The Data Toolkit

Rob Hess is a practicing superintendent with 10 years of experience as a secondary teacher. He has been an administrator at the high school, middle school, and K-8 levels and served in the central office as a Student Achievement Leader. In 2003 he founded Breakthrough Schools, a grass roots network of educators dedicated to helping schools and districts achieve breakthrough school improvement results. He earned his doctorate from the University of Oregon and has taught classes at the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Willamette University, and Lewis & Clark College on the following subjects: teacher leadership, professional development for administrators, priority leadership, school improvement planning, data analysis for school improvement, and research for education. The Data Toolkit is his fourth book. He frequently presents on the topics of: teacher leadership, professional learning communities, school culture, quality school improvement, and teacher/principal evaluation systems. His webpage can be visited at: www.thedatacoach.net, and he can be reached at: robhess1@mac.com Pam Robbins earned her doctorate in educational administration from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, she consults with school systems, professional organizations, State Departments of Education, leadership academies, and corporations throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Europe, Asia, and South America. Her presentation topics include professional learning communities, effective teaching, how the brain learns, emotional intelligence, leadership, teaching in the block schedule, peer coaching, school culture, and presentation skills. Pam has served as a teacher, high school basketball coach, administrator, director of special projects and research, and director of training for the North Bay California Leadership Academy. She has lectured at several universities, authored and co-authored books, and developed training materials for several principals’ academies.

“An invaluable resource for teachers and school leaders; a sensible, practical, and human approach to understanding and using data; an excellent guide to use a broad range of data meaningfully for the improvement of education.”

• Foreword by Kate DicksonPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsIntroductionChapter 1: Build Your TeamThe Power of RelationshipsTool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality TestAnother Team-Building Strategy: Using Objects to Reflect PersonalitiesHigh-Functioning TeamsImprovement Means Change, and Change Means ConflictUnderstanding How Change OccursTeam Member Roles and ResponsibilitiesTIPS Framework for Data TeamsAdditional Helpful HintsChapter 2: Identify the Problem: Using Data to Transform Our IntentionsTool 2: Identify the ProblemUsing Data to Unpack the Problem of MobilityVertical Alignment and MobilityUsing Identify the Problem in a ClassroomData Reflection Helps Budget WoesA Happy Ending to Budget WoesIn the Field: Identify the ProblemPutting It All TogetherChapter 3: The Three Guiding Questions: Making Instruction WorkData and ConversationTool 3: Three Guiding QuestionsHow to Use Three Guiding QuestionsAsking the Right QuestionsThe Power of ThinkingCorbett: A District That ThinksConversation Promotes Thinking and ReflectionIn the Field: Three Guiding QuestionsPutting It All TogetherChapter 4: Analyze Your Students: Let the Data DecideTeach to the TopAnalyzing Driving QuantitativelyCreating the StandardMeasuring to a StandardThe Kennewick ModelAnalyzing Students in Local DistrictsClassroom ExampleIn the Field: A Kindergarten SuccessPutting It All TogetherChapter 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With DataTool 5: Four Quadrants: Creating Crosshairs With DataReeves′s Four Quadrants: Lucky, Leader, Loser, and LearnerUsing the Four Quadrants to Gauge RTI ProgressUsing the Four Quadrants to Analyze Classroom DataClassroom Example: Third-Grade Classroom Data in Four QuadrantsUsing the Four Quadrants to Analyze Grade-Level, School-Level, and District-Level DataTeacher and Principal Effectiveness in Four QuadrantsInstructional Leadership Standards for PrincipalsBuilding Management Standards for PrincipalsTeacher Effectiveness in the Four QuadrantsClassroom-Based Instructional StandardsNon-Classroom-Based StandardsIn The Field: Analyzing Freshman FailuresPutting It All TogetherChapter 6: Wagon Wheel: Using Multiple Points of Data to Drive InstructionTool 6: Wagon WheelMapping Fourth-Grade Writing on the Wagon WheelReflecting on the DataUsing the Wagon Wheel to Measure InTASC StandardsLearner and LearningContent KnowledgeInstructional PracticeProfessional ResponsibilityIn The Field: Using the Wagon Wheel to Analyze RTI EffectivenessPutting It All TogetherChapter 7: Five Whys: The Power of QuestionsTool 7: Five WhysPersistent Achievement GapsA Diverse District Beating the OddsSchools Beating the OddsThe Power of Working TogetherTeaching Students to Think21st Century Skills: The Future is NowIn The Field: Implementing a Core ProgramPutting It All TogetherChapter 8: Relations Diagram: Discovering the Key DriversTool 8: Relations DiagramTackling Discipline ProblemsMotivating StudentsIn The Field: READ 180 RevisitedPutting It All TogetherChapter 9: The Fishbone: Making a Difference With DataLeadership MattersReal Education ReformMaking a Difference in the ClassroomTool 9: The FishboneImproving Tenth-Grade Math ScoresEveryone WritesIn The Field: Green Acres, The Place to BePutting It All TogetherChapter 10: School Improvement Mapping: Making Strategic Decisions and Taking ActionTool 10: School Improvement MappingGoal SettingUsing Data to Drive GoalsClear StrategiesSpecific ActionsImproving Writing Districtwide with Goals, Strategies, and ActionsCreating the Building Blocks of ExcellenceHiring the BestProfessional DevelopmentEvaluation for Meaningful FeedbackImproving Instructional FeedbackThe Power of Mentoring as an Improvement ToolMoving to the Next Level: A New Model of Systemic ImprovementRunning in CirclesCollaboration = ConnectivityStepping Up to CollaborationIn The Field: High School Mentoring ProjectPutting It All Together11. Now What? Using the Tools in the Classroom, School, and DistrictTool 1: The Smalley Team-Building Personality TestTool 2: Identify the ProblemTool 3: Three Guiding QuestionsTool 4: Analyze Your StudentsTool 5: Four QuadrantsTool 6: Wagon WheelTool 7: Five WhysTool 8: Relations DiagramTool 9: The FishboneTool 10: School Improvement MappingReferencesIndex