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Hi Everyone! I am going to teach an Assessment Course this summer, and one of the things I plan to have my students do is create a Data Wall. I am wondering how many schools and districts are doing this, and how the administrators and teachers are using them. Any feedback would be appreciated. I am attaching a pdf that discusses what they are. I also found a good video from YouTube where a school is using data walls.

Thanks.
Carolyn

Attachments

Data_Walls_to_Improve_Decision-Making__Inform_Practices.pdf (0.07 Mb)

Carolyn, I have seen data walls used by administrators and teachers to monitor student progress in relation to Response To Intervention (RTI), but I have not seen them used in a classroom. Is it your intention to introduce the data walls into the classroom learning environment? I would be curious to hear how this could be done...what a great way to really engage students in knowing their learning goals and progress towards that goal! Sue

Hi Sue, I know - isn't that an interesting idea? The YouTube video clip I provided above actually has students showing how they are using the data wall for their classroom! It is very impressive. Thanks for sharing. I just heard from a colleague of mine at another school district, and she has not heard of the term. I know that school districts are having the conversations about their student achievement data to help inform their instructional practices and increase student success; however, the term data wall may be foreign to many. I think the term focuses attention on discussions that will improve student achievement and is a way for administrators to SEE how their teachers are embracing the student data available to them. Like the term PLC (professional learning community), it was around for a while before it became part of the educational jargon. I would love to hear if and how others are using their student achievement data to inform their practices. It would be exciting to have those of you using data walls - to be willing to take a picture and share yours with us. Carolyn

After watching the youtube video, I have mixed feelings. I wonder if we are putting too much emphasis on numbers and not enough on more intrinsic motivation and science literacy. Although I guess the arrgument could be made that extrinsic motivation in this regard is also highly beneficial. My hesitation goes along with the quetion: "Are we rasing a generation of scientifically literate students, or students that are great test takers?" I also worry about the percentage of students that do not make the mark...will all teachers go back and make sure that they are at goal, or once the majority (or whatever percentage is decided) reaches the goal, do they move on? Looking at a whole group's data, do we lose the individual? Thoughts?

I totally agree with Suzanne on this one: I did go through and watch the YouTube video, and have some big mixed feelings about this as well. I know that there is a big push nationwide for looking at data to drive instruction, but that shouldn't necessarily be the ONLY motivator in the classroom. Data should help shape instruction and is certainly useful to see which students "get it" and which need extra help on a specific topic or focus, but the kinds of data that external evaluators are looking for don't measure science literacy or critical thinking, two of the most important things that students need to learn! How can you measure critical thinking on a computerized multiple choice test (which many of the standardized assessments are)? I know they also cursorily mentioned teacher made formative assessments, but it seemed the bigger focus was on the "Blue Diamond" tests that the students took. Don't get me wrong, data is definitely a useful tool when used properly. Data for the sake of gathering data (without a real focus) is useless, and can even be quite dangerous. When those who don't really understand what the data is showing are are put in a position to make critical decisions on education policy, we find ourselves in a real mess. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I can see how things can get out of hand quite quickly. My hesitation and cautious skepticism was cemented specially after listening to another science teacher recount a discussion she had with one of the administrators at my school. They had been discussing the one of our district mandates for reporting data, and in frustration, the teacher said that we would eventually need to choose between making fancy graphs of student progress or actually work on teaching to improve student progress. The message was quite clear: we needed to be sure that we had the graphs. I know that data IS important - we need to be able to show that our students are progressing - but our main job should be on improving student progress, not figuring out how to report it on a set of graphs and charts on a nearly constant basis.

I have in the past, posted a "checkable" list of goals for the class - things to know and things to know how to do - our learning objectives. I would check the learning goal off once the majority of the students had accomplished the goal. However, I quit using it for several reasons. One, I taught 6 sections of science, and that meant 6 posters (they were large so students could read them)...and that was problematic in finding enough space to display them. Yet, my greatest concern was about the message I was sending to students, the ones who had not demonstrated that they had met the mark...If I moved on, wasn't I saying that it was okay for them not to get it? And wasn't I was also putting them in a position of feeling "less" than the rest, especially if they realized that their scores were not at the same level as their peers? And then I worried about the message of the lesson: was I teaching them that learning is a life skill, something important for scientific literacy, or was I teaching them that learning is a "production process," where we try to hit targets for the "targets-sake." I am not sure if all of this makes sense, but it one reason I would be concerned with using a classroom data wall. I would rather see the focus on helping students recognize individual goals in learning and helping them realize them... Thoughts?

Hi Suzanne, I agree with you that by publicizing data some students might feel inadequate. At one point I posted grades in my classroom by student id number to help students realize if they were missing work. Unfortunately, I often heard students commenting on the lowest and highest scores and trying to guess which student was associated with the scores. Needless to say, I stopped posting grades in this manner due to the negative comments I overhead (although I have seen a number of teachers in my building who continue to post grades in such a manner). I wonder if data walls generate the same kinds of discussions by students?

I can understand the concerns about having the data walls visible to our students. It would be valuable to have some of you who have your students actively participating in class or school data walls to provide your views on this. Since I posted the original question, I have discovered that many, many schools and districts collect and analyze lots of different data to help inform their instructional practices. What is especially exciting is how teachers are spending more and more time on formative assessment practices to help scaffold their students' learning progressions. I think I will start a new thread asking for formative assessment classroom techniques that are being used in classrooms. I know there are lots of strategies that I probably don't know about. I am excited to find out some new tools! Carolyn

Hmmm I have seen data walls used a bit differently On the right the problem next column the intervention (what was done about it) Perhaps different teachers tried different things. Next column the effect. Hopefully there is pre intervention data to compare with post intervention data. Last column conclusion. When teacher are engaged in action research this is a great way to share ideas and effective intervention strategies. This can really help build a learning community.

Hi Pam, Thank you for sharing how you have seen data walls being used. Yes, your experience is similar to how Doug Reeves explains a typical Data Wall set-up. I attached the article in my first post on this thread. I agree with you, if the data wall initiates professional conversations to help teachers and administrators inform classroom practices and improve student learning - that is all good. Carolyn

We sort of use them. Because the data contains identifiable information, we put the data up for the meeting, but have to take it back down because students have access to almost everywhere in the building. Several colleagues post data from their assessments in a way for students to see, broken down in a variety of ways, so the classes can have open discussions on what they need to do to make sure everyone is moved from the red, (serious need of help and intervention), to the yellow, (needing a little help), and ultimately the green, (meeting standards). The power in this method is if you can desegregate the data into the skills that are lacking and have students talk about and implement a specific plan of action for improvement, students become self-assessors of their learning. An interesting question was posed to me the other day in class. One of my students that came from Canada asked why we report data in terms of race/ethnicity instead of by skills that are mastered or needing help. They went on to explain, there is no genetic marker for learning a concept. You don’t inherit Math or Science genes that are a part of your genetic makeup, so why do we report statistics on learning as if that was what was causing scores to be low. The student wanted to know why the focus was not on the actual skill itself, like systems of equations.

My current school does not utilize data walls but I have worked in schools in the past that have. My personal opinion is that they are of little help for a couple of reasons. First, they do have to be displayed in a location that is not accessible to students or parents. Where is the one place in the building students and parents are rarely allowed? The staff lounge/teacher workroom. How much time does the average teacher spend in there? Not a lot and when we do we're rushing to use the restroom or make copies. I've been teaching since 2005 and I have yet to see any teacher "lounging" in the teacher's lounge. In my experience, they simply become background scenery. No one really notices them after a week or so. Second, if you're in a low performing school they can be demoralizing. Most test data uses the color red to indicate students or scores that are below proficient. This means that teachers are staring at a giant wall of red that they can perceive as an enormous "you're failing your students" message. I think the best way to use data is with teachers in a workshop setting. What do these scores mean? How can we use this data to figure out what we're doing RIGHT so we can do more of whatever that is? I think these are the kinds of conversations that empower teachers...

We are required to have Data Walls in our classrooms. However, this year, I only posted the grade level scores. I also used to put up lists, but I don't do that anymore. The reason is that last summer I attended a Conflict-Resolution Seminar and it was the consensus of the researchers/presenters that based on research, Data Walls are detrimental to building student self-esteem and motivation. That was an AHA moment for me. It actually made sense and I felt that my students feel safer in my classes. What was disturbing to me was when they started internalizing the test scores and identifying themselves in relation to those performance bands. For example, " Oh no, I'm far below basic!".

I don't know if what I have on my wall is considered a data wall, but I have 4 large laminated beakers on my wall (I have 4 chemistry classes). After each unit test, I "fill it" to the class average percent. It is a great motivator to students because they don't like being the lowest average, and they love being the highest average. I also have an "A wall". Students who get A's on the tests get their names put up on the wall, and they love to be recognized. I don't give percentages, only A's. Students strive to be up on the wall, and it is an intrinsic motivator for doing well on tests.

Mary Ann, Thank you for the update on the thinking about Data Walls for student use. Samantha, I love the laminated beakers idea for displaying your class data. So we, as teachers need to weigh the harm and good of data wall use. One thing we can all agree upon is the power of data when examined to help inform practice and drive instruction. Please DO join in on this ongoing conversation, especially if you have any personal experiences on how data walls are helping to motivate your students or causing more harm than good. Thanks, Carolyn

I had a great discussion with one of my students today. I updated the beakers (with the class averages for our last unit test), along with the "A" wall. Many students ran up to the board to look for their name. (I even had some students who took pictures to show their parents!) After a lot of the excitement calmed down and students were working, I saw something great happen. I have a senior in one of my chemistry classes who can be rather difficult to motivate. He looked up at the beakers, and I heard him say, "Man, our class is always lower than all of the other classes; I need to figure out what to do to help out". He then turned around to me and said, "Miss Carney, by the end of this semester, my name will be on the A wall. Then I will help raise our class average. What can I do to make sure I can do that?" We then talked about what he needed to do to end the semester strong and end up on the A wall! Today helped reinforce that students really do pay attention to what we do!

I'm wondering if it might be more useful to talk about skill development and use data to monitor accomplishments? I believe that students like to learn and when targets are clearly identified, they will work to attain them. If data walls are contructed in such a way to show student growth in skill sets, then they might prove to be extremely useful. I saw this in a non-academic setting (jumping rope) and it was very successful. Bob Berry, founder of the Juneau Jumpers, created a system in which skill levels were clearly defined and specific skills were explicitly identified. There was a 5x8 card for each level, and the cards listed the skills at that level. When a 'jumper' masters a skill, he/she earns a silver star in recognition of this, and when they help another jumber master a skill they earn a gold star. I know this may seem superficial, but I've seen this work incredibly well. Following that, I saw a kindergarten teacher do the same thing with kindergarten skills, using the same recognition system/data tracking. It was very impressive to see these 5-year olds so focused on skill attainment. I think this could work with just about any subject at any level if done with sensitivity and if linked directly to specific skills. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you, Scott, for sharing how you have seen Data Displays work well. The idea of a Data Wall or any type of Data Display (I have seen this symbolized as DaD), is not going away anytime soon. The most recent free pdf download from National Academies Press discusses DaD in chapter 3 page 11 of the book, Developing Assessments for The NGSS. After registering (for free) anyone can access this and other excellent science teaching resources from NAP.
The NGS standards are written as student performance expectations and not curricular objectives, so being able to understand how to assess student performance continues to be a priority. This resource provides several examples of how to evaluate students' science learning (in chapter 6). I found the whole text to be an important 'read' to help me continue to make connections between the NGSS and assessments. I would love to hear others' thoughts on how they are planning to collect data and assess their students using the NGSS. Please share other resources that have helped or are helping you to use the data from student learning to inform your practices or help your students to excel.
Carolyn
Carolyn

I am currently a student teacher, and I have seem them being used in the school that I am in. I also learned about data walls in my assessment course that I took, it was very helpful.

In my assessment course (created by the famous Dr. Lee Wright), we did data wall presentations as groups. This project was a wonderful learning experience. At my current school, we have a data wall in the front office as well as data/ goal-setting meetings. This is a wonderful addition to an assessment course!