Turnaround Data Use
Turnaround Data Use is a framework and system for helping school leaders, teachers, and students use data at a granular and practical level. It is best used with a cluster of schools from the same district. In this way, cohorts of teachers from specific grade levels or subject areas are able to work together. It answers the question for educators, "What can I do differently tomorrow morning?"
Getting Useful Data
School Turnaround synthesizes data provided through the existing benchmark assessment system to insure that educators have the data they most need to alter instruction appropriately. This enables each school to focus on meeting these students' needs in differentiated flexible groups.
School Turnaround provides the templates for presenting and using data. These are pre-populated tools we create and individually tailor for each teacher (and in some cases, each student). These templates are tied to strategies for instruction and classroom teaching resources. They also assist in student goal-setting and parent conferencing. For those districts that wish, we are able to use our own system to score and evaluate the data in a time-compressed way.
Turnaround Data Use Training
School Turnaround conducts an initial professional development session demonstrating key data use tools and providing training on how to implement them at the classroom level. All of the tools and strategies are clear and simple to use and were designed by practitioners to be useful in classrooms. Additional classroom instructional resources are also introduced at this time. The intent is to give teachers enough of an overview and rationale so that once the first assessment is administered, they are able to focus their energy on using the data that is provided for them.
Undertaking Data Use at the Granular Level
At the time of each benchmark test, School Turnaround provides technical support as needed. Each school receives site visits from a Turnaround Specialist subsequent to each benchmark test. These are spent working with administrators and teachers to review data and making decisions around instruction and professional development. Where needed, additional materials for strategy lessons are provided. There is an emphasis on aligning resources - human, time, and material - to meet needs with regard to data use. A core focus is on the principals' role in classrooms to help teachers modify teaching and learning to increase achievement.
Additional Resources
Schools receive monthly newsletters, access to web-based resources, and invitations to participate in Turnaround webinars. Principals are regularly convened in seminar groups to problem-solve issues of implementation of data use at the building level. Special training and support from other staff are provided as needed and possible within the budget.