Module 7: Te Whakamahi Pūrongo (Data Driven Leadership): This module focuses on using data effectively to inform decision-making, assess progress, and drive continuous improvement.
“He aha te take? He aha te pūtake?”
“What is the cause? What is the root cause?”
Module Objectives:
- Understand the importance of data-driven decision-making in education.
- Identify and collect relevant data to inform school improvement initiatives.
- Analyse and interpret data effectively to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
- Use data to inform and evaluate school programmes and initiatives.
- Communicate data effectively to stakeholders, including teachers, students, parents, and the wider community.
- Develop a data-driven improvement plan for a specific area of school focus.
Data are crucial for improving student achievement. By revealing gaps in student learning and instructional practices, they guide teachers and leaders in identifying areas for improvement and tailoring instruction to meet individual student needs.
However, data alone do not provide solutions. They serve as a valuable tool for understanding student learning and informing decision-making. Interpreting data is paramount; it involves uncovering the ‘story behind the numbers’ by identifying patterns and relationships. This process requires ongoing analysis, reflection, and the collection of further evidence to refine understanding and inform continuous improvement.
Types of Data:
- Demographic data: Information about students, staff, and the school community.
- Student achievement data: Standardised tests, classroom assessments, and student work samples.
- Perceptions data: Information gathered through surveys, questionnaires, observations, and student voice.
- School processes data: Information about programs, classroom practices, and assessment strategies.
When gathering data, focus on relevant information that serves a specific purpose. Avoid collecting excessive data, which can be time-consuming and difficult to analyse.
While student achievement data provides valuable information about outcomes, it doesn’t explain the underlying causes. To understand these, utilise formative assessment data, classroom observations, student voice, and other relevant sources.
Analysing Data:
Start by posing a specific question about your data, focusing on differences, gaps, or the impact of teaching practices. Look for unexpected findings and identify patterns, trends, and categories.
Avoid jumping to conclusions; explore the data deeply, considering multiple perspectives and questioning your assumptions.
Evaluate data quality using the 4 Cs: Completeness, Consistency, Comparison, and Concealed information.
Create a concise data overview and share it with colleagues to gain diverse perspectives.
Generate inferences and potential explanations, remembering that correlation does not equal causation.
Develop a range of data stories to identify areas for further investigation.
Recognise that data may not tell the whole story and that further data collection may be necessary to confirm findings.
Resources:
https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1317&context=research_conference
Task: Developing a Data-Driven Improvement Plan
- Select a specific area of school focus (e.g., literacy, numeracy, student well-being).
- Identify relevant data sources and collect the necessary data.
- Analyse the data and identify key trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
- Develop a data-driven improvement plan that outlines specific goals, strategies, and action steps.
- Post your data-driven improvement plan on the online forum for peer feedback and discussion.
Assessment:
- Completion of all readings.
- Participation in the online forum discussion.
- Development and submission of a data-driven improvement plan.
- Demonstration of the ability to analyse and interpret data effectively.
10 Responses
Focus Area: Reading
Our school is following the Jane Farral literacy programme which enables us to measure progress for our neurodiverse learners.
Data Analysis: Classroom teachers collect date bi-annually in the form of standardized literacy tests. We assess students on Emergent, Transitional and Conventional levels to make sure everyone can achieve at their individual level.
This data indicates the following percentages and respective literacy levels in a class of 25 students.
Emergent – 20%
Transitional – 44%
Conventional – 36%
Based on these findings we came up with the following strategies to help support learners improve their literacy skills.
Include a literacy Smart goal in all learners’ Individual Education Pathway during the start of a year and review this goal mid-year
Team up with student, whanau, teaching staff and therapists to help set this goal and work on strategies to achieve it.
Next steps:
Ensure intentional reading occurs every day (buddy reading, group reading, individual reading
Encourage intentional reading at home
This year our school has had a big focus on parent involvement and communication. Linking our vision – One Size Fits One- we aimed to target 100% of all parents to either attend or make communications twice a year for parent/ teacher interviews. This is focusing on how well we are implementing our vision for our students.
In correlation to this data, we are then going to analyze EOT 2 data for the students whose parents did not attend Goal Setting Conferences. This data would include: Data for Attendance, Data for Reading, Data for Writing, Data for Maths – which would all be analyzed at the end of Term 3.
At the beginning of the year, we encourage all parents to come along to what we call a goal setting session for their child/ren. These run from 8am – 5.15pm and happen in 15min intervals. Goal setting forms sent home with students for parents to reflect on.
Here is the data collected from Term 1 (these are done in syndicate lots to look for trends)
Total senior school parent attendance was 85%
Total middle school parent attendance was 88%
Total junior school parent attendance was 93%
These are broken down even further into class percentages but I haven’t shared that data on here.
Total reflection – 88% of parents attended Goal Setting Conferences, either on the day on or at another time convenient for parents and teacher.
14 students had attendance rates under 90%.
From this data, we concluded that when students are in Junior school, parents like to keep track of how their child is doing and how they have started their school life in the first 2 years. They are eager to engage. By the time students get to the senior school, parents have generally attended every such conference and often have more engagement with the classroom teacher via message and email.
In Term 3, we hold parent/teacher conferences where parents come along for 15 minutes to discuss their child’s report – and discuss new goals. There was a big emphasis for all teachers to ensure they make contact with those parents who had not yet confirmed a booking time with the teacher. Teachers were told to try and make other appointment times if needed – as the goal is to get 100% engagement from parents.
This data is yet to be analyzed.
In relation to the achievement of students whose parents did/do not attend learning conferences – in my class alone I did not see a huge trend in students under achieving because their parents did not come in for a conference. There is however a trend in attendance (as seen above).
I have used this data on the forum because I think it is a really interesting way of collecting data and looking outside the box – rather than always focusing on our main areas of learning. Whanau and the community have a lot to do with schools and how we work together is so important. We will continue to look at this data as the years progress – as this is our first year of looking at it.
We have goal setting sessions at the start of the year as well, but I like your school’s strategy of sending home goal setting forms for them to discuss and reflect on first. Will propose this at our school.
Femke, your school is certainly looking outside the box on gathering data on parent engagement, students attendence and linking this to student achievement. I don’t doubt that your school has worked very hard to achieve the high percentage of parent engagement and student attendence. Some schools struggle to reach these percentages.
Summary of Writing Initiatives Year 4, 5 and 6Current Status and Key ChallengesCurrently, the majority of our students are achieving at or above curriculum expectations in writing. We have identified several contributing factors for children that are not:
Curriculum Expectations: The demands of the writing curriculum have changed.
Cognitive Complexity: Writing requires complex cognitive skills that some students find challenging.
Motivation: We’ve observed a potential drop in student motivation as writing tasks become more demanding.Our data reveals some significant patterns:
– Gender Gap: Female students are outperforming males by a notable 14%.
– Year-Level Trends: Year 4 students are our highest-achieving group , while Year 5 and Year 6 students show lower achievement..
– Specific Cohorts: The data highlights specific areas of concern, for Year 6 girls and Year 5 boys
– Māori Student Achievement: Our Māori students’ achievement rate in writing is 46%, which is consistent with their reading data. We will be using a survey to gather student voice to better understand and address this.Our Current Approach
To address these challenges, we have been using a thematic approach to reduce cognitive load and build on students’ existing knowledge. This strategy is also more culturally responsive, as it connects writing topics to students’ lived experiences, which can increase motivation and engagement. We will continue to follow the structured literacy program, ensuring a structured sequence for language instruction.Our Plan for Moving Forward
– Building on our current initiatives, our strategy focuses on three key areas:
– 1. Fostering Authentic and Engaging Writing
We will create more opportunities for students to write for real purposes and audiences. This includes activities like contributing to the school newsletter or creating books for younger students. These authentic tasks will give students a genuine reason to write, boosting their motivation and providing a clear purpose for developing their skills.
– 2. Enhancing Teacher Capabilities
To improve the quality of writing instruction, we will focus on professional development. This will involve:
Implementing a program of peer observations, where teachers can observe and learn from each other.
Providing constructive feedback, refinement, and practice for explicit skill instruction.
Starting in 2026, we will explore the Better Start Literacy Approach for students in Years 4-6. This program has been tailored for classroom use and could provide a valuable framework for structured literacy teaching.
We will also consider options like the ALL (Accelerated Literacy Learning) program.
– 3. Prioritizing Student Voice
To ensure our efforts are targeted and effective, we will actively seek out student voice. Our upcoming team survey will provide qualitative data that offers direct insights into student perspectives on why they are struggling, what motivates them, what they see as barriers, and what kind of support they find most helpful. This student-centered approach is critical for developing interventions that truly meet their needs.
Alastair it is fantastic that the majority of your students are achieving at and above expected level. Not surprising though that girls are out performoing boys in writing. Excellent strategies to lift student achievement. Love the use of student voice to gather further understanding, thematic approach, drawing on students’ experiences and authentic reasons to write.
Data Driven Improvement Plan for School-wide Behaviour
Purpose:
To reduce disruptive behaviours, promote positive behaviour, and improve student engagement and wellbeing using data to inform decision-making.Data Sources:
Behaviour incident reports on hero
Playground data sheets (swearing)
Attendance records
Teacher and teacher aid feedback
Identified Areas for Improvement (Based on Term 3 Data):
51.5% of behaviour incidents occur in different areas of the playground over MT and LT
42% of incidents occurred in the classroom
Inappropriate language is the most frequent behaviour
Year 5 and 6 have the highest rates of incidents
The majority of incidents occur on a Thursday
Behaviour Improvement Goals:
Reduce playground and classroom incidents
Increase engagement in learning across all classes
Support targeted students with Individual Plans/Goals
Improve staff consistency in responding to incidents
Strategies:
Whole School (Tier 1):
Implement Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) matrix and school-wide expectations
Weekly focus on values – CARING, CONNECTED, CURIOUS, CORAGEOUS and CREATIVE
Consistent use of restorative practices after incidents
Class Circle Time to build relationships, classroom culture and emotional literacy
Targeted Support (Tier 2):
Identify high-needs students through data
Individual Behaviour Support Plans/Thermometers/Check in’s/Contracts
Small group social skills programs/TA support
Intensive (Tier 3):
Work with SENCO/LSC for students with complex needs
Risk Assessments, Safety plans and support plans
TA support
Collaborate with family/whānau
Referrals for external support – RTLB/MOE/SWiS/Mana ake
Next Steps & Monitoring:
Staff PLD on behaviour expectations and response strategies (PB4L, Berry St, Restorative Conversations)
Review behaviour data monthly and share with staff
Use data review to inform Values focus
Weekly focus on Values – shared via daily notices and playground scripts
Playground lesson plans and videos
Change language around ‘behaviour’ to ‘culture’
School wide acknowledgement system in place Term 4
Evaluate progress against goals and update plan monthly (in line with data feedback)
Success Criteria:
Reduction in behaviour incidents
Increased student safety and sense of belonging
Consistency in staff behaviour management
Improved learning time and learning data
Beth, your startegies and next steps are excellent and are proven to be best practice in lifting student behaviour. Interesting that poor student behaviour is higher on a Thursday. I wonder why that is?
Data Focus Area: Reading
Data Sources: BSLA Assessments in NON word reading and non-word spelling, Connected Text assessment data, Mid term reporting data against new Literacy curriculum, teacher OTJ’s.
Data Analysis: Data was collected as a team after our mid term reporting round. During the team meeting, each teacher filled in a table to identify
– who was working within and towards expectations in their class
– gender and ethnicity
– target students
– What PD might help
– Their next steps as a teacher/team
We found we had a higher number of year 3 students working within expected levels for reading in both areas of gender and ethnicity, except Maori students (57% in year 2, 50% in Year 3).
Is this because most of the year 2’s are in 1 class together with a small number of year 3’s? (This was based on numbers and a couple of tricky student combinations.)
We also follow the brain science around reading where it is suggested formal reading instruction should not happen until they are 7. Therefore, our school starts formal reading when children have a better grasp of phonemic and phoneme awareness, thus not starting the BSLA programme in New Entrant as recommended. This will also lead to why the year 2 data for reading is lower than Year 3.
We then discussed our findings, collectively agreed on our team’s target students for reading, shared next steps and then allowed time for teachers to discuss strategies and next steps. We also looked at other areas that maybe contributing to the data of target students such as attendance, pastoral and behaviour data, taking a holistic approach to data.
Out of the 42 year 2 and 3 students working towards, we identified
– 16 to participate in Tier 2 literacy support (40%)
– 5 have SLT, ICS or are under an ORS application.
– 2 have just finished Literacy Tier 2 intervention
– 6 are being monitored for attendance
– 2 are ESOL with developing English ability
This narrowed it down to 10 target students to work out different strategies for.
Areas for improvement/Next Steps:
– Following up on absences for the 6 students more closely.
– Revisiting our plans to strengthen home/school partnerships, such as whanau voice, 1-1 whanau meetings, information afternoon around reading to ensure families fully understand the Reading and BSLA expectations at our school.
Brainstorm ideas for this. In the past, the school has put out a parent video about Literacy at Bromley. Collect data from parents, have they seen this video? Have parents engaged in the online parent portal from the ministry we have shared?
If not, why not? Also discussing with whanau the support they feel their child needs and their ideas on what we could do to help at school and at home.
– Plans to talk to our Learning support coordinator about which external agencies may be needed for our target students.
– Dive deeper into the 10 target students. What parts of the Reading curriculum do these students need to focus next? The gaps included reading areas such as Identifying Perspectives and Connecting and Responding.
– This term, team meetings will be dedicated to more unpacking and implementing other areas of the new reading curriculum that go beyond just BSLA. One way I plan to do this is to collaboratively plan a week of literacy to help deepen everyone’s understanding and practise using the new curriculum.
– Enlist the support and perspectives of our Maori colleagues and advisers for our Maori students. What extra support can we provide in class for our Maori students?
– Do a student satisfaction survey. I wonder what they think of themselves as a learner? What are their opinions of themselves as readers?
– Teacher Observations. Ask teachers video themselves – self and then peer assess.
– During CRT days, go and watch each other in our team and Junior team for any tips and tricks.
– Make classes more even next year, ensuring a more equal numbers of year 2’s and 3’s instead of having a main class of year 2’s and only a few year 3’s to make up the numbers.
Lindi, the rigorous and accurate data analysis has given your team a host of excellent strategies to employ this years as well as next year to improvement students outcomes and to hone in on the targeted students. Well done. I really like the idea of a students satisfactory survey.