Connecting Data to Student Success
Presented by:
Joanne Galardy
Michael Leitera
Ron Saul
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For those that don’t know us…
 Riverside is located an hour North of
Pittsburgh(Ellwood City)
 Double A school district
 33% free and reduced lunch
 Limited funding- used Project 720 grant/CFF
 Rural
 Approximately 140 per graduating class, shrinking
 9-12 building
 600 students
 Issues – class sizes, subgroups (IEP, econ
disadvantaged), half day vocational program (3
periods a day)
Our Story
 Partnered with OnHands “data retreat”
 We had to get granular!
 Data teams –9-12 English and Math-monthly meetings
 Examine from program level to student level
 We looked at grade level content results
 We developed classroom plans
 We developed student level plans
 Make adjustments along the way!
 We combined this with what is actually tested-
Prioritizing the content!
Gestalt
 It created more questions!!!!
 Look at our data use as a whole
 Are we asking the right curriculum questions?
 Are we assessing students appropriately?
 Inflated grades- PSSA, SAT, AP, ACT
 Panoramic data- what else besides the tests?
 Student / stakeholder role in improvement
 Capacity- more time, personnel, professional
development
 What follows is the fruition of the efforts of two
teachers that “bought in” and created a synergy
between the data teams and technology (CFF, Study
Island)
Benchmarks
Sharing benchmark scores with students at the start of the
school year is the first step in developing a team
approach to shared goals.
How can teachers collaborate on shared goals?
http://riverside-communications-english.wikispaces.com/
.
Can we get there from here?
What is our first step?
From the first day of
school, we discuss that
we will move toward
proficiency together.
Our successes will be
celebrated and we will
remain cautiously
optimistic with each
assessment.
Who has the Responsibility?
 All the teachers in the school.
 We must incorporate out of discipline classes (Social
Studies, Business, Art, Tech education)
 Why should these departments care about PSSA
results?
 Right or wrong schools are evaluated on PSSA scores.
 We are moving to a more interdependent school system.
 Example: We hope that Social Studies collaborate with
English teachers for a writing assignment on World War
II!
Student Partnership
 Establishing shared responsibility to student
achievement is key to each student’s success.
 Conferencing with each student using the previous
year’s data gives encourages goal setting prior to the
first benchmark.
 Targeting improvement in key areas and supporting
those areas in classroom review will help students
understand that learning is a team venture.
Why Use Data-Driven Education
 Good baseline data
 Measurable instructional goals
 Frequent formative assessment
 Professional learning communities
 Focused instructional interventions
Now that we have data, what are we going
to do with it?
 We had data- emetric, grow network,
success for all
 We had to focus on what we were doing
with it
 Our data process had to be cyclical
 Content area results, grade level
results, classroom level results Student results!!!!!!!- all must buy in
that student needs are paramount!
How Will On Hands Data Help Us?
Analyzing Test Scores
Item Analysis
Looking for Potential Problems
Analyzing Successes and Failures
Individual Plans
 Each student will have an individual plan for
achievement. This plan is initially based on
Benchmark data.
 Using individual data eliminates the discussion that
occurs when students express that they did not take
the Benchmark testing seriously. They begin to
understand that data is the driving force in their
success.
Make a Plan
Reading Eligible Content
Example of Individualized Plan
Study Island
 The alignment of Study Island to the skills assessed on
benchmark testing provides an opportunity for
individualized instruction .
 Student connection between the two programs is
immediate and students assume ownership of their
progress.
 Assignments are based on student needs and
successes are practiced to aim for advanced
proficiency.
Study Island Progress Reports
Student Individual Progress Plan
 Using data from OnHand Schools, this data is directly
aligned to skills assessed on Study Island.
 Based on student ability , assignments are given to
practice basic skills.
 Based on class data, classrooms assignments will
mirror general areas in need of practice.
 After classroom instruction and assessment,
additional work will be assigned on Study Islands.
Student Individualized Plan
Student Individualized Plan
Identified Students
 Working with many identified students in General
English classes, Study Island affords the opportunity to
individualize all student assignments.
 All Student Progress sheets look the same. The
assignments differ and the number of practice sessions
may differ. Students work side by side in a lab setting
and all students have the same goal.
 This goal is improvement in skills areas needed to be
successful in a 21st Century work environment.
Classroom Instruction
 The change in classroom instruction is evident in
lesson plans.
 Curriculum selections may not change, but the focus
of the assessment will change.
 With each choice of a literature selection, the choice
is made based on skills needed by a particular class.
 Literature selections are intentional and progress in
skill areas will also be evident on Study Island data
collection.
“The Man in the Water”
 As evidenced by benchmark testing and Study Island,
students did not appear skilled in differentiating
between facts and opinions.
 Reading/listening to this nonfiction selection afforded
students to hear the tone of the story and to be aware
of the difference between the author’s use of facts and
opinions.
 This coupled with prior practice of fact and opinion on
Study Island provided an opportunity to assess skills
on Study Island, on a text based graphic organizer and
again on Study Island.
Study Island follow-up
 If lessons are skill based, then Study Island affords an
opportunity to remediate a skill.
 Feedback is immediate and class data suggests the
need to re-teach or the ability to move to the next
lesson.
 Since data is stored, students are able to see progress,
or a need to try another avenue to receive assistance.
Goal Setting for Benchmarks
 Comparison of scores for the past two years
 Trends in successes and challenges
 Evidence of the effect of variables in scores
 Testing Schedule
 Goals for scores
 Plans for remediation in challenging areas
 Agreement between teacher and student to accept the
plan for improvement
Student Goal Setting Conferences
 Prior to every benchmark test, there is one ‘quick’ goal
setting meeting.
 These take place in the classroom, in the computer lab,
or even in the hallway.
 Student and teacher agree on a score goal.
 This short discussion targets specific skills and also
serves as an opportunity to share ownership of student
progress.
Sample Student Analysis
What if we do want group
instruction?
 Use Activotes
 Question:
Please Answer the Following
Question
Now Let’s Look at the Results
Remediation from Study Island
results
 Collaboration- with teachers, with kids
 Data creates consistency and understanding- between
teachers, teachers and administration-parents
Teachers and students!
 Differentiated instruction – not just subgroups-all
 Student involvement
 Collective, evidence based decision-making
 Breaking old paradigms- Its about the needs of the
individual student – not what do I like to teach, what we
always taught, …. And administration did not break them
 Data based scheduling combined with
advisory/mentoring
Internet Sources for Support
 http://www.pde.state.pa.us/pde_internet/site/default.
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asp?g=0 - The PA Department of Education
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/writersref6e/Player/
Pages/Main.aspx - Numerous writing, grammar, and
research activities and games.
http://www.pssa-prep.com/highschool_PSSA.htm Literary Crossword Puzzles
http://www.freerice.com/ - For vocabulary
preparation.
http://www.tagcrowd.com/ - Visualizes key words
used in documents.
ANTICIPATION
 It is exciting to wait for scores.
 If scores drop, we make a plan.
 If scores improve, we make a plan.
 Nothing is the end of the World.
 We try to improve and move forward.
Benefits other than PSSA
 Great to use when scheduling
 These reports may be pulled for IEP’s
 Parent/Teacher Conferences
 Teacher/Student Conferences
 Long Term Goal Setting for Departments
Data Based Scheduling
Data Based Scheduling
Math Eligible Content
What do we have to do?
Just Survive!