10 Things You Always Wanted To Know About Data-Driven Decision Making

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[View FULL Article] Way back in the 1980s, a new way of doing business evolved as corporations began collecting, combining, and crunching data from sources throughout the enterprise. Their goal was to improve the bottom line by discerning hidden patterns and thereby improving the decision making process. Two decades later, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law is pushing school districts to do the same—this time, of course, the goal is increased student achievement.

While data alone won't provide school leaders with the finesse, experience, and intuition needed to get kids on the right learning path, a growing number of administrators are convinced that the data-driven decision-making (D3M) process can fundamentally change education—from our understanding of what really works with kids to administrative processes and professional development.

To assist you in getting your head around the realities and ramifications of data-driven decision making (and, yes, to make the subject a bit livelier), we've compiled this list of 10 truths. Some of these things will entice you; others will surprise you; a couple are sure to momentarily paralyze you. But, at least, now you know.

1. If you're not using data to make decisions, you're flying blind.
Imagine you're piloting a plane at night, in the middle of a storm. Without data from your navigation instruments, you'd be a goner. "Running a school without a data warehouse is like being a pilot without an instrument rating," says Brian Osborne, supervisor of evaluation, assessment, and research at the Plainfield Public Schools in New Jersey. "This is why there's so much policy churn in schools. Administrators simply don't have enough information to make good decisions." The Plainfield schools began using a data warehouse and analysis solution from eScholar three years ago. Although Osborne is a recent arrival in the district, he says he quickly became a big fan of the technology's power to help school leaders find the right flight path toward student achievement.

2. This is all about a process, not a specific technology.
Traditionally, D3M solutions have centered around a data warehouse—a central repository that collects data from many different sources—in combination with high-end decision-support tools that run queries and reports on the data. But in fact, a wide variety of technologies and solutions can be used to support a D3M process. Harry Hayes, superintendent of the Bloomfield, New Mexico, school district, says the D3M process should always begin with these questions: "How's business? How do you know it? And what can you do to improve it?" Hayes is a big proponent of the management-review process, and uses Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) test data to help him analyze teaching strategies and make better-informed decisions about professional development. Gregory S. Decker, principal of Lead Mine Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina, analyzes school data using Microsoft Access database software. He also uses Pearson's SuccessMaker management system for student assessments and on-demand reports. Decker and his staff have spent the past four years mapping, benchmarking, and making predictions about where each child—and each teacher—should be at every stage, and he says test scores have soared as a result.

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