Data 4 Student Success the Michigan Data project

Data 4 Student Success the Michigan Data project

I am in Lansing today and tomorrow for a Data 4SS Conference. This conference has been put on by Calhoun ISD and money from the MDE. They have put on a great program so far.

I attended the work shop called “Beyond Achievement Data” This session started out talking about a model called “The Data Wheel” this model looks like 3 gears that are interconnected. The first set of gear driving the system is called the Process Data, the next gear being driven is the Perception Data and the third is the output gear called the Results Data. Lets first look at what is entailed in the Process Data - This is defined in the handout by who, what, when, and where types of information. Example of this are a lesson plan an assessment test formative or sumative. Next their is the Perception Data: This is data that is based on what people believe is true. Also this is called soft data as no one can put a finger on any data that drives there opinion. This data is often over look and under utilized in survey on Student and parent survey instruction practices. The third component of this model is the Results Data: This is what is produced by the students after instruction has occurred. This takes the form of MEAP, Merit, SAT/ACT, and Drop-out rate. Some of the other actives that we preformed were creating a mental model of student learning for your teaching practice and for your district and any other organizations that effect student learning. There was also a Jigsaw activity were three different groups in a table of 6 to 9 people read 1/3 of a paper then each group reports back on the big ideas from what they learned in there section of the paper. The article was on different form of data and how when you look at only one factor you may not see the whole picture and then as you add more layers of data on top of this you way find you have a complete answer to a question. As you get past for levels of data it gets harder to analyze but you will have a more complete picture of the data. This was a good workshop session and allowed me to think at a deeper level how we can use student data to drive and enhance student learning.
The second session of the day was on Professional Learning Community (PLC) and how they play a very important roll in creating a safe environment so that so that teachers can work collaboratively on analyzing student data. When creating a PLC organization you need to set norms that the group will operate by another name for norms might be ground rules or group rules there are many more names that this can be called. Many PLC groups have norms but fewer know what to-do if someone in the group doesn’t follow the norms. Some suggestion would be to take a break in the meeting and take the person off to the side and tell them of there error if they would continue to not follow the rules they may need to be ask to not join in the group discussion. There is a four part process when creating norms. Create them practice them in a collaborative group some times if there is problems in the group with the norms or lack of a norm the group may need to reform these norms.

This project is coordinated through Michigan's educational service agencies (ISDs/RESAs/RESDs) for use by these agencies and the local public schools they serve. This Title IID grant provided funding to enable the creation of a Professional Development Model designed to foster school improvement planning around quality data and inquiry relating to student work. This grant has also provided funding to build a Dynamic Inquiry tool that helps educators analyze state level data to use in the school improvement planning process.

I would like to take this time to publicly thank the Leadership team of the Data for Student Success for all there hard work in setting up this training days.

Data4SS Leadership Team:
Steve Brodeur, Project Integrator - Data for Student Success
Mary Gehrig, Assistant Superintendent - Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Andrew Henry, Executive Director - Data for Student Success
Mike Oswalt, Assistant Superintendent - Regional Technology Services
Rebecca Rocho, Assistant Superintendent - General Services and Legislation
Maureen Slamer, Director of Professional Development - Data for Student Success

Dr. Mike Schmoker and Michigan Student Data tools

Dr. Mike Schmoker key note speaker:

I am at a conference in Lansing on Data 4 Student Success or the short version is Data 4SS. This is a project that the state of Michigan has taken on with ISD and RESA all over the state. I am looking forward to hearing what Dr. Mike Schmoker has to say about student learning. I have read his book "Results Now" and enjoyed it. I have also listen to his podcast of the audio Journals. I will post some of the new ideas that I come away with over the next two days. The Data 4SS takes the MI Meap data and the MME School data and place it in a tool that can be used to find weakness and strengths in your schools curriculum. This is not a new idea but it is a common tool that can be used by all schools in the state. Along this lines their is another tool that will be available soon and that is a Database Warehouse of local schools student achievement data in a tool that will allow schools to get there data into a common reporting tool. We have many different systems in schools today. Student management system, Reading programs, Math programs, and many other forms. But we must now log into each one and pull the need reports. Further more each report is just a little different. The tough part will come in that we have many different databases to pull data from and place it into the warehouse. We will need to look at SIF systems so that we can migrate the data back and forth as seamless as possible. So if you want to learn more about this project comeback and read more as it unfolds.

Video on "Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the kindling of a flame." - Socrates

Here is a Youtube video on what is learning about and a quote from Socrates

"Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the kindling of a flame." - Socrates

Credit must go to Delerium for the soundtrack - used without their permission. I made this using iMovie as part of a digital literacy program for teachers at the Foothill College Krauss Center for Innovation in Los Altos, CA. All the pictures I took on campus.

Bloom's Taxonomy video Part #3

A description of assessment techniques appropriate for domain levels according to Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy video Part #2

A level by level treatment of the cognitive domains by Bloom and the verbs used to design your assessment techniques and write your objectives.

Bloom's Taxonomy video Part #1

Video overview of assessment and an introduction to Bloom's Taxonomy and it's application to learning.

Google documents a tool for student colabration and student learning

Google documents: Here is a video showing how you can use google documents to create true colabration amoungst learner. Here how some other teachers have used it to improve learning.

 

Here are an example of how we need to get student success out of the sports show cases and out of the note books or on the teachers desk and on the shelf and instead put them on to the wall of the school. This way being smart is looked up to and student will want todo good work and gain recognization by staff and other students.

Edublog Nominations are now open

http://edublogawards.com/

Here are the catagories that can be nominated. send your nomination in now for your educational blogsite.

2009 Categories
Best individual blog
Best individual tweeter
Best group blog
Best new blog
Best class blog
Best student blog
Best resource sharing blog
Most influential blog post
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion
Best teacher blog
Best librarian / library blog
Best educational tech support blog
Best elearning / corporate education blog
Best educational use of audio
Best educational use of video / visual
Best educational wiki
Best educational use of a social networking service
Best educational use of a virtual world
Lifetime achievement

Clustermaps

Here is a tool that you can add to your blog site so that you can see where people are coming from to vist your website.

Blog Poll

Here is a blog poll created using http://www.polleverywhere.com/ this tool allows you to have people do a poll by multiple means. One is like this Widget Javascript pasted into this blog. You can do it on a computer at there website or you can do a Text Message to a national number. This looks like a great way to put cell phones to good use in the class room. Here is a website that encourages the use of cell phones in schools.

http://nashworld.edublogs.org/

Build television sms voting polls at Poll Everywhere

UK Technology Education at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET)

Here is what the UK site talks about with reference to Technology eudcation. Look at this website to see what are counter parts are doing with technology education in the UK.

The Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University provides advice on the use of modern technologies to support effective learning, particularly distance learning and e-learning, in higher education. We are committed to developing expertise in teaching and learning and to applying it, particularly to the benefit of the Open University. As you will see from the list of our research and development activities, we work collaboratively with leading scholars internationally and in the UK.

In addition to studying, evaluating and influencing OU practices, we also carry out basic research into learning and e-learning, and applied research into the use of new technologies. Additionally the Institute works in the field of professional development in HE and has a strong and successful record of postgraduate teaching.

Quote by Albert Enstine

Here is a quote by Albert Enstine that seems to fit schools and how we need to think, if we want to change them.

"Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them."

by Albert Enstine

Free Visual Math Software

Here is some software that looks to be a tool for creating visual math learning.

What is GeoGebra?
GeoGebra is dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education that joins arithmetic, geometry, algebra and calculus. It offers multiple representations of objects in its graphics, algebra, and spreadsheet views that are all dynamically linked.

While other interactive software (e.g. Cabri Geometry, Geometer's Sketchpad) focus on dynamic manipulations of geometrical objects, the idea behind GeoGebra is to connect geometric, algebraic, and numeric representations in an interactive way. You can do constructions with points, vectors, lines, conic sections as well as functions and change them dynamically afterwards. Furthermore, GeoGebra allows you to directly enter and manipulate equations and coordinates. Thus you can easily plot functions, work with sliders to investigate parameters, find symbolic derivatives, and use powerful commands like Root or Sequence.

CK12 Flexbook free textbooks

Do you spend thousands of dollars a year on textbooks in your district, only to find out that they are no longer current? Here is a FREE Website that after you sign-up you can start to take and lay our a textbook using there free resources. This looks to be a great tool for schools to allow them to start to move away from buying textbooks.

www.ck12.org

When I become a teacher video Watch the top one then the bottom one.

When I become a Teacher (First watch this one then the remix next)



When I become a teacher (Remix)

Technology research papers "Classroom Response System"

Where to find research on technology for instructional useage in the classroom as a Cell Phone or interactive response systems.

Classroom Response System ("Clickers") Bibliography
by Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

Research Papers

Creatively Speaking, Part Two: Sir Ken Robinson on the Power of the Imaginative Mind | Edutopia

Creatively Speaking, Part Two: Sir Ken Robinson on the Power of the Imaginative Mind | Edutopia

Creatively Speaking, Part One: Sir Ken Robinson on the Power of the Imaginative Mind | Edutopia

Creatively Speaking, Part One: Sir Ken Robinson on the Power of the Imaginative Mind | Edutopia

Team Teaching

Team Teaching integrating two or more core areas into one room and combind multiple disciplines.

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner,

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He also holds positions as adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University, adjunct professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine, and chairman of the steering committee of the graduate school's Project Zero.
He has written twenty books and hundreds of articles and is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, which holds that intelligence goes far beyond the traditional verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical measurements. Here he discusses student-directed learning, multiple intelligences, and a different approach to assessment.

Text books are nearing distinction as the dinosaurs. "Replacing ink with digits"

This months http://www.audioed.com/ Monthly Electronic Newsletter talks about "Replacing ink with digits" The Audio Journal says "Are Schools are coming closer to realizing the textbook free classroom with new web sites making it easier to download content. Included are links to some web sites with curriculum content." I think we are near a tiping point in education with online content coming of age and textbooks becoming outdated before they are even off the printing press. By the way is pluto in or out of the plant list this week.