Here’s a question: As an administrator, how do you present unwelcome data to teachers? I ask this because, on several occasions, I think I did a poor job of presenting data that resulted in hurt feelings and lowered morale. Let me explain.
I am a bit of a numbers person. When presented with student and school data, I enjoy breaking out an Excel spreadsheet, analyzing the data, and looking for patterns. I have done this with classroom-based assessments, with survey results, with standardized test data. My basic goal with these exercises is to take numbers and turn them into actionable information: to figure out what realities the data can reveal that can then inform practices in ways that result in classroom and school improvements.
But I can think of at least two occasions in which, after presenting an analysis of standardized test data to teachers, the result was not, “Wow, thanks so much, this will really help me continue to improve the quality of instruction in my classroom!” but rather, “Oh no, I guess I really am not the effective teacher I thought I was.”
When presenting data, I try to do it in a non-judgmental way that focuses on practices rather than personalities. But seeing evidence of a reality that is different from the one in which we have believed—for example, thinking that your high-achieving students have really grown over the course of the year, but then seeing standardized test data that paint a different picture—is difficult. In psychological terms, this creates a cognitive dissonance, a separation between our individual perceptions and the perceptions of others or outside evidence. This dissonance can be highly productive: because we don’t typically like cognitive dissonance, it encourages growth to close the gap between our perceptions and the outside perceptions/reality.
But dissonance also creates frustration and feelings of inadequacy. Jim Collins says that, before an organization can improve, it has to “confront the brutal facts”. But brutal facts can be, well, brutal. Which brings me back to my original question: how do you use data to identify areas for improvement and encourage growth, while at the same time protecting feelings? If the outcome of unwelcome data is dispirited teachers, how is that helpful?
This is my data dilemma.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
Parry Wrote:
Which brings me back to my original question: how do you use data to identify areas for improvement and encourage growth, while at the same time protecting feelings?
You know, Parry, you said it best when you talked about focusing on the practice rather than the person. Schools have to get to the point where every conversation about teaching and learning has to focus on practices rather than people.
Teachers are passionate about what they do--and how they do it. We're pleasers by nature and know how important our work is. To feel as if we've "failed" is almost crushing.
What makes this worse is that in most schools, few people even attempt to separate the practice from the person. The "best" teachers are celebrated and people groan about "the worst" in the darkened corners of the workroom.
We need to reframe the conversation---the teachers experiencing success with students are using the "best" practices. The teachers who have students that are struggling are using practices that need improvement.
While it seems like a small semantic difference, it is an essential shift if we're ever going to get teachers to welcome data analysis with open arms.
Bill
Ow! That's a tough one. Of course you want to use the information you have to improve the teaching that is going on, but I know that it is very difficult being on the receiving end of such information and NOT taking it personally. There are a few teachers out there who know that they're not doing a very good job and quite frankly don't care, but the vast majority want to do a good job and are sure that they are doing the best job they can most of the time. It's tough to hear that you're not doing as good a job as you thought. Yes, we all have bad days and we know it, but I know that if I honestly thought I was ineffectual overall then I would have to find another line of work.
I understand how I can be trying my best and yet not doing the best by my students but nonetheless to be told that I could be more effective would be painful. Of course I'm going to take it on a personal level - I know that I personally would definitely be upset initially no matter how well it was presented. If I'm dedicated to my job though I have to get beyond that and take the information and use it to improve.
A huge factor in how well I can do that depends on my relationship with the person who is presenting the information. Is there mutual trust? Do I feel that this is a supportive colleague? Can they allow me some anger initially, even if in reality much of the emotion is anger at myself and frustration at not having done better by the kids in the first place? I can think of perhaps one administrator I've ever worked with over the years who would have managed to make me feel comfortable in this situation. He's someone who spent time to cultivate a working relationship with me. He observed my classes over time and gave me good feedback on them. He made sure to comment on the positive things he saw. If he had ever had to come to me with information like that I think I would have taken it better than I would from some others. I know he would have presented it as a team problem - that WE needed to work together to resolve, and he would have been very supportive. It's little difficult to put into words what was different about that professional relationship, except that it was truly a very professional one with great respect on both sides.
This is the sort of situation that makes me glad that I'm not an administrator. I don't envy you having to deal with it!
Bill says it far better than I did, but his comment was posted after I started writing! I'll keep quiet in future and just read!
Almost American wrote:
A huge factor in how well I can do that depends on my relationship with the person who is presenting the information. Is there mutual trust? Do I feel that this is a supportive colleague...I can think of perhaps one administrator I've ever worked with over the years who would have managed to make me feel comfortable in this situation.
AA's on to something here....we're back to that trust factor again. Without an element of trust, no conversation about data can really be neutral....and when they're had with an administrator, is it ever possible to feel like there's not some measure of judgment involved?
Parry---I wonder if the trick is getting peers to tackle data WITHOUT you. Do you think there is some measure of embarrassment in having "your boss" point out that your practices weren't effective?
Is the reaction that you're getting more about the role that your in rather than the results you are showing?
Interesting thinking, AA...I hope you'll keep writing!
Bill
Depending on the situation and what it is that the data shows, one possible approach to take is that the teacher's current approach is perhaps not the best for these particular kids. Those of us who've been teaching for some time know very well that things that work wonderfully well one year can fall completely flat the next. Same teacher, same material and presentation, but different kids. Although you're then 'blaming' the kids instead of the teacher, it may give some teachers the room they need to be able to move on and change something in their teaching without feeling personally threatened by the suggestion that change is needed.
Oh and thanks for the encouragement to keep talking Bill!
AA, I think you bring up excellent points and strategies.
Another issue that I think it wrapped up in this idea of using data to drive instructional decisions (and something that I think I might post about at more length later) is a question that AA raises: how do you figure out what the underlying cause(s) were for data discrepancies? For example, if your students did really well on an assessment and mine didn't do as well, how do I know whether or not this was due to the make-up of the class, a specific questioning strategy that you used and I didn't, deeper differences between us in terms of class management, different interpretations of the curriculum objectives, etc.?
How do we go from the data to making the right instructional adjustments?
Parry, I think that's an incredibly important issue given that public schools today (not just individual teachers but whole districts) are being judged by test results.
Parry said: "How do we go from the data to making the right instructional adjustments?"
Great question...I think about this a lot because of the subject area I teach (English Language Arts.) Recently I gave a test question that was supposed to address the students understanding of tone in a piece of literature. Sadly, many of the students missed the question indicating to me that they didn't understand tone...or did it? The students actually struggled with the vocabulary of the answer choices, but knew very well what tone was. Thankfully, because I graded the test and was able to discuss it with students, I was able to identify the reason why the kids missed the question.
So for me, my "instructional adjustment" needed to be made in vocabulary, not identifying tone.
Unfortunately with standardized tests I am not able to learn where that point of breakdown happens.
Corrina's example strikes me as both illustrative and insightful. She had data that could have been interpreted in a variety of ways, and she had to dig deeper to find the most valid interpretation. Had she not gone that extra step, she might have created a brand new (unnecessary) lesson focusing on tone, thinking (incorrectly) that her students didn't understand that concept.
So how do we make sure that the inferences we are making from data, which are then supposed to inform instructional decisions, are accurate? I can think of two strategies that I've seen work:
First, starting with questions rather than answers. Corrina could have started with an answer -- "My students don't understand tone" -- but instead she started with questions: what are a variety of possible reasons for the data I'm seeing, what steps could I take to better understand what's happening here, what other data would I need to help me make a valid interpretation?
Second, conversation. Within PLTs, teachers can discuss data and possible interpretations, and this collaborative process is more likely to lead to valid interpretations. If Corrina created her assessment, it may take a fresh pair of eyes to see that, "Hey, maybe the issue here is that students don't understand the vocabulary."
And, as Corrina points out, this difficulty highlights the importance of looking at standardized test data within a larger context, and refraining from drawing too many inferences based on standardized test data alone.
I took something else from Corrina's comment--how important the somewhat tedious excersize of paper grading really is. Not only is the personal feedback important to students, it can help you become a better teacher as you spot trends in the way students repond.
Anon wrote:
I took something else from Corrina's comment--how important the somewhat tedious excersize of paper grading really is. Not only is the personal feedback important to students, it can help you become a better teacher as you spot trends in the way students repond.
You know, this is an area of personal struggle for me. While I know that paper grading is essential because it allows me to effectively respond to the patterns in my classroom, it is also something that I tend to shortchange. I rush through stacks of papers sometimes, giving feedback that I'm embarrassed by.
But in many ways, I think the blame rests on the traditional organization of schools. "My Time" is never my time. I've got meetings that I'm required to attend, papers that I'm required to fill out, conferences that I'm required to prepare for....
By the time I'm done with "requirements," there isn't much time left. The only way I can exert control over how much time I spend at work is to rush through the things I can control.
One of those things is paper grading.
Another is lesson planning.
Isn't it wild that teachers are skimping on the work that carries the greatest benefits because they are struggling to keep up with requirements?
Weird.
Bill
Post a Comment