Sam Stringfield once told me that he heard Nate Gage say that for 50 years, Gage was told, “Computers will transform education – it’s just around the corner.” Gage reported that a 50 year corner was something to gaze at…
SXSWedu Recap
I spent this week going to the SXSWedu conference here in lovely Austin, Texas. I like this conference because of its focus on innovation. And, I think Ron Reed, Greg Rosenbaum, Nicole Krause, and the rest of the staff put…
A Side Effect of the Testing Culture
We all know about side effects of the testing culture: kids pressured by tests, kids spending too much time on tests, teachers feeling like it takes away instruction, etc. I don’t need to describe these to you. We don’t often…
Developing Leadership Courses for Data Use
I recently had the pleasure of conducting a webinar for the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu) about leadership courses in data use for potential school leaders. The audience included professors from cIcu’s partner schools who were interested in…
Data-Informed Practice: It’s Not Just About Test Scores (Part 5: I’m Talking to You, Policymakers)
I’ve spent this blog series talking about possible solutions to the problem of test-focused data use: common understandings, computer data systems, and data-related professional learning. I like these ideas and if they were implemented, I think a lot would change.…
Data-Informed Practice: It’s Not Just About Test Scores (Part 3: Computer Data Systems)
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this blog series, data use is often disjoint and removed from practice. I believe that’s often because of a focus on test scores. In this series, I’m examining supports that can help recast…
Data-Informed Practice: It’s Not Just About Test Scores (Part 2: Common Understandings)
I lied. I said I would write a two-part blog on this topic. Today was intended to be the second part, about what we do to broaden “data use” beyond just test scores. But as I began to write this…
Data-Informed Practice: It’s Not Just About Test Scores (Part 1)
American schools and school systems have established a pretty consistent pattern in how data are used. Data are used in defined events – “event-based data use.” By that, I mean that education continues largely as it traditionally has, but educators…
Students Taking Charge of Their Learning
In the field of data use, there is some attention paid to how students use their own data. Probably not enough attention, but attention nonetheless. In fact, I’m at SXSWedu this week and have already noticed a clear interest in…