Teach Middle East Magazine September 2014 Issue 1 Vol. 2 | Page 26

Sharing Good Practice

EFFICIENT USE OF STUDENTS’ DATA…
By Pansy Walker

A

clear understanding of how to
use data to effect change within
the classroom environment
empowers teachers, students
and parents. There are many forms
of student data teachers can collect
over the school year. Once this data is
collected the question then becomes;
“what do we, as teachers, do with it?”
Currently, our profession is fixated
on students’ results from tests and
examinations. Yes, it is true that
such data can be useful. However,
as teachers, we spend the entire
year collecting all sorts of valuable
information about students that can
inform and influence us in; how we
teach, as well as where and what
we review, re-adjust and re-teach
throughout the entire school year.
Here are some suggestions on how we
can effectively use students’ data to
inform our teaching and the students’
learning:

#1 Informal Classroom
Assessments

Checking for students’ comprehension
using informal assessments is really
the most important way to gather
student data. Exit slips, brief quizzes,
and thumbs up/ down are some of my
favourite ways to gather information on
where students are and where we need
to go next. The use of a simple ‘traffic
light’ system to check comprehension
can also be very effective in assessing
how much the students are learning.
Students can be supplied with red,
yellow and green cards, which they
can use to indicate to the teacher
their level of comprehension. Green
means they understand fully and can
work independently. Yellow indicates
that they have a fair understanding,
but still need more assistance to fully
understand. Red means they do not
understand and need your assistance.
Observations of students
Observation is one of the key data
collection tools used by classroom
teachers. The effectiveness of this
technique is dependent on your
students being comfortable with you
walking around and sitting with them in
their groups. In other words, they don’t

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September 2014

freeze up when you step away from
the podium or your teacher-directed
spot by the whiteboard, to carry out
observations of their activities. This
freedom allows you to be a fly on
the wall, gathering data on individual
students -- how well are they at
mastering the content being delivered
or the task at hand and interacting
with others? Are they having difficulty
with a learning activity? Observation
data then allows us to adjust the pace
of the lesson for the whole class or
scaffold for those students who are still
struggling.
Exams, Extended writing or Special
Projects
Summative assessments, such as a
literary analysis essay or an end-of-unit
test, allow us to measure the growth of
individual and whole-group learning.
If a large number of students don’t do
well on an important end of unit test,
we need to reflect on the teaching and
make necessary adjustments in the
future.

#2 Student Files

A lot of useful information can be found
in a student’s file. It’s difficult to find
the time to do it, but if you haven’t
before, it is well worth it. At the end of
the year, you will have some very vital
information to pass on to your students’
next teacher.
From a child’s cumulative files you
can sometimes see a dramatic grade
change somewhere along the road
during the school year. Perhaps prior to
fifth grade, the child was an A student,

Class Time

then from there, D’s and F’s. You can
express this concern, sharing this data
with them. Students may then share
with you a reason: par [