1. Using Data to support
Teaching and Learning in
schools
Dr Ratna Dhamija
Australian Council for Educational Research
ratna.dhamija@acer.edu.au
2. Australian Council for Educational
Research (ACER)
• private, not-for-profit educational research
organisation
•established in 1930 in Australia
• established in 2005 in India
•offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane,
Perth, Delhi, Dubai
3. Australian Council for Educational
Research (ACER)
Undertakes a broad range of research to
inform educational policy and practice has a
strong program of research and development
in educational measurement / student
assessment
www.acer.edu.au
4. Challenges
• How do we measure what students know
and can do?
• How can we use assessments to help
students enhance learning?
• How do we use information
assessment to improve teaching ?
from
5. The Context
• Students need to know how much they have learnt
•Teachers need information to be able to support
classroom teaching
• School leaders need information as they would like
to ensure quality
• Parents need to know if their child is learning
• Education Departments need information to support
educational reforms
6. Why Now
• 21st century work skills expectations
• Transparency - this is ‘information age’.
• Data and information has
technology has made it easier.
always
been
available,
Accountability and data are at the heart of contemporary
reform efforts worldwide. Accountability has become the
watchword of education, with data holding a central place
(Earl, 2005p.6)
7. Current Approach
• Principals and teachers can be reluctant to engage with
data
• Professional intuition leads them to be defensive about
data analysis
• Few trained teachers
• Feedback from assessment is not leveraged into
teaching
• Form of analysis not available that separates out the
factors that do lie within the control of teachers, and gives
a valid and easily interpreted analysis of these factors
8. Research has shown that teachers
and school leaders who use
assessment
data
to
inform
instruction improve student learning
more than teachers who don’t use
assessment data (Black and
William, 1998)
Wisdom
knowledge
Information
Data
9. Educational system must be built around ‘evidencebased practice’.
feedback / evaluation
understanding
of current
situation
ACTION
knowledge
about how
to improve
required
resources
improved
learning
outcomes
improved
life
consequences
11. Evidence Based Approach to
teaching and learning
We need to ‘know’ –
to have evidence about the
performance of our students in order
to support them to achieve high quality
educational outcomes.
12. Decision Making Based on Intuition,
Tradition or Convenience
Decision Making based on Data
Professional Development of Staff as and
when found suitable
Focused professional development
addressing the documented evidencebased problems
Budgetary Decisions based on prior
practice and suitability
Budgetary allocation to program/resources
based on data-informed needs
Staff responsibility and involvement as per
availability
Staff assignments based on skills as
indicated by data
Report to school community about events
Factually organized reports about learning
progress to the community
Goal-setting by Board, Management
Goal-setting based on data about issues
faced and possible suggestions and
explanations
Staff Meeting – focusing on dissemination
and operations
Staff meeting – focus on strategies and
issues indicated by data
13. Decision Making Based on Intuition,
Tradition or Convenience
Decision Making based on Data
Parent Communication via PTMs
Parent Interaction regarding the progress
of their child and discussions around
building support for student-learning
Grading system based on each teacher’s
criteria of completed work
Grading system based on common
student-performance that reports progress
on standards as well as skills
Periodic administrative team meetings
focusing on operational issues
Periodic team meetings that focus on
measured growth based on data
14. Sources of Data
Data collected in School is classified as
Primary Data (eg student work, classroom
observation) – Formative Assessment –
Assessment for Learning
Secondary Data – student test scores,
parent surveys – Summative Assessment
(Assessment of Learning) or a standardized
assessment
15. Potential Sources of Data
• Standardised Assessment
• Questioning in class
• Quzzies, Projects
• Teacher’s Observations
• Portfolios - Student Work
16. Assessment is the process of identifying,
gathering and interpreting information
about students’ learning. The purpose of
assessment is to provide information on
progress and set the direction for ongoing
teaching and learning
17. Guiding Principles:
Assessment is not an end in itself but a vehicle
for educational improvement – therefore it should
not be an exercise of measuring what is easy but
in assessing things that are important and valued
– even though these are often the most difficult
things to assess.
Assessment should take into account not only
what students know but what they can do with
what they know.
18.
19. Father: Well son, how are your exam results?
Son: They're all under water
Father: What do you mean?
Son: They're all under C level
21. Using student achievement data
School level reports
At the school level, the distribution and level of achievement is the
focus.
For example, how do the achievements of your students
• compare with those in similar schools?
• compare with those in different countries?
• show any differences in the achievements of boys and girls?
• with different country backgrounds compare with the
achievement of students in their home country?
22. Guiding Questions for Analyzing
Data
• What are the patterns indicating ?
• What are the problems that are emerging from
the data ?
23. Guiding Questions for Generating
Hypotheses
• Why are our students performing the way they
are ?
• What in our systems and practices is causing
our students to have these problems ?
25. Option 1 may be chosen when the students have doubled length (4
cubes added), doubled breadth (4 cubes added), doubled height (4
cubes added) – not maintained the shape required.
Option 2 may have been taken when the students may have taken only
two dimensions and found the total number of cubes in them (when
length and breadth are doubled the area is 4 times.
Option 3 to get double length we need 4 cubes, to get double height we
need 8 more and for double width we need 8 more cubes behind the
cubes shown (4 beside + 8 top + 8 behind)
To sum up the students are not able to visualize the solid as a whole,
they may be able to identify a solid not able to create a solid using
shapes (They missed out on the type of shape required but have been
able to identify the dimensions of the solid.
27. Grade 9 Mathematical Literacy : Descriptors for Questions
Descriptor
Competency
Content
1
Work out which of the given items on sale has the largest
percentage decrease in price.
Rp
Q
2
Explain whether all items on sale are reduced by 30%.
Co
Q
3
Find the area of a square after a linear reduction.
Rp
S
4
Identify the result of a coordinate transformation.
Co
S
5
Read information from a table given two constraints.
Co
U
COMPETENCY:
Co=Connection
Rf=Reflection Rp=Reproduction
CONTENT: C=Change and Relationships Q=Quantity S=Space and
Shape U=Uncertainty
28. Sample Hypotheses
Hypotheses
Evidence
Our Students perform well in maths
They need further support in say
question require reflection
Teachers need to be trained further to
teach math
There are more special ability students
in regular classes and they bring down
our results
Reject / Accept as a possibility
Checked student achievement data.
They perform low in primary but
stabilize in secondary
OR
Need remedial in classes 6 to 8
29.
30. Student Performance Between Grades
Average
Percent (%)
Correct
(India)
Average
Percent (%)
Correct
(International
)
Percent (%)
Correct
Average
Percent (%)
Correct
(India)
Average
Percent (%)
Correct
(International
)
Total
2011 (Grade-10)
Percent (%)
Correct
Strand
Chance & Data
Measurment
Number
Space
2010 (Grade-9)
22.2
33.3
31.6
37.5
53.0
57.6
60.1
57.2
50.8
55.2
55.5
58.4
22.2
25.0
70.0
62.5
28.4
50.1
58.0
50.0
27.2
44.5
48.7
46.4
31.1
57.7
55.0
51.1
49.2
43.2
31. To Summarise
• Institutions need to have Well-defined system of collecting
Data
• Tools that support Analysis and interpretation
• Skills to analyze and interpret data effectively
• Attitude that data are a valuable resource for guiding School
Improvement
32. To Summarise
• All Data use needs to be explicitly guided by documented
analysis and rigorous discussion of the reliability of the data
and validity of interpretations
• The rationale of using data is embedded to support learning
• Finally the suggestions may not be earth-shattering but
effects of implementing based on evidence could be profound
34. Questions
• What are the ways you use data?
• Who do you share it with?
• What would you do with the data?
• Do you have list of identified areas for
improvement Strategies for improvement in
each area ?
