Activity Directions: Planning for a Decision-Support Data System

1. Schedule the leadership team to participate in this activity.

2. As the facilitator, review these directions and all documents that the team will use: 

a. Inventory of Current Data Use 

b. Data Sources in a Standards-based Education System resource 

c. Decision Support Data System Template

3. Ensure that the documents are ready for the team to use (including setting up shared access as needed.)

1. As a team, complete the Inventory of Current Data Use. The team should list the data that is currently collected and used in the organization related to continuous improvement of a standards-based educational system. For each data listed, answer the following questions/prompts: 

a. Type of data (fidelity, outcome, programmatic)

b. Who collects this data? 

c. How often is this data collected?

d. Who uses this data? 

e. How often is this data used?

f. What decision(s) is/are made based on this data?

g. How useful is this data for decision making?

h. Ideas for improvement

2. Be sure that data used at different levels of the organization are represented, including data that teachers, PLCs, and administration use.

3. A note-taker should capture the discussion and questions that are generated through this process to assist in the planning step. 

4. Complete the inventory as a team and use the guiding questions below for discussion and/or identifying ideas for improvement. Use the Data Sources in a Standards-based Education System resource to help the team reflect on current practice. Guiding Questions:

a. Is there representation from all data types?  If not, what type of data is missing?

b. Is the data collected in a timely manner? What improvements should be made?

c.  Is the data systematically accessible to and usable by those who use it? If not, what system changes are needed?

d. How successfully is the data collected and analyzed meeting our needs to answer the questions?

1. As a team, complete the Decision Support Data System Template. 

a. Begin by identifying the questions that need answers and decisions that need to be made. The leadership team should review its working action plan to determine what they’ll need to know in order to implement and monitor the supports for instruction and curriculum. The team should consider and identify questions related to:

§ student outcomes, 

§ teacher implementation fidelity, and 

§ system capacity and programmatic support.

Consider using the Collective Decision Making Protocol to facilitate this process. Record the decisions and questions in the template.

b. Identify what data are necessary to answer the question(s) and make necessary decisions. While not all categories and types of data are required to answer any one question, it is best practice to triangulate data whenever possible. Use the Data Sources in a Standards-based Education System resource to consider categories and types of data.

c. Use the table to record details on collection and use for each data source identified:

§ Type of data 

§ What this data will tell us

§ Who collects the data

§ Who analyzes and/or prepares this data for use, and who shares it with the team

§ Date(s) and deadlines for collection, analysis/preparation, and responding to the data and adjusting the action plan based on resulting decisions

d. Determine a process for synthesizing and responding to this data to answer the question(s). Also see Data Systems: Preparing for Analyzing and Responding to Data for guidance on this process.