Data Driven Decision Making

Dr. Kirk Lewis of Pasadena ISD speaks to the Gates Foundation grant his district received that is a research based grant to support richer curriculum and instruction delivery that enables students to graduate on time. An action plan from this interview would be to implement professional development classes that focus on research and how to disaggregate data in order to quantify effective processes and procedures. He mentions that some teachers in his district may not have strong research skills but they know how to analyze data because they train re-train on the usefulness of data and research. It is critical that teachers be able to quantify what issues they are having in their classroom with the use of data. There are a myriad of resources that can be helpful in identifying student behavior problems, for example, which can help a teacher overcome a classroom struggle. Dr. Lewis says it is particularly important for educators to analyze data from other scholars and “pull it apart” and translate it into their particular district needs and environment. Another aspect of data and research training is to impart the importance of making the research topic a practical, relative topic. By using practical action research, you increase your personal interest, you enhance your opportunity or success, and you impact the students more effectively because it is something chosen by you for your particular need and environment.