Google Spreadsheet Helps Teachers to Analyze Students Standard-Based Data
The 8-Step Process steps 1 & 4 require a school to do “test score disaggregation & assessment”. After being in our third
year of implementation we have developed an efficient tool to meet that
requirement. Our digital “8-step TEAM data wall” is LIVE with Google Docs. “Live” keeps data up to date and available to all teachers to show data for 1,500 students 24 hours a day. Teachers are entering, analyzing and discussing standard-based data every 3-weeks in order to provide 30 minutes of targeted intervention 4 days a week. Teachers are holding Test Talks with students weekly using the data to set goals throughout the school year. All of this is accomplished through our digital “live” data wall.
Issues this Best Practice Addresses:
The original “Google Live spreadsheet” was organized by pure all building grade levels, which limited a teacher to only see building totals instead of individual classroom data. Teachers needed the ability to see immediate feedback based on their own students’ performance. Teachers wanted to discover “what worked” and be able to have time to share or learn what teaching method was working. They also were unable to compare their student performance with that of their colleague’s student performance.
Major Challenges to Implementation:
The first essential challenge was helping teachers understand how to get to the Google Drive and how the file would always be in the “shared with me” folder. Also, Google pie charts are more cumbersome to format then Excel. Saving a backup file to Excel will not always work. Instead you have to save a backup copy as a Google spreadsheet. Having more tabs on the spreadsheet that need the formulas repeated lead us to discover how to enter labels and formulas on one “master live” tab that then displayed for all sheets.
Benefits Derived from Implementing this Best Practice:
Breaking our spreadsheet down by teams created “teacher ownership”, and adding “live” pie charts provided teachers an efficient and much more effective view of data. Teachers now analyze their classroom data organized by standard and in addition we now view building total results per subject, grade level, and standard. Now the department learning log meetings are more effective because teachers can prepare ahead of time and collaborate with focus of standards, teaching strategies and individual student needs every 3 weeks! Another benefit has been the decrease of paper usage. Friendly academic competitions have begun among some teachers which has created an atmosphere of motivation for students. Test talks have allowed students to reflect on data and set goals for themselves. They now perceive the school as a partner in learning.
Evidence Illustrating Success:
MOTIVATION: Students are displaying an increased desire to achieve 88% or above to be able to choose an “enrichment” option for a 3 week rotation during our 30 min. “Success Period” targeted intervention time. COLLABORATION: The pie charts are aiding in the increased “classroom” teacher awareness of student needs based on data (not opinion), and are creating a natural collaboration about teaching strategies and methods within departments to answer the “what and why” a group is achieving academic understanding compared to another team. The following link allows you to view our Mock Data Walls. If we upload the file it will alter the formatting and formulas.
Additional Materials:
Additional Link here
Submitted by: Denise Harvey and Heather Snyder, Highland Middle School