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District administrators seeking to help spur student achievement and district productivity through data may feel overwhelmed with the sheer scope of the task. They may wonder, 鈥淲here do I begin?鈥�

First, school leaders should assemble a team of educators from all levels to handle the logistics of the data system, from taking an inventory of available data to planning the system鈥檚 visual presentation, say school and data-company leaders.

Districts should also make sure to build support in the community for the initiative, and organize it around the district鈥檚 strategic plan, they say. The school district鈥檚 data team can play a central role in achieving those goals, experts add.

School administrators could learn a lesson from the experience of the Poway school district in Southern California. In 1998, leaders of the 33,000-student system declared that it would be a 鈥渄ata-driven district.鈥� (鈥淒istrict Initiative,鈥� this report.)

That news excited Ray A. Wilson, then a school principal. But after two years, district operations and classroom teaching seemed the same, he says.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see anything different,鈥� recalls Wilson, who is now Poway鈥檚 assessment director.

One event that spurred Poway to actually become a data-driven district, he says, was setting seven specific academic targets in 2002. They include reaching a 100 percent passing rate on the state high school exit exam and increasing participation in Advanced Placement courses.

鈥淣othing focuses you like measurable targets,鈥� Wilson says.

Mark S. Williams, the president of Executive Intelligence Inc., a data-warehousing company based in Lakewood, Colo., agrees that unless all stakeholders focus on common goals, the data initiative will fail.

Eight Steps to the 鈥楧ata Wise鈥� District

Where do school leaders start the process of becoming a data-driven district? How do they make sense of reams of student academic data and incorporate them into an action plan to improve learning? The editors of a recent book from Harvard Education Press suggest organizing the process into three phases: prepare, inquire, and act.

鈥淓veryone [needs] to be reading off the same page,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ow can you align a district when you can鈥檛 even agree on the metrics?鈥�

If districts decide to hire outside vendors, they should designate one employee to be the main liaison with the provider, in order to streamline communication, school and company officials say.

Teacher buy-in is also crucial, say some educators and researchers. A data initiative should not be a 鈥渕andate from above,鈥� but one promoted and encouraged by classroom instructors, says Darrell W. Brown, the assessment and accountability coordinator and adult education principal of the 6,000-student school district in Beaumont, Calif.

The Beaumont district began using data to help drive instruction in the 2004-05 school year, and this past September purchased a data-management system that warehouses student data and assesses students through district-created online benchmark tests. (鈥淔inding the Funding,鈥� this report.)

Brown recommends that a district first train 鈥渕avens,鈥� tech-savvy teachers who enthusiastically embrace the concept of data-driven instruction. They can then informally train other teachers in their schools, who are more likely to trust and learn from them than from an outsider.

鈥淲e鈥檝e learned that when you do a district directive, you get resistance to it,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淪o we trained people who want to use it, then when they see the value of [the data system], they sell it to their colleagues.鈥�

Make Teachers Partners

In addition, teachers should be active partners in the creation of data-management systems, says Mark S. Sontag, the math- and science-curriculum coordinator for the Irvine, Calif., school district. He leads half-day training sessions of teachers and principals on the 22,000-student district鈥檚 data tool, and asks for constant feedback. (鈥淎ware of All Students,鈥� this report.)

Much of the data collection depends on teacher input, and since teachers will be using the data system regularly, it should cater to their specific needs, Sontag says.

One Irvine teacher, for instance, suggested that since students鈥� last names may not match those of their parents, the district鈥檚 data system should provide parents鈥� names and hyperlinked e-mail addresses. 鈥淵ou can have the best-looking site around, but if it doesn鈥檛 get used, then it isn鈥檛 very useful,鈥� Sontag says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the acid test.鈥�