Local Educators Dive Deep into Data Discovery

Ben Wellington talks to local educators at the TLI Data Discovery Day held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff.

All too often educators spend countless hours collecting data, then assessing and analyzing it in order to determine what and how students are learning in the classroom. During the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center's Jan. 19 “Data Discovery Day,” the third Technology Leadership Institute event of the school year, district representatives had the chance to see data in a whole new light and to reflect on how and when they should use and promote it with their stakeholders.

In an entertaining talk that began with a discussion on the open data movement in New York City, data blogger and Pratt Institute visiting assistant professor Ben Wellington emphasized the storytelling aspect of data collection.

“There should always be a narrative involved,” he told the captive audience of teachers, technology directors and others attending the daylong event at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor.

While analyzing data is important, he said, telling a story that explains the data is equally as important. Mr. Wellington has made a name for himself doing just that and has been responsible for influencing some policymaking changes in New York City’s government as a result.

Mr. Wellington has researched innocuous topics like the difficulty of finding a taxi in Manhattan at 4 p.m. It turns out, he said, that taxi drivers switch shifts around that time. He has also researched the correlation between math scores and income in various city neighborhoods, as well as robbery rates that appear to happen surprisingly in the middle of the day, around 3 p.m.

“Connect with people, try to convey one idea, keep it simple, explore the thing you know best and figure out what exactly you are trying to measure,” he said.

In an equally enlightening keynote, Dr. Jan Bryan, a national education officer for Renaissance Learning, talked about the importance of using data to influence insight.

Recent changes in American education like APPR have disrupted the education system in recent years and could be considered our “Sputnik Moment,” noted Dr. Bryan. She was referring to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957, which caught the United States by surprise.

Other movements like Common Core and Engage New York could conversely be considered our “Laika Moment,” she said. Dr. Bryan was referring to the outcry in the United States to the Russians’ deployment of a dog into space, known as Laika.

The dog was poisoned on board the shuttle, with Americans taking to the streets to protest. Their humanitarian actions were subsequently viewed positively around the world, she said.

In the case of big data, Dr. Bryan said it’s difficult to decide whether it represents a Sputnik or a Laika moment.

“If teachers had the time to create a narrative, they would discover what a child needs to be successful in school,” she said. The problem, she added, is that educators spend too much time on data walls and the tools used to individualize student instruction, including formative and summative assessments.

“We are surrounded by data, we look at it all the time, but we are missing an opportunity. We are looking at numbers instead of children,” she said.

Such methods may not spark an insight into teaching and learning, and often she said the data is based on analytics rather than relationships that ultimately drive learning.

Instead, she urged the educators to find the “small jagged pieces of data” that can make a difference in their students' performance and help teachers find the unmet needs in their classrooms.

“Your district is your brand,” she said. “Find the attributes that make a difference.”

After lunch, Sarah Martabano, manager of the LHRIC's Model Schools Department, provided participants with a high-level overview of the technology planning requirements from the State Education Department, including important timelines for submission and review, as well as a walkthrough of the questions districts will need to address on the technology planning portal.

District representatives used the remainder of the afternoon to work in collaborative groups and identify goals and action items, which were facilitated by LHRIC staff.