Letting Data Lead: How to Design, Analyze, and Respond to Classroom Assessment (Gain Actionable Insights Through Effective Assessment Methods and Data Interpretation) - Softcover

Eileen Depka

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1947604198 ISBN 13: 9781947604193

Publisher: Solution Tree Press, 2019

Synopsis

Rely on Letting Data Lead by Eileen Depka to help you build a culture of school data analysis and interpretation, data-driven instruction and assessment techniques, and student achievement. This practical resource clearly outlines a systematic approach for meaningful student data collection through quality classroom assessment methods. The included assessment techniques, tools, templates, and specific examples are designed to empower educators to turn gathered information into immediate, thoughtful action.

Develop data-collection and analysis methods for effectively tracking student progress and fostering student success:

• Obtain templates and methods for collecting, interpreting, and responding to assessment data.
• Define the purpose of assessments to distinguish between when a response is needed and when a response is not essential.
• Design classroom assessment for student learning in a way that creates actionable insights and pinpoints where students are struggling.
• Consider practices that support the systematic approach to responding to student results with data-driven instruction.
• Build a classroom culture where students react to their personal data, set goals, and engage in critical thinking.

Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Designing Assessments -- Where Data Response Starts
Chapter 2: Creating a Structure to Support Data Consistency for Common Assessments
Chapter 3: Visualizing and Interpreting Data With an Eye on Action
Chapter 4: Responding to Data -- Considerations, Practices, and Procedures
Chapter 5: Encouraging Students to Respond to Data
Chapter 6: Considering Sustainability
Epilogue: Closing Thoughts

About this title

About the Author

Eileen Depka is an educational consultant and author. Dr. Depka has supervised and coordinated curriculum, instruction, assessment, special education, educational technology, and continuous-improvement efforts. In addition, she provides professional development for K-12 administrators and teachers. Dr. Depka has taught all subjects at the elementary and middle levels and has also taught graduate-level courses. As a consultant, she has worked with schools and districts across the country, focusing on topics including assessment cycles, standards-based grading and reporting, portfolio development, rubrics, continuous-improvement processes, and data collection. She is a Solution Tree Assessment Center associate.

Dr. Depka has been featured in and consulted on educational videos and written online courses. She is the author of Raising the Rigor, Bringing Homework Into Focus, Designing Rubrics for Mathematics, Designing Assessment for Mathematics, and The Data Guidebook for Teachers and Leaders: Tools for Continuous Improvement. She is the coauthor of Formative Assessment in the RTI Framework and a contributing author to Data-Enhanced Leadership.

Dr. Depka is passionate about student achievement and is driven by the belief that all children can achieve academic success. Her goal is to work with teachers and administrators to collectively increase expertise and add to strategy banks used in educational settings, in an effort to impact student achievement.

Dr. Depka earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin. Her master's and doctoral degrees were earned from Cardinal Stritch University.

Review

"Drawing on her deep knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, Eileen Depka offers educators practical, relevant gifts through this rich book. Providing step-by-step instructions, Depka assists readers in designing the highest quality assessments -- but that is just the beginning. For teachers and leaders who question, 'Here's the data. Now what?' Depka offers strategies and procedures for linking data with specific, sustainable responsive action. Letting Data Lead will help teachers and their students transform data into information and ignite the motivating power of setting goals for learning and achieving them."

--Debbie McFalone, educational consultant

"I have been using the following expression for years, 'No data, No decision.' However, it seems as though nobody has been listening until now. Eileen Depka's book Letting Data Lead: How to Design, Analyze, and Respond to Classroom Assessment is precisely what schools need as a call to action. Educators have been collecting data for years, and now with Eileen's practical guide, they should be better prepared as they plan their assessments and turn the data into actionable items to truly make a difference."

--Peter M. Jonas, professor, Cardinal Stritch University, Wisconsin

"This is the book that many teachers are looking for; the book that makes data analysis both practical and effective. In Letting Data Lead, Eileen Depka shares a host of examples of ways teachers can make sense of both formative and summative results that will help them develop effective responses for their students. The book is packed with specific strategies that can be used to collect and arrange data that will lead directly to actions teachers can take in their classrooms or with their teams."

--Chris Jakicic, educational consultant and author

"Letting Data Lead is an essential read for anyone in a school, team, or grade level that suffers from the DRIP syndrome -- data rich but information poor. There is typically no shortage of data that we have access to; the challenge is using that data in meaningful and thoughtful ways. Eileen Depka argues that action would make for a perfect synonym for data, and this book provides practical and pragmatic ideas and examples on how to use and respond to data in real time and in purposeful ways."

--Eric Twadell, educational consultant and author

"The book provides very clear information about how to plan curriculum, instruction, and assessment so that teachers have actionable data to improve student outcomes. In my opinion, the best two aspects of the book are:

1. The continual reinforcement that the purpose of classroom assessment is to gather and use data to adjust instruction with an emphasis on words, limited mention of scores, and virtually no mention of grades; and
2. The many and varied suggestions about how to involve students in the assessment process so that they can effectively use data to adjust their learning; in other words, to know where they are and what they need to do to get better."

--Ken O'Connor, educational consultant

Edition details

• Publisher: Solution Tree Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1947604198
• ISBN 13: 9781947604193
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 160