Data-Driven Instruction

A large body of research shows that we will get better results by helping teachers learn how to use diagnostic assessments and learning progressions to move students rapidly toward grade level standards, deploy mastery learning strategies with rich tasks and opportunities for feedback and revision, use differentiated small group instruction and learning centers that are highly targeted as a key tool, and help schools create structured interventions like tutoring alongside classroom teaching. This learning acceleration model begins with highly effective teacher who know enough about how their students learn and where they are on their learning journey to create differentiated and targeted instructional plans for their students.  When most people think of assessment, they immediately are drawn to summative or more formal assessments. However, for the purposes of learning acceleration, the most powerful assessment data is that which teachers can gather through formative assessments and learning activities that are directly tied to a teacher’s instructional goals and can be collected daily (Read more about the power of classroom-level data here).

According to NWEA, “Formative assessment is a planned, ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence of student learning to improve student understanding of intended disciplinary learning outcomes and support students to become self-directed learners.”

Not only does this formative data provide teachers with information about what students know/learned, it also provides important information about how students are learning. Both of these data points are highly educative for both the teacher and the student. When students are owners of their own data, they can be partners in their own learning journey which builds stamina, confidence, and willingness to persist.