At the SJDLP we often discuss the concept of becoming data reflexive. Too often, “data” is something done in bursts, on special days, when the consultant comes in, or when someone’s looking. It might involve reviewing binders full of charts, making teachers fill out data protocols and hand them in to supervisors, and arguing about having too many or not enough tests. When data is something that’s done in discrete chunks like this, it’s like p.d. that you go to for one day and then go back to your classroom and never use– without sustained interaction and reflection, it’s rarely, if ever, effective.
Data reflexivity by contrast represents the idea that, when making a decision, an educator reflexively turns to data in order to inform that decision. Data isn’t an awkward appendage; it’s the source code, so to speak, of what’s happening in the life of a classroom, a school, and a district. A programmer knows that when software isn’t working, go to the code and de-bug. That’s a reflex– the same can be said for a teacher re-stating directions when a students says he doesn’t understand or a counselor closing the door and offering a tissue when a student comes in crying. Those actions are reflexes, for the most part– as opposed to something formally learned (though we can certainly learn to hone our abilities in these areas). In the same way, teachers that use data reflexively always think of what’s happening in class as an endless source of data to be taken, and can swiftly and fluently collect and analyze data and use it to inform what they do next.
Of course, data isn’t just numbers or performance on a test. “Constantly collecting data” doesn’t mean over-testing, and it doesn’t mean becoming robotic about students’ lives. We collect data all the time without being conscious of it– when we meet someone, we feel out their mood, their trustworthiness, their personality; all of these things are sources of data. That’s important to remember since too often, “data” only means performance, and only on certain tests, at that.
Ultimately it’s the reflex to turn to data to inform fundamental questions like “What do my students already know,” “What things that I do resonate with my students most,” or “What do students of difference ethnic groups think of their school experience” that marks true data reflexivity. Using data can be as much a behavior to shape as it is a concept to understand– our hope is that thinking about it as such can remove some of its mystery.
South Jersey Data Leaders Partnership 