Starting the Data Analysis Process

Some time ago, I broke my wrist. It was painful and my daily routine was immensely disrupted. I wished for it to get better so that I could get to my usual day. However, the medicine I have only took away the pain, not fixing my broken bone. If I wanted to get my wrist healed, I needed a different treatment such as getting a cast and doing physical therapy. Both of those were not quick fixes and needed time to see results.

The same can be applied to your school results. If your results are broken, they need more than a short-term quick fix. While it may alleviate the pain for a short time, if the deeper cause for the lack of results is not uncovered, long-term results may not happen. The problems that you had will just keep repeating until you fix the main issue. Improving schools is complex and we can’t improve until we successfully diagnose what is truly wrong. 

When you have a results problem and you are not accomplishing your goals, what do you and your staff do to address the data and the issues? 

● Do you ignore it? 

● Do you implement the quick fix - looking at data, figuring out your pain point and treating the symptom? (Fixing only what you see on the surface)

● Do you take the time to go deeper and consider what may be beneath the surface contributing to the problem? 

Ignoring the data is a possible reaction when failing to reach goals. 

Data is a very helpful tool that may help fix a school’s issue. But why would a school choose to ignore data if it is that important? This occurs when teachers and school leaders feel defeated after failing to reach their school goals. When they don’t know how to use data for improvement, they will instead defer from it. They secretly hope that if they ignore the data, the problem will go away. As a result, it causes them even more stress and anxiety which will just repeat year after year.

Another way I have seen staff ignore the data is an overabundance of data. If teachers and leaders collect data, they can feel good because they are doing something. 

But the truth is that data analysis is not about gathering data. Sometimes schools get stuck after spending a lot of time gathering data. This is because they just stopped after they collected the information and did not give time for analyzing the data to make informed decisions. When this happens, data just becomes a task that takes a lot of effort and produces little results. 

Data along with appropriate analysis and interpretation, can help educators make informed decisions that positively affect student outcomes. The data analysis process can help school leaders create a data-driven culture within your school. 

Data Analysis Process

Last month, I shared information about goals and having a data profile. Once you have your SMART Goals and a data profile, you are ready to begin the ANALYZE steps which is Step 2 in the data process. The type of analysis you conduct will largely depend on your SMART Goals. Before I share more on analyzing data, there are a few actions that you will need to put into place to move forward. 

Action 1: Scrub Your Current Data

Before you begin data analysis, it is important to clean or “scrub” your data. Effective data cleaning is a vital part of data analysis and cannot be skipped. If you don’t do this, you will waste a lot of time moving forward. Depending on the data you work with, your analysis and results will be significantly impacted. 

Scrubbing your data involves the following tasks:

● Remove major errors and duplicates. 

● Remove unwanted data points.

● Fill in gaps in the data.

● Have a consistent data structure for the data profile.

You will often hear in the world of data analytics the phrase “garbage in – garbage out”. This means that if the quality of your data is deficient, the results of your analysis will be flawed. Even if you follow the rest of the steps, if your data is a mess, it won’t make a difference. Focusing on the wrong data points will severely affect your results.

Are you confident that the data you are using is clean and error-free? If so, you’re good to continue.  If you’re not sure how to properly do this, request help from an external person (within or outside of the district).  Don’t try to fix it alone – it will create even more stress.

Action 2: Assign A Primary Data Person

When used correctly, data can be an extremely helpful tool to provide actionable insight into teacher and student progress. However, incorrect use of data can lead to overwhelming and unmanageable workloads. To assist you with your data management efforts, I highly recommend assigning a primary data person.

Identify one person who will be responsible for cleaning the data, creating the data profile, and preparing the data for the school leaders and leadership team. This may be the responsibility of either an internal position (assessment coordinator, academic coach, administrative assistant, etc.) or an external consultant. 

Too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the soup and the same holds true for data. Too many people entering the data can create dirty data files, impact your time, and create constant data overwhelm for your staff. You can avoid many of these issues by appointing a data leader in your school. 

Action 3: Identify Your School Leadership Team

The most successful schools have embraced data-driven decision-making. They base decisions on real student data and learn how to use the data to improve student performance. This involves using data analysis to provide a snapshot of what students know, what they should know, and what can be done to meet their academic needs.

A school leadership team can help in analyzing your data, finding ways to share your analysis, and leading the way for a data-driven school culture. The role of this team is to structure and lead data-driven processes designed to transform teaching and learning. This group should consist of changemakers and leaders in your school. These are strong educators with a record of effective instruction inside the classroom. 

One of the most asked questions regarding this is “How many people should be in the school leadership team?”.

The quick answer to that is “It depends”. The team should be aligned with what the school goals are and whether or not they are capable of achieving them. Sometimes, the school leadership team consists of the administrative team and instructional coaches. Sometimes, the teams include teacher leaders. It is dependent on the culture of the school, the time required to be on the team, and what is needed to support and implement data-driven decisions. 

The leadership team helps the school leader create a culture around data-driven decisions. It requires transparency, trust, and a willingness to rethink current assumptions and lead changes to improve results. 

“Teamwork is the secret that makes common people achieve uncommon results.”  Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha, Nigerian author and educator

These are the steps that I’ve been following and sharing with my clients in order to prepare for data analysis. Once you have the proper data and support team, you will be able to be more efficient in the process and accurate with the results.  

Do you need help in cleaning your data for analysis?

If so STAR Leadership School & Student Data Solutions Training is your answer! Click here for more info: STAR Services (debradurma.com)