overview shows mastery of Standard 2.8 - Data Analysis - which states that "candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to systematically collect and analyze student achievement data, interpret results, communicate findings, and implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning" because the project consisted of every step described in the standard.
First, I obtained permission from the testing coordinator at my school to use CRCT data from the past several years. Using both this resource and the GDOE, I collected data on my topic - 3rd - 5th grade CRCT reading data from 2012 - 2014. Once I had all of the data that I needed, I analyzed and interpreted the data. I looked for common trends, percentages of students who met and/or exceeded the standard, and changes over time. I also took into account the enrollment, gender, and demographic data of the school over that three-year time period.
The use of Excel allowed me to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources in order to communicate the findings. I created a wide variety of graphs that I was able to use to both interpret and communicate the data. Seeing data in the form of a graph made it much easier to understand as opposed to just looking at lists of numbers and charts. Next, I compiled all of this information into a Google Slide Presentation. That way, it is designed in a way that is easy to present to the staff and parents.Communicating this type of information in a way that is visually appealing and understandable is crucial when presenting data to teachers and parents.
Finally, my Google Slide presentation demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional practices and maximize student learning. According to the data, third, fourth, and fifth grade students needed to improve in their comprehension of informational texts. I listed a variety of technology programs that would be useful in helping students improve in this area. All of these tools are things I have utilized with my own students when I taught fourth grade, so I am able to help other teachers implement any of these tools into their classrooms. The programs I recommended were Actively Learn, Reading A-Z, Raz Kids, and Education Galaxy. All of these programs include reading informational/nonfiction texts and answering questions about these texts. All of these programs can be differentiated based on student reading level, and the texts that are used tend to be very interesting to students.
Through completing this Data Analysis, I learned how much work goes into putting something like this together. Finding data ranging over a period of several years and then synthesizing it all together and interpreting it accurately was a very extensive process. It took some thought to think about what had gone on at my school several years ago, and what types of professional development had been offered back in 2012. It was also difficult to determine why students scored lower in some areas than others. However, once I was able to determine these relationships, it made sense why students had scored lower in several areas of literacy, and I enjoyed coming up with ways for teachers to strengthen these areas in the future. Since the CRCT no longer exists, I would actually like to do this project over again in a couple of years using the Georgia Milestone data. I would be interested to see how students are doing in reading/language arts after all of these interventions and areas of support have been put in place.
This artifact impacts school improvement and faculty development because the Data Analysis presentation focuses on how the school can improve in their teaching practices. In addition, this artifact promotes student learning since ideally, students will benefit from the ideas I gave throughout the presentation for how teachers can improve their reading instruction.