Data provides the fuel to drive the current educational reform movement. Perhaps that is what distinguishes this era from reforms in the past. Sure we could lament the imposition of standardized testing. For me, despite misgivings about the quality of some tests, I am in many ways pleased by the attention to evidence. Rather than argue via emotional appeals or political exhortations, discussions and decisions are grounded in numbers. This trend has even caught the attention of columnists:
"This is the age of research, so there’s data to back this up."
~ David Brooks, NY Times, March 29, 2009, The Sandra Bullock Trade
The Sandra Bullock comment was in reference to happiness indices and whether she is foolishly trading fame for contentedness. What fascinates me is the notion that it doesn't seem wacky to measure happiness. Or trust. And to then use those measures to inform decisions. A local study documented the positive associations between reciprocity among neighbors and a family's sense of food security. To me, this is serious stuff and informed and advanced by data.
Within his comments about reforming schools, one panelist at Yale's Education Leadership Conference, an entrepreneur, offered that schools spend $25 billion on the Four Ts: textbooks, tutoring, testing and technology. Until that moment, I had envisioned technology as an instructional resource: computers, simulation software, smart boards, etc. (but no longer overhead projectors). But what I have just begun to realize is that technology includes data gathering and analysis. More data, more interpreting, more "drilling down" and more graphical displays. That's what happens in the business world as comparisons are made between stores along with within store comparisons made about years, quarters, and days. And adjustments are influenced by the interpretations of data.
Meanwhile, the educational purists lament the loss of innocence, as if the shift to empiricism will be the ruin of our schools. From where I sit, it appears too many schools are in ruins. We are not sure what should be done. I hope we can begin the conversation by agreeing that something ought to be done. While the use of data might not be the solution, I believe the thoughtful and deliberate use is imperative if we hope to make progress.
Within his comments about reforming schools, one panelist at Yale's Education Leadership Conference, an entrepreneur, offered that schools spend $25 billion on the Four Ts: textbooks, tutoring, testing and technology. Until that moment, I had envisioned technology as an instructional resource: computers, simulation software, smart boards, etc. (but no longer overhead projectors). But what I have just begun to realize is that technology includes data gathering and analysis. More data, more interpreting, more "drilling down" and more graphical displays. That's what happens in the business world as comparisons are made between stores along with within store comparisons made about years, quarters, and days. And adjustments are influenced by the interpretations of data.
Meanwhile, the educational purists lament the loss of innocence, as if the shift to empiricism will be the ruin of our schools. From where I sit, it appears too many schools are in ruins. We are not sure what should be done. I hope we can begin the conversation by agreeing that something ought to be done. While the use of data might not be the solution, I believe the thoughtful and deliberate use is imperative if we hope to make progress.
