Data is a powerful tool for the adults supporting students in schools and districts. Urban, rural, and suburban districts have experienced dramatic turnarounds in student outcomes due to data-driven strategies and strong leadership. DQC’s profiles of various districts share what this work looks like in schools across the country and how leaders can replicate examples of effective data use in service of student success.
Teachers and Administrators Use Student Growth Data to Set and Meet Goals
- Data Works for Students in Goochland County: Leaders in this Virginia district prioritize student growth data over traditional achievement scores to measure how students are learning. Read more about their roadmap and how the data strategies leveraged help get the information that matters to improving student outcomes.
- Teachers (and Students) Get Smart with Data in Long Beach: This video explores how teachers at Long Beach Unified School District revisit and reflect on growth data throughout the year in order to tailor instruction and better meet students’ needs.
Data Helps Keeps Students on Track for Success
- Giving All Students a Chance at Success in Chicago: Leaders in Chicago Public Schools use academic and behavior data to measure student progress. This video shares how these on-track indicators helped increase graduation rates from 57 percent to 84 percent in just seven years.
- Data Works for Students in Madison: Read about the early warning system leaders in Madison launched as a part of their school improvement plan and the strategies used to put this system to work to identify students who need help and create targeted plans to keep them on track.
Data Empowers Those Closest to Students with Actionable Information
- Data Works for Students in Tacoma: In 2012, the superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools set out to create a supportive culture of effective data that put students in the center of decisionmaking. Read more about how this strategy led to increased graduation rates and participation in college-level courses.
- Three-Part Series on Metro Nashville Public Schools: Watch how administrators and educators in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) use data to define goals, engage parents, and empower partners with the information needed to ensure students get the support they need inside and outside of the classroom:
- From Data to Dialogue: Supporting Student Success in Nashville: MNPS’ commitment to creating a data-informed, collaborative culture made it possible for parents and staff to help students make impressive gains in English, math, social studies, and science.
- Empowering Parents with Data: Nashville’s Data Chats: MNPS’ “data chats” empower families to be partners in their child’s success by equipping the adults supporting students at home with the information needed to support learning.
- Metro Nashville Students Define Goals and See Success with Data: Teachers and administrators work together to help students take ownership of their learning with access to their own data. Intentional conversations help clarify what everyone can do to ensure students can reach their goals.
Data Puts Underserved Students at the Center of Decisionmaking
- DC School Uses Data to Boost ELL Achievement: Watch how a teacher and principal at Center City Public Charter Schools use data to improve instruction to address the individual needs of English language learners and significantly improve their reading scores in just one year.
- Data Works for Students in Henrico County: Administrators in this Virginia district used data to identify that students with disabilities faced higher disciplinary rates and lower graduation rates than their peers. To address these disparities, leaders shared data with parents and teachers, making them partners in the effort to ensure that every special education student in the district gets the support they need.
