How does data driven instruction affect my school's vision and mission goals?

My school situation is in a unique position to utilize data, in that we have a constantly rotating student body from various parts of our school system. We also have students from elementary, middle, and high schools, and even have parent chaperones and staff at times for training or staff development. Because we have such a diverse population, with such diverse goals, for such short periods of time, we have elected to focus more of our data gathering on quantitative objectives. In short, much of our data collection involves how many people we serve, and not what they've mastered cognitively.

One of our biggest challenges is to ensure that our programs are delivered equitably across the county, and our participation data can let us know if we are accomplishing that. We can gather in an Excel database, for example, the number of students, staff, chaperones, etc. from each school to participate. We then identify schools which seem to have lower participation rates and use the myMCPS porthole to look at school data such as FARMS and MSA scores. When we look for commonalities in the under-participating schools, we see that schools with higher FARMS and higher numbers of Spanish speaking households in the community, for instance, also send fewer kids to the Outdoor Education programs. We cannot deliver quality learning experiences to the kids (equitably) unless their parents are willing to send them to us!

Thus, we have used the participation data to develop strategies which we hope will educate parents from these targeted schools about our programs. They will see the safety, the value, and the tremendous benefits their kids will get as a result of participating in Outdoor Ed.

We do, however use formative assessments to determine the effectiveness of our own instruction. One of the major tools we employ when we work with MCPS staff is a feedback form. Professionals who have taken our courses are asked to rate their own competence in the subject matter and the effectiveness of our instruction. This simple questionnaire technique has allowed us over the years to alter instruction to better suit our audience.

We also use an MCPS survey tool to gather similar data from teachers and parents who have participated in our programs, "test pilot". As a team we created survey questions for three different audiences: teachers who have participated in our programs, parents who have participated themselves, and parents of children who have recently participated in one of our programs. A link to the surveys is sent out, and data is collected from the responses returned. Already participants have given us enough information for us to know where to make changes when necessary.

I believe we might better use some of the data from myMCPS, like school test scores, to show the administrators at some of our under-participating schools how their test scores are likely to improve with participation in our types of hands-on learning. After all, there is already a strong correlation between schools that send 100% of their kids to Outdoor Ed and schools that have demonstrated high levels of mastery on state assessments. If we can start to refine that data, and show some causality, we might be able to convince principals and staff development teachers of the many benefits of getting their staff and students to participate in Outdoor Education.

That would be a tremendous step in helping my program achieve its mission.

What is a Visionary Leader?

After reading the article, "Leadership in the 21st Century: The New Visionary Administrator" published through Blackboard, I was struck that not more administrators share the view that technology will be a central ingredient in preparing kids for the 21st century.

Yes, the article does state that 93% of their "visionary administrators" believe technology will lead to student achievement, but what about the others? What administrator out there doesn't believe we need to use the ever-increasing technology available to us in order to prepare kids for the world in which they will be living? How can such an education professional still exist?

To me it seems obvious that we need to use the tools that students will be using as they enter institutions of higher learning and the work force. If they don't gain experience using these tools in middle and high school, they will be severely handicapped later. It also seems obvious that students today, the 'digital natives', are much better prepared to begin to utilize technology as instruments for better understanding. However, the key to using technology in schools is not simply throwing the newest and techi-est products on the market into the students' hands.

I believe the true visionary adminstrator is one l ike Kevin West, principal of Canyon Ridge School of Surprise, AS, who was quoted in the above article as saying, "We're focused on thinking skills that kids need to develop. We want them to be creative, innovative problem solvers. We want them to be collaborative. We're not just teaching the standards, we teach for deep understanding so they can take this content and make connections across disciplines. We promote leadership and personal responsibility skills." ( 5)

Notice how he does not say that the purpose of technology in a classroom is to learn how to use technology. It is a means to an end: to a better understanding of content, and to better reasoning and problem solving students.

Too many times I've seen administrators tell their professional staff that they "must" use a certain type of technology as part of their instruction, when in fact that particular technology cannot be effectively applied to the content of the course. This use of technology actually interferes with instruction.

From the article, I like the comparison that the use of technology in a classroom should be as "seamless" as a teacher picking up a piece of chalk. (3) A visionary administrator will recognize which staff, in which content areas, will be able to utilize which technology in such a seamless manner. In this case, the administrator doesn't simply need to be a visionary, s/he will need to exercise an incredible awareness, of all aspects of the school, the students, the community, and of the available technology.

One mark of the visionary administrator is the ability to pair a teacher who might be slow on the 'digital immigration' movement with his or her very own "killer app", and application of technology. If a teacher sees a use of technology that will actually make his or her instruction easier, then that teacher will actually use it. There is a reason we are not still attempting to scrape words onto slate tablets.

The catch is, that teacher needs to be exposed to the technolgy, needs to have time to become comfortable with it, and needs to be absolutely convinced that it will make things easier and be more effective. The visionary administrator can make all of this happen, but not so much through 'vision', but through diplomacy, politicking, allocation of resources, and good old PR and persuasion. In this sense, "visionary" doesn't mean being able to see what is ahead of us, but in being able to see how to best manipulate all of the pieces of the puzzle currently involved with that particular educational system.