Beating the Demographics with DataDirector™

The first step was to work on DataDirector professional development for principals, who “liked the program from the beginning,” according to District Technology Coordinator Rufus Thompson. “Then after that we just took off.” District administrators were trained next. “We were able to enter three years worth of Star testing data in a matter of hours,” said Rufus,” which was amazing to everyone.”  

 When teacher training began, Rufus created multiple measures of assessment in DataDirector with four fields for the teachers to populate.  “This got them bought in because while they were doing it, they could look around in the program,” said Rufus.  “Once that happened, they were hooked.  They could see the power of being able to get a complete picture on each student.”

Re-evaluating the Role of an SIS

 “We are primarily a Mac district,” said Director of Technology Ted McDaniel, “so we needed a cross-platform data management and assessment solution that would  allow our teachers to access the data they needed right in their classrooms.”

Planning for Data-Driven Success with DataDirector ™: The Experiences of an Educational Service Agency

According to Mike Oswalt, Assistant Superintendent of Regional Technology Services at Calhoun ISD, “DataDirector allowed us to identify the variables common to proficient and non-proficient students, through state and local assessments and demographic information linked to each other over time as well as to teachers and subject areas.”

 Most importantly, DataDirector allowed the districts to get answers to important questions.  They were able to generate a report based on a question (e.g., “Which students are at level 4 in MEAP math?”) and then build on it by adding other data (e.g., “How did those students do on a particular local assessment?” or “What was their entry date into the district?” or “What was their sequence of math teachers for the past four years?”). 

Getting Data into the Hands of Teachers— In Time to Make a Difference

A majority of students were learning English at the same time as being challenged with their grade level work. The school board was calling for additional monitoring of basic skills. And, most importantly, test score information was taking far too long—with only one analyst and over 3,000 teachers—to get back to the classroom. Teachers were not receiving information in time to use it to prepare students for California standardized tests.

 “We realized that it made no sense to have the data available unless the teachers could use it in a timely manner,” said Michelle. “We needed to speed up the whole process.”