Tom Waters

Data is not new to education, but its use has many iterations. What are connected educators saying about data best practices? Why do amazing educators embrace data? How is data currently used to improve performance? What words of caution do thought leaders provide? How Do Your Teams Measure Success? Goals and plans are useless without targets. I can have the best plan, but where is it taking me? How will I know when I get there? The same applies for schools. Data does nothing alone. It requires context, culture, and targets to take on meaning. I Never Heard a Number Explain Itself A bit of caution on measurement. There is always a story behind the numbers. Qualitative observations are essential. - Douglas Reeves  @DouglasReeves Contextual factors are always present within the classroom, the school, and the home. Those factors do impact numbers. We can change contextual factors, but it takes we. When we ask why in response to data, it's easy to blame the only adult in t...

Sensitive data comes from assessments that give reliable feedback to educators about student growth. Previously, I promised to give a list of tools that can be used to shift from lethargic data to sensitive data. Here are sensitive data sources for elementary and middle-level schools that can improve your ability to make confident instructional leadership decisions. Read about the difference in Lethargic Data and Sensitive Data Here . Reading Cloze for Overall Reading Growth This tool is old. It's been researched and used for decades. It is easy to create, quick to use, and gives solid data on student growth. The cloze works because it takes students into the reading process and requires them to make connections within a text to infer words that are missing from the text. It focuses on both students' ability to negotiate print and construct meaning. And this research review shows how Spelling is a Predictor of Reading Comprehension all the way up to 10th grade. A...

Perfection is an intimidating aim. Daunting, overwhelming, impossible. Letting go of perfect allows us to embrace growth. Growth and learning require the acknowledgment of imperfection. As long as perfection is the ideal, learning will always be slowed. Learning is slowed by the contrast between current reality and idealistic perfection. Instead of aiming for perfection, target high levels of growth. Instead of making perfect an endpoint, strive for never ending upward potential. Never reachable, but always able to celebrate. Beat previous rates of growth. Set goals for new levels of growth. This is learning at its best. So while perfection is found around us, it will never quite be within us. Let go. Embrace growth. Here are other posts where growth is an achievable aim of education: Involvement is key to organizational growth Fear of failure will destroy professional learning How data dashboards can promote growth in schools

Stephanie Frosch  , an educator, was in a mall chatting with friends. They were telling her to get on Twitter. "What a waste of time," she thought. Now 10k tweets later, she wants you to know you're missing out on an incredible opportunity. I concur. Here's her post... PIRATE of Possibilities : 10K tweets ago, I was in a mall food court,  reluctantly being preached to about the limitless possibilities and professional value...(click above to read the whole story). Benefits of Starting Twitter this Week While Twitter has been here for over 5 years, educators are really starting to gain ground on this network. Hashtag chats (such as #ASCDL2L, #satchat, and #edchat) give locations for ongoing discussions around questions and topics. Just use the search function and type in one of the hashtags, you'll see. Follow some great organizations such as @edutopia , @ SchoolLeadNow , @ASCD , or @MarzanoResearch . Then follow a few great authors like @FredEnde or @...

Data-driven instruction was a good idea back before our students were born. In the early 2000's, it was the right idea because no one looked at data. There were just the annual reports from State accountability. But now the misuse of data-driven is more like the Iditarod sled races in Alaska. It’s like the sled being driven by a whip. The teachers are the huskies and the well-intentioned #edleader is the driver. Mush! Mush! Let's Go! Pull your weight! Data driven, but not data-informed. The Iditarod Sled Races Some administrators even use the data for competitive reasons and then talk about collaboration. Competition is the mode of operation, and collaboration is just talk. In most cases, the competitive trumps the collaborative. The intended campus culture is undermined by a fear-driven (huh-hmm, "data-driven") culture. Therefore, the solution is not data driven. Data Informed Reflection The solution is data-informed, and more importantly, results r...

Pinterest TeamTomWaters Vocabulary Board They just don't understand a word I say! They act like we have never done this before! Ugh...did anyone in the lower grades ever teach this? Ever heard this before...maybe in your own head? I know I have. Weeks after a unit, a student is asked to do a summary. She meekly and tenderly responds, "What is a summary ?" We just spent a whole unit working with summaries! You don't know what that is!?! The Problem is Vocabulary The problem is not the student. The problem is not the planning or teaching. The problem is vocabulary. Academic vocabulary instruction needs to be taught systemically across the district from year to year. This is the single most important spiral practice and teaching we can do. It builds the necessary background knowledge, so students aren't confused or lost when we say, "summary." Or when we say any other academic term. Teaching and Monitoring Vocabulary We can teach academi...

In a recent twitter conversation #sblchat, several tweets really hammered the point home: A7 - With Standards-Based Learning, we choose not to grade the practice while we are learning. We grade only once we've got it! #sblchat — Rik Rowe (@RoweRikW) May 12, 2016 A1 Purpose of grading is feedback on learning --- so SBG makes too much sense #sblchat — Donald Gately Ed.D. (@donald_gately) May 12, 2016 A3: Ongoing timely, descriptive feedback which guides instruction #sblchat — Jasper Fox Sr. (@jasperfoxsr) May 12, 2016 Grading is not the end result. It is merely a communication or reporting tool. Learning is the end result. And growth towards learning is what needs most critically to be measured and reported. Measuring Growth is... An idea for learning & grading. encouraging rewarding easy to automate and use technology evidence that effort works evidence that students are progressing toward goals evidence that teaching is or isn't work qui...