Technology Essentials in Education Episode 4:
How to Tackle Student Data

Welcome to Technology Essentials in Education, practical ideas for educators.

I'm your host Dr. Monica Burns.

This week's episode is titled How to Tackle Student Data.

When I work with schools and districts, formative assessment is always a popular topic, but one of the big questions I get is how can we tackle student data.

So that's our focus today: how to tackle all of the data that comes our way as educators.

It's just me today, so let's dive in.

This episode is part of a special bonus series presented by Jotform.

Jotform Enterprise provides an all-in-one solution to streamline administrative tasks, enhance community engagement, and foster innovation.

Using their no-code drag and drop forms and workflows, your team can securely collect and store data, automate routine tasks, and collaborate on team resources.

Educational institutions are also eligible for a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise.

Head to their website to learn more at jotform.com/enterprise.

Today on the podcast, we're talking about how to tackle student data.

That word tackle is kind of strategic for today's episode.

Sometimes it does feel like a struggle that we have all of this information on what students know, what they understand, where they might need some extra support, and we need to do something with that information.

So we're going to unpack some of the reasons why we collect student data in the first place, some ways to collect student data, and then really thinking about what kind of data you're collecting and how to review that information.

We'll talk a bit about why digital tools are helpful during this process and how you can really make any type of data collection you're doing more actionable.

Today we're looking at this topic of student data collection through the lens of K-12 education, across grade levels and different subject areas.

From my personal experience as a former classroom teacher, collecting formative assessment data was such a big part of my day.

However, it really came down to the quality of that information I was collecting, whether that was looking at screencasts that students made that captured their voice and had them maybe on video, or using digital forms like a checklist to collect data as I was observing students, or perhaps having them fill something out right in Pit Submit so that I could see what they were working on.

There are lots of different ways to think about data collection, when it might happen during the school day, and then of course why.

So why do we collect student data? We do it because we want to identify what kids already know, what gaps there might be in their understanding, what misconceptions they might have, all with the purpose of guiding future instruction.

Formative assessment data collection really drives our instruction.

It helps us make instructional decisions like what's going to happen in five minutes if I'm collecting some data and reviewing it in real time, what's going to happen tomorrow if I'm reviewing that student data I've collected at the end of the day, or what I might do next week or the next unit of study.

It's really all about informing or driving future instruction by checking in to see what kids already know, what gaps they might have in understanding, what misconceptions they think they might know that aren't exactly accurate, and then using that information to make decisions.

In an elementary classroom, this might include quick checks that we do on something like reviewing student sight words to help us figure out what group they might go in if we are creating some tailored intervention or reading groups for them.

It might be reviewing student responses to math problems that they're solving to see where there's maybe some gaps in applying a particular strategy for problem solving.

In a middle school or high school classroom, we might do a pre-assessment at the beginning of a unit, maybe on a time period of historical events that are coming up, and you want to see what kids already know.

Particularly at the secondary level, we're looking at course content like social studies.

Students may have had some exposure or experience with that content in the past.

We don't want to repeat something unless we need to, and it gives us some baseline information of where students are at.

The goal is really to support student growth, not just getting numbers to put on a spreadsheet.

That information we're gathering should really tell us something, paint a picture, tell a story of student understanding.

That's what our goal is when we are collecting student data, even though there's a variety of ways to do it.

Our goal really is to help students grow in whatever area of instruction we may be focused on.

When we think about our why, it's great to establish our why, but then we have to have a strategy or a way to put those big ideas into action.

There are different ways to collect formative assessment data, whether you are in a very tech-rich classroom where you use lots of technology and have access to many different things, or whether you are more in a paper and pencil mode.

Formative assessment has been happening before we had access to some of the great digital tools that you might use as part of your everyday practice.

Some traditional methods that maybe have a digital connection now, depending on what tools you're using, are exit slips or exit tickets.

This is a traditional check for understanding that happens at the end of a lesson.

It's our way to see what did you get today, what did you understand from today, where do you still need some support, and what questions may a student have.

This informs your instruction for the very next day.

It typically happens at the end of a lesson or maybe a few activities and tells us what we need to do next, giving us some information that will help us plan and prepare better, whether that's for everyone who needs help or just a few individual students.

Another traditional method is a short quiz.

You might have students complete a few multiple choice questions.

You might be very familiar with this if you're from the Scantron generation of bubbling things in or collecting things that students have bubbled in.

It may also be more open-ended questions where you give students a prompt or a sentence starter and ask them to fill in more information.

Then you in your mind have a sense of what your success criteria is, what you're looking for.

Another traditional method is classroom observations.

Maybe you have a clipboard with a class roster and a few days a week or every day of the week you are observing with one thing in mind, like can every student do this one thing, and you're making notations.

When you look at that at the end of the day or week, you might decide that some students need a particular intervention, so you pull a small group or are ready to move on to the next thing.

Digital tools can bring ease and efficiency in collecting and organizing student data.

There are also student benefits, like giving them more options, maybe using voice tools or dictation tools, which might add to their ability to give you some great high-quality information.

One example of a switch from traditional to digital that made a big impact in my classroom as an upper elementary school teacher was taking those classroom observations on a physical clipboard and turning it into a digital form.

I created a form that only I was using, filling it out every couple of days when collecting information from students.

I would walk around the room, have student conversations, maybe have a small group, and then type my notes or observations into the form, submit it, and it would go into a space where I could see all of the results.

This helped me better have a picture of individual needs and trends within the group.

There are definitely traditional methods that you might now take a digital spin on that just weren't quite available before.

Although I love sticky notes and clipboards, having something digital was a much better way for me to organize information, collect data, and share it with others.

Maybe it was a co-teacher or a support specialist working with a couple of kids that I would have.

Whoever I wanted to share that information with, I could now send it to them in a much smoother way than sorting through my own personal sticky note binder system.

This just streamlined the whole process.

A quick note from the presenter of today's episode: Jotform Enterprise lets you build a form in minutes, like student survey forms, homework submission forms, online quizzes, and much more.

You can start from scratch or get a head start by checking out their collection of free form templates designed with teachers, schools, and districts in mind.

Learn more about Jotform and how educational institutions can get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise at jotform.com.

Digital tools can definitely save time by automating how you're collecting data and organizing it, making it a lot easier to review all of that information.

Now that we think about our why and what this might look like in action, you want to step back and make sure that you are collecting data that you really need.

We could collect data on all sorts of things, but if I'm not going to use that information, what's the point of taking the time to do it?

We want to make sure that we're collecting actionable information.

This is where the term success criteria comes in.

If you want students to master a particular skill, how will you know that they actually understand?

Is it because they solved that addition question correctly and got the answer?

Is it because they named a literary element while reviewing a piece of literature?

Is it because they gave five examples of how a document was a primary source?

Whatever that measurement is, that's going to tell you they for sure understand something.

That's your success criteria.

You might decide that you are looking for just one thing as you're reviewing a piece of content kids have submitted, and that's what you are using to decide if they got it right, have mastered it, are working towards something, or need extra help.

You might notice responses that don't address the success criteria but give you other information.

This is where you decide what you want to see ideally from a student to show they understand something.

Then you back up to decide what type of question you are going to ask to make sure they understand.

You might have information that is more quantitative, like numbers, such as in a math example where if everyone says 72 as their answer, you know they got it.

But if a student explains their thinking and doesn't mention a certain vocabulary word, maybe you're looking for that too as part of your success criteria.

That would be a combination of quantitative and qualitative data.

Qualitative data may be something you're looking at with certain considerations, maybe with a rubric that goes along with it.

If you see a certain response, you have a sense that a student understands, but if you see another response, you want to follow up and ask an additional question.

When collecting information from students, knowing your success criteria helps you decide which questions will tell you what you need to know.

You formulate the type of question to give students, collect that information, and then review it with your success criteria in mind.

When reviewing data, you may look at a whole class set of data to find patterns or trends within the group.

Is there anything that applies to everyone or most of the group that could inform your whole class instruction moving forward?

Are there any outliers who have demonstrated mastery already or who are struggling?

Looking at the whole class, you find big patterns or trends, outliers, and then make a plan on how to address all students using that data.

If reviewing data for one student in particular, you might look for patterns or trends to see when they were doing well, when they were struggling, and gaps to address over time.

You might review data with a whole class mindset or an individual mindset depending on your goals for a unit of study or what's next for you.

You might also review data collaboratively with a grade level team or partner teacher depending on how you do planning together.

As a grade level team, you're typically looking for patterns and trends across classrooms rather than individuals at first.

If there are outliers in a couple of classes, can you bring those students together even if they don't spend the whole day together to address their needs more strategically?

When reviewing data collaboratively, you look for larger trends and your action items might be grade level wide or to create small groups across classes to give everyone what they need.

You might ask questions as a team or in your own practice like what most students understand and where the biggest gaps are within the group, then narrow down your review to the individual level to make sure everyone has what they need.

Digital tools can absolutely help you tackle student data and be very helpful throughout the formative assessment data collection process.

Some tools have automation that quickly identifies trends or provide spreadsheets of results so you can see trends quickly.

There's also the accessibility piece of giving easy access to data, whether sharing individual student data with a co-teacher or family member or reviewing class data with someone else in your school or district community.

Digital tools can help you give feedback more quickly because you're reviewing data in real time and can get right back to students with actionable next steps.

There are specific strategies you might take as you're tackling student data and thinking about your next steps.

The first is differentiating instruction.

You might create small groups based on shared needs you've seen when viewing student formative assessment data.

For example, if four of your fifth graders are struggling with context clues while reviewing informational texts and the rest of the class has mastered that skill, you might pull that group over and introduce new strategies just for them.

Differentiation might happen in small groups, station rotation, or center-based models where students work on different activities at different times or the same activity at different times.

You might work with a group at a station on whatever that group needs, which might be different from another group.

This could happen strategically with centers or stations.

You might also find that everyone is working at the same time, moving about a space after a mini lesson, working in small groups based on their needs or in groups where students have different needs and support one another.

In addition to smaller groups or center-based models, some students might need one-on-one support.

You might have a student with a very specific individual need unlike their classmates and pull them for a one-on-one conference or time to work together on that need.

You might also find that a student needs a specialist to work with them in a more dedicated situation.

Different models and things you might do based on the data you've collected are really the core of our episode today: making the most of the information you've gathered.

Some strategies might not be at the individual or small group level but instead at a whole class level.

If the majority of your students, maybe 75%, are struggling with one thing, you might have outliers working on something separate while the bulk of the group works with you as you reteach or introduce something in a new way.

You are the expert and in the driver's seat for all of this.

There are lots of ways to streamline this with digital tools, whether using the same checklist strategy with digital forms or collecting student responses to multiple choice or short answer questions.

There are many ways to gather data, keep it organized, and have the time and brain space to really take action on it.

As we think about how to put these ideas into action, we collect data for lots of reasons, know your success criteria and anticipated action items, decide how to collect data to make sure kids have what they need, and then decide how to use the information you've collected.

To finish up, I encourage you to try one strategy we talked about today to narrow down your success criteria so you know exactly what you're looking for.

Try out a digital tool, maybe a form-based digital tool, and share your progress with others, whether a colleague or even sending me a message to let me know what's working for you in your classroom.

I'll link related resources on the show notes page so you can find everything to stay connected and dive deeper into how to tackle student data.

A big thank you to Jotform, the presenter of today's episode and this special series.

To learn more about Jotform and how educational institutions can get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise, head to jotform.com/enterprise education.