The Data Quality Campaign is one webinar into a three-part series on how state leaders, classroom teachers, and campus administrators can (and should) use data, as opposed to purely anecdotal information, to inform decisions.

The panelists in the first webinar of the series discussed the impact and value of training educators to apply data to their classroom practices in addition to understanding how to interpret data.

Dr. Geoffrey Borman with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research presented the results of a study he led which documented multiple instances of increased student achievement when educators not only implemented benchmark assessments but were also coached on how to effectively apply the results.

Dr. Jeffrey Wayman, Assistant Professor in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, also studies the role of data in education. He emphasized that data has to be used in the course of, not in addition to, educators’ and administrators’ everyday work. Professional development on data literacy can help educators make that link.

Also contributing to the conversation was Dr. Mickey Garrison with the Oregon Department of Education. Dr. Garrison explained that building a culture of data literacy was more important than data assessment. She also touched on the importance of linking data from in-service teachers to the teaching education programs they graduated from. Closing that feedback loop is the topic of the next webinar in the series, which will take place on Tuesday, June 19, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. (EDT).

Panelists from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana will discuss the feasibility for teacher preparation programs to collect and use data about their graduates who are now in the classroom.

*Disclosure:  The National Math and Science Initiative is a DQC partner organization and shares the same board chair, Tom Luce.