Improvement, upward trajectory, effort. This past summer, our leadership team read the book, Factfulness, by Hans Rosling. Bill Gates presents a copy of this book to every graduate of colleges and universities where he delivers the commencement address. The book is a new way to look at data, and seeing the problems of the world through a different lens.

For us, we are looking at data differently.

First, we use aggregate "percentage data" less frequently and comparable raw data more frequently.

Secondly, we are looking at cohort data more frequently. Education is unique in that we can track a student's performance from year to year. For example, our 9th grade English Language Arts scores from 2018 dropped 2 points from our 9th grade performance in 2017. However, when looking at the 2018 9th graders' performance on the same test when they were 8th graders, the cohort of students actually increased 7 points in their proficiency.

Data and analytics are still in new in education. We did not pour over data in 1998 when I started teaching as we do now. The attention to data has made us better at instruction, but it has not solved all that ails us. We deal in people, not widgets or blueberries. The production line mentality cannot be applied to the work we are doing as educators. In our weekly administrative curriculum meetings, we talk about kids, not student numbers. We view faces with the names. We talk about our interactions with these students, the dynamics they have with classmates and teachers, and even whether their most basic needs are met.

Our outcomes are student specific and involve more than just a common set of variables. In fact, the only variables our students truly have in common with each other is the fact they are in the same grade and currently attend the same school. Because of this, we will continue to do the heavy lifting of ensuring every student has a connection to their cohort, their school and have opportunities to reach their full potential. 

Sincerely, 

Mark Shanoff, Ed. D