DataSmart

DataSmart: Focusing on Data to Improve Instruction
Middle Start believes that inquiry and reflection are central features of schools committed to continual improvement. With DataSmart, your school can question the effectiveness of instruction, create meaning from the data, and use real evidence to inform and improve instruction and ensure success for ALL students.

What is Middle Start DataSmart?
The Middle Start DataSmart program helps schools build the capacity to analyze and apply data to improve instruction and overall school outcomes. With regular support from an on-site Middle Start coach, data is used at every step of this process: from developing school improvement goals, to measuring and identifying gaps in student learning and achievement, to determining progress toward schoolwide goals and objectives.

How Does DataSmart Work?
Getting Started:
Each DataSmart school forms a data leadership team �� teachers and administrators committed to establishing a common language and process for data collection at their school. The team identifies data to be collected, organized, and analyzed on a regular basis. Using this data they develop school improvement goals which, with the help of the Middle Start coach, they further refine into a set of SMART objectives that are:

  • Specific

  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Results-based
  • Time-bound

Organizing Data:

While the specific evidence each school collects may vary, all data teams identify what they will assemble from each of the following categories:

  • Demographic (district, school, student, etc.)
  • Student-learning (external/internal assessments, grades, etc.)
  • Perceptional (student and teacher surveys; observations, etc.)
  • Program (instruction, professional development, etc.)
  • Data teams compile, organize, and present a comprehensive data profile of their school that includes evidence from each of the above categories.

A Plan of Action:
Using the data profile as a baseline, the data team asks essential questions about student performance and identifies causes for achievement gaps. The team works with the entire school community to create a plan of action that includes goals and objectives, indicators for measuring success, and a clear focus for school improvement and professional development initiatives.
DataSmart School Survey

  • Survey results provide important perceptional data, which become even more significant when compared with other data presented in the data profile.
  • Middle Start helps to administer the surveys, and then analyzes the data and presents the results as a part of the comprehensive data profile.
  • Gathers and reports on teacher and student attitudes and beliefs about the school climate and teaching and learning practices