t he l ocal c onnection : b uilding a d ata u se l earning c ommunity gilda rubio-festa baerbel...

THE LOCAL CONNECTION: THE LOCAL CONNECTION: BUILDING A DATA USE BUILDING A DATA USE

LEARNING COMMUNITYLEARNING COMMUNITY

Gilda Rubio-FestaBaerbel Schilz

Randy L. Whitfield

November 2009Slides taken from National Reporting

System (NRS) Training

North Carolina Community College Systemwww.nccommunitycolleges.edu

Fifty-eight Institutions Educating and Training a World-Class Workforce

PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVESDEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

By the end of this session, participants will be able to Identify barriers to, and motivators for, local

programs to use data; Describe strategies for encouraging a culture of

data use at the local level; Define the characteristics and essential elements

of a data use learning community; Identify steps in the process of establishing and

sustaining a data use learning community; Select appropriate technology tools for specific

purposes related to data use and sustaining the learning community;

Develop a local action plan.

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WHY PROMOTE DATA USE WHY PROMOTE DATA USE AT AT ALLALL LEVELS? LEVELS?

To demonstrate program effectiveness

To assist management

To promote program improvement

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USES OF NRS DATA AT THE USES OF NRS DATA AT THE LOCAL LEVEL LOCAL LEVEL

• To monitor progress toward performance goals;

• To manage programs and identify areas for improvement;

• To meet reporting and accountability requirements.

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POOR DATA QUALITY CAN POOR DATA QUALITY CAN RESULT FROM…RESULT FROM…

Incorrect test administration

Low rates of pre- and post-testing

Poor goal setting procedures

Flaws in data entry

Lack of quality control systems

Little or no data monitoring

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UNDERLYING UNDERLYING ASSUMPTION…ASSUMPTION…

When programs and staff

use their data,

data quality will improve.

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CHANGING THE CULTURE CHANGING THE CULTURE AROUND DATA AROUND DATA

How can you help local program administrators and teachers to view data

Not as a Hammer,

But as a Flashlight?

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EFFECTIVE DATA USE EFFECTIVE DATA USE MOVES US ALONG THE MOVES US ALONG THE

ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY SPECTRUMSPECTRUM

FROM:

Accountability (rearview mirror view— looking back to what we did well/not so well)

TO: Continuous Improvement (looking out the front window at where we’re headed)

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TOP 10 USES OF DATA IN TOP 10 USES OF DATA IN EDUCATIONEDUCATION

1. Uncover problems that might otherwise remain invisible 2. Convince staff of the need for change 3. Confirm or discredit assumptions about students and program

practices 4. Get to the root cause of problems, pinpoint areas where change is

most needed, and guide resource allocation 5. Help evaluate program effectiveness and keep the focus on

student learning 6. Provide feedback that instructors and administrators need to

keep going and stay on course 7. Prevent over-reliance on standardized tests 8. Prevent one-size-fits-all and quick solutions 9. Give schools/programs the ability to respond to accountability

questions 10. Build a culture of inquiry and continuous improvement

- Nancy Love, 200004/21/23 9



TO IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE TO IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE DATA USE AT THE DATA USE AT THE

LOCAL LEVEL…LOCAL LEVEL…Staff Need1. An organizational framework through

which to organize activities;2. Motivation to use data;3. Training on how to review and use data;4. Tools for conducting data analyses; 5. Ongoing communication and interaction

among local staff around data

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THE THE FRAMEWORK:FRAMEWORK:COMMUNITIES OF COMMUNITIES OF

LEARNERSLEARNERS

Professional Learning Community (PLC) is

a group of instructors, administrators,

and other staff that

• meets regularly,

• reviews practice,

• asks questions and focuses on learning,

• then uses this learning to implement program

improvement.

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CONSTANT FINDINGS IN CONSTANT FINDINGS IN THE RESEARCH THE RESEARCH

LITERATURELITERATURE

Notable improvements in education almost never take place in the absence of professional development.

At the core of each successful improvement effort is a thoughtfully conceived, well-designed, and well-supported PD component.

Thomas Guskey (2000)

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THE CONCEPT OF LEARNING THE CONCEPT OF LEARNING COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

• Arose from Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline (1990)• Promoted the idea of a work environment in which

employees… • Engage as teams;• Develop a shared vision to guide their work;• Operate collaboratively to produce a better

product;• Evaluate their output.

• The creation and implementation of a LC is crucial to the future success of organizations facing change (Fullan, 1993; Senge, 2000)

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SO—WHAT SO—WHAT ISIS A A PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL

LEARNING COMMUNITY?LEARNING COMMUNITY? A purposeful gathering of individuals who share common interests and goals for learning improvement, or professional development. Individuals within the learning community are committed to supporting one another’s and their group’s development. (NSDC, 2001) A way to transform personal knowledge into a collectively built, widely shared, and cohesive professional knowledge base

(Wikipedi)

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WHAT WHAT ISIS A PROFESSIONAL A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY? LEARNING COMMUNITY?

(CONT.)(CONT.) Instructors and administrators participating in and

fostering a culture of continuous inquiry and improvement. They meet regularly, ask questions, focus on learning and sharing their learning, and implement changes based on their new learning.

(Astuto, Clark, Read, McGree, & Fernandez, 1993)

A school in which the professionals (administrators and instructors) continuously seek and share learning to increase their effectiveness for students and then act on what they learn

(Hord, 1997)

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ATTRIBUTES OF ATTRIBUTES OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

1. Supportive and Shared Leadership

2. Collective Creativity

3. Shared Values and Vision

4. Supportive Conditions

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A SHARED VISION A SHARED VISION

Motivates and energizes people; Creates a proactive orientation; Gives direction to people within the

agency; Establishes specific standards of

excellence; Creates a clear agenda for action.

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ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A LC LC

1. Determine school and staff readiness—announce the establishment of the LC—make participation voluntary (bring food to first meeting);

2. Identify possible issues/concerns for the LC to address (e.g., student learning gains, learner persistence) –look at the school’s/program’s data;

3. Ask LC members to prioritize issues/select one to address;

4. Work on developing shared vision and values among members;

5. Begin with the learning —e.g., read about and discuss factors affecting student learning gains or persistence;

6. Ensure that new learning and sharing are a part of every meeting;

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ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A LC (CONT.) LC (CONT.)

7. Pose a small problem for LC members to address/solve at first few meetings, or a strategy to try out—to give them the experience of successful collaborative problem-solving;

8. Encourage individuals to try out a strategy, or peers to work together on a problem, or individuals to research something or take some training, between meetings and report on results at next meeting;

9. Publicize to rest of staff what the PLC is doing, and invite/involve any staff members who express interest;

10. Develop a strategic plan—include barriers and ways to overcome barriers, timeline, evaluation strategies;

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ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A ESSENTIAL ACTIONS OF A LC (CONT.) LC (CONT.)

11. Ensure that every member of the PLC is aware of his/her role in implementing the strategic plan;

12. Implement plan; 13. Evaluate progress and make refinements, as needed;14. Celebrate successes—no matter how small! (Bring food,

recognize individuals, recognize team effort, publicize progress);

15. Welcome other interested members to join the learning community;

16. Develop strategies for communicating and for sustaining the learning community.

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Michael Fullan, 2001

“The leaders’ new work for the future is building learning

organizations where people continually expand their

capacities.” -

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STEPS – ESTABLISHING A LEARNING COMMUNITY

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Experience from the Field - CPCC -

Goal: The purpose of this learning community is to

explore and recommend ways we can promote the use student data to improve our program practices, assist in managing, and demonstrate program effectiveness.



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TOOLS DEMOTOOLS DEMO

WikisWikis

BlogsBlogs

MicroblogsMicroblogs

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WIKIWIKI

Wiki (Hawaiian word for “Fast”):

A Web site that allows easy creation and editing of

interlinked Web pages.

Wikis are often used to create collaboratively created

books, encyclopedias or dictionaries.

Project Ideal NC Data Learning Community

(source: Wikipedia)

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BLOGBLOG

A blog (a contraction of the term Weblog):

A type of Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

(source: Wikipedia)

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MICROBLOGMICROBLOG

Microblogging:

A form of blogging that allows users to send brief updates and publish them, to be viewed either by anyone or by a restricted group that can be chosen by the user.

(source: Wikipedia)

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CHANGE

WHAT REASONS FOR NOT USING WHAT REASONS FOR NOT USING DATA HAVE YOU HEARD? DATA HAVE YOU HEARD?

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Numbers Intimidate Me…

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We’re not sure what we’re getting ourselves into…

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Not Sure It’s Such a Good Idea…

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We don’t know what to do …

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There’s too much to learn and remember…

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We get all hung up on it…

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And we simply don’t want to be held hostage by data!

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I just hate to see the results!

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Using data is too much trouble!

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It’s really an annoyance…takes time away from the

important stuff.

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It’s plain exhausting…

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Takes too much energy…

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We don’t believe what it tells us! Data don’t give a true

picture of what goes on in our classrooms!

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Data don’t really tell us anything…we just collect data

to keep the state happy…

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TECHNOLOGY

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http://airlearning.org/course/enrol.php?id=32



TOOLS DEMOTOOLS DEMO

Online Sharing ApplicationsOnline Sharing Applications

Social BookmarkingSocial Bookmarking

Social NetworksSocial Networks

PodcastsPodcasts

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ONLINE SHARING ONLINE SHARING APPLICATIONSAPPLICATIONS

Online document sharing application: allows users to upload and share documents, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and, in some cases, databases.

(source: Wikipedia)

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ONLINE SHARING ONLINE SHARING APPLICATIONS “IN APPLICATIONS “IN

PLAIN ENGLISH”PLAIN ENGLISH”

Google Docs in Plain English Video (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA

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PODCASTSPODCASTS

Podcasts:Audio or video files that can be

downloaded and made available through an mp3 player, an iPod, or a computer.

Podcasts are a form of social media—anyone can publish content instead of only viewing it.

(source: Wikipedia)

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PODCASTS “IN PLAIN PODCASTS “IN PLAIN ENGLISH”ENGLISH”

Four things needed to create your own Podcast:1. A computer2. A microphone (or video camera)3. An internet connection4. Recording software (Audacity is available for

free; Camtasia and Articulate offer 30-day free trials)

Podcasting in Plain English Video (YouTube)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c

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SOCIAL BOOKMARKINGSOCIAL BOOKMARKING

Social Bookmarking:A method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages.

Users save links to Web pages they want to remember or share—bookmarks can be public or private.

(source: Wikipedia)

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SOCIAL BOOKMARKING SOCIAL BOOKMARKING “IN PLAIN “IN PLAIN

ENGLISH”ENGLISH”

Social Bookmarking in Plain English video (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU

Example: Delicious –sign in example:

https://secure.delicious.com/login?jump=ub

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SOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL NETWORKS

Social networks:Online communities of people who share interests or activities…most social networks are Web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact.Popular examples: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn.

(source: Wikipedia)

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SOCIAL NETWORKS “IN SOCIAL NETWORKS “IN PLAIN ENGLISH”PLAIN ENGLISH”

Social Networking in Plain English Video (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc

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Future Plans

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t he l ocal c onnection : b uilding a d ata u se l earning c ommunity gilda rubio-festa baerbel...

Documents

culture of data use

data monitoring

uses of data

local programs

worldclass workforcetop

worldclass workforcewhy

worldclass workforcechanging

local program administrators