School Improvement in Maryland

 
Collecting Additional Data About Root Causes and Contributing Factors
 
One of the best ways to collect data about student behaviors with regard to learning and about your instructional program is to follow a student around for a couple of days. You may wish to give the assignment to teachers, parents, students, or community members. You will want to give some specific instructions for what data the observer should collect. One possibility is to record every 15 minutes what the student is working on and doing.
Day:_______________________
 
Describe what the student is doing.
 
8:00
 
8:15
 
8:30
 
8:45

 
It may be useful to record what the student is doing in relation to the rest of the class and to the teacher.
Day:_________________________
 
Describe what the student is doing, what the teacher is doing and what the majority of the class is doing.
 
   Student     Class     Teacher
8:00
 
8:15
 
8:30
 
8:45
 
9:00
 

 
At the end of the day, you will want to ask the observer to summarize some specific information. For example, you may be interested in finding out the amount of the school day the student was actively engaged in learning or the amount of time spent on reading. You may be interested in comparing the engagement of boys and girls in different kinds of instructional activities.
 
Additional ways to collect data include standardized tests, surveys, student or staff profiles, instructional program data, and classroom assessments. Some suggested sources are listed below. Standardized Tests
Performance tests
Portfolio assessments
Criteria-Referenced tests
Local school tests
 
Survey Data
Parent and other stakeholder satisfaction surveys
Climate surveys
Feedback from graduates, staff, parents, universities, feeder schools, and employers
Needs assessments
 
Student / Staff Profile Data
Attendance rates
Retention rates
Suspension, expulsion, disciplinary action rates
Report card grades
Mobility of students and staff
Representation in G/T and Honors programs
Representation in Special Education
Representation in other special programs
Participation in Free and Reduced Meals program

 
Instructional Program Data
School organization (grade levels, departments, interdisciplinary teams, schedule design)
Most common instructional techniques used (lecture, problem-solving, cooperative learning, performance tasks, etc.)
Support programs (media, tutoring, special needs programs, at-risk programs)
Most common interventions for students not achieving
Most common use of data in instructional decision making
Staff development opportunities
Standards and indicators of success established
 
Classroom Assessments
Classroom tests
Grades
Portfolios
Writing samples
Observations
Projects