Day 6 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

Day 6 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge and I'm on the hunt!

Locating the report card data for D's and F's was easy. However, finding the conduct data on the report cards was a different story.  My search on 2 different platforms for housing data at my district were unsuccessful.  No worries though, my talented School Psychologist is great at pulling all sorts of data, so she will be my "go to" person on her next visit to my school.

The report card data I found is on an electronic grade book system we use in our district and approved staff are able to pull specific reports for grades, attendance, and behavior.  I found some cool reports I did not know existed, like a student profile report.  This report gives a student's attendance, grades, and any discipline referrals all in one personalized sheet.  What a great resource when meeting with students for any of these critical areas to show how one impacts the other.  I was excited to find this one!  It's amazing the helpful reports available on your district's computer platform if you just have the time and know where to look. Part of what I love about this data challenge is how it has gotten me looking at some resources I had not explored before.

I think the most shocking thing about today's data challenge was the number of students with D's and F's.  This will require some deeper digging and hopefully will correlate with the conduct/effort/social rating of each student.  I can tell already I have my work cut out for me with so many D's and F's.

Tomorrow is Day 7 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge.  The challenge is to locate Early Warning System data.  Just in case the term Early Warning System is not familiar to you, it is also called "students at risk," "drop-out prevention," or some other name that refers to students who may meet many of the following criteria: are over age for their grade, have been retained, receive ESE or ESOL services, have D's or F's, have standardized test scores below expectations, have excessive absences, and have excessive discipline referrals.  The criteria and name may be different in your district but I imagine you have something similar to this that helps identify those students who may need more of your services.

Please be sure to share your experiences on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and please give it a LIKE.  If you are not familiar with the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge, you can read more about it HERE.

We're one third of the way through! (and it's still not to late to join) I hope you are learning where your data is located, and how you can access it for yourself.  This is an awesome thing you are doing to move your School Counseling program in a data driven direction. Data driven results not only show how students are different because of what School Counselors do, but it shows  your administrators the the value you can add to your school! Keep up the good work!

Day 5 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

It's Day 5 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge and today was about the discipline data. This challenge was particularly easy for me because I already had all the data on my computer in folders.  Somehow, about 7 years ago, I was fortunate enough to get in the email group of individuals who receive this data from the district each quarter. This is the data I have used most consistently for the last 7 years, but I realize now not as effectively as I could have. And that's okay, because this challenge is about learning and growing and making changes not just in how we use data, but in how we view the data we are using.

As I printed and reviewed  the multiple tabs included with my discipline data report, I realized I needed a form to summarize it all on one page. My discipline data comes in an Excel file with 9 tabs.  Each tab contains a page listing data and putting it in a colorful circle graph. This is all very nice, but I really think I need to get work on creating a summary page for a quick view and easier comparison. Maybe some of you feel the same way after looking at your discipline report data.   I plan to have a form ready by the time we start disaggregating discipline data on Day 11.

Monday will be Day 6 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge and we will be gathering report card data on the D's and F's and unsatisfactory marks in conduct.  This data can be a great source for study skills and social skills groups. Gathering the report card data is going to be difficult for me because these are reports I don't know how to run. I have a few ideas about who might be able to help and I'm not afraid to ask. Locating data is kind of like a Scavenger Hunt I think. The hunt can be frustrating, but the find is exciting.

If you are participating in the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge, please share your experiences on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page.  If you are hearing about the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge for the first time and interested in learning more, you can read more about it HERE.

Day 4 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

Welcome to Day 4 of the Daily Data Challenge.  Today's challenge was gathering attendance data.  So how did you do?

I ran the report for students with 15 or more unexcused absences year to date.  There were only a couple of surprises and I felt pretty good about that.  My School Social Worker and I have been working to keep tabs on these students and meet with their parents.  I also found a couple of reports I didn't know existed.  One is an attendance break down by number of students absent at 0-10 days, 11-20 days, and 21+ days.  Just by skimming it I learned my  biggest attendance problem is in first grade.

Another report I found was number students absent at 0-10 days, 11-20 days and 21+days broken down by race, gender, ESE, and ELL.  With just a cursory look, I could see my African-American students had the best overall attendance and my Hispanic students needed the most improvement.  I never knew about these reports and was excited to find them.  It's easy to see how they will be an important part of my data review.  As I am typing this I realize I got so excited about the 2 new reports I didn't run the reports for tardy students and those with 15 or more excused absences. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

And speaking of tomorrow, our data challenge for Day 5 is discipline data.  My district provides a great report with some awesome breakdowns including gender, ethnicity, ESE, location and type of offense, day of the week, and time of day.  Be sure to get all the data you can, not just for the most recent grading period, but for the whole year.  You want to be able to look at trends.  And if your district is like mine, all of this year's data gets purged during the summer so gather all you can now!

If you are interested in joining the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge check out all the details HERE.  It's not to late to jump right in and join us.  Also, please stop by the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and share how your challenge is going.

Day 3 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

It's Day 3  of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge and it was about locating your School Improvement goals.  I am embarrassed to say, but I had only a vague idea of what the School Improvement goals were for my school (something about writing) and  I had absolutely no idea where to find them.  Luckily, I went to the source of all knowledge in our school, the Principal's secretary, and she located the School Improvement Plan with goals inside and I was set.  I discovered however, my school only has one goal. It was about writing and it was very generic. Maybe that's how School Improvement goals are supposed to be?  I was expecting it to be more specific, more quantifiable.  Our one goal goes like this: "All teachers will collaboratively establish expectations for high quality writing instruction and student feeback in the content areas, as they consistently meet those expectations in the classroom."  See what I mean?  Very generic.  I have been trying to incorporate more writing in my classroom lessons by using Interactive Student Notebooks (but that is another post).  I'm just not sure how we measure, as a school, if we met our goal.

How did your search go for your School Improvement goals?  Did you know what they were?  Were you surprised at their content?  Were yours more specific than mine?  Do you see how you could possibly support the School Improvement goals in your school counseling program?  Remember I am interested in hearing your experiences.  Please share them each day on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page or in the comment section below.

Tomorrow is Day 4 and it is about collecting attendance data.  I learned how to find this on our district's computer system last school year, but I've only ever seen it listed by name and number of absences and tardies.  I am hoping there may be a report by gender, grade and ethnicity  for my school or I'm going to be doing some calculating by hand!

If you are interested in the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge you may join us at anytime in the process. The idea is to get into the data for your school to enable you to make evidence based decisions that empower you and drive your school counseling program.  Go to the link HERE for all the details.

Happy Data Hunting!

Day 2 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

Welcome to Day 2 of the21  Day Daily Data Challenge!  Well I have to admit, I thought there might be some challenges in this challenge, but I didn't think I would encounter them on Day 2!  Life happens to a School Counselor and we make choices about our day and some are made for us.  Which upon reflection tells me I need to take care of my daily data challenge first thing if at all possible.  A forgotten meeting, (I'm sure that kind of thing never happens to you) two hysterical students, 3 classroom lessons and an impromptu but very productive data chat with my school psychologist meant very little time left to collect today's data.  But I did get most of it, with a promise from my very exceptional front office receptionist to hunt down the rest first thing tomorrow.  Two of the things I noticed that are not on the ASCA Data School Profile Sheet is free and reduced lunch statistics and homeless statistics.  Can you think of others we should include?  I'm also thinking under School Safety there should be a place to put information about  total number of referrals along with maybe the disaggregation of that data.  Share what you think is missing off this School Data Profile Sheet and I will work on creating one more appropriate for elementary.  Let me hear how your demographics round-up went for you by posting on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page.

Tomorrow is Day 3 and we are gathering information on School Improvement goals.  This may not sound like "data" to you, but when you start looking at developing a comprehensive school counseling program, including your school improvement goals, your data, and student competencies will help to more effectively drive the planning needs of your program.

All the best to each one of you as you continue to round-up these data pieces.  Hopefully your pursuit of these items will generate some healthy conversations about what School Counselors can and should be doing!

If you are not familiar with the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge and are interested in learning more, it's not too late to join us.  Check out all the details HERE.

Day 1 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge

Day 1 is here!  The next 21 days is about getting into the data at your school.  Sometimes it can seem overwhelming and difficult to know where to start. At least that's how I felt, so I figured break it down and do one small task at a time. I can do that!  You can do that  too right? Remember we are doing it together! If you are interested in learning more about 21 Day Daily Data Challenge check out all the details HERE.

So proud!  My data notebook!

So today was about organization.  I chose my binder cover, added my school name, printed it on card stock and slid it in the front of my 3 ring binder.  I had 2 sets of tabs, because I thought of other data that is relevant to my school.  I decided I want to have a place for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade standardized test scores, the results of our 2nd graders standardized achievement test, the Stanford 10, and their gifted screener, the Naglieri 2.  Then I thought about my annual cyberbully/bully survey and that came to 6 more tabs.  I may not end up needing all of these, but as long as I am collecting data, I might as well get it all in one place.

What does your data binder look like?  How willyou organize your data?  What tabs did you include?
Please be sure to share pictures and details on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page.

Ok, preview for tomorrow.  Days 2-9 starts our data round-up.  Day 2 specifically has to do with collecting the demographics for your school.  Use the ASCA Data Profile form to create your school's data profile.  I think this form will be a big help!  Of course some of the categories will not apply to elementary schools, but that's ok, most of them will.

Alright get ready, get set . . . go gather your data!

Kick-off to the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge!

I'm excited!  Tomorrow is Day 1 of the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can check it out HERE.  I hope you have made a decision to join us as we dive into the data each day.  What better way to learn about the specific data based needs of your school?  What better way to say to your administrator look what the data shows about this issue in our school?  What better way to present yourself as the trained professional with a plan to address that data related issue?  Our effective use of data is the best way to show how students are different because of what School Counselors do!

Day 1 is simple.  It's all about organization.  How are you going to organize the paper you will inevitably collect as you go about gathering your data? Maybe you will use a  3 ring notebook or other paper filing system. Maybe you are tech savvy and will scan it all into electronic files.  I am the "Queen of Too Much Paper," so before I start bringing a lot of more paper into my office I need a way to manage it. I'll be using an extra 3 ring binder, I've got a couple of packages of tabs for separating the data and one of these, 5 decorative binder covers  just to keep it organized and fun.  If you don't have what you need in your office, there is still time to head to Wal-Mart, Office Depot, the Dollar Store or wherever you get your school and office supplies so you can be ready for Day 1 of the Daily Data Challenge.

 Join me each day as I share my experiences with the Daily Data Challenge here on this blog and on my Exploring School Counseling Facebook page.  I'm hoping to get some conversations going about your experiences and challenges too.  Together we can support and encourage each other. Together we can do this!