Data Guru Training 1112 – Session 2 – Agenda
“YOU CAN HAVE DATA WITHOUT INFORMATION, BUT YOU CANNOT HAVE INFORMATION WITHOUT DATA.” DANIEL KEYS MORAN
“THE GOAL IS TO TRANSFORM DATA INTO INFORMATION, AND INFORMATION INTO INSIGHT.” CARLY FIORINA
“COLLECTING DATA IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP TOWARD WISDOM, BUT SHARING DATA IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD COMMUNITY.”
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.
Session 2 - Learning Targets
Data Gurus will develop an understanding of how to access, collect, analyze, and share data.
Data Gurus will develop a basic understanding of how to use a pivot table to analyze information in a spreadsheet.
Data Gurus will develop an understanding of how to use available data resources (Data Warehouse, Reporting Hub,
ABC Tools, EVAAS, DASH, NC Wise, and DPI).
Data Gurus will utilize a self-assessment tool to evaluate their level of understanding and use of data.
1
2
3
4
Where are you in your understanding and use of data? (Self-Assessment & Checklist of Recommendations)
Welcome to the second of our 1112 Data Guru training sessions. We’ll take a few minutes to introduce a self-assessment
tool that can be used to determine where you are in your understanding and use of data. We’ll give you time to complete
the self-assessment and then discuss conclusions and recommendations for moving forward.
 How do I determine what I need to do with all this data?
 How do I move my school toward being more data-driven?
 What is the capacity of my teachers or staff to understand and use data to impact instruction?
What are the target scores for my students if I want them to achieve expected growth? (ABC Tools – Target Growth
files)
DPI uses the ABC Tools software to use a student’s past testing history to predict a student’s expected or target score. If a
student achieves their predicted score, then the student makes expected growth. We pull the target score files, insert the
names and sections for your teachers, and show you how to format and print the report for your teachers. We’ll discuss
how target scores are arrived at and how you can use the target scores to provide interventions for your students.
 Did the predictions match what you thought about the students?
 Should you push some students that you thought were not as capable as the predictions indicate?
 What about those students predicted to make a Level 1 or Level 2? Have you looked at the gaps in their basic
skills? Can you provide some remediation or other interventions for them?
 Are you pushing students predicted to make a Level 4? Are students being challenged even when they’re in
regular classes?
 How do these targets compare to the achievement probabilities in EVAAS?
Are my student’s test records correct and complete in NC Wise? (ABC Tools – Historical Test Audit)
Your school should periodically run the Historical Test Audit from ABC Tools to check on the accuracy and completeness of
student test records in NC Wise. It is important to check to make sure that student names are spelled correctly, that race
and gender are accurately reported, and that test data is complete and correct. This information is used in the ABCs
Growth model to compute student c-scores and target growth projections and will ultimately be used to determine
student growth and proficiency at the end of the year.
 Are scores or exemption codes entered for all of your students?
 Has each student’s name, race, and gender been entered correctly?
 What processes do you need to put in place to make sure testing information is kept up-to-date in the future?
How can I use a student’s Quantile or Lexile score to differentiate instruction for my students? (ES & MS Only - Quantile
& Lexile Scores from Testing)
When a student completes EOG/EOC testing, they receive a score report that also provides a Quantile and Lexile score for
the student. The Quantile Framework uses a Quantile measure to describe a student’s mathematical achievement and
the difficulty of specific mathematical skills and concepts. It uses a common developmental scale that demonstrates
which mathematical skills a learner is ready for and which ones require further instruction. Teachers can then determine a
student’s readiness to learn more advanced skills. More information about the Quantile Framework can be found at
http://www.quantiles.com/ A guide to using the resources on the Quantile Framework website can be found on the
Principals Playbook wiki. The Lexile Framework, on the other hand, evaluates both reading ability and text complexity on
the same scale. Unlike other systems, the Lexile Framework uses assessment results to match readers with texts essential
for growth and monitor their progress toward standards. More information about the Lexile Framework can be found at
http://www.lexile.com/
 How can I use a student’s Quantile and Lexile score to differentiate instruction?
 What kind of training do I need to provide for my teachers in using the Quantile and Lexile Frameworks?
Session 2 (Continued)
5
6
7
What interventions or supports can I put in place for my students based on their probability of success? (EVAAS –
Custom Student Reports, Student History Reports, Student Projection Reports)
EVAAS is the Education Value-Added Assessment System developed by SAS and made available to NC school districts by
NCDPI. This month, we’ll show you how to build custom student reports by grade, subject, and/or teacher so you can see
individual achievement probabilities for your students. Probabilities of success allow you to customize instructional
programs. They are estimated using a student's scores in all subjects from previous tests.
A probability estimate nearer to 100% suggests the student will be successful on the test
A probability estimate less than 50% suggests less than a coin toss probability of success
EVAAS training is available for Grade 5-12 teachers. Consider the online module or EVAAS training available with Dr.
Sandy Horn; or contact Barbara or Dot to arrange training for your teachers if you’re interested.
 Students who have a 70-100% probability of performing at a Level 3 need to be challenged and probably need an
extension of the SCS. What will you do for them?
 Students who have a 40-70% probability of performing at a Level 3 are marginally at risk for missing proficiency
and need more attention, but probably have most of the knowledge and skills they need for academic success.
How will you determine what they lack and provide it for them?
 Students who have below a 40% probability of performing at a Level 3 have the most risk for missing proficiency
and need focused remediation based on their particular needs. How will you provide this?
 What surprises do you see?
 Which teachers will want this information and be able to use this program effectively?
 Will you make up the custom student rosters and provide or assign them to your teachers or will you show
teachers how to build the custom student reports for themselves?
 How will you use the information to make instructional improvements?
Who are the students in my class that need a Personal Education Plan (PEP)? Who are my bubble students? (DASH –
Custom Reports – PEP and Bubble Student Indicators)
Participants will review the process for using DASH to complete a Personal Education Plan for their students. Unless your
school is an RTI school, teachers are required to develop PEPs for students who scored a Level I or Level II on the EOG/EOC
or who are failing any of their classes. Schools can decide whether they want to use the PEP that is provided as a custom
student report in DASH or whether they want to use the electronic PEP they’ve used in the past. We’ll also show you the
indicators in DASH for EOG Math Bubble Students and EOG Reading Bubble Students and how teachers can use this
indicator to pinpoint the students in their classes who are either high Level II’s or low Level III’s. Consider offering DASH
training or DASH Refresher training for your staff. Contact Barbara or Dot to arrange a date.
 How many students in each grade level will require PEPs?
 What kind of interventions or supports can you put in place for these students?
 How will I ensure that all teachers are aware of a student’s PEP?
 How will teachers communicate with parents about the PEP and get their signatures?
 How can a teacher access who their bubble students are in DASH? What supports can you put in place for these
students?
 How will you train the teachers to use DASH to access this indicator? How will you inform teachers they have
these students?
 What will you expect of teachers concerning their bubble students?
 Do I need to provide training or re-training for all teachers or for just selected teachers?
What reports in DASH or EVAAS can I use to during parent conferences? (ES – MS Only - DASH, EVAAS)
Many of the individual student reports in DASH and EVAAS can be used to inform parents during parent conferences, but
teachers should be cautioned to not use group reports because of confidentiality issues. You might want to review with
your staff the Custom Student Profile Report or the standard student reports that are available in DASH when you drill
down to the student level. You’ll want to also look at the Student History Report and Student Projection Report in EVAAS
and decide with discretion how your staff can use those most effectively with parents. Teachers need to understand the
information presented in the report so they can effectively explain the report and answer parent questions.
 Are students performing as expected based on their scores on previous tests?
 Are any students in the danger zone due to discipline or attendance? Print individual student reports for student
that are not performing as expected.
 Are this year’s grades consistent with past years?
 Is there a need for a social worker, SSMT, or RTI referral?
 How can teachers use these reports most effectively in their parent conferences?
Session 2 (Continued)
8
9
10
11
12
How does student mobility affect my school? What do I need to do to help students who are mobile? (NC Wise –
Admission/Withdrawal Analysis)
At the end of each school month, you should run the Admission/Withdrawal Summary report from NC Wise to show the
names of R1, R2, R3, and W2 students. This information will help you look at mobility issues and track drop-outs. If you
receive a large number of new enrollees throughout the year, you’ll want to have a formal program to make sure those
students are successful as they enter your school. If you only have a few new enrollees, you’ll want to define a process for
guidance counselors to check on these students to ensure they are successful.
 Are your mobility numbers up or down? Are there particular reasons that mobility is occurring in your school’s
district?
 Do you need to make plans to integrate new students into your school as they enter throughout the year?
 Who are the students who’ve dropped out of school? Why did they drop out? What could you have done to
prevent their dropping out of school?
 What processes do you have in place to return dropouts to school?
 Are there schools within the district with whom you regularly “swap” students? How can you coordinate with
them to assist these students?
Does my school have student or teacher attendance issues that need to be addressed? (Student Attendance Analysis –
Reporting Hub [Attendance Rate (School) & Teacher Attendance Analysis – AESOP 1112 [Month 2])
Tracking the data for Student Attendance and Teacher Attendance is a data task that we do at the end of each school
month. Since the second school month doesn’t end until October 21, 2011, we won’t be able to actually do the analysis at
our meeting but we’ll remind you how to do this so you can complete it when you get back to your school. The
information for Student Attendance comes from the Attendance Rate reports in the Reporting Hub. The information for
Teacher Attendance comes from AESOP (This information is provided to you by the Accountability Department). Excel
spreadsheet templates for collecting, graphing, and analyzing this data are provided on the Principals’ Playbook wiki. We
start a spreadsheet at the end of the first school month and we update it at the end of each successive month. The
spreadsheet is designed to also display a graph of the data suitable for posting on your school’s data wall.
 What grades have better attendance?
 Are you offering attendance incentives?
 How many instructional hours have been lost due to absences?
 Are there any teachers in your school who are having attendance problems?
 Do you have teachers with consistently good attendance?
 What supports do you need to put into place for the students in their classes?
 How do you ensure the veracity of your student attendance and teacher attendance data?
How can I learn more working with data using Excel? (Principals’ Playbook Wiki – Excel Skills)
Since knowledge of EXCEL is so critical to some of the data analysis we do, we want to make sure we provide training and
support for the work that you’ll be doing in EXCEL each month. We’ll show you how to do specific skills during our
training, but we also encourage you to take advantage of some of the training resources available through Microsoft.
Thanks to Jason Mammano, we’ve set up an Excel Skills page on the Principals’ Playbook where you can access some of
these materials.
 How can I use the Excel Skills page on the Principals’ Playbook to help me learn more about Excel?
 Do I need additional practice working with pivot tables?
What questions do you have? Are there any strategies you’d like to share with other data gurus?
As time allows, we’ll take some time to share some good ideas that you might be using in your schools. We’ve created a
Teaching Tools Webmix on Symbaloo to share some of our favorite websites. We’ll take some time to explore a few of
these. We’ll also take some time to answer any questions you may have and to share ideas or strategies that you might be
using in your schools.
 Any questions? Any ideas or strategies you want to share?
 Teaching Tools Webmix – See Principals’ Playbook – Symbaloo Webmixes
Have you saved copies of your work today to your flash drive and to the S: drive?
Now that we’ve finished our session today, you’ll need to make sure that you have copies of all your files on your flash
drive and have also saved them to the S: drive.
Have you completed these tasks?
 Has your school identified any students who may be at risk for failure or for dropping out? What supports have you put in place to
intervene for these students?
 Has your school identified those students that need PEPs? Have your teachers completed PEPs for those students?
 Have your teachers identified their bubble students? What supports have you put in place to accelerate learning for these students
and keep them from backsliding?
 (ES and MS) Are your PLCs using Common Assessments? How are your teachers analyzing and using the data to improve instruction?
How aware are you of how the common assessments are being built, analyzed, and used?
 Are your teachers familiar with your school’s SIP achievement goals? Have you talked about the data you’ll collect to monitor these
goals and do you have a plan in place for collecting the data at the end of each nine weeks?
 Are your teachers using Teacher Data Notebooks? Do you have a plan in place for sharing, discussing, and analyzing the data as
part of your school’s PLC meetings? What expectations do you have for using the data to make instructional improvements?
Data Analysis Tasks to be completed after this session
 (HS Only) Decide how you’ll share the 1st Six Weeks Marks Analysis and Discipline Analysis data with your staff.
 (HS Only) Decide how you’ll use the data in the Dropout Early Warning Reports.
 (HS Only) Share the Thinkgate Benchmark Analysis data with your school’s PLCs. Determine what actions need to be taken to
differentiate instruction for those students who are meeting proficiency, for those students who are making progress but not yet
meeting proficiency, and for those students who are not making progress and not meeting proficiency.
 Decide how you’ll share target scores with your staff.
 Consider the information in the Historical Audit. Put processes in place to make sure that testing information will be updated and
kept up to date in the future.
 Decide how you’ll share your students’ Quantile and Lexile scores and what expectations you have for teachers to make use of them.





Remind your teachers to write PEPs for students at risk for failure.
Consider building Custom Student reports in EVAAS and assigning them to the teachers.
Consider DASH or EVAAS training for your school’s staff. Contact Dot or Barbara if you’re interested.
Consider AYP training for your school’s staff. Contact Dot or Barbara if you’re interested.
Discuss with your administrative team how you’ll use EVAAS Teacher Value Added reports. Decide whether you’ll conduct individual
professional development conversations with your staff incorporating the information from the Teacher Value Added Reports.
 (HS Only) Run the Period Attendance Analysis for your school for the 1st six weeks.
 Update your school’s data wall and your teachers’ data notebooks. Decide what data needs to be shared with different stakeholders
and decide how it will be shared?
 Share the information and data you collected at this data guru session with your school’s administrator. Consider which
stakeholders need to see the data and how it needs to be shared. Have your school principal complete the Post Data Guru Survey
and return it to Dot or Barbara before Oct 31st.