The Data Toolkit
Ten Tools for Supporting School Improvement
Purchase
eBook
ISBN:
9781452269382
Available from
January 0001
Paperback
ISBN:
9781412992978
Available from
January 0001
Description
How to accelerate analysis into action
Using data for school improvement is a key goal of Race to the Top, and now is the time to make data-driven school improvement a priority. However, many educators are drowning in data. Boost your professional learning community's ability to translate data into action with this new book from Pam Robbins and Robert T. Hess. The Data Toolkit provides ten easy-to-use tools that don't require statistical expertise, can be implemented in a timely manner, and facilitate problem-solving at the classroom, school, and district levels. These proven methods help educators:
- Frame the questions
- Drive the conversation
- Engage in productive reflection
- Uncover understandings
- Create a data-driven plan
- Achieve and monitor results
Written in an educator-friendly format each chapter contains instructions on using the tool, a sample scenario, and examples—practical resources that will help your PLC be the best it can be.
Also included are case studies that show how data teams, PLCs, and individual teachers have used the book's methods in their own settings. The culminating school improvement mapping tool guides the team through designing an action plan focused on increasing student learning and achievement outcomes.
Contents
Foreword by Kate Dickson
Foreword by Kate Dickson
Preface
Preface
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Authors
Introduction
- Chapter 1: Build Your Team
- The Power of Relationships
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Another Team-Building Strategy: Using Objects to Reflect Personalities
- High-Functioning Teams
- Improvement Means Change, and Change Means Conflict
- Understanding How Change Occurs
- Team Member Roles and Responsibilities
- TIPS Framework for Data Teams
- Additional Helpful Hints
- Chapter 2: Identify the Problem: Using Data to Transform Our Intentions
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Using Data to Unpack the Problem of Mobility
- Vertical Alignment and Mobility
- Using Identify the Problem in a Classroom
- Data Reflection Helps Budget Woes
- A Happy Ending to Budget Woes
- In the Field: Identify the Problem
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 3: The Three Guiding Questions: Making Instruction Work
- Data and Conversation
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- How to Use Three Guiding Questions
- Asking the Right Questions
- The Power of Thinking
- Corbett: A District That Thinks
- Conversation Promotes Thinking and Reflection
- In the Field: Three Guiding Questions
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 4: Analyze Your Students: Let the Data Decide
- Teach to the Top
- Analyzing Driving Quantitatively
- Creating the Standard
- Measuring to a Standard
- The Kennewick Model
- Analyzing Students in Local Districts
- Classroom Example
- In the Field: A Kindergarten Success
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Reeves's Four Quadrants: Lucky, Leader, Loser, and Learner
- Using the Four Quadrants to Gauge RTI Progress
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Classroom Data
- Classroom Example: Third-Grade Classroom Data in Four Quadrants
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Grade-Level, School-Level, and District-Level Data
- Teacher and Principal Effectiveness in Four Quadrants
- Instructional Leadership Standards for Principals
- Building Management Standards for Principals
- Teacher Effectiveness in the Four Quadrants
- Classroom-Based Instructional Standards
- Non-Classroom-Based Standards
- In The Field: Analyzing Freshman Failures
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 6: Wagon Wheel: Using Multiple Points of Data to Drive Instruction
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Mapping Fourth-Grade Writing on the Wagon Wheel
- Reflecting on the Data
- Using the Wagon Wheel to Measure InTASC Standards
- Learner and Learning
- Content Knowledge
- Instructional Practice
- Professional Responsibility
- In The Field: Using the Wagon Wheel to Analyze RTI Effectiveness
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 7: Five Whys: The Power of Questions
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Persistent Achievement Gaps
- A Diverse District Beating the Odds
- Schools Beating the Odds
- The Power of Working Together
- Teaching Students to Think
- 21st Century Skills: The Future is Now
- In The Field: Implementing a Core Program
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 8: Relations Diagram: Discovering the Key Drivers
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tackling Discipline Problems
- Motivating Students
- In The Field: READ 180 Revisited
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 9: The Fishbone: Making a Difference With Data
- Leadership Matters
- Real Education Reform
- Making a Difference in the Classroom
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Improving Tenth-Grade Math Scores
- Everyone Writes
- In The Field: Green Acres, The Place to Be
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 10: School Improvement Mapping: Making Strategic Decisions and Taking Action
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
- Goal Setting
- Using Data to Drive Goals
- Clear Strategies
- Specific Actions
- Improving Writing Districtwide with Goals, Strategies, and Actions
- Creating the Building Blocks of Excellence
- Hiring the Best
- Professional Development
- Evaluation for Meaningful Feedback
- Improving Instructional Feedback
- The Power of Mentoring as an Improvement Tool
- Moving to the Next Level: A New Model of Systemic Improvement
- Running in Circles
- Collaboration = Connectivity
- Stepping Up to Collaboration
- In The Field: High School Mentoring Project
- Putting It All Together
- 11. Now What? Using the Tools in the Classroom, School, and District
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- Tool 4: Analyze Your Students
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
References
References
Index
Index
Description
How to accelerate analysis into action
Using data for school improvement is a key goal of Race to the Top, and now is the time to make data-driven school improvement a priority. However, many educators are drowning in data. Boost your professional learning community's ability to translate data into action with this new book from Pam Robbins and Robert T. Hess. The Data Toolkit provides ten easy-to-use tools that don't require statistical expertise, can be implemented in a timely manner, and facilitate problem-solving at the classroom, school, and district levels. These proven methods help educators:
- Frame the questions
- Drive the conversation
- Engage in productive reflection
- Uncover understandings
- Create a data-driven plan
- Achieve and monitor results
Written in an educator-friendly format each chapter contains instructions on using the tool, a sample scenario, and examples—practical resources that will help your PLC be the best it can be.
Also included are case studies that show how data teams, PLCs, and individual teachers have used the book's methods in their own settings. The culminating school improvement mapping tool guides the team through designing an action plan focused on increasing student learning and achievement outcomes.
Contents
Foreword by Kate Dickson
Foreword by Kate Dickson
Preface
Preface
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Authors
Introduction
- Chapter 1: Build Your Team
- The Power of Relationships
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Another Team-Building Strategy: Using Objects to Reflect Personalities
- High-Functioning Teams
- Improvement Means Change, and Change Means Conflict
- Understanding How Change Occurs
- Team Member Roles and Responsibilities
- TIPS Framework for Data Teams
- Additional Helpful Hints
- Chapter 2: Identify the Problem: Using Data to Transform Our Intentions
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Using Data to Unpack the Problem of Mobility
- Vertical Alignment and Mobility
- Using Identify the Problem in a Classroom
- Data Reflection Helps Budget Woes
- A Happy Ending to Budget Woes
- In the Field: Identify the Problem
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 3: The Three Guiding Questions: Making Instruction Work
- Data and Conversation
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- How to Use Three Guiding Questions
- Asking the Right Questions
- The Power of Thinking
- Corbett: A District That Thinks
- Conversation Promotes Thinking and Reflection
- In the Field: Three Guiding Questions
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 4: Analyze Your Students: Let the Data Decide
- Teach to the Top
- Analyzing Driving Quantitatively
- Creating the Standard
- Measuring to a Standard
- The Kennewick Model
- Analyzing Students in Local Districts
- Classroom Example
- In the Field: A Kindergarten Success
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Reeves's Four Quadrants: Lucky, Leader, Loser, and Learner
- Using the Four Quadrants to Gauge RTI Progress
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Classroom Data
- Classroom Example: Third-Grade Classroom Data in Four Quadrants
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Grade-Level, School-Level, and District-Level Data
- Teacher and Principal Effectiveness in Four Quadrants
- Instructional Leadership Standards for Principals
- Building Management Standards for Principals
- Teacher Effectiveness in the Four Quadrants
- Classroom-Based Instructional Standards
- Non-Classroom-Based Standards
- In The Field: Analyzing Freshman Failures
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 6: Wagon Wheel: Using Multiple Points of Data to Drive Instruction
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Mapping Fourth-Grade Writing on the Wagon Wheel
- Reflecting on the Data
- Using the Wagon Wheel to Measure InTASC Standards
- Learner and Learning
- Content Knowledge
- Instructional Practice
- Professional Responsibility
- In The Field: Using the Wagon Wheel to Analyze RTI Effectiveness
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 7: Five Whys: The Power of Questions
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Persistent Achievement Gaps
- A Diverse District Beating the Odds
- Schools Beating the Odds
- The Power of Working Together
- Teaching Students to Think
- 21st Century Skills: The Future is Now
- In The Field: Implementing a Core Program
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 8: Relations Diagram: Discovering the Key Drivers
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tackling Discipline Problems
- Motivating Students
- In The Field: READ 180 Revisited
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 9: The Fishbone: Making a Difference With Data
- Leadership Matters
- Real Education Reform
- Making a Difference in the Classroom
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Improving Tenth-Grade Math Scores
- Everyone Writes
- In The Field: Green Acres, The Place to Be
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 10: School Improvement Mapping: Making Strategic Decisions and Taking Action
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
- Goal Setting
- Using Data to Drive Goals
- Clear Strategies
- Specific Actions
- Improving Writing Districtwide with Goals, Strategies, and Actions
- Creating the Building Blocks of Excellence
- Hiring the Best
- Professional Development
- Evaluation for Meaningful Feedback
- Improving Instructional Feedback
- The Power of Mentoring as an Improvement Tool
- Moving to the Next Level: A New Model of Systemic Improvement
- Running in Circles
- Collaboration = Connectivity
- Stepping Up to Collaboration
- In The Field: High School Mentoring Project
- Putting It All Together
- 11. Now What? Using the Tools in the Classroom, School, and District
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- Tool 4: Analyze Your Students
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
References
References
Index
Index
Reviews
The Data Toolkit
Ten Tools for Supporting School Improvement
December 2011 | 160 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 01/02/2026 | 9781412992978 | $37.95 |
| Lifetime | 01/02/2026 | 9781452269382 | $35.00 |
How to accelerate analysis into action
Using data for school improvement is a key goal of Race to the Top, and now is the time to make data-driven school improvement a priority. However, many educators are drowning in data. Boost your professional learning community's ability to translate data into action with this new book from Pam Robbins and Robert T. Hess. The Data Toolkit provides ten easy-to-use tools that don't require statistical expertise, can be implemented in a timely manner, and facilitate problem-solving at the classroom, school, and district levels. These proven methods help educators:
- Frame the questions
- Drive the conversation
- Engage in productive reflection
- Uncover understandings
- Create a data-driven plan
- Achieve and monitor results
Written in an educator-friendly format each chapter contains instructions on using the tool, a sample scenario, and examples—practical resources that will help your PLC be the best it can be.
Also included are case studies that show how data teams, PLCs, and individual teachers have used the book's methods in their own settings. The culminating school improvement mapping tool guides the team through designing an action plan focused on increasing student learning and achievement outcomes.
Table Of Contents:
- Foreword by Kate Dickson
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Build Your Team
- The Power of Relationships
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Another Team-Building Strategy: Using Objects to Reflect Personalities
- High-Functioning Teams
- Improvement Means Change, and Change Means Conflict
- Understanding How Change Occurs
- Team Member Roles and Responsibilities
- TIPS Framework for Data Teams
- Additional Helpful Hints
- Chapter 2: Identify the Problem: Using Data to Transform Our Intentions
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Using Data to Unpack the Problem of Mobility
- Vertical Alignment and Mobility
- Using Identify the Problem in a Classroom
- Data Reflection Helps Budget Woes
- A Happy Ending to Budget Woes
- In the Field: Identify the Problem
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 3: The Three Guiding Questions: Making Instruction Work
- Data and Conversation
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- How to Use Three Guiding Questions
- Asking the Right Questions
- The Power of Thinking
- Corbett: A District That Thinks
- Conversation Promotes Thinking and Reflection
- In the Field: Three Guiding Questions
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 4: Analyze Your Students: Let the Data Decide
- Teach to the Top
- Analyzing Driving Quantitatively
- Creating the Standard
- Measuring to a Standard
- The Kennewick Model
- Analyzing Students in Local Districts
- Classroom Example
- In the Field: A Kindergarten Success
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With Data
- Reeves's Four Quadrants: Lucky, Leader, Loser, and Learner
- Using the Four Quadrants to Gauge RTI Progress
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Classroom Data
- Classroom Example: Third-Grade Classroom Data in Four Quadrants
- Using the Four Quadrants to Analyze Grade-Level, School-Level, and District-Level Data
- Teacher and Principal Effectiveness in Four Quadrants
- Instructional Leadership Standards for Principals
- Building Management Standards for Principals
- Teacher Effectiveness in the Four Quadrants
- Classroom-Based Instructional Standards
- Non-Classroom-Based Standards
- In The Field: Analyzing Freshman Failures
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 6: Wagon Wheel: Using Multiple Points of Data to Drive Instruction
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Mapping Fourth-Grade Writing on the Wagon Wheel
- Reflecting on the Data
- Using the Wagon Wheel to Measure InTASC Standards
- Learner and Learning
- Content Knowledge
- Instructional Practice
- Professional Responsibility
- In The Field: Using the Wagon Wheel to Analyze RTI Effectiveness
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 7: Five Whys: The Power of Questions
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Persistent Achievement Gaps
- A Diverse District Beating the Odds
- Schools Beating the Odds
- The Power of Working Together
- Teaching Students to Think
- 21st Century Skills: The Future is Now
- In The Field: Implementing a Core Program
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 8: Relations Diagram: Discovering the Key Drivers
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tackling Discipline Problems
- Motivating Students
- In The Field: READ 180 Revisited
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 9: The Fishbone: Making a Difference With Data
- Leadership Matters
- Real Education Reform
- Making a Difference in the Classroom
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Improving Tenth-Grade Math Scores
- Everyone Writes
- In The Field: Green Acres, The Place to Be
- Putting It All Together
- Chapter 10: School Improvement Mapping: Making Strategic Decisions and Taking Action
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
- Goal Setting
- Using Data to Drive Goals
- Clear Strategies
- Specific Actions
- Improving Writing Districtwide with Goals, Strategies, and Actions
- Creating the Building Blocks of Excellence
- Hiring the Best
- Professional Development
- Evaluation for Meaningful Feedback
- Improving Instructional Feedback
- The Power of Mentoring as an Improvement Tool
- Moving to the Next Level: A New Model of Systemic Improvement
- Running in Circles
- Collaboration = Connectivity
- Stepping Up to Collaboration
- In The Field: High School Mentoring Project
- Putting It All Together
- 11. Now What? Using the Tools in the Classroom, School, and District
- Tool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality Test
- Tool 2: Identify the Problem
- Tool 3: Three Guiding Questions
- Tool 4: Analyze Your Students
- Tool 5: Four Quadrants
- Tool 6: Wagon Wheel
- Tool 7: Five Whys
- Tool 8: Relations Diagram
- Tool 9: The Fishbone
- Tool 10: School Improvement Mapping
- References
- Index
Recent Product Reviews:
"This practical toolkit takes an educator from data parlysis to data analysis. Hess and Robbins have assembled a masterful resource of templates, facilitation tips, data analysis instruments and examples of achievement success. There is something of value for every teacher, principal or superintendent who endeavors to improve student performance."
Betty Flad, Program Director, Educational Administration, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
“This practical and insightful guidebook provides tools for principals and teacher leaders to facilitate the cycle of continuous improvement and achieve gains in both student and staff learning. Rob Hess and Pam Robbins have synthesized best practices from both research and the field that are both balanced and comprehensive.”
Candace Stevens, CLASS Project Coach, Consultant, The Chalkboard Project, Foundations for a Better Oregon, Portland, OR
"This book does for educators what a great teacher does for students: it motivates and instructs. Rob and Pam deliver powerful concepts in a very accessible way. They provide a logical framework for educators to work through tough problems while building energy and motivation."
Sandra Husk, Superintendent, Salem-Keizer Public Schools, OR
“An invaluable resource for teachers and school leaders; a sensible, practical, and human approach to understanding and using data; an excellent guide to use a broad range of data meaningfully for the improvement of education.”
Yong Zhao, Professor, Presidential Chair, University of Oregon
“Finally, a book that treats data as more than a set of percentages!”
Charre Todd, Science Teacher, Crossett Middle School, Crossett, AR