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These days you can't open the newspaper or surf the Internet without seeing a headline about test scores. The problem with these headlines is that all assessments are lumped into the same category. Now data has become synonymous with high-stakes tests. Since when did data become the villain in the classroom?

Teachers have been using formative and summative data to inform their teaching for a long time. Interpreting data helps teachers understand how students learn, and how best to meet their needs. Historically, data has only been reviewed by adults. But what would happen if children were taught how to understand this information? Mind Shift, an educational website exploring the future of education, reported when students themselves identify, analyze, and use data from their learning, they become active agents in their own growth. They set personal goals informed by data they understand, and they own those goals.

Robert Marzano explores empowering students with data in his book The Art and Science of Teaching. His research shows a 32 percentile point gain in achievement when students track their own progress. Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset reminds educators to teach students how to overcome challenges in order to persevere. Put all this research together and you have the perfect recipe for a dynamic learning environment.

It is one thing to understand the research on student ownership of data; it is something else to figure out what that looks like in your classroom. Here are four easy steps to help you build students' understanding of their data and make powerful changes to your classroom.

1. Start Small, Stay Focused

Pick one subject area if you teach multiple subjects, or start with a single unit if you specialize in a particular content area. Regardless of the students' ages or the class curriculum, you may want to focus on one aspect of the curriculum such as vocabulary, reading fluency, or math facts.

Continue to narrow your focus by picking one objective, standard, or "I Can" statement to channel your energy. Determine how you'll communicate this to students. Post it on the board, make a poster, use a QR code, list the standard on a handout, or include it in a presentation.

2. Pick a Data Collection Technique

Once you know what you want students to focus on, it is time to figure out what type of data you want to share with your students, and how long the data collection will take place. Pre- and post-test grades provide an easy way to see what students know at the beginning of a unit compared to their mastery of content at the end.

Rubrics help students review explanations of the various skills assessed in the unit. It's not about the number of points associated with a student scoring "developing" or "proficient" in a category. Instead, the focus should be on the students' understanding of why they fell where they did. Many researchers prefer rubrics over weekly quiz grades because they are more consistent. It can be challenging to make sure the difficulty of a quiz is the same week after week.

Observational data can also be utilized. If you're focusing on speaking standards, have students record themselves reading using a mobile device. What about video recordings? Record students during literature circles, science labs, or other activities. We ask our National Board-certified teachers to record themselves; why not use this form of data collection with students?

Depending on your access to technology, you may be able to gamify your curriculum by using various apps. Have your students collect data from their level of mastery, or the badges they have earned. Many educational games and apps have quizzes built into them, providing easy access to data for your students.

3. Progress-Monitoring Options

You know what you want your students to be focused on, you have the data, so how do you teach students to interpret it? One of the easiest methods, loved by kinesthetic and visual learners, is the creation of graphs and charts. Students can graph their scores on pre- and post-assessments, their improvement over time on a rubric, or their progress on a mobile device assessment.

Checklists are also useful tools. At the end of a unit, ask students to reflect on their assessment or rubric score by having them complete a checklist recognizing what standards they mastered and which ones they're still working towards. A long-term idea could include students tracking when a specific standard was taught and revisited throughout the year to remind students of key concepts of the class.

There are a variety of reflective activities that require students to interpret data they've collected, or had shared with them. First, students can reflect on the specific learning objective, standard, skill, or "I Can" statement. Make reflection a habit in your classroom by having students answer specific questions every time they finish a unit, turn in a formal paper, or complete a summative project.

Larry Ferlazzo uses an improvement rubric with his high school students to have them reflect on what they've learned throughout the entire year. Other teachers have used video recording software, as opposed to writing, to have students explain their learning while showing pieces of a portfolio.

4. Make It Happen

Don't forget to think through the logistics of your plan, and how you want students to keep their data organized and safe. You know how items can get "lost." Have students create a separate section in their class binders, or on their mobile devices in an app like Notability. As you grow more comfortable with students monitoring their data, you may want to develop a folder, or even have students create their own data tracking binder.

You know you have everything in place for students taking ownership of their learning when they can answer the following questions: How do I know I'm learning? How do I know how I'm progressing?

Make 2016 the year you teach students not to be afraid of the little four-letter word: data. Remember, it's as easy as starting small, simply by selecting one data collection technique and teaching students to reflect on the information available to them.

How do you help students embrace data in your classroom?

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These days you can't open the newspaper or surf the Internet without seeing a headline about test scores. The problem with these headlines is that all assessments are lumped into the same category. Now data has become synonymous with high-stakes tests. Since when did data become the villain in the classroom?

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Data collection is not necessarily every teacher's cup of tea, but in today's teaching climate, it's definitely a necessity. After all, good data can provide important information to teachers and students and go a long way toward improving teaching and learning. And if keeping track of all the streams of data coming your way is not exactly your strong suit, here are a few hacks we found to make the process easier and (maybe) just a little bit more fun.

1. Teacher Binder.

In the world of data collection, this binder is going to be your best friend. Think of it as command central for all things numerical. This version has sections dedicated to parent communication, behavior and assessment data-all brilliantly organized and easy to set up for even the most organizationally challenged.

2. Data Tracking Sheets for Your Binder

In addition to the documents included above, you can add these documents to your fabulous binder as well.

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3. Color-Coded Data Clipboards

If you teach special sections or small-group classes, you can keep each student's data conveniently attached to a clipboard-color coded so there's no need to rifle through to make sure you've got the right one-hung on a pegboard. These are quick and easy to grab so you can take notes when meeting with individual students.

4. Storage Crates

Often you want to hold on to papers after you record the numbers. Rather than keeping copies of assessments in your teacher binder, making it bulky and overstuffed, this crate system is a great way to keep track of work samples and other portfolio items.

5. Labeled Bins

If your school requires weekly data reports, you can store them here for easy access. Each student can collect his or her report to take home on the assigned day.

Also, if your students use their own folders to track data, this is a handy storage place. Kids can access their folders when they are needed, but there's no chance of them getting crumpled into their desks or being lost.

6. Sticky-Note System

Be still our hearts: sticky notes! They're right up there in the popularity ranks with Ziploc bags for most teachers. This is hands-down the easiest, quickest way to keep track of anecdotal notes and informal observations.

7. Easy Bar Graph

Under the category "Work smarter, not harder," this genius idea enlists your students' help to record their individual data onto a strip of graph paper, which the teacher then pastes together inside a manila folder. Voilà! Instant data bar graph!

8. Data Folders for Students

Keeping track of their own data (for certain types of assessments like spelling tests, math facts, reading fluency scores, etc.) gives students ownership of their work and progress and provides them an opportunity to work on their graphing skills to boot!

9. And More Data Tracking Sheets for Students

We like these sheets from blogger Bunting, Books, and Bright Ideas as well!

10. Citizenship Binder

Another genius hack! A tracking system for student accountability-all collected by students as part of weekly jobs. Kids take responsibility for monitoring their own behavior, organization and homework. What a great tool for cultivating ownership of their own learning!

SOURCE: One Teacher's Take

11. Data Collection Cheat Sheet

A quick and easy reference chart for Speech Language Therapists to use as a consistent, objective way to measure minimal vs moderate vs maximal cueing.

SOURCE: Speechy Musings

12. Use Progress Monitoring Rings

Create an individual record keeper for each of your students with this free progress monitoring ring set. Less bulky than a notebook, less formal than a clipboard and pen. For a full tutorial on her system, read Mrs. D's blog.

SOURCE: Mrs. D's Corner

Doing Data Walls the Right Way

There's no doubt that publicly displaying student achievements on classroom data walls as a means of motivating students is a controversial subject. However, we found some adorable examples of data walls that might just do the trick. The key to these boards is that they are limited to a single skill set of foundational skills that mostly require memorization. Giving students permission to monitor their own progress makes it feel more like a game than a report card.

13. Flying High

Kids can add their own bow to the tail of each kite as they master the skills listed.

14. Fact Family Flowers

Students get to decorate and attach their own butterflies to each fact family flower.

15. Sight Word Gumball Machines

Each student gets to add a gumball to the gumball machine as they master each sight word.

16. Letter/Sound Correspondence

Early learners can add a banana with their name on it to each cluster as they master the individual letter sounds.
What's your go-to hack for data collection? Come share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE! Facebook group. Also, check out these classroom procedures that will save your sanity!

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16 Teacher Hacks for Making Data Collection a Piece of Cake

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If keeping track of all the streams of data coming your way is not your strong suit, here are a few hacks to make data collection easier (and even fun).

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Using data with students means much more than sharing test results with students a few times a year. The practice is most effective as an ongoing part of a classroom culture in which students are always collecting and analyzing information in order to improve. Data driven has become a ubiquitous phrase in schools today. Typically it refers to using the results of standardized tests-yearly state assessments and interim district assessments-to inform the focus and pacing of classroom instruction. If we limit our use of data to this purpose, however, we are missing the great potential of gathering data related to a wider range of evidence of learning (e.g., individual patterns in writing and math assignments, homework habits, reading stamina). Data of this kind can be collected and analyzed with students and by students and can be used to help them set and achieve goals for improved learning. The following purposes for using data with students point to the power of the practice to engage and support all students.
Empowering Students to Accurately Assess Their Current Level of Proficiency in Order to Set Challenging and Effective Goals
In order to establish and reach aspirational goals, students must first be aware of their starting point. Too often, in the name of protecting children's self-esteem, we avoid explicit discussions of standards and where students stand in relation to them. Rather than boosting confidence, such "protection" actually prevents students from advancing and blocks their understanding of what it takes to succeed. Providing students with the opportunity to identify their own strengths and weaknesses through data analysis gives them a powerful tool for learning. It moves conversations about progress from abstract, generic goals (e.g., try harder, study more) to student-determined, targeted goals (e.g., increase my reading level by 1.5 years, master 80 percent or more of my learning targets, ensure that 100 percent of my homework is fully completed and submitted) and provides them with skills to track those goals. Of course, making data transparent requires a safe classroom culture, a topic that will be explored further later in this chapter.
Transforming Student Mindsets from a Belief That Intelligence Is Fixed to a Belief in the Power of Their Own Potential to Grow through Effort
In order to meet challenging goals, students must believe that the goals are within their capacity to achieve (Dweck, 2006). Many students who have previously been unsuccessful in school acquire a fixed mindset, rather than a growth mindset (i.e., some kids are good at math, others in art or reading). They see intelligence as something you are born with rather than something that can be developed through hard work. Strategic use of data in the classroom provides an opportunity to overcome this mindset of limitation. It gives students the chance to document
their learning over time and have concrete evidence that they know more and can do more than they could previously. And, it develops the connection between hard work and achievement, replacing the idea that "some kids are smart"with "if I work hard, I'll get better."
Making Progress toward Standards and Making Grading Transparent
Too often what it means to achieve or reach a standard stays shrouded in mystery. Students and their families may have no idea why they receive a certain grade or why they continue to struggle with learning a particular content area. Using data with students is one way to shine a light on learning. It helps students see actual evidence of what they know and can do. It also helps shift their thinking from all or nothing-I met my goal or I did not meet my goal-to a more complex understanding focused on growth over time (e.g., I've successfully mastered 75 percent of this content since my initial assessment; to reach my goal of 90 percent or more I need to work on . . .).
Making Students More Responsible for Their Own Learning
Data inquiry and analysis is a fitting and rich component to many schools' professional development cycles. Yet, it is often removed from the classroom and something that happens about rather than with students. Bringing data analysis into the classroom is one more example of transforming what is traditionally reserved for adults into an opportunity for student leadership. Although investigating data takes different forms at different developmental stages, even the youngest students can and should be given opportunities to explore data related to their academic and character growth.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DATA
Many of us have preconceived ideas about data. For that reason, it's important that we clear up a few misconceptions.
Misconception 1: Using Data Is Only about Basic Skills and Information
Although an appropriate starting point for many teachers may be to record and share data about basic skills and knowledge (e.g., identify the seven continents, 100 Leaders of Their Own Learning distinguish between parts of speech, name the parts of a cell), students can and should use data to uncover and understand many kinds of student achievement. These include critical thinking, clear communication, content knowledge, increased engagement, character, and the production of high-quality work. For example, when students have opportunities to track their own patterns of work and behavior (e.g., when they are focused and engaged, when they get confused, or when they have behavior challenges), they gain the power to improve their own learning strategies.
Misconception 2: Use of Data Is Only about Test Preparation
Higher scores on state, national, and school-created assessments can be one goal of data use, but shouldn't be the sole focus. Rather, the goal should be to embed data into classroom routines and a wide range of student centered instructional practices to improve student achievement and engagement. Learning to analyze and track data about individual and class performance helps students take responsibility for their learning.
Misconception 3: Data Collection Is Limited to Quantitative Data
Although it is wise to begin student-engaged data practices with things that are easy to count (e.g., mistakes in math assignments, minutes spent on independent reading), there is also a great deal of qualitative data that can help student growth. Rubrics, which are composed of qualitative descriptions of student work, are filled with this kind of data. Many recording forms, such as journals, note catchers, and entrance and exit tickets can be powerful data sources to track the why and how of student thinking. These kinds of forms are opportunities for students to back up their ideas with evidence, an essential skill for meeting Common Core standards.

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Making Students Partners in Data-Driven Approaches to Learning | KQED

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Using data with students means much more than sharing test results with students a few times a year. The practice is most effective as an ongoing part of a classroom culture in which students are always collecting and analyzing information in order to improve. Data driven has become a ubiquitous phrase in schools today.