Xanthe Jory
Bronx Charter School for the Arts
950 Longfellow Avenue
Bronx, NY 10474
How can Bronx Arts make the effective use of data an integrated and
essential part of the culture of teaching?
Process
 Defining Roles. I determined that for practical as well as symbolic
purposes, we needed to devote a staff person to this effort. Eve Colavito
assumed this role 3 days per week. I assigned our Principal Intern, Marshae
Newkirk, to the project as well because I knew that I would be leaving for
maternity leave in the middle of the school year, and Eve would be taking
on many of my responsibilities. With these two individuals on board, my role
was to help them brainstorm, think through the issues, and provide
guidance and feedback. Eve and Marshae were largely responsible for
planning and implementation.
 Defining Goals. In September we asked ourselves what conditions or
outcomes were we looking for? We identified the following:
 Use of data, both school-wide and at the teacher level, is systematic and
consistent
 Data is useful and truly informs instruction and informs school-wide
priorities
 Data is does not provoke anxiety in teachers
 Data captures learning in many different ways
 Assessments and data are aligned with the Bronx Arts benchmarks
 The assessment plan is lean and rigorous (rich analysis and application,
without too many assessments)

Defining an action plan. The tasks fell into two main buckets:
Refining the Assessment Program:
 Evaluate effectiveness of assessments we are currently using and define
purpose of each; if we deem an assessment ineffective, determine the
alternatives
 Explore possibilities for an interim assessment program
 Explore (create or purchase) tools we can use for data analysis
 Develop protocols and ways of analyzing data during grade level
meetings
Providing Professional Development:
 Conduct teacher training to ensure accuracy in assessment
administration and data collection
 Conduct teacher training in how to analyze and use data effectively
 Conduct supervisor training in how to facilitate data meetings
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
Towards refining the assessment program, Eve conducted research
through conversations with colleagues, made school site visits, and
reviewed sample materials. She conducted interviews with individual
teachers and convened a team of teachers to provide input and as she
made decisions. Similarly, she convened the leadership team to weigh
in on various assessment options. She also created (based on a preexisting tool she discovered in her research) and piloted a flexible data
analysis tool and protocol that teachers could use in grade level team
meetings.
 Eve and Marshae also planned and developed three half-day professional
development sessions for the staff. These sessions were designed to convey
expectations around use of data, model effective practices, provide direct
instruction on data analysis skills, and assist teachers to use and develop
tools for data analysis. They featured some whole group activities, some
differentiated break-out workshops, and some time for individuals and
teams to practice and apply what they’d learned using authentic data.
Obstacles
 The greatest obstacle to our success was that once I went on maternity
leave in January, the scope of Eve’s responsibilities increased and became
much broader. In particular, there was a loss of momentum with respect to
professional development.
Outcomes
The work we did this year also laid the groundwork for big changes next year.
However we recognize that the type of culture shift we envision is a long-term
proposition. Some plans for next year include:
 Implement the new interim assessments and school-wide assessment
plan.
 Hire a data analysis consultant to assist with developing more tools that
teachers can use to analyze classroom level data, as well as to assist with
school-wide data analysis.
 Continue professional development throughout the school year in the
same vein as this year, but with greater consistency.
 Create more opportunities for teachers and supervisors to look at data
together.
 Integrate student work more into the data analysis process; help
teachers to see student work as important data
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Leadership Reflections
 Aligning resources with school priorities (in this case, a human resource)
sends a message to the school community about what is important.
 Delegating responsibilities is critical to getting things done; I cannot do
everything myself. This project had been on my plate for years but
never moved forward because I was torn in too many directions.
 Assigning the “right” person for any given job is critical; in this case
Eve’s interests and skill set were a great match for the job at hand.
 Protecting staff time is essential so that people can focus on priorities;
the entire project slowed down once Eve had more on her plate.
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Progress Toward and Obstacles to Reaching Challenge Question Objectives
Objective
Use of data, both school-wide and
at the teacher level, is systematic
and consistent
Progress or lack of Progress
By revising the school wide assessment plan we laid the
groundwork for more consistent and systematic use of data
next year, school-wide. At the teacher level, inconsistency is
still much greater than we hoped it would be this year. The
tool that we adapted and introduced is helpful but still not
widely used among teachers.
Data is useful and truly informs
instruction and informs schoolwide priorities
Changes to the assessment plan were made thoughtfully and
with stakeholder input. We anticipate that the data
generated by the school-side assessments next year will be
much more useful than some assessments used in the past, but
it remains to be seen. Teachers are better able to analyze
data generated by classroom assessments than previously,
however, the use of that data to inform instruction is still not
where we want to be.
As a result of professional development, almost all teachers
are more convinced of the power that data can play in
teaching effectiveness.
Little progress was made on this front this year. We focused
almost exclusively on the use of quantitative data generated
by standardized and other traditional exams.
New interim assessment program to be implemented schoolside next year is flexible and customizable, and should be fully
aligned. In addition, PD was provided to teachers who needed
it on how to design an assessment based on BA benchmarks
that would generate useful data; this PD has had some impact
on a few teachers.
Changes to the assessment plan have eliminated useless
assessments. We hope that new assessments will allow for
rich analysis and application, though it remains to be seen.
Data does not provoke anxiety in
teachers
Data captures learning in many
different ways
Assessments and data are aligned
with the Bronx Arts benchmarks
The assessment plan is lean and
rigorous (rich analysis and
application, without too many
assessments)
Obstacles
Teachers are at very different levels of
sophistication with respect to data use,
skills of analysis, assessment design, and
instruction in general; thus some are more
capable and willing than others, some are
more anxious and resistant than others.
Ongoing PD is required. Also, additional
data analysis tools are needed for
different types of data.
See above
See above
None, other than lack of TIME.
Research and selection process for schoolside assessment was time consuming; we
did not get to start them this year. At the
classroom level, some teachers still
struggle with designing appropriate
assessments. Ongoing PD is required.
See above
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