Harnessing the Power of Data: Making Informed
Educational Decisions
Education today is filled with high-stakes decisions that can significantly impact individual students, schools, and districts for years to come. To set our students and systems up for success now and in the future, it’s crucial to base these decisions on data. But not just any data—our decisions should be guided by data that is accurate, valid, reliable, and relevant.
Chris Zielinski, SSP, BCBA
The Overwhelming Volume of Data: How to Navigate
Ethically and Efficiently
The volume of data collected in education has never been higher. While this abundance of data can sometimes feel overwhelming and seemingly reduces students and programs to mere data points, we must ensure that we use this data ethically and efficiently. So, how can we achieve this? As with many aspects of education, the answer depends on the context.
The Overwhelming Volume of Data: How to Navigate
Ethically and Efficiently
This post primarily focuses on using multiple measures of student ability and achievement to gain a comprehensive view of individual skills, strengths, challenges, and needs. These principles also apply to programmatic and system-level decision-making.
Consider the common practice of evaluating a child for the first time to determine eligibility for special education services. Traditionally, an evaluation team from various disciplines collects information to make a well-rounded decision. The challenge often lies in balancing how much data is sufficient and how to efficiently gather it.
Chris Zielinski, SSP, BCBA
Balancing Broad and Specific Data: The Funnel Approach
While multiple measures can enhance decision-making, practical limitations such as time, effort, and staffing must be considered. To make effective high-stakes decisions, it's essential to integrate various data sources. This approach should combine broad generalizations with more specific, diagnostic data to provide a comprehensive view.
For example, student benchmarking scores in reading, math, and sometimes writing, are collected quarterly or tri-annually and are used for critical tasks such as evaluating curriculum efficacy and identifying students for interventions. However, relying solely on these broad measures can be limiting. When a decision requires a high degree of specificity, broad-based tools may not suffice. This is strengthened further by incorporating some additional information that also leads to diagnostic utility, not just broad-based measures that traditionally identify an achievement gap.
Special Education Eligibility:
A Case for Diagnostic Precision
In the area of special education eligibility (our aforementioned example), broad-based data might identify a deficit, but additional diagnostic information is often necessary to pinpoint individual strengths and areas for growth. Combining broad-based and specific individualized measures—often referred to as a funnel approach—strengthens the decision-making process and adds much-needed diagnostic utility.
Practical Considerations:
Time, Effort, and Staffing in
Data Collection
While using multiple measures is valuable, it’s important to acknowledge practical constraints. Teachers, administrators, and evaluation teams often face time pressures and limited resources. How much data is enough? How do we gather it efficiently without overwhelming staff? Balancing thorough assessment with realistic time and staffing considerations is key to making data-driven decisions that are both effective and manageable.
Long-Term Data Use:
Assessing Validity and
Improving Decision-Making
Consistent use of multiple measures over time can also help assess their long-term validity, allowing us to refine our approach for greater efficacy and efficiency in data-driven decision-making. Longitudinal data can reveal trends and insights that might not be apparent in short-term evaluations, helping to guide better decision-making at both individual and programmatic levels.
Conclusion: Ethical and Efficient Data Use for Student Success
In conclusion, using data in education is essential, but it’s not just about collecting more of it. To ensure student success, educators must use data that is accurate, reliable, and relevant while balancing the need for ethical, efficient collection methods. Combining broad-based measures with more diagnostic approaches gives us a clearer picture of individual strengths and needs, leading to better decisions that set both students and educational systems up for long-term success.
written by
Chris Zielinski
Chris Zielinski is a school psychologist, behavior analyst, and school administrator specializing in public policy, special education, and program assessment and development. Throughout his career in public education, he has been a long-term substitute teacher, school psychologist, lead psychologist, behavior analyst, autism/behavior consultant, and assistant superintendent. Before transitioning to the field of education, Chris provided clinical behavioral health services and worked in corrections with state and federal inmates. Outside of his professional life, Chris enjoys spending time with his three amazing daughters and his motivated, intelligent, and supportive wife. Chris is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with his Bachelor of Arts in Public Law and Criminal Justice, Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Specialist degree in School Psychology, and a Director of Special Education endorsement.
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