Leading the Data Discussion

The data discussion is a critical step in engaging stakeholders in the analysis and interpretation of the SEC data results. The stakeholders involved in the discussion will depend on the purpose for using SEC. State leaders who want to see the status of alignment of instruction to state standards will want to involve those policy makers whose job it is or will be to do something about the results. Likewise, when the purpose of analyzing the SEC data is to improve student achievement at low performing schools, then the likely discussants will be school leaders and content teachers who will need to do something with the data results. Because the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum produce more data than could readily be analyzed in a half day session, the first order of business would be to hone in on which data you want to examine in your data discussion. The following questions will help you, and whatever group of folks are helping to make these decisions, identify the data discussion questions you need to ask and the data results that will help you answer them. Identify the big question you are trying to answer by using the SEC Survey. Identify the questions that help you answer the big question. Identify the specific SEC survey questions that may help you answer your questions. Discuss other data needed to answer your questions. Discuss strategies to engage critical others in the data analysis. The following two links provide an illustrative set of questions that you might ask of your SEC data to answer two specified questions. Did our Professional Development Positively Impact our Instructional Program? What can SEC data tell us about our instructional program to help us understand why our performance is low in a specified area?

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document last updated 8/21/2009